Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Usage studies'

This quantitative study examined the relationship between problematic Internet usage, self-efficacy, and proactive coping skills. This study compared demographic characteristics against three scales: Compulsive Internet Use Scale, General Self-Efficacy Scale, and Proactive Coping Subscale. A total of 146 Internet users over the age of 18 participated in this study. The results found a significant correlation between gender and, age, and ethnicity and proactive coping skills. There was also a significant relationship between age and compulsive Internet use. Compulsive Internet use was negatively correlated with proactive coping, suggesting improved proactive coping skills will lead to a lower level of compulsive Internet use.

Intergenerational ethnic health disparities among Asian American young adults have been attributed to cultural, socio-environmental and dietary changes. The relationship between acculturation levels, social media use and dietary outcomes were analyzed using data collected from 137 Asian American young adults in California through an online survey distributed on social media and on-campus recruitment. Correlational analyses, t-tests and hierarchical linear regression were used to observe the predictability of (1) acculturation, (2) social media, and (3) both variables on Fruits and Vegetables (F&V) outcomes. Most participants were bicultural, had daily social media use and 3.88 F&V servings consumed. Acculturation levels significantly predicted F&V servings, but not when adjusted for age and education level. No significant relationship was found between acculturation and social media use or social media use and F&V outcomes. Food purchasing and health-information seeking behaviors were explored, reflecting possible implications involving online health literacy and multidimensional acculturation measures for future health and media studies.

Companies use IT tools for knowledge management. The purpose of this study is to examine the perceived benefits and possible drawbacks of SharePoint. Different perspectives on knowledge and different knowledge management processes are compared to this system. The vision for SharePoint in Stora Enso includes e.g. increasing work efficiency and supporting of knowledge sharing. The situation before SharePoint 2007 included e.g. information was hard to find and static sites existed in changeable conditions. Knowledge is mostly perceived as an object in Stora Enso, but with new features and techniques it is possible to view knowledge with other perspectives. The main benefit of SharePoint is the possibility to collaborate and share knowledge.

Increased citizen participation is a vital element in the concept of political efficacy. The feeling that an individual has towards political action has an impact on the political process in stimulating citizen participation and influencing public opinion. This thesis relies on an analytical survey of University of Louisiana at Lafayette students to examine potential relationships of the social networking site Facebook with college students’ trust in government, interpersonal trust, Facebook usage, and political efficacy.

Many scholars have concentrated research on social networking. Agenda melding involves a process by which people can personally engage in the democratic process through personal selection of any number of agendas to create their individual networked communities. With the advancement in technology of interactive media providing immediate access for college students through their agenda melded individual communities, this study found the social networking site of Facebook significantly related to college students’ political efficacy. Significant relationships involving trust, Facebook usage, and political efficacy were found to exist among this young demographic that previous literature indicated is the least politically effective. Further research is needed in agenda melding as Facebook provides an avenue for college students to influence political attitudes, public opinion, and democratic participation through their individual networked agenda melded communities. Further research is needed in agenda melding as algorithms may bypass the personal selection process that an individual uses to create his or her valued reference communities. Facebook’s news algorithm engine may have introduced a new concept of agenda melding, one that may be void of a Facebook user’s intention.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the relationship between Facebook usage and self-efficacy in collegiate athletes. The data for this study was provided by St. Thomas University athletes in the United States. The variables used to represent Facebook usage, Facebook frequency of use, Facebook number of friends and Facebook frequency status updates were measured using Facebook Intensity Scale (Ellison et al., 2007). The dependent variable used in this study is self-efficacy which is measured using the General Self-efficacy (GSE) developed (Jerusalem & Schwarzer, 1979). Data analyses indicated a statistically significant relationship between Facebook number of friends and self-efficacy. The data also indicated significant inverse relationship between Facebook frequency status updates and self-efficacy. The results of the correlation analysis indicated inverse relationships between frequency status updates and frequency of use, and frequency status updates and Facebook number of friends. These findings suggest that once the coaches, administrators, and professors attend to the issue of Facebook usage for collegiate athletes, it may enhance self-efficacy and psychological benefits.

The usage of celebrity endorsements has been confirmed to result in more favorableadvertisement ratings and positive product evolutions (Dean and Biswas, 2001). It has evenbecome one of the most popular forms of retail advertising (Choi and Rifon, 2007). Marketershave heavily relied on celebrity endorsement, because they believe in its positive impact ofassisting in improvement of brand awareness, brand equity, and even financial returns.Celebrities are easily chosen by marketers to peddle their products. Especially in cosmeticsindustry, this tactic is commonplace and often seen in TV advertisements, magazines and othertypes of media. If you flip through the television channels, you can easily find a number ofdifferent celebrity endorsers; from Eva Longoria for L’Oreal to Julia Roberts for Lancôme andeven Nicole Kidman for Schweppes. What do marketers expect from enormous amounts spenton celebrities appearing in their advertisements? Besides returns on the financial aspect andbrand awareness, using celebrities in advertisements can be a shortcut to assisting brands ingaining recognitions. All these efforts may be contributions in creating brand loyalty, which iswhere the marketing battle really begins. The brand loyalty concept has been somewhatoverlooked, in the sense that many studies have only been focused on the “behavioral” aspect.Recent studies actively propose that brand loyalty shall take both behavioral and attitudinalaspects into consideration in order to make it comprehensive. David Aaker (1991) suggested,“The brand loyalty of the customer base is often the core of a brand’s equity”. Because of theexistence of brand loyalty, it makes the brand choice and brand equity possible. For theseparticular reasons and arguments, the topic was chosen regarding both celebrity endorsement andbrand loyalty in cosmetics advertising, with the aim to probe the relationship between them. Thisstudy concerns celebrity endorsement in cosmetics advertisements and the creation of brandloyalty, thus investigating the use of celebrities in advertising and the effect it has and if and howit contributes to brand loyalty. It is based on customers’ perception of this type of advertisingtechnique in relation to the cosmetics industry, and two different types of brand loyalty,attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty.The usage of celebrity endorsements has been confirmed to result in more favorableadvertisement ratings and positive product evolutions (Dean and Biswas, 2001). It has evenbecome one of the most popular forms of retail advertising (Choi and Rifon, 2007). Marketershave heavily relied on celebrity endorsement, because they believe in its positive impact ofassisting in improvement of brand awareness, brand equity, and even financial returns.Celebrities are easily chosen by marketers to peddle their products. Especially in cosmeticsindustry, this tactic is commonplace and often seen in TV advertisements, magazines and othertypes of media. If you flip through the television channels, you can easily find a number ofdifferent celebrity endorsers; from Eva Longoria for L’Oreal to Julia Roberts for Lancôme andeven Nicole Kidman for Schweppes. What do marketers expect from enormous amounts spenton celebrities appearing in their advertisements? Besides returns on the financial aspect andbrand awareness, using celebrities in advertisements can be a shortcut to assisting brands ingaining recognitions. All these efforts may be contributions in creating brand loyalty, which iswhere the marketing battle really begins. The brand loyalty concept has been somewhatoverlooked, in the sense that many studies have only been focused on the “behavioral” aspect.Recent studies actively propose that brand loyalty shall take both behavioral and attitudinalaspects into consideration in order to make it comprehensive. David Aaker (1991) suggested,“The brand loyalty of the customer base is often the core of a brand’s equity”. Because of theexistence of brand loyalty, it makes the brand choice and brand equity possible. For theseparticular reasons and arguments, the topic was chosen regarding both celebrity endorsement andbrand loyalty in cosmetics advertising, with the aim to probe the relationship between them. Thisstudy concerns celebrity endorsement in cosmetics advertisements and the creation of brandloyalty, thus investigating the use of celebrities in advertising and the effect it has and if and howit contributes to brand loyalty. It is based on customers’ perception of this type of advertisingtechnique in relation to the cosmetics industry, and two different types of brand loyalty,attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty.

The literature and theories used for investigating and supporting this area mainly focused on thetwo most important concepts for this study, celebrity endorsement and brand loyalty. In order toreview these two theories and support the research question, additional concepts concerningendorsement, attitudes, behavior, brands and products were investigated and evaluated. These inturn enabled the creation of a questionnaire, covering the area to be scrutinized.The literature and theories used for investigating and supporting this area mainly focused on thetwo most important concepts for this study, celebrity endorsement and brand loyalty. In order toreview these two theories and support the research question, additional concepts concerningendorsement, attitudes, behavior, brands and products were investigated and evaluated. These inturn enabled the creation of a questionnaire, covering the area to be scrutinized.

For the purpose of this quantitative study, a self completion web based questionnaire was carriedout. The survey was sent by email to possible respondents, with a students’ email account atUmeå School of Business. The sampling method used when sending out the web survey was of anon-probability nature.For the purpose of this quantitative study, a self completion web based questionnaire was carriedout. The survey was sent by email to possible respondents, with a students’ email account atUmeå School of Business. The sampling method used when sending out the web survey was of anon-probability nature.

The findings led to a conclusion confirming that neither brand loyalty nor attitudinal loyalty isproved to be created by famous endorsers. Although, not bearing brand loyalty in mind, it can beseen that the endorsers help customers to get to know a brand better. The data findings alsosuggest that the costs of using celebrity endorsement are not reasonable in relation to gainingrespondents’ attitudinal loyalty. It is positively confirmed that both behavioural and attitudinalloyalty should be included when measuring actual brand loyalty concerning cosmetics brands.The findings led to a conclusion confirming that neither brand loyalty nor attitudinal loyalty isproved to be created by famous endorsers. Although, not bearing brand loyalty in mind, it can beseen that the endorsers help customers to get to know a brand better. The data findings alsosuggest that the costs of using celebrity endorsement are not reasonable in relation to gainingrespondents’ attitudinal loyalty. It is positively confirmed that both behavioural and attitudinalloyalty should be included when measuring actual brand loyalty concerning cosmetics brands.

This study investigated the relationships between international students' use of social networking sites (SNS), their acculturative stress and social connectedness. A survey was conducted among 63 international students who attended a rural, Midwestern University in the United States. To keep in contact with individuals from their home country and individuals in the U.S., international students reported using both U.S.-based SNS such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as SNS geared towards their home countries, such as Weibo and WeChat. Positive correlations were found between Guilt and Culture Shock, Culture Shock and Homesickness, Guilt and Homesickness, Guilt and Perceived Hatred, Culture Shock and Perceived Hatred, Perceived Discrimination and Perceived Hatred, Perceived Discrimination and Culture Shock, and between Perceived Discrimination and Guilt. Hours spent per day on social networking sites was negatively correlated with Perceived Hatred, Guilt and Social Connectedness, but positively correlated with Relationship Maintenance, Social Surveillance, Socializing, Culture Shock and Perceived Discrimination. Social Connectedness was negatively associated with all five components of Acculturative Stress and Social Surveillance, but positively associated with Relationship Maintenance. The findings suggest that international students' SNS use may be associated with their ability to adjust to life in the foreign country and to continue feeling connected to a network of social support. The small sample size and other limitations are discussed, as are the potential implications.

The unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model has demonstrated the influencing factors for various business technology uses within the organizational system. However, in the context of African American small businesses (AASB), there was very little evidence of research to determine factors affecting the intention to use social media based on the UTAUT model. This quantitative study investigated factors that were expected to influence the intention of AASB owners to use social media based on modified constructs of the UTAUT model. The modified constructs represented several independent variables, namely performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), and facilitating conditions (FC) as moderated by age, gender, and experience in using social media tools. A random sampling method was used for the study. African American small business owners (n = 152) between the ages of 21 and 64 years participated in the study. Results showed that PE, SI, and FC were positively related to the AABB owners' intention to use and use of social media, while age, gender, and experience showed no evidence of any significant interactions. This study shed new lights on research of acceptance and use of social media by AASB owners. As a result, it is expected that knowledge gained will encourage increased use of social media tools by AASB, not only for social value but also as a vital socioeconomic option for a competitive advantage.

The Roatán Spiny-tailed Iguana (Ctenosaura oedirhina ) is endemic to the 146-km² island of Roatán, Honduras. Harvesting for consumption, fragmentation of habitat, and predation by domestic animals threaten this lizard. It is currently listed as Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as threatened by the Honduran government, and is on Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). This species has been geographically fragmented and genetically isolated into small subpopulations that are declining in density. With data gathered from use/availability surveys, resource selection functions were used to identify habitats and environmental variables associated with their presence. Results indicate that protection from harvesting is the most important factor in determining their distribution. These high-density populations are currently restricted to ∼0.6 km². Organisms living in small, isolated populations with very restricted ranges are at higher risk of extirpation due

to various direct and indirect forces. Mark-recapture-resight surveys and distance sampling have been used to monitor the populations since 2010 and 2012 respectively. The data show that the high-density populations are declining. The current population size is estimated to be 4130-4860 individuals in 2015. A population viability analysis (PVA) was conducted to identify the most pressing threats and specific life history traits that are affecting this decline. The analysis estimates that if current trends persist, the species will be extinct in the wild in less than ten years. Adult mortality is a main factor and female mortality specifically characterizes this decline. In order for this species to persist over the next fifty years, adult mortality needs to be reduced by more than 50%. A lack of enforcement of the current laws results in the persistence of the main threat, poaching for consumption, thus altering the species distribution and causing high adult mortality. This is complicated by social customs and a lack of post primary education. Management changes could mitigate this threat and slow the population decline. Recommendations include an education campaign on the island, increased enforcement of the current laws, and breeding of C. oedirhina in situ and ex situ for release into the wild.

Internet banking has an impact on banking performance as well as customer’s daily life. Customers are getting more used to use Internet banking services because the Internet is so popular and common available, it is more convenient and comfortable for customers to use banking services on the Internet. Hereby Internet banking also helps to improve banking service and increasing banks profitability by reducing costs. It also increases the overall value of the banks services by providing convenience, reliable, faster, cheaper services. The purpose of study is to find out which services customer prefers to execute the Internet bank and which services customers prefer to execute through branch office and based on this, what combination of services are desirable for banks customers in Visby. Finding shows that young and educated people are more frequently users of Internet banking for balance inquiry and for viewing the transaction history of his/her account. For some services customers prefer to visit branch office when opining a new account, deposit money, insurances service and loan activities. Banks encourage their customers to use online services but there is need that there are some activities that customer must go to the branch office.