Browsing by Author "Ivory, Adrienne Holz"

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    Claiming a Place in the Magic Kingdom: A Queer Analysis of Disney Movies from 2010 to 2020
    King, Jessica Lynn (Virginia Tech, 2020-06-03)
    Disney movies are a vehicle for American culture; however, Disney has lagged behind in representing queer people in their films as protagonists. For this reason, critical scholarship is necessary to understand Disney's role in building, replicating or changing culture. Although some critical work on Disney has focused on gender or race, queer theory is underutilized to understand Disney films, especially in the field of communication. Though much research exists on movies from the Disney Renaissance, relatively few have examined the films released in the past decade in a systematic way, focusing on how the movies may be relatable to queer experiences. This analysis combines a queer theory lens and a grounded theory approach to examine where queer people can find their experiences reflected in the most recent Disney movies, even without openly queer protagonists. The study resulted in the formation of six categories that describe instances of queering and queerness in Disney movies: queering of Disney logic, queering of "appropriate" through mature themes, queering of power and violence, villainous queerness, heroic queerness and queer acceptance. Previous literature and the new categories from this study as a whole suggest that the Walt Disney Company is taking small steps to offer more diverse narratives and subvert expectations in ways that allow queer people to read their experiences in the characters on screen.
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    Depictions of Donation: A Thematic Analysis of Organ Donation Storylines in Television Medical Dramas
    Baumgardner, Emma Kathryn (Virginia Tech, 2021-06-14)
    With a global and national shortage in the number of registered organ donors, this study employed a qualitative thematic analysis of thirteen episodes from popular medical dramas that aired between 2016-2020. The aim of this study was to allow for a better understanding of how the media utilizes entertainment television to portray storylines related to organ donation. The analyzed shows included in this study were: Grey's Anatomy, The Good Doctor, New Amsterdam, Chicago Med, and The Resident. From the analysis, six major themes emerged: Urgency of Transplant, Ethical Decision-Making, Emotional Impacts of Organ Donation on Patient and Families, Familial Relationships Impacting Donation, Viewer Education via Vicarious Learning, and Excitement Surrounding Surgery. In addition to these themes, both favorable and unfavorable cues related to organ donation were present throughout the analysis. These findings have implications for audience members via social cognitive theory. This study illuminated the ongoing efforts made by the entertainment television industry to portray organ donation in a factual manner and to provide the viewing public with potential opportunities for organ donation education.
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    A Disney Romance for the Ages: Idealistic Beliefs of Romantic Relationships Held By Youth
    Griffin, Raven Nichole (Virginia Tech, 2014-06-10)
    The Disney Princess Brand includes 11 Disney Princess films from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Brave (2012). The goal of this campaign is for audiences to be entertained by the narratives while encouraging identification with the princesses in the films (Do Rozario, 2004; Orenstein, 2006). Scholars have suggested possible media effects of representations and messages depicted related to gender roles (England, Descartes, and Collier-Meek, 2011) and romantic relationships (Segrin and Nabi, 2002). No studies to date have examined the potential correlation between media effects of all 11 Disney Princess films and viewers' expectations regarding romantic relationships with a theoretical background in cultivation theory, social cognitive theory, wishful identification, and uses and gratification theory. The purpose of this thesis was to explore the relationship between potential media effects due to watching Disney Princess films and expectations of romantic relationships. An online cross-sectional survey was administered to female undergraduate students enrolled at Virginia Tech (N = 110). Bivariate correlation analyses were computed to measure the data. Results did not support hypotheses related to motivations for watching Disney Princess films, cultivated ideologies due to exposure of all films, and perceived similarity to princesses in relation to idealistic beliefs of romantic relationships. Wishful identification with the princesses was significantly correlated with participants' idealistic beliefs of romantic relationships. Possible implications are that participants in late adolescence (18 - 23 years of age) wish to be like the Disney princesses and to have similar romantic relationships that are represented in the films.
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    The Effects of Profanity in Violent Video Game Content on Players' Hostile Expectations, Accessibility of Aggressive Thoughts, Aggressive Feelings, and Other Responses
    Ivory, Adrienne Holz (Virginia Tech, 2010-08-30)
    Although the effects of violent video games on aggression in users have been researched extensively and the resulting body of research shows that violent video games can increase aggressive behaviors, aggression-related feelings and thoughts, and physiological arousal, no empirical studies to date have examined whether there are similar and parallel effects of verbal aggression (e.g., profanity) in video game content. A 2 X 2 between-subjects factorial experiment (N = 321) tested the effects of profanity used by protagonists (protagonist profanity present versus absent) and antagonists (antagonist profanity present versus absent) on users' hostile expectations, accessibility of aggressive thoughts, aggressive feelings, perceived arousal, use of profanity, enjoyment, presence, and perceived performance while taking into account the potential moderating role of gender and controlling for several individual difference variables. The study's factors were manipulated via the creation of four versions of an original three-dimensional "first-person shooter" video game. Profanity used by both protagonist and antagonist characters was found to have significant effects on players' hostile expectations, an important higher-order aggressive outcome that is the most direct precursor to aggressive behaviors in the process described by the general aggression model. There was limited evidence for effects of profanity in game content on players' accessibility of aggressive thoughts, aggressive feelings, and perceived arousal. Additionally, profanity had little impact on how much players used profanity themselves, how much they enjoyed the game, feelings of presence, and how they rated their performance in the game. These trends were consistent across a range of demographic, personality, and video game experience dimensions that were measured, even though several of these individual difference variables were found to be related to some outcome variables and to each other. Therefore, while this study's findings did not necessarily indicate imitative modeling of profanity, they point to the possibility of more general effects regarding aggressive outcomes. This study's findings emphasize the need for future research investigating the effects of profanity in video games and other media.
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    An Exploration of American Adolescents' Beverage Intake and Views on Celebrity Endorsement of Beverage Products to Inform Policies that Promote Healthy Beverage Guidelines
    Adas, Samantha Nadia (Virginia Tech, 2018-07-27)
    Food and beverage marketing influences the preferences and diet quality of adolescents. In 2009, about one third (23.8 million US dollars) of the 77 million US dollars spent on celebrity marketing targeted to American adolescents promoted sugar-sweetened beverages (SSB) associated with obesity and type 2 diabetes. Research is limited on how celebrity endorsement influences adolescents' SSB choices and intake. This M.S. thesis describes a study with three research objectives conducted among 28 adolescents in Virginia to explore their beverage intake and views about celebrity endorsement of beverage products. Participants completed four activities including: BEVQ-15 to determine the type and amount of beverages consumed; a familiarity survey with 48 celebrities and their endorsements for six beverage product categories; Q methodology study that used 48 celebrity images depicting beverage brand and product endorsements where participants sorted the images on a normal distribution (+4 to -4) based on perceived celebrity credibility (i.e., expertise, attractiveness and trust); and a post Q sort questionnaire. The BEVQ-15 revealed that 96.3% of participants did not adhere to healthy beverage guidelines. A majority of participants recognized between 51% and 75% of the celebrities, but only 4.9% accurately identified celebrities and their associated beverage endorsement category. The Q methodology study used factor analysis to identify three unique viewpoints: (1) entertainment image emulators; (2) inspirational celebrities for perceived healthier beverages; and (3) multi-cultural celebrity appreciators. Study results may inform future policies and actions to ensure that celebrity endorsement encourages adolescents to buy and consume healthy beverages that align with guidelines.
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    Gender Representation in Sports Illustrated for Kids
    Wooten, Kelsey Dianne (Virginia Tech, 2019-06-21)
    Sport media has been a known producer of traditional gender images that reflect inequality between sexes. Sport media has been studied endlessly, but one aspect that has not fostered as much attention is sport media, advertising, and children. Sports Illustrated for Kids is the only sport media print magazine for children, with a readership age of 8-15 years old. Images and gender stereotypes have been used continuously by advertising companies to sell products to consumers. Children in particular cannot accurately determine between content that is meant to inform and content that is meant to sell. This study examined whether editorial and advertising images in Sports Illustrated for Kids reflects actual participation rates of athletic activities based on gender in issues from the past decade. Utilizing past research, this study looked at overall numbers and stereotypes by examining factors such as state of dress, photo angle, and motion in photograph. Findings show that females are still under and misrepresented in SIK. Even so, findings of this study suggest representation of women in team neutral sport such as soccer and basketball is on the rise. Findings could have implications for SIK's young readership as well as highlight a need for more education about advertising and editorial practices being implemented.
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    Get Lit: An analysis of the framing of party schools in the U.S.
    Hanks, Carlianne Lindsey (Virginia Tech, 2019-06-21)
    Universities and colleges in the U.S. are constantly mentioned in lists such as The Princeton Review's Top Party School list or similar rankings that can potentially impact the institution, as well as local news coverage regarding the institution's ranking and the drinking and partying habits of its student body. This study explores media coverage of party schools through a lens of framing and relationship management theories. Through a quantitative content analysis of news frames used in local news coverage of universities or colleges with noted "party school" reputations in the 2016 to 2017 academic school year, as well as frames represented in the official university responses, this study uncovers how universities with these noted reputations are framed by the local news media. In addition, the study explores the ways in which university responses to media coverage impact the potentially mutually-beneficial relationship between higher education institutions and its stakeholders, as it is a primary function of public relations (Kim et al., 2007). In order to examine the predominant frames used by local news media in college towns and "party school" university responses, frames of negative emotional appeal, morality, human interest and harm reduction were explored to determine their salience in written messages found in news headlines and university responses. The results of this study provide explanations to a phenomenon that largely impacts the reputation of a higher education institution in the U.S., as well as implications for the management of relationships between the media and universities.
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    The influence of brand-equity mascots used by U.S. food, beverage, and restaurant companies on the diet of American children and parents
    Brownell, Taylor Reed (Virginia Tech, 2017-06-20)
    Researchers have examined the influence of entertainment companies' licensed media characters on children's diet and health. Conversely, limited empirical research exists on how food, beverage and restaurant companies use brand mascots to influence the dietary preferences and choices of children and their parents. This M.S. thesis is comprised of two studies that address this knowledge gap. The first study conducted a nutrient-profile analysis of 20 food, beverage, and restaurant products that use brand mascot marketing to children, whose companies are members of the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI), an industry self-regulatory program. Products were evaluated using seven nutrient-profile models or nutrition guidelines. Results showed that all twenty products that used brand mascots failed to meet one or more of the guidelines, especially for candy/sweets, children's meals, and snack foods. The second pilot study used Q methodology to explore the views of five child-parent dyads concerning the influence of brand mascots on their diet-related cognitive outcomes. Each child and one parent independently completed a demographic survey, a brand mascot and product association survey, and a card-sort with 48 brand mascot images to determine 'most-liked' versus 'most-disliked' mascots. Factor analysis identified three unique viewpoints that were shared by participants including: 1) Breakfast Cereal Animal Lovers; lover of mascots with eyes/hands of approval; and 3) human, hat-wearing mascot lovers. Participants associated 66 percent of products with the correct brand mascots. These results may inform policy-relevant recommendations to strengthen industry self-regulatory programs to create a more healthful childhood marketing atmosphere.
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    On Affective States in Computational Cognitive Practice through Visual and Musical Modalities
    Tsoukalas, Kyriakos (Virginia Tech, 2021-06-29)
    Learners' affective states correlate with learning outcomes. A key aspect of instructional design is the choice of modalities by which learners interact with instructional content. The existing literature focuses on quantifying learning outcomes without quantifying learners' affective states during instructional activities. An investigation of how learners feel during instructional activities will inform the instructional systems design methodology of a method for quantifying the effects of individually available modalities on learners' affect. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the relationship between affective states and learning modalities of instructional computing. During an instructional activity, learners' enjoyment, excitement, and motivation are measured before and after a computing activity offered in three distinct modalities. The modalities concentrate on visual and musical computing for the practice of computational thinking. An affective model for the practice of computational thinking through musical expression was developed and validated. This dissertation begins with a literature review of relevant theories on embodied cognition, learning, and affective states. It continues with designing and fabricating a prototype instructional apparatus and its virtual simulation as a web service, both for the practice of computational thinking through musical expression, and concludes with a study investigating participants' affective states before and after four distinct online computing activities. This dissertation builds on and contributes to extant literature by validating an affective model for computational thinking practice through self-expression. It also proposes a nomological network for the construct of computational thinking for future exploration of the construct, and develops a method for the assessment of instructional activities based on predefined levels of skill and knowledge.
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    The Proverbial Ticking Biological Clock: A Symbolic TMT Perspective on Mate Perception
    Livick, Kendall Atkins (Virginia Tech, 2014-06-18)
    Past research has shown that mortality salience increases desire for offspring. Additionally, past studies have illustrated that women in a high fertility phase within a menstrual cycle show greater preference for masculine faces while performing facial judgment tasks than do women in a low fertility phase or women using hormonal contraception. However, mortality salience has been shown to influence mate selection. The current study explored whether or not a cue related to fertility salience may produce similar outcomes to cues of mortality salience observed in past studies. In partial replication of a study conducted by Vaughn, Bradley, Byrd-Craven, and Kennison (2010), the current study included 151 heterosexual female participants who self-identified as falling within cyclical high fertility or low fertility categories, or who reported using hormonal contraception. These participants were randomly assigned to either a control condition, a mortality salience condition, or a fertility salience condition and then instructed to judge images of male faces provided by Re, DeBruine, Jones, and Perrett (2013). Participants rated faces in categories of attractiveness, dominance, and health. The study predicted significant interaction effects of salience condition and fertility status on opposite sex facial perceptions. Additionally, participants were asked about procreation preferences. No effects of mortality salience or fertility salience were observed in regard to opposite sex facial perceptions, number of children desired, or preferred age for having a first child. Thus, the current research does not provide support that the fertility salience cue used in the study influences opposite sex perceptions or procreation preferences.
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    Sexual Orientation: A Peripheral Cue in Advertising?
    Ivory, Adrienne Holz (Virginia Tech, 2007-04-26)
    Although advertising featuring gay male and lesbian models can be an effective means of targeting the significant gay and lesbian market, few empirical studies examine how consumers respond to gay-themed advertisements. To address the absence of message-processing research dealing with heterosexual responses to gay-themed advertising, this thesis examines how sexual orientation of model couples featured in magazine advertisements affects heterosexual viewers' responses using the elaboration-likelihood model as a guiding framework. A 3x2x2x3 experiment tested the effects of model couples' sexual orientation (heterosexual, gay male, or lesbian), argument strength (strong or weak), involvement (high or low), and participants' attitudes towards homosexuality (high, medium, or low) on White heterosexual participants' attitudes toward the couple, attitudes toward the advertisement, attitudes toward the brand, attitudes toward the product, purchase intentions, and recall. Results indicate that heterosexual consumers were accepting of ads with lesbian portrayals.  Participants showed more negative attitudes toward gay male portrayals, but attitudes towards heterosexual and lesbian ads were similar. This effect was moderated by participants attitudes toward homosexuals. Regarding message processing, low involvement consumers showed more negative attitudes toward homosexual portrayals than toward heterosexual portrayals, providing some indication that models' sexual orientation in ads may have served as a peripheral cue negatively impacting attitudes toward the couple and ad in situations where elaboration is low. However, such effects on attitudes toward couples and ads did not appear to carry over to attitudes toward the brand and product, purchase intentions, or recall. Implications, limitations, and areas for future research are also discussed.
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    A Thematic Analysis of Gender Stereotypes in Children's Top Mobile Applications of 2018
    Keene, Kyra Margaret (Virginia Tech, 2020-06-24)
    People around the globe rely on their mobile devices for instant access to entertainment and social media. Children comprise a large majority of individuals who use smartphone applications, particularly for gaming and learning opportunities. Understandably, these apps become part of the identity development process, including the formation of one's gender identity. App developers include gendered content to capture and maintain children's attention, but much of the existing research examines children in late childhood and early adolescence, leaving the ages of six to eight relatively undiscussed. The researcher utilized a thematic analysis to review 20 children's mobile applications for instances of gender stereotypes. Social cognitive theory offers a guiding principle for understanding the process of developing one's gender identity, as well as the role that external stimuli, such as digital media examples and parent models, play. This study aimed to determine whether mobile applications targeting the identified age group use gender stereotypes, as well as how they employ these stereotypes within the application. The researcher randomly selected 20 top children's applications on the Apple App Store and examined them for gendered instances, such as occupations and interests as well as character depictions. The results reflect that instances of gender stereotypes do occur in the children's mobile applications. Many of the applications portrayed feminine stereotypes surrounding nurturing and caregiving tasks ("Mommy in Training"), making it one of the most frequently exploited feminine stereotypes in the sample. The "Boys will be Boys" stereotype comprised the most frequently displayed masculine stereotypes across the studied applications. These findings represent the idea that society places higher value on these stereotypes than others, such as social relationships ("The Power of Motivational Friendship") or recklessness ("The Risk Taker"). Implications include modeling of traditionally masculine and feminine stereotypes for young users by utilizing popular characters recognizable by most children in the target age range.
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    Through the Eyes of a Bystander: Understanding VR and Video Effectiveness on Bystander Empathy, Presence, Behavior, and Attitude in Bullying Situations
    McEvoy, Kelly Anne (Virginia Tech, 2015-08-12)
    Peer bullying is a widespread and longstanding problem in school settings. Teachers, students, administrators, government, and researchers alike have all tried to combat bullying through bullying prevention campaigns. One strategy used in bullying prevention campaigns is to call on bystanders in bullying situations to take responsible action. While many different forms of campaigns, including print and media campaigns, have aimed at trying to reduce the presence of bullying in schools by informing bystanders, there is still a need to find new strategies for reducing bullying behavior. One potential media form that could be used in bullying prevention campaigns is the use of virtual reality. Virtual reality simulations allow for a more immersive environment than other media forms, as the medium is capable of creating feelings of presence, various perspectives, and empathy in its users. This thesis reports results from a one-factor, three-condition laboratory experiment comparing responses to portrayals of a bullying situation in which users (N = 78) were placed in the perspective of a bystander in a bullying scenario across three different media stimulus conditions: a customized virtual reality condition, a non-customized virtual reality condition, and a video condition. The study compared effects of the media stimulus conditions on empathy, attitudes toward bullying victims and bullying, and anticipated future bystander behaviors, as well as presence and other outcomes related to perceptions of bullying. While it was hypothesized that the study would find stronger effects on empathy and anti-bullying bystander attitudes and anticipated behaviors among the VR conditions, and in particular the customized VR condition, the study found no differences between media stimulus conditions for any outcomes except a significant effect on empathy, with participants in the video condition tending to report more feelings of empathy for participants than participants in the other two conditions, and perceptions of bullying as a problem in the participants' school, again with scores highest in the video condition. This pattern of results was further explored in a follow-up qualitative focus group study (N = 10), in which trends from two focus group sessions featuring 10 participants indicated that the quality of the virtual reality graphics effected empathy, a lack of bystander intervention options reduced effectiveness, and customization cues had little effect on participants. Results from the laboratory experiment and follow-up focus group study suggest that in some cases, it may be difficult to use VR simulations to elicit empathy-related prosocial responses. While further study is needed to clarify what features of VR simulations might make them most effective in encouraging certain prosocial behaviors, findings here suggest that photorealistic graphics should be used in VR simulations to evoke empathy, additional intervention capabilities in VR simulations could make them more effective in producing bystander intervention behavior, and that customization cues should be prominent and possibly individually tailored. '
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    Trust in Healthcare and Trust in Science Predict Readiness to Receive the COVID-19 Vaccine in Appalachia
    Rockwell, Michelle S.; Stein, Jeffrey S.; Gerdes, Julie; Brown, Jeremiah; Ivory, Adrienne Holz; Epling, John W. (2021-04-06)
    BACKGROUND: The Appalachian Region faces multiple barriers to widespread COVID-19 vaccination. The purpose of this research study was to explore the role of trust in healthcare and trust in science on Appalachian residents’ readiness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Trust in health influencers and health information sources were also explored. METHODS: A cross sectional survey study of Appalachian Region residents (n=1048) was completed between February 25 and March 6, 2021, with equivalent rural and non-rural sampling methods employed. Participants were >35 years of age and had not received the COVID-19 vaccine at the time of survey administration. RESULTS: Overall, 31% of participants were extremely likely to receive the vaccine, while 42% were somewhat likely/neither unlikely or likely/somewhat unlikely, and 27% were extremely unlikely. Based on multiple linear regression analysis with backwards selection, trust in healthcare, trust in science, residence (rural vs. non-rural) and age were positive predictors of readiness to receive the vaccine (F(5, 1042)= 38.9, R2= 0.157, p< 0.01). Gender, education, household income, and political affiliation did not predict vaccine readiness. Trust in media for health information was modest, with ratings of none or not much for social media (64%), podcasts (61%), magazines (46%), radio (37%), newspapers (36%), and television (35%). Primary care providers emerged as the highest trusted health influencer of 15 options and a primary care provider’s office was the most common preference for location for receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, particularly in participants who rated themselves as extremely unlikely to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that trust in healthcare and science are prospective foci for initiatives aimed at improving vaccine acceptance in Appalachia, particularly in younger residents of rural areas. As highly trusted health influencers, primary care providers should be leveraged and supported in COVID-19 vaccine education and distribution.
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    An Ugly Side to the Beautiful Game? An Analysis of Broadcast Commentary of FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women's World Cup Final Matches
    Fink, Blayne Kathryn (Virginia Tech, 2019-06-26)
    Previous research into sporting events and broadcast commentary have been consistent in showing that there are clear differences in prevalence of commentary topics when a commentator is describing a male athlete and a female athlete. Among these differences are sexualized and ambivalent language towards female athletes, gender marking, and language that suggests male athlete superiority to that of female athletes. Although sporting events such as the Summer and Winter Olympics and NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Championship games have repeatedly been sites for exploration, the world's largest single-event sporting competition, the World Cup, remains relatively untouched. Keeping this in mind, using a systematic content analysis, this thesis analyzed the broadcast commentary provided by play-by-play and color commentators in FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women's World Cup final matches to discern whether or not the sex of the athlete competing resulted in a difference in the descriptive evaluations employed by commentators. Findings of this study revealed that there were few differences in the prevalence of descriptive evaluations based on the gender of the athletes competing. Implications of the results and recommendations for future research into broadcast commentary and World Cup final matches are addressed.
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    Uncovering the Unrealistic Domestic Goddess: A Modified Grounded Theory Approach to Gender Stereotypes in Parenting Blogs
    Einstein, Catherine Allison (Virginia Tech, 2018-06-25)
    A modified grounded theory approach was used to analyze 200 parenting blog posts for instances of conforming to or deviating from gender stereotypes. A plethora of research recognizes the negative effects of perpetuating stereotypes on such aspects of life and culture as self-concepts, concepts of others, opportunities, obstacles, and occupations. Social cognitive theory informs how these gender stereotypes can affect parents even through blogs and how parents can then affect their children. Thus, research question one asked: Are there gendered instances in parenting blogs that deviate from or conform to a gender stereotype? and research question two asked: What categories and themes of gendered instances that deviate from or conform to a gender stereotype are present in the blogs? What categories and themes are most prevalent in the blogs? Findings indicated that there were gendered instance in the parenting blogs. Although only 30% of the analyzed blog posts contained gendered instances of deviating from or conforming to stereotypes, 75.6% of those instances were found to conform to a gender stereotype rather than deviate. Moreover, the categories that were present in the blog were as follows: Unrealistic Domestic Goddess, Perceived Gender Conformity of Children, Part-time Domestic Father, Realistic Domestic Mother, Normalizing Feminine Characteristics and Interests in Sons, Full-time Domestic Father, Negative Stereotypes Against Women, and Perceived Gender Nonconformity of Children. The category that was by far the most prevalent was the Unrealistic Domestic Goddess as 75.6% of the gendered instances fell under this category.
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    Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict International Students' Help-Seeking Intentions and Behaviors
    Hamidi, Elmira (Virginia Tech, 2014-06-06)
    U.S. colleges and universities have hosted international students from all over the world. Along with the increase of international student enrollment, campus counselors are challenged with identifying the students who need professional help but are reluctant to utilize their campus counseling services (Zhang and Dixon, 2003; Mitchell et al., 2007). Employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the current study investigated Virginia Tech international students' help-seeking process in terms of their attitudes toward counseling services, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control. A total of 132 international students completed a cross-sectional online survey. Contrary to TPB, the results indicated that attitudes toward help-seeking and subjective norms were not correlated with help-seeking intentions. Perceived behavioral control, however, was identified as a predictor of international students' willingness to seek professional help. Intentions and perceived behavioral control were not predictors of international students' utilization of the Thomas E. Cook Counseling Center. The correlation between acculturation and self-stigma with international students'] help-seeking intentions and behaviors was insignificant. Gender was a marginally significant predictor of help-seeking behavior. Previous experience of counseling services was strongly correlated with international students' help-seeking intentions and behavior. The majority of Virginia Tech international students reported emotional issues as their biggest challenge while studying in the U.S. Overall, as the first study which investigated international students' help-seeking process within the Theory of Planned Behavior framework, the present research expanded the literature about foreign students' adjustment issues and utilization of their campus counseling services. Limitations, future directions, and general implications were addressed.
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    What's 'Awe' The Hype? Motivations to Share Video Game Information
    Blankenbeckler, Logan Bryan (Virginia Tech, 2017-06-04)
    Over the past few decades, video games have become a popular avenue for dissemination of information and publicity about video games is word-of-mouth sharing. Thus, it is imperative for researchers to examine the social, and individual processes that guide this behavior. Focusing on prerelease sharing behavior specifically, this pair of studies aimed to identify predictors and dimensions of video game information sharing, and explore the impact content characteristics have on individuals' likelihood to share game information either online or to friends. A pretest survey (n = 577) investigated the prominence word-of-mouth communication has on video game information sharing amongst college students, finding it to be the most common method of sharing and obtaining game information. The main experiment (n = 227) examined participants' intent to share information after being exposed to a video game trailer manipulated to emphasize variations of core video game characteristics (control, narrative and mechanics) and emotional appeals (control, awe and hedonic). There were no findings suggesting the manipulations had a significant effect on participants' intent to share; however, those who reported first-person shooters as their favorite genre reported significantly more intent to share. Conceptualized through Social Exchange Theory and Social Identity Theory; the experiment also explored motivations to share based on exchange value, and gamer identity. Implications for our understanding of motivations to share game information based on social networks and content characteristics are discussed.
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    Young People's Attitudes on Art Infusion Advertising on Social Media:  Focus Groups with Chinese Students
    Peng, Huihui (Virginia Tech, 2017-07-19)
    In China, advertisements posted by online influencers on social media platforms have become a new trend of marketing. Through the lenses of art-infusion theory and the entertainment overcoming resistance model, this study focuses on a specific advertisement posted by a Chinese online influencer and explores whether this advertisement appeals to Chinese young people and why. Five focus group sessions were conducted with 29 Asian college students to explore the impact of artwork in advertising on participants' attitudes toward the ad and the advertised product. The results showed that 1) participants' attitudes toward the ad were affected by the presence of artwork, and 2) entertainment features such as narrative structure and liking of the author contributed to overcoming resistance to advertising. The findings of the study suggest practical implications for advertising professionals as well as art promoters.