University of New Hampshire
McNair Scholar, 2022, 2021
Major: Business Administration & Management
2022 Mentor: Dr. Thomas Gruen, Department of Business Administration
2022 Research Title: Relationship Between Academic Ethical Conduct and Business Ethical Conduct
2022 Abstract:
When I indicated that my interest for the McNair Scholars Program for 2022 was in the area of business ethics, my mentor suggested that I work with him and his colleague, Tracy Gonzalez-Padron, on a project that examines the linkage of business ethics education to business ethics practice in the workplace. Dr. Gonzalez-Padron (https://business.uccs.edu/about/directory/faculty/tracy-gonzalez-padron) is a noted business ethics professor at the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, and a former colleague of my mentor, Dr. Thomas Gruen.
I seek to address general questions involving business ethics education and business ethics practice. Ethical education is essential for students to comprehend to make ethical decisions. There is evidence that a lack of ethics education influences poor ethical judgments. This led to the question of whether there is a relationship between student academic ethical behavior and business ethical conduct. Can business ethics education change this?
The prevalence of academic cheating is a concern for students and educators, especially since past unethical behavior is a strong predictor of future misconduct in the workplace (Sims, 1993; Gonzalez-Padron replicated the survey used by Smyth, Davis, and Kroncke (2009), to investigate the relationship between academic dishonesty and corporate ethics, and has collected two data sets. The responses allow respondents' perceptions to be compared from one environment to the next.
The survey allows researchers to assess changes in student ethics over time as well as the impact of an ethics project to integrate ethics education across campus. I anticipate discovering that student academic behavior reflects their ethical business behavior and that ethics education is the step in influencing student academic behavior. This study is significant since unethical business practices can hurt colleagues, organizations, or even countries' economic states with an unethical decision.
2021 Mentor: Dr. Thomas Gruen, Department of Business Administration
2021 Research Title: Examining the Effectiveness of Video Marketing Based on Consumer Attitudes: Differences between Generation Z and Baby Boomers
2021 Abstract:
Companies have been noticing the tremendous positive effects video marketing can have on consumer attitudes and behavior. Existing research shows that 87% of video marketers report that video has a good return on investment, and 54% of consumers want to see video content from businesses and brands they follow. Despite these statistics, there is scarce research on understanding the specific characteristics of video marketing that make them more effective in the eyes of the consumer. Equally important, research is limited in understanding the differences in consumer attitudes towards video marketing across different generations. Hence, the goal of this research is two-fold: 1) to understand characteristics of videos that lead to more effective decision-making for consumers, and 2) to understand whether and how these characteristics vary between "Baby Boomers" versus "Generation Z." Data will be collected from Gen Z and Baby Boomers through focus groups and online surveys, and analyzed using descriptive statistics and cluster analysis to better understand consumer attitudes towards video content. I anticipate from these results that we can use the findings and see what ways companies can use characteristics to make an efficient video to market their product and service. I would assume both Baby Boomers and Generation Z would be attracted to video content that is customizable, which most video content do not have and limit the consumer control of the content and decrease interaction with consumers. I believe this research will contribute to helping companies to more effectively target different generations in providing valuable video content of products and services.
