Exploring the Use of Twitter Opinion Mining (TOM) in Marketing Courses

This paper discusses the use of social media mining (and more specifically, Twitter opinion mining) in marketing courses in order to help students understand current marketing events or phenomena. Social media mining refers to “the use of basic concepts and principal algorithms suitable for investigating massive social media data; it discusses theories and methodologies from different disciplines and encompasses the tools to formally represent, measure, model, and mine meaningful patterns from large-scale social media data” (Zafarani et al. 2014, p. 16). Social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram provide opportunities to explore consumer preferences, opinions and behaviors through the examination of user-generated content (UGC). In a business world dominated by the Internet and social media, it becomes relevant to marketing educators to prepare students in the exploration, analysis and understanding of consumer insights through social media mining, and how to translate such insights into actionable intelligence that increases the effectiveness of a firm’s marketing efforts

Common Practices in Destination Website Design

The Internet has become a key marketing channel for tourist destinations. To identify typical features of destination websites, a content analysis of websites for top global destinations—by number of international arrivals—was conducted. Six factors were evaluated: primary focus, navigation and interactivity, visual and presentation style, textual information, use of advertising, and use of social media and travel aids. In addition, a cluster analysis was conducted to identify homogeneous groups of websites in the sample. The findings revealed three naturally occurring groups. Inter-cluster differences suggest that DMOs use different approaches to target potential visitors, as evidenced by websites ranging from purely informative and simply designed to highly commerce-oriented and visually alluring. Based on the exploratory analyses, a conventional wisdom for destination website design is proposed

What Products Can Benefit from African American Advertising Appeals? The Moderating Role of Product Involvement

With a significant spending power, the African American segment is one of the most lucrative, interesting, and complex targets for national and local advertisers. As this consumer segment continues to grow in importance, marketers need to focus on what types of products could benefit from African American-targeted advertising. Our research studies show African Americans respond to advertising targeted to them and their responses are moderated by ethnic identification and product involvement. Consistent with both theoretical frameworks, distinctiveness theory and ethnic identification theory, we found that identified African Americans prefer African American models especially when advertising low-involvement products

Apps for Enhancing Student Engagement and Learning

Individuals in todays on the go society frequently rely on mobile devices and apps to manage their daily business. Common uses for apps include entertainment, online banking, travel planning and ecommerce in addition to a host of other activities. Factoring in the proliferation of mobile devices, marketing educators are searching for innovative tools and techniques to boost student engagement through the use of apps. The purpose of this paper is to outline a framework for integrating apps into the curriculum as well as provide specific examples that educators can utilize to strengthen engagement and learning

Smiles as Signals of Lower Status in Football Players and Fashion Models: Evidence That Smiles are Associated With Lower Dominance and Lower Prestige

Across four studies, the current paper demonstrates that smiles are associated with lower social status. Moreover, the association between smiles and lower status appears in the psychology of observers and generalizes across two forms of status: prestige and dominance. In the first study, faces of fashion models representing less prestigious apparel brands were found to be more similar to a canonical smile display than the faces of models representing more prestigious apparel brands. In a second study, after being experimentally primed with either high or low prestige fashion narratives, participants in the low prestige condition were more likely to perceive smiles in a series of photographs depicting smiling and non-smiling faces. A third study of football player photographs revealed that the faces of less dominant (smaller) football players were more similar to the canonical smile display than the faces of their physically larger counterparts. Using the same football player photographs, a fourth study found that smiling was a more reliable indicator of perceived status-relevant personality traits than perceptions of the football players\u27 physical sizes inferred from the photographs

Growth Endocrine Axis and Bovine Chromosome 5: Association of SNP Genotypes and Reproductive Phenotypes in an Angus, Brahman and Romosinuano Diallele

The growth endocrine axis influences reproduction. A QTL associated with enhanced ovulation exists on chromosome 5 in cattle and there are 6 genes underlying this region involved in the mechanisms of GH action. Resequencing exons, 5’ and 3’ untranslated regions and conserved non-coding regions of these genes in a multibreed resource population revealed 75 SNP usable for genotype to phenotype association studies. In the current study, phenotypes included age at first calving, calving interval, days to calving, and pregnancy rate. Data were collected from developing heifers (n = 650) of a diallele composed of Angus, Brahman, and Romosinuano breeds. A SNP in the promoter of the signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)2 gene, which is a second messenger of GH, had minor allele frequency \u3e 10% across the three breeds. This SNP did not deviate from Hardy- Weinberg equilibrium (X2 = 1.00, P \u3e 0.31), so deemed useful for genotype to phenotype association analyses. Since the remaining SNP appeared to predict breed, they were used to correct for population stratification using STRUCTURE, which revealed three distinctive ancestral clusters. No significant association was detected between the STAT2 genotype and reproductive traits in mixed effects analyses using genotype as a fixed term, sire as a random term, and coefficient of ancestry as a covariate; however, the interaction of SNP genotype and ancestral cluster was associated with the traits days to calving (P \u3c 0.05) and calving interval (P \u3c 0.10). Interaction plots revealed a higher estimated effect of heterozygous genotype in cluster 1 (inferred primarily from Brahman) and lower estimates in clusters 2 and 3 (inferred primarily from Bos taurus). The heterozygous genotype extended these trait levels ~100 d. A SNP in the promoter of the STAT2 gene was associated with fertility trait levels in admixed cows of the breeds Angus, Brahman, and Romosinuano. The effect appeared to be a non-additive genetic relationship as heterozygous genotype extended levels of traits indicative of postpartum rebreeding

Detección de Escherichia coli productora de toxina-Shiga en bovinos asintomáticos del sur de Sonora, México

La crianza de ganado bovino es vital para la producción decarne, que en México es una actividad esencial. El bovino es portadorasintomático de Escherichia coli productora de toxina Shiga (STEC), yson considerados el principal reservorio y súper propagadores del serotipo O157:H7. Este representa el primer reporte sobre STEC O157:H7 detectada en heces de bovinos asintomáticos, criados para abasto de carne en el noroeste de México. El objetivo fue identificar el serotipo STEC O157:H7 en bovinos asintomáticos criados en el sur de Sonora, México empleando PCR multiplex para con ello avanzar en el entendimiento de su capacidad propagadora. La incidencia de la STEC O157:H7 fue del 3.1% y de STEC no O157 de 19.8%. Estos resultados sugieren que el ganado bovino es un reservorio primario de STEC en esta región del país; sin embargo, es necesario profundizar para establecer si el patógeno contamina otras matrices como agua o alimentos

Polimorfismo del gen PAPPA2 asociado con la fertilidad postparto en vacas lecheras de raza Holstein manejadas bajo condiciones cálidas en el sur de Sonora México

Reproductive management in dairy cows in southern Sonora is a challenge due to the characteristic hot climate, then genetic selection for fertility is desirable. The objective was to study the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the PAPPA2 gene and postpartum fertility traits in lactating Holstein cows. A total of 362 cows were included in this study. Individual blood samples were collected on FTA cards, which were used for DNA extraction and genotyping of two PAPPA2 gene SNPs. An associative study was then performed between the genotypes of the SNPs and postpartum reproductive traits using a statistical mixed-effects model. Only the SNP rs109952914 was associated with all fertility traits and retained for allele substitution analysis. The favorable allele of the SNP rs109952914 was the T allele (P < 0.05), as it increased the percentage of pregnancy at first service (+ 12.60), and reduced services per conception (- 0.16) and days open (- 19.52). In conclusion, a SNP within the PAPPA2 gene was a predictor of postpartum fertility in Holstein dairy cows; then, it was recommended to be used as genetic marker in animal breeding programs to increase reproductive efficiency in Holstein dairy cattle managed under warm environmental conditions.    El manejo reproductivo en vacas lecheras en el sur de Sonora es un reto debido al clima cálido característico, por lo que la selección genética para fertilidad es deseable. El objetivo fue estudiar la asociación entre polimorfismos de nucleótido simple (SNPs) del gen PAPPA2 y caracteres de fertilidad postparto en vacas Holstein lactantes. Un total de 362 vacas fueron incluidas en el estudio. Muestras de sangre individuales fueron recolectadas y vaciadas en tarjetas FTA, las cuales fueron usadas para la extracción de ADN y genotipificación de dos SNPs del gen PAPPA2. Posteriormente se realizó un estudio asociativo entre los genotipos de los SNPs y caracteres reproductivos postparto, usando un modelo estadístico de efectos mixtos. Sólo el SNP rs109952914 se asoció con todos los rasgos reproductivos estudiados por lo que fue retenido para el análisis de substitución alélica. El alelo favorable del SNP rs109952914 fue el alelo T (P < 0.05), ya que éste aumentó el porcentaje de preñez a primer servicio (+12.60), y redujo los servicios por concepción (-0.16) y los días abiertos (-19.52). En conclusión, un SNP dentro del gen PAPPA2 resultó ser predictor de la fertilidad postparto, por lo cual se recomienda usarlo como marcador genético en programas de mejoramiento animal para incrementar la eficiencia reproductiva en vacas Holstein expuestas a condiciones ambientales cálidas.

DMO online platforms: Image and intention to visit

The online platforms (i.e., websites and social media) of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) are among the most useful tools for building and promoting a destination image (DI). However, the associated effects on the DI have not been sufficiently studied and prior research has not assessed the influences of involvement on the DI formation process. The aim of this study is to explore the moderating effects of DMO online platforms on the DI through a conceptual model. The proposed model was empirically verified through an experiment and tested using PLS-SEM method. The findings demonstrate that tourist involvement has a positive impact on cognitive image and affective image, forming the DI as an antecedent of the intention to visit. The results also show that image formation and intention to visit the destination vary depending on the platform used by travelers to access the information