Issue #4 (Volume 13 2017)

The article covers the study of sales and service potential of Ukrainian regions in distributing the industrial products. Using the data of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, the statistical analysis of key indicators of sales and service potential is provided. The analysis of indicators’ dynamics in 2010–2015 shows the stability or insignificant increase in almost all regions. Based on ranking results of Ukrainian regions for sales and service potential, the five-zone matrix of potential is formed. The evaluations show that Kyiv (city), Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions can be defined as leaders, and Chernivtsi and Ternopil regions can be defined as outsiders. High concentration of regions in pessimistic zones of the five-zone matrix of potential indicates the crisis processes in the country. This also defines the high degree of regional disparities and contradictions in service and sales activities in Ukraine.

With hundreds of millions of active users generating almost a half of a billion tweets each day, Twitter has solidified itself as one of the most popular websites in today’s digital world. Because of this popularity, companies seeking to leverage the large audience have gravitated toward Twitter. This study examines how the Fortune 500 uses Twitter by analyzing 9,122 corporate tweets and 1,509 user replies through the use of content analysis. Examined factors include interactivity (non-interactive vs. reactive vs. interactive), company type (B2B vs. B2C), and user reply valence (positive vs. neutral vs. negative). Company response time to user replies is also investigated. The study results point to interactive tweets generating the most engagement. B2Cs not only respond faster to user replies but also generate more engagement than B2Bs. Negative replies can decrease engagement for B2Bs and B2Cs, but the influence on B2Bs is more profound. Companies responded the fastest to negative replies followed by positive replies and neutral replies, respectively. Thus, a company should assess its own business practices, target audience, and ability to perform customer service before creating a social media account such as Twitter.

This study describes how Mount Olive College, a four-year liberal arts college in Eastern North Carolina, designed and successfully implemented an MBA degree program. This led to the establishment of a graduate school, change of status from college to university, and development and offering of additional graduate degree programs. The University of Mount Olive (UMO) started offering this MBA degree program in spring 2014. This online degree program has been offered in an accelerated one-year format and in a traditional two-year format. This program has been very successful and enrollment continued to grow. As of fall 2017, the UMO MBA program was the 9th largest MBA degree program in North Carolina.
A two-year assurance of learning and outcomes assessment was recently completed and the results showed that the UMO MBA faculty successfully aligned the course Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) with the MBA program goals and Program Learning Outcomes (PLOs). This assessment provided valuable insights that are presented in this study. UMO has planned to soon offer a hybrid (face-to-face seated plus online) MBA degree program and a healthcare MBA degree program.

In 2016, the Ultimate Fighting Championship was sold for a reported price of $4 billion, the highest price ever paid for a sports franchise. This was a remarkable turn-around for a promotion that 15 years earlier was saved from bankruptcy by a $2 million buyout. This turnaround was driven by the UFC’s ability to mainstream the promotion and the sport while establishing reliable revenue streams through television contracts and massive pay-per-view events. In this paper, the authors review the pay-per-view record of the UFC and analyze the extent to which it is driven by high profile celebrity fighters with broad crossover appeal. Using statistical analysis, the authors identify the top crossover celebrities and assess the economic value they generate for the UFC. They compare this to the impact generated from the promotion’s highest ranked pound-for-pound fighter and find that celebrity has far more economic value than fighting skill.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the impact of (So) social media, (Lo) local marketing, and (Mo) mobile applications (SoLoMo) on consumer behavior. The paper is based on a literature review of peer-reviewed articles, published books, trade publications, and doctorate dissertations. This paper examines the SoLoMo consumer, which is a concept that has not been widely discussed in the literature of digital marketing. A thorough literature review of the digital customer journey indicates an oxymoron. On the one hand, there is a vast range of studies in the literature to explore the impact of social media and mobile devices on marketing and consumer behavior. On the other hand, little has been said about the integration of social media, mobile application, and local marketing and how it shapes the profile of the SoLoMo consumer. This paper suggests three areas for further research: (1) the examination of the SoLoMo consumer behavior; (2) the exploration of the digital customer journey; and (3) the investigation of selected new technologies that can shape the future of marketing. The study contributes to the understanding of digital consumer behavior in a multichannel marketing environment. It also proposes a research agenda to explore the future of online consumer behavior in the digital multi-touchpoint market landscape.