Caitlin Paris

Author: Caitlin Paris | Major: Marketing

Caitlin Paris is a student in the Walton Honors College of Business studying marketing with a minor in journalism. For the Fall 2021 semester, she has looked at branding, specifically analyzing the effect of the phenomenon known as “cancel culture” on consumer perception of such brands. This research has taken place under the guidance of Walton College Associate Professor of Marketing Dr. Molly Rapert.

During the Fall 2021 semester, I conducted marketing research with the guidance of my advisor, Dr. Molly Rapert. The overall goal of this project is to study the phenomenon of “cancel culture” and how it affects media, identify companies’ approaches to missions and values, analyze corporate response as a form of crisis management, and measure consumer response to genuine and disingenuous corporate response. My hope for this research is to identify several steps that marketers can take to demonstrate authentic business practices and in turn, enhance consumer perception of brand reputation.

It was the spring of my junior year at the University of Arkansas when I began to consider possible thesis topics. I thought about ideas that I had been discussing in class, such as branding efforts, consumer awareness, and issue management. I thought about how hard it can be for companies to accurately get their message across to consumers at the right time and in the right way. Not to mention, the business world had just been shaken by the impact of Covid-19, and it was obvious that marketers were experiencing a new world of struggle. All eyes turned to the media and watched every step that corporations were taking. This was how I got the foundation for my topic, and after discussing it with my advisor, Dr. Rapert, I was able to streamline the idea even more. I reached out to Dr. Rapert after asking peers and other professors for advice on who might be the best to mentor me on this topic. She willingly agreed to work with me and has given me great guidance along the way.

I have conducted an IRB-approved survey through Qualtrics to better gauge student perception on brand reputation and authenticity. One challenge that I faced while implementing this research was deciding how to distribute the survey to receive responses from a plethora of people. I overcame this by sending my survey out through the Walton College Undergraduate email distribution list, which resulted in many more responses than I could have gathered myself. I have learned that the surveying process can be difficult, as some responses may have incomplete submissions or lack of wanted data. However, this has taught me the importance of gathering as much data as possible and to have patience that survey data will lead to accurate conclusions.

Dr. Rapert has been a great resource for me through the research process. She advised me on how to receive IRB approval, guided me through the survey creation process, and helped me put my ideas into action. I have been able to meet new peers that are also completing their thesis under the direction of Dr. Rapert and discuss the process with them.

I have gathered a significant portion of my data through the implementation of my survey. This leads me to my next steps which include analyzing the responses I have received and drawing conclusions from that data. This research grant has allowed me to take a topic that I am passionate about, and further explore it with the help of great mentorship and resources. I look forward to seeing what my data will show and sharing it with the Walton College of Business and the Honors College.