Tag: M5 Messaging and Performance

“Join, or Die”: The Binding of a Nation through the Evolution of a Symbol

Presenters: Mathew Beattie and Grant Aman

Mentor: Vera Keller

AM Session Oral Presentation

Panel Name: M5 Messaging and Performance

Location: Rogue Room

Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm

This study of the Pre-Revolutionary War symbol, Join or Die, emerged from a Honors College Seminar of the study on the history of the emergence of public sphere and its effect on media. The American symbol “Join or Die” bound the colonies together politically and rhetorically, creating a new medium of discourse in the American public sphere. “Join or Die” alluded to a long history of metaphors of the body politic, but at the same time it transformed such metaphors in a more egalitarian direction. “Join or Die” precipitated a flood of political cartoons that formed an important part of political debates leading up to and during the early Revolution. We studied the continued allusions to the “Join or Die” symbol as well as transformations and re-interpretations of it. We also noted the continued deployment and re-interpretation of “Join or Die” in contemporary Tea Party demonstrations. Our study illuminates the power of visual print media to form a sphere for debate, whether or not the interpretation of those media remains constant. We suggest that the ability of visual media to offer multiple interpretations can in fact contribute to the vibrancy of public dialogue.

Conformation and Performance in Event Horses

Presenter: Brianna McHorse

Mentor: Samantha Hopkins

AM Session Oral Presentation

Panel Name: M5 Messaging and Performance

Location: Rogue Room

Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm

For thousands of years, conformation-the external physical shape of the body’s parts-has been considered a reliable indicator of a horse’s athletic ability. Despite the influence of conformation assessments on equine breeding and trade, few studies have used analytical methods to establish quantitative relationships between conformation and performance. Existing work suggests a significant relationship between judgments of quality and several conformational variables, especially shoulder and pelvis angle, which influence the reach and timing of the horse’s stride. I investigate the conformation-performance correlation in eventing, an equestrian discipline that tests the horse’s ability to complete three phases: dressage, cross-country, and stadium-jumping. Using statistical comparisons of performance records with geometric relationships between skeletal landmarks on the horse’s body, this study ultimately aims to quantify “ideal” conformation for an eventer. Preliminary results based on photographs suggest a significant relationship between con- formational variables and competition scores, especially in the dressage phase. Traits that may drive performance include back length and shoulder, hip, and pelvis angle. Future work using physical location of the skeletal landmarks may provide clearer resolution of ideal traits at each level of competition. Ultimately, this line of research may lead to a set of quantitative guidelines to be used when selecting event horses to purchase or breed.

Brand and Team Sports Video Games: Is the FIFA Video Game an Antecedent to Soccer Team Loyalty

Presenter: Evan Baechler

Mentor: Whitney Wagoner

AM Session Oral Presentation

Panel Name: M5 Messaging and Performance

Location: Rogue Room

Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm

Global, brand-growth strategies have been common among the world largest soccer teams for decades. However, recently, digital media have created opportunities for teams without lavish marketing budgets to foster brand experiences outside their immediate geographic vicinities. The challenges facing soccer marketers are prioritizing between thousands of digital spaces and creating content influential enough to build loyalty among out-of-market fans. In the fight for growth, soccer video games are largely underutilized. This study will investigate the potential for video games to drive brand growth for soccer teams. Using a combined qualitative and quantitative market research survey of 50 avid gamers, the study will determine whether playing the world’s most popular soccer video game, Electronic Art’s FIFA soccer, is an antecedent to developing loyalty toward a foreign soccer team’s brand. Loyalty is understood as a two-dimensional construct of an attitudinal bias toward a brand combine with consumption behavior involving that brand. In the realms of violence and distal relationship building, social scientists have already proven video games’ ability to influence individuals’ attitudes and behaviors. As a result, the author hypothesizes that the FIFA soccer video game is an antecedent to soccer team brand loyalty, meaning the game has powerful marketing implications in soccer team brand growth.