Senior Projects 2021 – Business

Table of Contents

Kramm, Zachary

Title:
A Case Study of Marketing Strategies within the United States Beer Market
Date: Spring 2021
Major(s): Business
Project Advisor: Bianco, Timothy P.
Abstract: The American beer market is a staple to our economy and intertwined with many of American’s favorite activities. Advertisements, billboards, labels, and other forms of brand identification are littered throughout our everyday life almost numbing us to the psychological implication these tactics produce on us as consumers. The marketing strategy of a small-town microbrewery from Indiana differs drastically from that of Molson-Coors, yet the two have success in their own ways. I observe trends with strategies and see if there are any strategies specific to a firm or see how certain values and styles can attract customers over another. Through this study, firms within the market are observed for their strategies and tactics within marketing. This study will explore the many ways firms use marketing to get a leg up in the market, and how they accomplish that goal. Furthermore, the similarities and differences from microbreweries and microbreweries will be explored as well.

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Marconi, Matthew

Title:
The NFL Prediction Tool
Date: Spring 2021
Major(s): Business & Computer Science
Project Advisor: Bonham-Carter, Oliver N.
Abstract: While the market for sports gambling can be profitable, there is also a great deal of risk involved. In order to become the best gambler possible, one must devote a great deal of time to the operation. They must stay up do date on team strategies, injury reports, trade rumors, weather, and a number of other factors that impact a sporting event. That is why the aim of this senior thesis project was to give bettors a more efficient and accurate way of placing wagers. The objective of the study, through both theoretical and statistical analysis, was to explore a more adequate strategy for bettors of the National Football League (NFL). Using an augmented data set that includes regular season NFL games from 2015-2020, spread movements were analyzed and sorted. Specifically, exploration was to examine if specific line fluctuations of NFL games correlate to distinct outcomes. After the probabilities were revealed for specific line fluctuations, a tool was developed with Python code utilizing the revealed probabilities to forecast game outcomes. This program, The NFL Prediction Tool, was put to the test with data from this previous NFL season, 2020-2021. After making predictions on both the spread and over/under of every regular season NFL game from this past year, the tool failed to challenge the market efficiency hypothesis. While the tool did not yield the desired winning percentage, 51%, future additions to the tool are probable. Enhancements to the tool’s predicting process can be made via supplementation of additional variables.

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Samples, Christopher

Title:
Knowledge and Education Within the Life Cycle
Date: Spring 2021
Major(s): Business
Project Advisor: Michaelides, Michael
Abstract: The research question for this study is how education and knowledge affect wealth and savings. This paper looks at research such as Modigliani and his contributors’ life cycle hypothesis as a baseline of research to see a typical individual’s savings and wealth accumulation within the life cycle. This paper will analyze functions from Kuznets and Keyes, which ultimately are the backbone of the life cycle from Modigliani. The findings from Modigliani and his contributors’ show people tend to accumulate wealth and savings at an increasing rate in their working ages up until retirement. Other researchers, Jappelli and Padula, examine the correlation between financial literacy and savings, which their findings suggest that financial literacy has a positive correlation with savings. Similarly, in an article published by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, authors Wolla and Sullivan discuss the similarities and differences among education, wealth, and income. Their findings show evidence of a positive correlation between education and income as well as education and wealth. This study will take these findings and more and see if the results for the research in question hold true in an empirical analysis of data collected from the Survey of Consumer Finances from the Federal Reserve. The collected data will be analyzed through multiple linear regressions for three different dependent variables, net worth, savings, and retirement funds. This study will see how significant the findings of others are, while also looking at the findings among basic demographics. The results in this study show evidence to support the findings of these other studies, being that education and knowledge will lead to an increase in one’s wealth and savings.
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