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The purpose of this study is to determine if regional proximity and fan club involvement could be used to predict success for brands that jointly sponsor a team and their key rival.

A brand with regional proximity to the rival teams it sponsored was identified. Fan club members of a major college sports team served as respondents. Structural equation modeling was used to test a model that predicted antecedents to purchase intentions and positive word-of-mouth based on individual fan characteristics.

Results suggest that the intrinsic and social components of fanship as well as regional proximity facilitate the success of brands jointly sponsoring rivals. The intrinsic dimension of fandom foreshadowed approval of the joint sponsorship investigated but did not directly enhance the sponsor’s brand equity. Instead, it was demonstrated that fans must first approve of the joint sponsorship arrangement before conferring elevated brand equity onto the sponsor. Increased social interaction with the fan club resulted in higher levels of purchase intentions and positive word-of-mouth of the joint sponsor.

This study differs from prior studies investigating joint sponsors in four ways. First, the intrinsic and social dimensions of fanship were measured within the context of a fan community. Second, the context of the study included a sponsor with regional proximity to both rival teams. Third, it was determined that the proclivity for social interaction within a fan community enhances the positive outcomes for joint sponsors. Fourth, unlike previous research studying joint sponsors, this study demonstrates a path to success for these brands.

The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), particularly within the last decade and the application of ‘deep learning’, has simultaneously accelerated human fears of the changes AI provokes in human behaviour. The question is not any more if the new phenomena, like artificially-induced consciousness, empathy or creation, will be widely used, but whether they will be used in ethically acceptable ways and for ethically acceptable purposes.

Departing from a diagnosis of the state humans have brought themselves to by (ab)use of technology, the present chapter investigates the possibility of a systematic study of adaptations human society will have to consider in order to guarantee the obeyance to the fundamental ethical values and thus its spiritual survival. To that end, a new discipline – epharmology (from the Greek epharmozein = to adapt) is proposed, together with its aims and methodology.

We used a complementary mixed methods approach, grounded in situated expectancy-value theory, to explore the relationship between completing an internship and engineering undergraduate students’ preparedness and expectancy of success in obtaining their preferred first position after graduation. We disseminated a survey to institutions in the United States and received 1,583 responses; from this sample, we interviewed 62 students.

Internship experiences are considered among “high impact practices” in higher education. Despite calls to increase the quality and quantity of internships, little is known about relationships between internship participation and how prepared students feel for future work, specifically their first position after graduation.

Our findings showed that the students who participated in internships had positive perceptions of preparedness and expectancy of success compared to their peers. We found that participating in multiple internships was beneficial to these outcomes until a student participated in five internships. After five internships, our data did not show a correlation between increasing numbers of internship experiences and increased preparedness or expectancy of success.

While there are benefits to internship participation, after six experiences, additional internships are unlikely to increase confidence in job success and preparation. If that still is lacking, a different approach or conversation on career choice may be warranted.

Our findings are unique in identifying (1) the aspects of internships that increase perceptions of success, including tying theoretical concepts learned in the classroom to engineering practice and (2) the point at which further internships do not seem to offer further benefits.