麻豆传媒

Alicia Romano combined her passions for sports, research and teaching in the University of Northern Colorado鈥檚 Sport and Exercise Science Ph.D. program. She chose a sport administration concentration and conducted novel research that could have major implications for sports marketing. One of the highlights of her 麻豆传媒 education was her research 鈥淐onsumers鈥� Visual Attention and Explicit Memory of Sponsorships: An Eye-Tracking Investigation at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Swim Trials.鈥�

Romano said, 鈥淭his research is unique because it鈥檚 never been done before in a natural environment. The eye-tracking glasses determine consumers鈥� pupil location in relation to their world view and are used to track consumers鈥� visual attention to sponsorship information at live sporting events.鈥�

The eye-tracking technique allowed Romano to determine the number of times and for how long spectators fixated on sponsorship signage during the U.S. Olympic swim trials held in Omaha, Nebraska in 2021. When she surveyed spectators afterward to determine their recall and recognition of sponsors, she got a surprising result.

Romano said a key to this type of research is its ecological validity. In other words, 鈥渞eal-world results鈥� are important to the sport industry because sponsors are looking for tangible evidence of their return on investment.

Her work earned the Outstanding Student Paper Award at the Sport Marketing Association Conference in Las Vegas in 2021. Romano鈥檚 advisor, Professor Alan Morse, program coordinator for Sport Administration and director of the Sport Marketing Research Institute, wasn鈥檛 surprised.

鈥淚 encourage my students to do research that can be implemented in the real world. Her research reflects this by giving sport and corporate marketers tangible evidence of sponsorship effectiveness.鈥�
鈥擜lan Morse

鈥淩esearchers had yet to use the eye-tracking technique in a natural environment, setting her research apart. Her research also was accepted for presentation at an international conference in Taiwan, but unfortunately, the conference was canceled due to COVID-19,鈥� Morse said.

Morse said COVID-19 impacted Romano鈥檚 work in other ways, too.

鈥淐OVID occurred right after Alicia purchased the eye-tracking glasses, so the research was put on hold. However, Alicia鈥檚 patience paid off when the director of national events for the Olympic swim trials, a former student from our doctoral program, caught interest in the research project. Alicia did a great job of proposing and educating the Olympic Swim Marketing Committee on how she was going to perform this research,鈥� he said.

Morse said Romano鈥檚 work ethic stood out.

鈥淗er ability to work hard, stay focused, and accomplish goals showed her passion and ownership for her research and education,鈥� he said.

He believes Romano鈥檚 research could change the industry鈥檚 approach.

鈥淚 encourage my students to do research that can be implemented in the real world. Her research reflects this by giving sport and corporate marketers tangible evidence of sponsorship effectiveness,鈥� Morse said.

Romano earned a bachelor鈥檚 degree in Biology and a master鈥檚 in Post-Secondary Biology education from Northern Michigan University, where she was an NCAA athlete who competed in cross country and track and field. She will graduate from 麻豆传媒 in May 2023 after three years in the program, during which she worked as a graduate assistant and teaching assistant.

鈥淲orking with Dr. Morse was vital to the success of my research. He was encouraging and supportive throughout my academic and research journey at 麻豆传媒. This is a testimony to the whole program. Everyone wants to see you succeed and is willing to help you achieve your goals. My colleagues and my cohort were all important to my success,鈥� she said.

This fall, Romano will begin a new job as an assistant professor at Idaho State University, where she plans to continue her eye-tracking research.

鈥淚 would love to bring in graduate students and get them to experience doing research like this,鈥� Romano said.

鈥� written by Brenda Gillen