Research-  Angeline Close

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Research

Broadly, I research in the area of consumer behavior. Specifically, I research e-marketing: event marketing and electronic marketing. Primarily, I study consumers' event marketing experiences and how their experiences at sponsored events influence affect and behavior. I have conducted many studies at sponsored sporting, holiday, and leisure events. Topics include event marketing as a form of consumer engagement, repeat attendance and event sponsorship effectiveness, how event experiences impact affect and purchase intention, sex-typing of leisure events, and how consumers may resist marketed events. A second area of interest is electronic marketing. I study the role of the Internet on consumer behavior. Topics include the role of the Internet on marketing education, advertising, and consumer dating, holiday, and event rituals. I have also contributed work in marketing scholarship. Published and working studies are available on this site.

  

:: event marketing
 

 
Engaging the Consumer through Event Marketing: Linking Attendees with the Sponsor, Community, and Brand

Close, Angeline G., R. Zachary Finney, Russell Lacey, and Julie Sneath (2006), Engaging the Consumer through Event Marketing: Linking  Attendees with the Sponsor, Community, and Brand," Journal of Advertising Research, 46, 4 (December), forthcoming. 
    
 
 

OVERVIEW:

With an on-site study at a sponsored event, we construct and test competing models to examine the relationship between event attendees, sponsorship, community involvement, and the title sponsor’s brand with respect to purchase intentions. We show that an attendee’s enthusiasm and activeness in the area of the sponsored event and knowledge of the sponsor’s products positively influence the attendee’s desire that a sponsor be involved with the community. Then, we show that attendees who are more community-minded have a more positive opinion of the sponsor as a result of their event experience; a better opinion of the sponsor contributes to increased intentions to purchase the sponsor’s products. Results from this framework indicate that event marketing, in conjunction with consumers who are enthusiastic, active, and knowledgeable about the sponsor and event, serves as a valuable lever to engage the consumer.    

  

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The Impact of Repeat Attendance on Sponsorship Marketing Effects

Russell Lacey, Julie Sneath, R. Zachary Finney, and Angeline G. Close (2007), "The Impact of Repeat Attendance on Sponsorship Marketing Effects," Journal of Marketing Communications, forthcoming.
 
 

OVERVIEW:

Understanding the impact of retaining sponsors and event attendees offers important insight both to organizations that are contemplating long-term sponsorship relationships and to event marketers seeking ongoing sponsorship partnerships. Yet prior to this study, the impact of multi-year sponsorship and attendance on a sponsoring brand have not been investigated. The study addresses this gap through the examination of field survey results obtained during a professional cycling event, the Dodge Tour de Georgia, which drew more than 800,000 spectators over a six-day period in April 2005. Data from a sample of 1,227 attendees suggest that multi-year attendance is associated with enhanced brand image and purchase intentions of an ongoing title sponsor’s products. There are significant differences in: 1) attendees’ attitudes about the title sponsor and 2) their increased likelihood of purchasing the sponsor’s vehicles. Attitudes about the title sponsor were most favorable among spectators who attended the annual event multiple times. Furthermore, those who attended the event multiple times showed an increased likelihood of purchasing a new vehicle from the title sponsor. Advancing relationship theory, we find that consumers appreciate that the corporate brand contributes more to society than its primary business activities, and in turn, consumers state that they act on that appreciation.

 

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An IMC Approach to Event Marketing: The Effects of Sponsorship and Experience on Customer Attitudes

Sneath, Julie, Russell Lacey, R. Zachary Finney, and Angeline G. Close (2005), "An IMC Approach to Event Marketing: The Effects of Sponsorship and Experience on Customer Attitudes," Journal of Advertising Research, 45, 4 (December) 373-381.
 

 

OVERVIEW:

The number of companies sponsoring events has increased over the past decade.  Yet, for many firms it is unclear how the effectiveness of event marketing activities, as a component of the overall communications mix, can be measured.  The current study examines outcomes associated with an automobile manufacturer’s sponsorship of a charitable sporting event.   Data for the study was collected from a sample of 565 spectators in five cities during the six-day event.  Survey participants were asked to indicate how they had heard about the event and any exhibits and activities in which they participated during the event.  In addition, respondents were asked to identify attitudes toward the title sponsor and its products, likelihood of purchasing the sponsor’s cars and trucks and preferred choice of next vehicle.  Results of the study provide evidence for inclusion of event marketing in the company’s promotional mix.  Further, the findings indicate that providing opportunities for experience with the sponsor’s products during the event may enhance outcomes associated with the event.  The role of event marketing as a form of communication is discussed, and recommendations and directions for future research are suggested.    

 

 
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Balancing Act (Proprietary and Non-Proprietary Event Sponsorships)

Sneath, Julie, Russell Lacey, R. Zachary Finney, and Angeline G. Close (2006), "Balancing Act," Marketing Health Services, 26, 1 (Spring), 27-32.
 
 

OVERVIEW:

A budding industry trend is the shift away from sponsorship of high-profile shared events to smaller "exclusive" marketing events.  Despite their increased number, it is clear that event-related expenditures are being scrutinized. The lack of support concerning sponsorship effectiveness questions the wisdom of its continued use. 

Few studies have offered empirical insight into the impact of proprietary versus non-proprietary event marketing.  In response, the two objectives of this study are: (1) to explore the trade-offs between proprietary and non-proprietary sponsored marketing events, and (2) to assess the impact of healthcare marketing activities in association with a high-profile sporting event. 

To address the latter objective, we analyze field survey spectator results gathered at a sporting event during which a healthcare organization’s exhibits were present.  We discuss the two major types of event marketing and the trade-offs of each approach. We then describe the event, healthcare marketers, and event beneficiary, along with the results of the study and analysis of the healthcare marketer’s impact on the event.  Following the study results, we examine a prominent healthcare organization and reasons why it subscribes to the alternative event marketing approach.  Finally, based on the findings of the two approaches, we offer marketing implications for healthcare organizations.

 

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Consumer Experiences and Market Resistance:
An Extension of Resistance Theories

Angeline G. Close and George M. Zinkhan (2007), "Consumer Experiences and Market Resistance: An Extension of Resistance Theories," Advances in Consumer Research, 33, forthcoming.
 
 

OVERVIEW:

Here, we seek to advance understanding of consumers’ resistance manifest in holiday events. Specifically, we maintain three objectives: 1) to introduce a definition of market resistance, 2) to understand and explain consumer experiences that are associated with consumers’ resistance, and 3) to show what consumers are moving towards via their acts of resistance.

We introduce a definition market resistance as an opposition to traditions in the marketplace, with the purpose of creating new behaviors. We employ five synergistic methods over seven years (2000-2006). We present a theoretical framework to show the characteristics associated with market resistance. In the context of Valentine’s Day, we find that consumer experiences that drive market resistance are unfulfilled expectations, exclusion, terminal materialism, obligations, role exhaustion, and low need perception. Together, we present a framework that may serve as a base for scholars to continue theoretical development.

We develop two key areas of resistance theory: ambivalence and avoidance. Using new communication media, informants who avoid the traditional marketplace often find new places to share negative feelings. Thus, we extend aspects of resistance theory into the digital age by showing how informants do not avoid their negative feelings completely. Instead, they often create new channels for the negative feelings that are less apparent in the traditional marketplace.

We show that consumers are moving towards a higher purpose with their resistance. In many cases, we find that consumers are moving towards acts of voluntary simplicity and co-creation of new marketplace traditions. Along with acts of market resistance, consumers create new events, traditions, rituals, and trends. While some informants maintain traditions, many re-create traditions and serve as change-agents. We present implications for theory, limitations, and avenues to extend this framework.

 

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A Holiday Loved and Loathed: A Consumer Perspective of Valentine’s Day

Angeline Grace Close and George M. Zinkhan (2006), "A Holiday Loved and Loathed: A Consumer Perspective of Valentine’s Day," Advances in Consumer Research, 34, forthcoming.
 
 

OVERVIEW:

Valentine’s Day is an event associated with lavish consumption, rituals, expectations, and commercialism. Much of the romance is displayed with store-bought and marketing-driven exchanges, contrary to the unique personalized and intimate nature sometimes associated with Valentine’s Day and associated events. The objective of our multi-method study is to provide insight into Valentine’s rituals, themes, and meanings (as expressed in the U.S.) as a basis for understanding consumer behavior for this holiday.  Our three research questions focus on: a) consumer behaviors and rituals (both in-store and in the private spheres), b) key consumer meanings and emergent themes, and c) roles of marketing communications during this holiday.

We identify many consumer behaviors associated with Valentine’s Day.  In turn, we categorize behaviors into the areas of: gift exchange, card exchange, affection, food and drink preparation and consumption, and grooming/clothing.  Many of these behaviors revolve around intimacy and sexuality.  Some key meanings associated with these behaviors include:  “belongingness”, “altruism”, “affection and intimacy”, “mutual expectations”, “self-gifts”, and “negative feelings”.

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Sex-Typing of Leisure Activities: A Test of Two Theories

 Zinkhan, George M., Penelope Prenshaw, and Angeline G. Close (2004), "Sex-Typing of Leisure Activities: A Test of Two Theories," Advances in Consumer Research, 31 (B. Kahn and M.F. Luce, ed.), Valdosta, GA: Association for Consumer Research, 412-419.  

 


OVERVIEW
:

It is generally accepted that perceptions of the suitability of particular leisure events and activities for males and females exist, and are based on sex-related stereotypes.  Colley (1987) cites two sources from which these sex-related perceptions may emanate.  First, they may be based on views of what is appropriate for the roles men and women enact at work and in the home.  Second, perceptions may reflect stereotypes of male and female physical and psychological traits (particularly in relation to sport participation).

The appropriateness of particular leisure events and activities for males or females is often used as a predictor for participation.  However, research has only investigated the sex-appropriateness of sports and physical activities within the leisure domain (Colley, Nash, O’Donnell and Restorick 1987). Therefore, the first research objective is to create and validate a comprehensive list of leisure activities and to classify these activities as “masculine,” “feminine,” or “neutral”.

The second objective is to investigate the determinants of sex-typing of leisure activities and events.  The theories of Bem (1981) and Spence (1984) purport to explain the phenomenon of sex-typing; the former takes a personality approach, while the latter takes an attitudinal approach toward understanding sex-typing.  A central issue in testing Bem and Spence’s theories, concerns whether a personality approach or an attitude approach is more appropriate.  Although personality research has contributed much to our understanding of psychological phenomena, some researchers are disenchanted with the sometimes weak relationships, which appear to exist between personality and behavior (Kassarjian and Sheffet 1991).  Spence’s attitude approach, within the domain of sex-typing, represents one possible alternative.  Thus, this study investigates the effect of gender personality and gender-role attitudes upon sex-typing of leisurely events, and seeks to determine the individual and combined effects of these gender-related phenomena upon sex-typing of leisure activities.  As leisure activities transgress online, a re-evaluation of gender theory is called for as it pertains to leisurely behavior and leisure events.
 

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Marketing Communications, Brand Loyalty and Teenagers: A Logit Choice Model

Angeline Grace Close and Richard J. Fox, “Marketing Communications, Brand Loyalty and Teenagers: A Logit Choice Model,” Working Paper.

OVERVIEW:

Brand loyalty is often a desired outcome of event marketing communications. This research focuses on the impact of demographic variables, namely as teenage status and gender, on brand loyalty. Other variables studied include taste, quality, image, and the utility of the soft drink. Via an empirical application utilizing marketing modeling techniques, we examine brand loyalty in the soft drink category.  To do this, we use a logit model.  Survey data among South American soft drink consumers (n=6000) are collected and used to estimate a loyalty model.  After interpretation, we discuss the findings, implications, and recommendations. Our main findings indicate that teenagers and males are the most likely to be brand loyal in the soft drink category, and that there is no interaction effect between gender and age. We discuss the findings with their potential impact on marketing communications decisions relevant to gender and the teenage market on an international level.

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:: electronic marketing


Chalkboards to Cybercources: The Internet in Marketing Education

Close, Angeline G., Ashutosh Dixit, and Naresh Malhotra (2005), “Chalkboards to Cybercources: The Internet in Marketing Education,” Marketing Education Review, 15 (2) (Summer), 81-94.
 

 

OVERVIEW:

Electronic environments such as the Internet lead the way to ever-changing concepts in marketing education.  The changing state of technology necessitates an equally rapid synthesis of literature. Our study serves as an investigation of research concerning the Internet and marketing education.  We synthesize 80 articles featuring the Internet and marketing education and classify the literature into seven components. These areas include: 1) active learning, 2) Internet marketing degree requirement, 3) marketing department websites, 4) pedagogical obstacles, 5) student benefits and obstacles, 6) distance learning courses, and 7) the future of marketing education. We then systematically identify gaps in the research, in order to provide streams for future study in this evolving area. The emerging gaps include: e-ethics in marketing, collapsing international boundaries, technology and marketing department value, and the infinite “Internet2”.  We ultimately address the state of Internet-based education, and how the state of the field relates with the gaps in literature. Our research targets the marketing professor, doctoral students in marketing, and educational institutions, as each may be profoundly impacted by the body of knowledge that has emerged as marketing environments evolve from the “chalkboard to the cybercourse”.
 

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    Technology and Dating Rituals:
    A Historical Analysis of Online and Electronic Rituals

Angeline G. Close and George M. Zinkhan, “Technology and Dating Rituals: A Historical Analysis”,  Working Paper.
 

 

OVERVIEW:

This research analyzes dating patterns in recent American history as they relate to consumer behavior.  Before undertaking a phenomenology of today's increasingly electronic dating culture, we provide an extensive, historically based review of past dating patterns and trends in American history.  This phenomenology of modern dating is generated through a series of in-depth interviews.  Dating attitudes and behavior are analyzed in light of the three theories regarding the functions of dating: dating as status-seeking, dating as socialization, and dating as fulfilling ego needs. We view dating patterns as a non-static phenomena.  Furthermore, dating is questioned to be changing along with societal and cultural adaptations.  Culture has reinforced male and female evolutionary preferences through the media and the institutions of dating and marriage.  The evolutionary framework presents consumer behavior as an extension of behavior patterns established before the era of consumerism. Awareness of a future outlook of these changes on American dating norms provides insight to marketers as dating is a form of consumption and ultra-conscious marketing in the e-services and e-commerce arena.

 

    The eMergence of eDating

Close, Angeline G. and George M. Zinkhan (2004), "The E-Mergence of E-Dating, Advances in Consumer Research, 31 (B. Kahn and M.F. Luce, ed.), Valdosta, GA: Association for Consumer Research, 153-157.
 
 

OVERVIEW:

“Now fate has met its match!” ---Yahoo! Personals.

Dating, or the process of ritualistically courting a partner with a perceived aspect of romantic potential, is a component of consumer behavior that is currently in a transition stage. Dating behavior is “E-merging” along with increased online and wireless capability. E-dating sites account for the highest portion of all online paid advertising content.  There is an e-dating site for almost every religion (e.g., catholicsingles.com), region (e.g., chicagosingles.com), or cultural background (e.g., globalrishta.com).  The most popular online dating services (e.g., match.com; myspace.com) draw patrons and curious counterparts from all financial, economic, and social backgrounds.  E-dating sites provide a virtual opportunity for consumers to interact and stage marketed events. The electronic and event environments have the potential to transition traditional dating patterns, rituals, scripts, and motivations on both the individual and the societal level. 

Two central questions guide this research. Primarily, “To what extent do daters use the Internet to initiate and/or facilitate dating relationships in the U.S.? Furthermore, “What concerns and outcomes do consumers experience before, during, and after searching, posting, and/or joining an Internet dating/singles site?” In pursuing these questions, we seek to: a) understand the emergence of electronic (Internet) dating via informants’ experiences, and b) present data that describes and typifies consumer motivations, experiences, and outcomes of e-dating in the online and onground marketplaces.

 

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    Rules of Romance at Work: Who’s the Boss?

Close, Angeline G. (2002), “Rules of Romance at Work: Who’s the Boss,”  Atlantic Marketing Association, 187-193.
 


OVERVIEW:

Before the Internet's e-dating scene emerged, the workplace remained a common (yet often controversial) place to meet a romantic partner. 
Eight million relationships a year begin at the workplace (Society for Human Resources 2001), dating at the workplace versus the marketplace presents challenges and opportunities at the individual, couple, and organizational level. Daters who work together often find themselves in situations that present a choice between business or a romantic relationship. This choice may be attempted to be controlled by corporate policy, yet in many contexts, a policy banning workplace romance is not realistic, appropriate, nor effective. Dating incorporates intimacy, passion, and commitment, as suggested by Sternberg’s (1989) triangle theory of love.  I overlap this theory with "three Ws" of a workplace dating policy: 1. When should there be a policy banning workplace dating?; 2. Why or why not have such a policy?; 3. Would such a policy be taken seriously?

In respect to the triangle theory (Sternberg 1989), I interviewed 22 workplace daters and managers about their company policy and the outcomes of such policy. I present advantages and disadvantages on policy surrounding workplace dating.  I discuss managerial implications, noting that love is a higher-order boss. Policies for e-dating at the workplace are suggested.
 

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The Agency in Cyberspace: A Content Analysis of Ad Agency Homepages

Finney, R. Z., Richard D. Parker, Angeline G.Close, and Robert A. Orwig (2004),"The Agency in Cyberspace: A Content Analysis of Ad Agency Homepages, Journal of Contemporary Business Issues, 12 (2) (Fall), 74-80.
 

 

OVERVIEW:

"If you don't get noticed, you don't have anything. You just have to be noticed, but the art is in getting noticed naturally, without screaming or without tricks." — Leo Burnett

No longer a “trick to get noticed,” web sites are a necessity for businesses today. Establishing a successful web presence means bringing the consumer a memorable, informative, and satisfying experience. The Internet is changing the nature of marketing communications. Through the Internet, buyers have “real-time” access to businesses across the world. Interestingly, in spite of a number of studies that investigate the Internet’s impact on advertising messages, to date, no one has examined the Internet’s impact on the advertising agency. In this study, we begin to fill this “gap” in the literature. We conducted a content analysis of advertising agency homepages to determine how agencies use the web to communicate with current and potential customers. Specifically, we examine two broad questions: 1) what percentage of leading U.S. advertising agencies have a web presence?, and 2) for what purposes do ad agencies use their homepages? To answer the second question, we investigate three specific aspects of the homepages: a) communication strategy, b) interactivity, and c) the degree to which the homepage lists firm credentials.
 

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Cyber Identity Theft: A Conceptual Model and Issues for Public Policy

Close, Angeline G., George M. Zinkhan, and Robert Z. Finney (2004), “Cyber Identify Theft: Issues for Public Policy,” Enhancing Knowledge Development in Marketing, 15 (K. L. Bernhardt, J.S. Boles, and P.S. Ellen ed.). Chicago: American Marketing Association, 48-55.
 

 
 

OVERVIEW:

Here, a conceptual model is introduced for empirical work on cyber identity theft.  To do this, three classification schemes (i.e., methods used by the thieves; time frame of the theft; behavioral
responses by victims) synthesize conceptualizations of identity theft associated with the Internet. 
Together, these schemes illustrate major problems and trends associated with cyber-identity theft. In light of the growing concern associated with identity theft, these schemes are highlighted in order to highlight and discuss key issues related to public policy and consumer welfare for future research.
 

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The Determinants of Consumer Electronic Shopping Cart Abandonment

Kukar-Kinney, Monika,  Angeline G. Close, and  Heather Reineke, Working Paper.
 

 

OVERVIEW:

The goals of this study are to explain the reasons for Internet shopping cart abandonment before a consumer finalizes a purchase, and to offer solutions to increase the conversion rate from Internet shopping to Internet buying. According to the Expectancy Disconfirmation Model, prior expectations of an experience induces satisfaction or dissatisfaction (Simintiras, Diamantopoulos and Ferriday, 1997). Depending on how the shopper foresees the transaction occurring, positive disconfirmation (i.e., expectations are exceeded), confirmation (i.e., experience and expectations are equal), or negative disconfirmation (i.e., actual experience fails to meet expectations) can result (Swan and Trawick, 1981). In the Internet shopping context, a website that fails to confirm or positively disconfirm expectations may influence consumers to become dissatisfied and desert their shopping cart. The dependent variable of interest, the extent of online shopping cart abandonment, will be measured with the question “How frequently do you abandon your online shopping cart after having placed something in it during the same Internet session?” , and verified with questions measured via a 7 point Likert scale. Measures for independent variables, the determinants of shopping cart abandonment, were adapted from the literature or newly developed for the present study.
 

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::Marketing Scholarship

 

   

What Impacts First Faculty Placements in Marketing?

Close, Angeline G. and Julie Guidry (2007), “What Impacts First Faculty Placements in   Marketing?,” Enhancing Knowledge Development in Marketing,. Chicago: American Marketing
Association, forthcoming. (extended abstract)
 

Close, Angeline Grace Julie Guidry, and Kent Monroe, “What Influences First Faculty Placements in Marketing?,” Working Paper.
 

 

OVERVIEW:

We present findings and develop, we analyze survey data from new first time tenure track faculty members in marketing. To extend theories on recruitment success from other business fields, we introduce the factors that may be more unique to recent trends in new marketing faculty placements. Key findings include that A-level publications, A-level manuscripts submitted, dissertation status, years in the doctoral program, and attending the AMA-Sheth doctoral consortium had a positive effect on salary, while teaching experience had a negative effect on salary.

  

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A Content Analysis of Content Analyses in Marketing

Austin, Graham, Angeline G. Close, Sunil Contractor, JiHee Song, and Qiyu Zhang (2004), “A Content Analysis of Content Analyses in Marketing, "Enhancing Knowledge Development in Marketing, 15 (L. Bernhardt, J.S. Boles, and P.S. Ellen, ed.). Chicago: American Marketing Association, 192-194.
 

 
 

OVERVIEW:

Marketing communication often involves examination of communication processes--with the Internet as a tool. Content analysis is a method for studying communication forms (Yale and Gilly 1988), and here, we explore its use in marketing research. We review all content analysis studies published in select marketing journals from 1977 to 2002. We find content analysis is not a widely used method in marketing research. The method has gained sophistication as an analytical tool over the past twenty-five years, as evidenced by the Internet and content analysts’ heightened reliance on theory to inform research design and interpretation of findings, and by their increasing use of advanced statistical methods to analyze data.  However, many content analyses still rely on simple percentages to interpret their data.  We call for researchers to uphold more rigorous standards in content analyses in order to improve its efficacy as a research method in marketing.   

 

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Scientific Presentations in Marketing

Finney, R. Z. and Angeline Grace Close (2005), “Scientific Presentations in Marketing,” (Book Review) Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science  33 (2) (April), 37-38.
 

 
 

OVERVIEW:

“[Lectures] depend entirely for their value on the manner in which they are given. It is not the matter, not the subject, so much as the man.” --Michael Faraday, 1864

For marketing scholars, presentations are a must in the academic marketplace. During the course of our careers, we present (or co-present with technology) at conferences, on campus visits, to obtain grants, and to teach. And yet, in spite of the importance of these lectures, many scholars receive little formal instruction regarding how they can improve their presentations. We review a framework built for scholars to become more effective presenters to academic and practitioner audiences alike. Key areas are the use of technology for technology's sake, interactivity, and making use of the communication process.

 

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