Masters Theses

Date of Award

3-1983

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Communication

Major Professor

M. W. Singletary

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to learn the opinions of Heisman Trophy voters and sports information directors in regard to publicity campaigns for the Heisman Trophy.

A random sample of 420 Heisman Trophy voters and a census of the 51 sports information directors who have had a player at their school since 1970 who has received votes for the Heisman Trophy were asked to participate in this study. Each of those individuals were mailed a four-page questionnaire during the summer of 1982, and 125 of the voters and 40 of the SIDs responded.

The major findings from this study indicated that the Heisman Trophy voters and the sports information directors agreed that a player can not win the Heisman Trophy without some publicity, that playing in a nationally televised game is very important for a Heisman Trophy candidate, and that while they may not like the present system of selecting the Heisman Trophy winner, they do not believe that there is any better way than the current method.

The two groups also agreed that there were certain times during the season which were more important than others for publicity; however, the Heisman Trophy voters said that publicity late in the season was more important while the SIDs said that publicity during the preseason and early season was more important.

The SIDs also disagreed with the voters on the importance of a player's picture appearing on the cover of a national magazine, and the importance of team- and player-related factors, with the SIDs according greater importance to such factors than the voters.

This was a purely descriptive study; therefore, making generalizations from the results is risky since cause-and-effect statements cannot be made. Additionally, the response rate for the Heisman Trophy voters was low (29.76 percent).

More information is needed on the role publicity plays in the Heisman Trophy selection process. Future research should concentrate on longitudinal and experimental studies.

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