The evaluation of open-ended questions is typically performed by human instructors using predefined criteria to uphold academic standards. However, manual grading presents challenges, including high costs, rater fatigue, and potential bias, prompting interest in automated essay scoring systems. While automated essay scoring tools can assess content, coherence, and grammar, discrepancies between human and automated scoring have raised concerns about their reliability as standalone evaluators. Large language models like ChatGPT offer new possibilities, but their consistency and fairness in feedback remain underexplored. This study investigates whether ChatGPT can provide stable and fair essay scoring—specifically, whether identical student responses receive consistent evaluations across multiple AI interactions using the same criteria. The study was conducted in two marketing courses at an engineering school in Chile, involving 40 students. Results showed that ChatGPT, when unprompted or using minimal guidance, produced volatile grades and shifting criteria. Incorporating the instructor’s rubric reduced this variability but did not eliminate it. Only after providing an example-rich rubric, a standardized output format, low temperature settings, and a normalization process based on decision tables did ChatGPT-4o demonstrate consistent and fair grading. Based on these findings, we developed a scalable algorithm that automatically generates effective grading rubrics and decision tables with minimal human input. The added value of this work lies in the development of a scalable algorithm capable of automatically generating normalized rubrics and decision tables for new questions, thereby extending the accessibility and reliability of automated assessment.

The use of product placement as a marketing communication tool is based on the inclusion of products or brands in the scene where the action is. The use of this tool has benefits for both the producer of the movie, as well as for brands and / or products. There is currently no consensus in the academic world on how to measure the effectiveness of this communication tool. There is scarce scientific evidence in Latin America, and in Chile this format has been used in television programs, and only recently in movies. The objective of this research is to study the influence of placement in movies on explicit memory (unaided recall and brand awareness) and implicit memory (purchase intention) through the implementation of an experiment performed on a sample of 205 Chilean college students, according to the different types of placement in movies: brands as part of the background, used by a main character, and connected with the plot. The results indicate that the higher the degree of integration of the brand with the plot of the film, the higher the probability of stimulating the explicit memory of participants and thereby unaided recall and brand awareness, providing empirical evidence regarding the learning of consumer behavior through placement as a communication tool.El uso del «product placement» como una herramienta de comunicación en marketing, se basa en la inclusión de productos o marcas en el escenario donde se desarrolla la acción. La utilización de esta herramienta presenta beneficios tanto para el productor del largometraje, como también para las marcas y/o productos. Actualmente no existe en el mundo académico un consenso respecto a cómo medir la efectividad de esta herramienta de comunicación. En Latinoamérica existe una escasa evidencia científica, y en Chile, este formato ha sido utilizado en espacios televisivos, y recientemente se está incursionando en el cine. El objetivo de esta investigación es estudiar la influencia del «placement» en las películas sobre la memoria explícita (recuerdo espontáneo y reconocimiento de marca) y memoria implícita (intención de compra) a través de la aplicación de un experimento a una muestra de 205 estudiantes universitarios chilenos, según los distintos tipos de «placement» en las películas: marcas como parte del fondo, usadas por un personaje principal, y conectadas con la historia. Los resultados indican que cuanto mayor es el grado de integración de la marca con la trama de la película, mayor es la probabilidad de estimular la memoria explícita de los estudiantes y con esto el recuerdo y reconocimiento de una marca, aportando evidencia empírica en relación con el aprendizaje de conductas de consumo por medio del «placement» como herramienta de comunicación.

Purpose: – The purpose of this paper are to determine: how disasters are used as a theme in advertising; how the public evaluates different ways of using disasters in advertising; what dimensions directly affect these evaluations; and what aspects should be taken into account by an organization that wants or need to develop a campaign after a disaster.Design/methodology/approach: – This paper presents two studies examining the relationship between catastrophes and advertising in the context of the February 2010 earthquake in Chile. The first study scrutinizes the characteristics of print ads that used this event as their main theme. The second study evaluates the reactions of consumers to different types of post-catastrophe ads. This issue was explored in a survey on the attitudes toward and credibility of these ads and in a qualitative examination, which explored the reasons for the interviewees’ evaluation.Findings: – The first study identified nine types of advertisements as the most used by advertisers. The second study showed that the most common ad types had the worst evaluations by the public. In addition, the evaluation of the ads was directly related to three dimensions: opinion with regard to the advertised brand, evaluation of the ad’s performance, and perception of commercial intent.Research limitations/implications: – It is important to consider some limitations of this study: this paper used only print advertising, and the sample was selected from Chilean internet users (50 percent of the population).Practical implications: – This paper provides recommendations for for-profit and non-profit organizations that need or want to effectively develop campaigns in the context of a disaster.Originality/value: – Within the context of a few studies on the development of campaigns in the context of a catastrophe, this paper seeks to test and expand upon the scarce findings in this field.