Research Project Awarded by MSI

Assistant Professors of Marketing Anders Bengtsson and Giana M. Eckhardt have been awarded a research grant from the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) to study the social construction of brands in China. The research project seeks to explore how connections between brands and consumers occur by emphasizing the importance of social negotiation in this process. Such knowledge can advance the understanding of brands as cultural resources and can help companies interested in entering China develop relevant brand positioning strategies that facilitate emotional connections between the brand and consumers. For this project, Bengtsson and Eckhardt have partnered with Dunkin’ Brands who are co-sponsoring the project with MSI. Eckhardt and Bengtsson are set to travel to China this summer to begin empirical data collection. The grant represents a major achievement for the Marketing Department as MSI is the premier funding organization for research in marketing. The Marketing Science Institute provides intellectual leadership in marketing and its allied fields, with the goal of improving and influencing business thinking and practice. MSI’s core activities consist of supporting high-quality academic research and presenting the findings at conferences and in working paper and monograph form.

Recent Publications

Eckhardt, Giana M. and Julien Cayla (2007), “Asian brands without borders: Regional opportunities and challenges,” International Marketing Review, 24, special issue on international branding.

Maulana, Amalia and Giana M. Eckhardt (2007), “Just friends, good acquaintances or soul mates? An exploration of website connectedness,” Qualitative Market Research, 10(3).

Bengtsson, Anders and Jacob Östberg (2006) "Researching the Cultures of Brands," in Handbook of Qualitative Research Methods in Marketing, ed. Russell W. Belk, Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar, 83-93.

Eckhardt, Giana M, Timothy Devinney, Pat Auger and Thomas Birtchnell (2006), "The other CSR: Consumer Social Responsibility," Stanford Social Innovation Review, Fall, 30 – 37.

Eckhardt, Giana M. and Michael J. Houston (2007), "On the distinction between cultural and cross-cultural psychological approaches and its significance for consumer psychology," in Review of Marketing Research, vol. 3, Naresh Malhotra (ed.), Armonk NY: ME Sharpe, 81-108.

Venkatraman, Meera and Teresa Nelson. (forthcoming) "From Servicescape to Consumptionscape: A Photo-Elicitation Study of Starbucks in the New China," Journal of International Business Studies.