Ep. 2 - Consumer psychology during a pandemic w/ James Wilkie

Market With Me Quikly

This is the second episode of Market with Me Quikly. We created this podcast to inform, educate and assist marketers in doing their jobs just a little bit better, which became even more necessary once the coronavirus pandemic had the entire country on standstill. The stock market took a hit, people began losing their jobs, a stimulus package is now in the works. Not to mention, tens of thousands are dying around the world from COVID-19.

So, right now, we’re in the thick of it. And it looks like we’re going to be here for awhile. We’ve been hearing from marketers firsthand just how difficult it is to navigate doing their jobs in this environment.

Which is why I called Professor James Wilkie -- at the University of Notre Dame.

In addition to teaching students, he’s a consumer psychologist. His research examines how environmental cues and social norms can (automatically) influence consumers.

His work has been published in some of marketing and psychology’s lead journals -- in addition to The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, NPR and many more. The Marketing Science Institute's Academic Trustees named his article titled "Is Eco-Friendly Unmanly? The Green-Feminine Stereotype and Its Effect on Sustainable Consumption” a "must-read" for marketers.

His projects have explored 1) the impact of gender perceptions and identity on consumer preferences of men vs. women, 2) how qualitative aspects of numeric information can bias consumers and 3) how activating "consumer" mindsets changes judgments and decisions.