Intense Discussion Between Overseas Scholars and Domestic Marketing Academis, Successful ‘2023 KUBS International Marketing Symposium’  

On the 12th, numerous marketing professors and graduate students from across the country visited KUBS (Dean= Sang Yong Kim). The ‘KUBS Internation Symposium of Marketing (thereinafter Marketing Symposium)’ which began in 2005 as part of the 100th anniversary celebration of Korea University, took place in Room 412 of the LG-Posco Business building. The marketing symposium featured three presentations from overseas scholars and panel discussions under the theme “Consumer Behavior: Social Media, Political Ideology, and Marketplace Dignity’.  

First, Professor Jeff Inman, the Albery Wesley Frey Professor at the University of Pittsburch in the United States, gave a presentation. Professor Inman in highly respected as a scholar in the field of consumer behavior research, having served as the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Consumer Research, the leading academic journal in the marketing field, as well as the president of the Association for Consumer Research and the Society for Consumer Psychology. In this symposium, he presented on the topic “What Drives Consumer Voting Behavior on Social Media? The Role of Posting Style Matching and Profile Matching.”  

Professor Inman analyzed real data from SNS platforms in Japan and review sites in the United States to study consumer behavioral responses (e.g. liking posts) to social media posts. According to research, the “posting style congruence effect,” which indicates that the more the attributes of a post (such as length, sentiment, length of emojis and photos) match the attributed of a person’s previous posts, the more likely the recipient is to react to the post and the “profile congruence effect”, which shows that the more the geographic and demographic profiles of the send and recipient align, the more positive response, were found. Professor Inman stated that “these research findings not only contribute to social media marketing and interpersonal communication theoretically, but also provide practical insights to platforms and marketers.”  

Next, Professor Manoj Thomas, the Nakashimato Frey Professor at Cornall University in the United States, presented on the topic ‘Political Ideology Predicts Price Negotiation’. Professor Thomas is known for his expertise in pricing strategy and is the associate editor for renowned academic journals in the field of marketing, such as the Journal of Consumer Research and the Journal of Marketing Research. According to Professor Thomas, “Political ideology has emerged as a significant factor in shaping individual identities, and I aimed to investigate the role of political ideology in influencing individual behavior beyond the political domain.” 

Using various research methods, Professor Thomas found the fact that compared to progressive-minded consumers, conservative-minded consumers exhibit a greater tendency to engage in price negotiation due to their strong belief in free market ideology. He presented the role of the free market ideology as a determining factor in price negotiation and particularly emphasized the significance of demonstrating that the universal concept of political ideology also has a significant impact on economic behavior.  

The final session was led by Professor Cait Lamberton, the Alberto I. Duran President's Distinguished Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, who presented on the topic of "The Drive for Marketplace Dignity: The Case for and Consequences of a Third System." Professor Lamberton serves as the co-editor-in-chief of the prestigious academic journal, ‘Journal of Marketing’ and is a highly influential scholar, not only having published numerous papers but she also has received several research awards. She stated, “I began this research with the question of whether human dignity exists and is applicable in marketing situation.”  

Furthermore, Professor Lamberton stated, "Consumer dignity is composed of three dimensions: first, symbolic visibility and recognition as a human being; second, agency in making choices and exerting control; and third, justice and fair treatment in receiving equal treatment.” She stated that “consumer dignity can be realized in marketing situations, and the extent to which dignity is perceived, leads to different responses to marketing activities.” Additionally, she proposed that “the concept of dignity is related to consumer information processing and in addition to the widely known System 1 (automatic and heuristic processing) and System 2 (systematic and controlled processing), a third processing system based on dignity can operate.”    

After the completion of paper presentation sessions, an open-format comprehensive discussion took place between the overseas scholars and the audience. The moderator and the audience raised various questions and issues regarding marketing and consumer behavior research as a whole, and the overseas scholars generously shared their experiences, insights and advice.  

Meanwhile, Professor Gangseog Ryu, who participated in this marketing symposium, expressed his satisfaction saying “Even in the United States, only a few universities organize similar academic events, but we Korea University Business School holds this symposium every year. This is something to be proud of as a member of KUBS and I hope this tradition and culture of valuing research will continue.”