What factors come into play when people decide what, how and when to buy something? Michael Barone has made a career of seeking answers to that question, and he’s shared his findings with marketing colleagues far and wide.
Barone, a College of Business professor specializing in consumer behavior, has appeared regularly since 2000 on an American Marketing Association list of the nation’s most prolific marketing researchers.
In 2008, the Journal of Advertising named him one of the country’s Top 25 Most Productive Advertising Researchers and in 2006 he earned high honors distinction on an Honor Roll of Consumer Researchers compiled by the authors of a leading consumer behavior textbook.
His fascination with consumer psychology has prompted him to study a wide array of related issues, from how much pricing affects buying decisions to how our mood influences what we choose.
“If you don’t know how consumers make decisions, you can’t effectively market anything,” he says.
Barone published six research articles in 2013. As of March 2014, he had six more manuscripts under review and seven in preparation, and he’s conducting six research studies that he expects to lead to even more articles.
So when does he have time to teach class?
“Research and teaching are both important,” he says. “Doing research helps you become a better teacher.
Barone also has done consulting work for more than a dozen organizations, including the Federal Trade Commission, Colgate-Palmolive Inc. and Boys and Girls Club of America. He says that activity adds real-world experience that also gives him an edge in the classroom.
Barone, who joined UofL in 2007, has earned several teaching awards.
In 2010-11, he received a Graduate Teaching Award from UofL’s business school, which also honored him the previous year with a Faculty Excellence Award and named him International MBA Professor of the Year.
He’s been nominated five times as a UofL Faculty Favorite, an award based on student input.
