My Research at a Glance

My research examines how the interplay of culture, technology, and politics shapes consumer attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors in a rapidly evolving digital marketplace. I study how large-scale societal forces — ranging from technological innovations like generative AI and social media platforms to cultural beauty norms and political activism — affect the way people evaluate, trust, and engage with content, brands, and one another. Across diverse contexts, from virtual protests in the metaverse to influencer marketing and online gender stereotypes, my work uncovers the subtle mechanisms through which digital environments reconfigure credibility, relatability, and participation in public life. This macro-to-micro approach allows me to capture not only individual decision-making, but also the broader social and institutional dynamics that frame it.

At its core, my research seeks to understand how consumers navigate environments where boundaries between real and artificial, public and private, and commercial and political are increasingly blurred. Drawing on experimental, netnographic, and econometric methods, I investigate questions such as… How do AI cues erode trust in authentic content? When does extreme attractiveness undermine influencer engagement? What features of digital platforms make activism feel either empowering or trivial? How can data storytelling and other pedagogical tools equip students to critically interpret information in a noisy media landscape?

By connecting insights across projects, I aim to inform theory, guide managerial practice, and contribute to a deeper understanding of how cultural, technological, and political currents shape the consumer experience.

Peer-Reviewed Publications

● = Culture, ● = Technology, ● = Politics

●● The Beauty Backfire Effect: How Extreme Attractiveness Undermines Fitfluencer Relatability and Engagement (2025), Psychology & Marketing (in print), with Abby Frank and Justin Palmer [Paper]

Abstract: Conventional marketing wisdom contends that “sex sells,” positioning attractiveness as a key driver of audience engagement. However, through an empirical investigation of fitfluencers — social media content creators specializing in workout, nutrition, and lifestyle guidance — we reveal a counterintuitive phenomenon we call the “beauty backfire effect.” Namely, across three studies, we demonstrate that highly attractive fitfluencers receive lower engagement than their moderately attractive counterparts. This finding is explained by a reduction in the perceived relatability of highly (vs. moderately) attractive fitfluencers, seen as less accessible and eliciting greater upward social comparisons among their audience. Our process is particularly notable within the fitfluencer context, given its (a) unique emphasis on physical appearance as a credential and product and (b) coaching‐based influencer–follower dynamic. We identify humble self‐presentation as an effective mitigation strategy, enabling highly attractive fitfluencers to counteract relatability deficits by emphasizing personal shortcomings. In a social media landscape that increasingly embraces vulnerable expression and authentic imperfection, our findings suggest that extreme attractiveness — while traditionally advantageous — can become a reputational liability unless managed through strategic messaging.

●●● Consumer Activism in the Metaverse: A Framework for Virtualized Protest as Playful Resistance (2025), Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 10(2), with Markus Giesler [Paper].

Abstract: Is the metaverse a worthwhile venue for collective action? While some argue the virtual world empowers marginalized actors in the democratic process, the prevailing view dismisses metaverse demonstrations as cartoonish avatars parading down 3D-rendered streets with digital flags and picket signs. Through a netnographic investigation of a start-up metaverse platform dedicated to protests, we explore how four ostensibly depoliticizing processes — gamification, dematerialization, emotionalization, and decentralization — are reimagined by an online community as tools for playful resistance and subversive digital politics. Participants recognized that virtual protests offer unique opportunities to engage and empower activists globally, foster inclusive movements, and evade institutional control. Our findings challenge assumptions about the trivialization of virtual protests, positioning the metaverse as a potential complementary setting for sustained grassroots activism. We conclude with an agenda for future research on how platform design features — including modding, interoperability, encryption, and polycentricity — can balance corporate interests with sincere collective action.

●● How Social Media and Flexible Work Arrangements Harden Salespeople to Abusive Supervision (2024), Industrial Marketing Management, 121(3), 146-159, with Riley Dugan, Ashish Kalra, Na Young Lee, and Sangsuk Yoon [Paper].

Abstract: Research supports the role of leaders in driving positive sales outcomes. However, while scholars have extensively analyzed the effects of positive leadership styles, the impact of negative managerial behaviors has received comparably scant attention. Grounded in job demands-resources theory (JD-R), we propose a conceptual framework that examines the effect of abusive supervision on job embeddedness and subsequent turnover intentions. Using unique panel data from 237 business-to-business (B2B) salespeople, we find that abusive supervision results in higher turnover intentions, and that this effect is explained partially by reduced job embeddedness. What can be done, then, to curb these effects and harden salespeople to the threat of challenging leadership? Our results indicate that the provision of two critical job resources — workplace social media (i.e., digital communication-based platforms) and flexible work accommodations (i.e., idiosyncratic deals) — jointly mitigate the negative effect of abusive supervision on salespeople’s sense of workplace attachment. We conclude our research with implications and directions for future researchers interested in uncovering additional ways to reduce the pernicious impact of abusive supervisory environments on salesperson well-being.

  • Original press release: “How to combat toxic bosses: Social media and flexible work can save careers, new research shows” (The Conversation, December 2024).

●● Real Men Don’t Share (Online): Perceived Neediness and the Frequent-Posting Femininity Stereotype (2024), European Journal of Marketing, 58(2), 572-589, with Nathan B. Warren [Paper].

Abstract: We theorize and demonstrate evidence of a frequent-posting femininity stereotype: All else being equal, men who post more often on social media are considered more feminine than those who seldom post. Because online posting is associated with attention-seeking, we posit that the frequent-posting femininity stereotype is explained by the poster’s perceived neediness (i.e. a desire for external validation), a trope that falls within the communal orientation of feminine gender performance. Drawing on the theory of precarious manhood — the idea that idealized masculinity is difficult to attain and easy to lose – we suggest that posting frequently online comes with a critical degree of embedded stigma and can change gender perceptions of men but not women.

● Weighing People Rather Than Food: A Framework for Examining External Validity (2020), Perspectives on Psychological Science, 15(2), 483-496, with Caitlin M. Loyka, John Ruscio, Lindsey Hatch, Brittany Wetreich, and Amanda Zabel [Paper].

Abstract: Research training in psychological science emphasizes common threats to internal validity, with no comparably systematic or rigorous treatment of external validity. Trade-offs between internal and external validity are well known in some areas (e.g., efficacy vs. effectiveness studies in clinical psychology), less so in others (e.g., forensic research on eyewitness identification, false memories, or confessions). We present a framework for examining external validity grounded in four domains—populations, settings, outcomes, and timeframes—that can be used to enhance the generalizability of findings. We discuss this framework and then illustrate its use by reviewing mindless eating interventions intended to help people lose weight. Research in this published literature seldom samples from appropriate populations (e.g., overweight or obese individuals) or measures appropriate outcomes (e.g., weight change) in appropriate settings (e.g., the home) over appropriate timeframes (e.g., sustained interventions with follow-up) to determine whether practical advice is empirically supported. In their applied work, we encourage psychological scientists to design studies, analyze data, and report findings with greater attention to external validity to demonstrate, rather than assume, the generalizability of findings to the intended populations, settings, outcomes, and timeframes. Editors and reviewers can hold investigators accountable for doing so.