Ben Marder

Background

• BSc Financial Economics (First Class), University of Leicester
• MSc Marketing (Distinction), University of Leicester
• PhD Marketing/Information Systems, University of Bath

Research Taxonomy

• Advertising
• Consumer behaviour
• Digital marketing
• E-commerce
• Internet
• Psychology & marketing
• User generated content
• Information systems
• eBusiness & eCommerce
• Technology & organisational change

Research Interests

My research interest surrounds social and commercial consumer behaviour linked to the use of digital technologies, more specifically I am a social media nerd. Since 2015 I have had 30+ articles accepted at well-known journals, such as the Journal of Advertising Research, European Journal of Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, International Marketing Review, Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Travel Research, New Technology, Work and Employment, Journal of Health Psychology, and the Journal of Business Research. This work has received quite a lot of media attention, including The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, and the BBC. I draw mainly from social psychological theory and I am pragmatic with regard to research methodology having experience in both quantitative and qualitative techniques. However, I am predominately a quantitative researcher and like experiments best.

My paper on the 'Chilling Effect' of social media became the most read paper in the world for a short period in 2017, according to ResearchGate. This paper was the first to evidence that being a social media user constrains our actions in reality. For example, people are less likely to let loose at parties now as they may be snapped.

At present, I am particularly interested in Instagrammability, whether social media surveillance makes people 'better' service employees, the dark side of impression management linked to technology, impact of emojis, augmented reality, consumer reviews, influencers, and the impact of viewing those slightly annoying braggy posts on social media.

Beyond research, I really love teaching digital marketing, discussing/debating new digital phenomenon with students and supervising research in my area. I am sorry I am not currently taking on any more PhD students but if you’re interested in a digital-related PhD please check out the profiles of my great colleagues in our marketing group (Ewelina Lacka, Kirsten Cowan)

I am also passionate about initiatives to improve wellbeing of students and academics.

Research Area

• Marketing