Biography
I have been a professor at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado since 2002. I have taught students at all levels—undergraduate, MBA and doctorate. One of the most rewarding aspects of my job is guiding students in connecting marketing theory to practice inside the classroom and supporting students in achieving their dreams outside the classroom.
My research explores why and how the most impactful marketing happens between consumers’ ears. I have published my papers in top-tier marketing and consumer behavior journals and have won awards for my work, including a prize from the Society for Consumer Psychology for my dissertation and a research grant from Sterling-Rice Group.
I am a regular presenter at the conference of the Association for Consumer Research and the annual Society of Consumer Psychology conference. In addition, I have been invited to present my research nationally and internationally. I have also served as a source for news outlets, including NPR, the Guardian, the Denver Post, Glamour, and KGO AM.
I received my Ph.D. and MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and my undergraduate degree in English literature, with a specialization in poetry, from the University of Pennsylvania. I worked as a newspaper journalist at the Boston Globe and the Philadelphia Inquirer between college and graduate school. I was born in Taegu, South Korea, but grew up in Youngstown, Ohio.
Education
Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
Ph.D., Marketing (2002)
MBA, Marketing & Finance (1998)
University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
BA, English Literature (1988)
Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea
Semester Study Abroad (1987)
Research
The central question that underlies my research is: Under what circumstances are consumers most likely to consider a broad range of available information? This question is the common theme of my work in two substantive areas: new products and financial decisions.
In particular, I have sought to discover:
- how consumers approach new product evaluation, and
- what psychological determinants influence their financial decision-making
These seemingly disparate areas of research inform each other because they share important information-processing characteristics. Both settings engender a great deal of choice uncertainty and consumers are often confronted with an abundance of unfamiliar information.
Consumers do not necessarily achieve greater accuracy or make better decisions when thinking comprehensively, but I have established that fostering more expansive processing can enhance consumer welfare. Because consumers are most likely to draw upon existing schema in memory, they may be prone to make decisions based on the subset of information that is highly accessible, conforms to stereotypes, or is limited to what is consistent with attitudes or motivations.
Although such heuristics have benefits in terms of reducing the cognitive load, consumers who are put into situations where much of the available information is difficult to assess are likely to neglect relevant aspects.
The specific factors I examine emerge from:
- temporal frame theory (past versus future),
- motivations and goals, and
- language and communications.
Current Research
Consumer information processing, persuasion, judgment and decision-making; influence of consumer goal states and motivation on cognition.
New product evaluation and consumer acceptance of innovation.
Psychology of financial decision-making.
Publications
Working Paper
November 2010
Authors: Susan Jung Grant, Ying Xie, and Dilip Soman
Giving investors a short-term outlook increases reference-price updating.
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Working Paper
October 2010
Authors: Ji Hoon Jhang, Susan Jung Grant, and Margaret C. Campbell
Highly innovative products may offer consumers greater benefits than incrementally new products, yet they have a higher failure rate.
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Working Paper
June 2010
Authors: Michael Stutzer and Susan Jung Grant
We substitute percentage gambles for fixed dollar gambles to determine whether or not previous experimental results are robust.
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Article
April 2008
Authors: Susan Jung Grant and Alice M. Tybout
Explores how presenting a new product launch as occurring in the future versus the past affects the information used to evaluate the product.
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Article
August 2007
Authors: Susan Jung Grant and Ying Xie
Hedging offsets the risk of an existing stake by counterbalancing it with a new stake—for example, complementing a bet on the race favorite with another bet on a promising upstart.
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Article
June 2005
Authors: Baba Shiv, Susan J. Grant, A. Peter McGraw, et. al.
An introduction to and analysis of the emerging research area of decision neuroscience.
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Article
December 2004
Author: Susan Jung Grant, et. al.
The persuasive impact of a negation (“not difficult to use”) is shown to depend on the allocation of cognitive resources.
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Case Studies
Case Study
September 2009
Authors: Brianna Buntje, Susan Jung Grant, Nancy A. Smith
This case study explores the model of Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy and examines whether a viable market exists for its integrated retail concept. The distinctive model combines a traditional pharmacy with a front-of-store retail concept offering natural medicines, herbal supplements, and natural health and beauty products.
The structured assignments then take the student beyond marketing theory to derive strategic and tactical recommendations to educate consumers, attract investors, inform store location decisions, and ultimately increase revenues. Students will analyze the company, consumer, and competitive landscape to see how Pharmaca has positioned itself in this niche market. Students will then be asked to draw key consumer insights from survey and market data and to apply these to strategic business decisions for Pharmaca’s future from a marketing management perspective.
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Courses
MBA
Develop your ability to establish marketing strategies as a source of competitive advantage.
Syllabus
News
Leeds School of Business
May 6, 2011
Professor Susan Jung Grant Receives the MBA Class of 2011 Educator of Distinction Award.
Daily Camera
February 5, 2011
Leeds School of Business MBA students will rate the effectiveness of Super Bowl ads with consumers.
Video
Congratulations to Professor Susan Jung Grant the 2011 MBA Educator of Distinction Award Winner!
