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Stephanie Finnel
Doctoral Candidate

Stephanie Finnel is a doctoral candidate in Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the inner conflict consumers experience when they feel their behavior (e.g., a purchasing decision, a voting decision, an expenditure of time or money, etc.) is consistent with one important standard they hold but inconsistent with another. For example, a mother may experience conflict about buying expensive makeup for herself. On the one hand, she thinks it is alright to spend money to make herself look beautiful, but on the other hand, she thinks she should save money for her children’s needs. Her obligations to her children conflict with her obligations to herself.

Conflicts of this sort abound among consumers because virtually everyone has competing commitments. Stephanie is interested both in what leads consumers to experience conflict and in what helps to dispel conflict. Moreover, she investigates how conflict and the chosen means of conflict resolution impact consumers’ emotions and self-image. These research questions are important for marketing because consumers naturally dislike feeling conflicted about their decisions and seek to alleviate the conflict if possible. Accordingly, products that eliminate or reduce conflict can potentially be very successful, if we know what those products should be like and how they should be promoted. Research on conflict can in turn provide the necessary insights for creating and marketing these products.

Stephanie earned her BA in economics and mathematics from Yale University.

Awards

Russell Ackoff Doctoral Student Fellowship for Research on Human Decision Processes and Risk Management, 2008-2009

Stephanie Finnel
700 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
3730 Walnut Street University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia , PA 19104
Phone: (215) 898-2268
Fax: (215) 898-2534
sfinnel@wharton.upenn.edu

Research Interests: Conflict consumers experience when they feel their behavior (e.g., a purchasing decision, a voting decision, an expenditure of time or money, etc.) is consistent with one important standard they hold but inconsistent with another. Causes and consequences of conflict and ways to alleviate conflict.

Last Modified November 19, 2008