Cait Lamberton

Current Courses (Fall 2024)

• MKTG1010 - Intro To Marketing

  The objective of this course is to introduce students to the concepts, analyses, and activities that comprise marketing management, and to provide practice in assessing and solving marketing problems. The course is also a foundation for advanced electives in Marketing as well as other business/social disciplines. Topics include marketing strategy, customer behavior, segmentation, customer lifetime value, branding, market research, product lifecycle strategies, pricing, go-to-market strategies, promotion, and marketing ethics.

  MKTG1010001 ( Syllabus )

  MKTG1010002 ( Syllabus )

  MKTG1010003 ( Syllabus )

  MKTG1010004 ( Syllabus )

• MKTG9520 - Consumer Research Topics - A

  The purpose of this seminar is to provide graduate students with an overview of contemporary topics in consumer research. Depending on faculty, areas addressed may include basic research on consumer knowledge (learning and memory), goals, persuasion, and emotions, with applications to branding. consumer finance, human-technology interaction, and social influence. The course draws from the literature in marketing, psychology and economics. The course will enable students to conceptualize, operationalize, and develop research ideas. Therefore, the focus is on understanding theoretical and methodological approaches to various aspects of consumer behavior, as well as advancing this knowledge by developing testable hypotheses and theoretical perspectives that build on the current knowledge base.

  MKTG9520301 ( Syllabus )

All Courses

• MKTG1010 - Intro To Marketing

  The objective of this course is to introduce students to the concepts, analyses, and activities that comprise marketing management, and to provide practice in assessing and solving marketing problems. The course is also a foundation for advanced electives in Marketing as well as other business/social disciplines. Topics include marketing strategy, customer behavior, segmentation, customer lifetime value, branding, market research, product lifecycle strategies, pricing, go-to-market strategies, promotion, and marketing ethics.

• MKTG1018 - Intro To Marketing

  The objective of this course is to introduce students to the concepts, analyses, and activities that comprise marketing management, and to provide practice in assessing and solving marketing problems. The course is also a foundation for advanced electives in Marketing as well as other business/social disciplines. Topics include marketing strategy, customer behavior, segmentation, customer lifetime value, branding, market research, product lifecycle strategies, pricing, go-to-market strategies, promotion, and marketing ethics. (This is the honors section of MKTG 1010 open only to Joseph Wharton Scholars).

• MKTG6120 - Dynamic Mktg Strategy

  Building upon Marketing 611, the goal of this course is to develop skills in formulating and implementing marketing strategies for brands and businesses. The course will focus on issues such as the selection of which businesses and segments to compete in, how to allocate resources across businesses, segments, and elements of the marketing mix, as well as other significant strategic issues facing today's managers in a dynamic competitive environment. A central theme of the course is that the answer to these strategic problems varies over time depending on the stage of the product life cycle at which marketing decisions are being made. As such, the PLC serves as the central organizing vehicle of the course. We will explore such issues as how to design optimal strategies for the launch of new products and services that arise during the introductory phase, how to maximize the acceleration of revenue during the growth phase, how to sustain and extend profitability during the mature phase, and how to manage a business during the inevitable decline phase.

• MKTG7110 - Consumer Behavior

  Marketing begins and ends with the customer, from determining customers' needs and wants to providing customer satisfaction and maintaining customer relationships. This course examines the basic concepts and principles in customer behavior with the goal of understanding how these ideas can be used in marketing decision making. The class will consist of a mix of lectures, discussions, cases, assignments, project work and exams. Topics covered include customer psychological processes (e.g., motivation, perception, attitudes, decision-making) and their impact on marketing (e.g., segmentation, branding, and customer satisfaction). The goal is to provide you with a set of approaches and concepts to consider when faced with a decision involving understanding customer responses to marketing actions.

• MKTG8970 - Advanced Study

  The luxury industry has been heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, with some estimates suggesting a contraction of over 20%. Some of the changes in consumer behavior directly affected luxury in the short-term, but these changes in behavior may eventually revert to past history when the pandemic is over. Examples of these include the drop in tourism travel, work from home trends, reduced traffic to physical retail and malls, and the reduction of festive social activities (e.g., weddings). Other trends affected many industries and are likely to fundamentally change consumer behavior long-term: (1) net zero retail now, (2) digital by design, (3) thoughtful experience, (4) re-localization and (5) lead with purpose. This course explores the special challenges that are faced by luxury brands as they try to navigate rapidly evolving shopping behaviors in both the online and offline environments. In this course we will articulate the key principles for successful luxury branding & experiences and focus on the challenges and opportunities that luxury brands face. Although we will have some traditional lecture/discussion classes, the course is primarily experiential. We will explore luxury broadly across many product categories. We will learn from what we see on location, but we will also critically assess how companies are coping with the challenges of the post-covid retailing environment.

• MKTG8990 - Independent Study

  A student contemplating an independent study project must first find a faculty member who agrees to supervise and approve the student's written proposal as an independent study (MKTG 899). If a student wishes the proposed work to be used to meet the ASP requirement, he/she should then submit the approved proposal to the MBA adviser who will determine if it is an appropriate substitute. Such substitutions will only be approved prior to the beginning of the semester.

• MKTG9520 - Consumer Research Topics - A

  The purpose of this seminar is to provide graduate students with an overview of contemporary topics in consumer research. Depending on faculty, areas addressed may include basic research on consumer knowledge (learning and memory), goals, persuasion, and emotions, with applications to branding. consumer finance, human-technology interaction, and social influence. The course draws from the literature in marketing, psychology and economics. The course will enable students to conceptualize, operationalize, and develop research ideas. Therefore, the focus is on understanding theoretical and methodological approaches to various aspects of consumer behavior, as well as advancing this knowledge by developing testable hypotheses and theoretical perspectives that build on the current knowledge base.

• MKTG9530 - Consumer Research Topics - B

  The purpose of this seminar is to provide graduate students with an overview of contemporary topics in consumer research. Depending on faculty, areas addressed may include basic research on consumer knowledge (learning and memory), goals, persuasion, and emotions, with applications to branding. consumer finance, human-technology interaction, and social influence. The course draws from the literature in marketing, psychology and economics. The course will enable students to conceptualize, operationalize, and develop research ideas. Therefore, the focus is on understanding theoretical and methodological approaches to various aspects of consumer behavior, as well as advancing this knowledge by developing testable hypotheses and theoretical perspectives that build on the current knowledge base.

• MKTG9710 - Adv Topics Mktg Part A

  Taught collectively by the faculty members from the Marketing Department, this course investigates advanced topics in marketing. It is organized in a way that allows students to 1) gain depth in important areas of research identified by faculty; 2) gain exposure to various faculty in marketing and their research values and styles; and 3) develop and advance their own research interests.

• MKTG9950 - Dissertation

  Dissertation

• WH2980 - Topics Intl Bus Developm

  This short-term international business course gives undergraduate students an amazing global opportunity featuring business-site visits, lectures at partner schools, cultural excursions, and networking opportunities with undergraduate students and business contacts from the destination countries. In addition to learning about another country's business environment and culture, students earn 0.5 course units that can be used towards business-breadth or elective credits.

• Co-Chair, Behavioral Science Advisory Board, American Medical Association Food is Medicine Program, 2023
• Journal of Marketing, Editor, 2022-2025
• Honorary Doctorate, University of Lucerne, Switzerland, 2024
• Dyess Endowed Lectureship, Texas Christian University, 2024
• Thomas P. Kinnear Award for Best Article in the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 2020
• Marketing Science Institute Scholar, 2020
• AMA/EBSCO Respsonible Research in Marketing Award, 2020
• Member, Commission on Reducing Food Waste in the United States, National Academy of Sciences, 2019
• Government/Policy Liaison for the Association for Consumer Research Board, 2018
• Outstanding Senior Editor, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 2018
• Lazaridis Prize, American Marketing Association, 2017
• Hunt/Maynard Award for Best Paper in Journal of Marketing, (with Andrew Stephen), 2016
• Affiliated Researcher, Nudge4Solutions Lab, University of Virginia, beginning 2016, 2016
• AMA-Sheth Doctoral Consortium Faculty Fellow, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2016
• Erin Anderson Award, Given to the American Marketing Association’s Top Emerging Female Scholar and Mentor, 2016
• Poets & Quants “Top 40 Business School Professors under 40”, 2015; Fortune’s “Top 10,”, 2015
• Association for Consumer Research’s Transformative Consumer Research Grant for Emerging, 2014
• Best Reviewer Award, Journal of Consumer Research, 2014
• Honorable Mention, Robert Ferber Award (Award for best dissertation-based paper appearing in the Journal of Consumer Research), 2014
• Early Career Contribution Award, Association for Consumer Research, 2013
• Affiliated Researcher, White House Social and Behavioral Sciences Team, Sept 2013-May 2014, 2013-2014
• Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar, 2013-2014
• Ben L. Fryrear Faculty Fellow, University of Pittsburgh 2010 – 2016, 2010-2016
• Katz Excellence in Research Award, 2009-2010, 2012-2013, 2014-2015, 2016-2017, 2009-2017
• Teacher of the Year, Katz Graduate School of Business/CBA 2009 – 2010, 2009-2010
• Dean’s Teaching Award, University of Pittsburgh, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, 2010-2011, 2012-2013, 2014-2015, 2015-2016, 2016-2017, 2008-2017
• Top Undergraduate Teacher in the Marketing Major, University of Pittsburgh, 2008-2009, 2009- 2010, 2012-2013, 2008
• W. Pierce Liles Outstanding Doctoral Student Award, University of South Carolina, 2008
• UMI Outstanding Dissertation Award, University of South Carolina, 2008
• MSI Alden G. Clayton Dissertation Proposal Competition, Honorable Mention, 2007
• George M. Reeves Memorial Fellow, University of South Carolina, 2007
• Centennial Fellow Finalist, University of South Carolina, 2007
• Marketing Science Institute Research Grant #4-1342, Primary Investigator, “The Psychology of Category Design: How Product Groupings Influence Consumer DecisionMaking, Price Sensitivity, and Brand Strength.” (with Kristin Diehl), 2005
• AMA – Sheth Doctoral Consortium Fellow, 2005
• MSI – JCP Research Competition on “Product Assortment and Variety – Seeking in Consumer Choice,” Honorable Mention (with Kristin Diehl), 2004
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• You Can’t Market to Gen X, Probably. But if you want to try…, Ad Age - 07/01/2024 Description

  Why is it so hard to market to this sometimes overlooked but big-spending age cohort? And what can psychology tell us about our best hopes for doing so?

• Burger King, Coke and Lockheed Martins Woo Gen Z with Scholarships, Fast Company - 05/20/2024
• Is the Stanley Still a Status Symbol? And What’s the Next “It” Cup?, Retailmenot.com - 04/04/2024
• Tiktok Turns to Nuns, Veterans and Ranchers in Marketing Blitz, New York Times - 04/04/2024
• Why is Corporate America losing its Stomach for Activism?, CNN - 01/01/2024 Description

  While corporate giants from a range of industries pledged to provide support and financial assistance for employees seeking abortion care, few are wading into that political conversation with the kind of fervor we’ve seen on other issues in the recent past.

• Why Advertising May be Over-Emphasizing Performance Marketing, Wall Street Journal - 12/14/2023
• Everybody Knows Flo From Progressive. Who Is Stephanie Courtney?, New York Times Magazine - 11/25/2023 Description

  “Even if people find her annoying, they don’t find her objectionable,” Lamberton said. In fact, even people who don’t like Flo do like Flo, because any character trait they cite as a reason for disliking her “reflects that there’s a very strong memory trace.” For advertisers, a character that stimulates mild irritation with every appearance is preferable to one that is innocuous, so long as the benign annoyance does not mutate into a strong negative association. Complaining about something trivial, Lamberton said, “is a very comforting experience.”

• How behavioral economics can help you save on airfare, CBS News - 06/11/2023
• Ads Desperately Want You to Know Who They Are: Postmodern Marketing, The Atlantic - 12/15/2022
• Budweiser remembers 9/11- Shared Narrative or Fragmented Feelings?, New York Times - 09/11/2021 Description

  Advertising against a tragic event is a delicate calculation for American companies. Do they acknowledge the occasion and invite accusations of being opportunistic? Do they stay silent and risk appearing out of touch or unpatriotic? What is the border between commemoration and commercialization? Wharton Professor Cait Lamberton suggests that responses to these ads may depend less on moving graphics or evocative music, and more on the way that viewers’ lives have unfolded since that painful day.

• When did Robinhood become a battleground? Dr. Cait Lamberton discusses the WallStreetBets-Wall Street clash, Bloomberg - 02/02/2021
• Are jeans political? Wondery podcast invites Professor Lamberton to take on “Denim Wars.”, Wondery.com - 11/24/2020 Description

  As part of their popular “Brand Wars,” series, Wondery podcasts invited Dr. Cait Lamberton of The Wharton School to discuss whether various jeans were, “blue,” or “red,” and what the political connotations of brands mean for consumers, brands, and politics.

Knowledge at Wharton

• Crypto Politics: Liberals’ and Conservatives’ Confidence in Cryptocurrencies, Knowledge at Wharton - 11/5/2024
• Dignify Your Customers: Three Levers to Pull, Knowledge at Wharton - 9/24/2024
• Marketplace Dignity: The Hidden Driver of Customer Engagement, Knowledge at Wharton - 6/17/2024
• Are We Reaching a Tipping Point With Corporate Activism?, Knowledge at Wharton - 6/6/2024
• Marketplace Dignity | Cait Lamberton, Knowledge at Wharton - 6/4/2024
• What’s It like to Be a Small Business Owner Right Now?, Knowledge at Wharton - 5/25/2023
• Why Online Shoppers Aren’t Falling for Exploding Deals, Knowledge at Wharton - 12/20/2022
• The Post-COVID Workplace: Will Employees Be Safe?, Knowledge at Wharton - 7/7/2020
• Sweeping Away Sludge: How Consumers and Firms Can Find a Barrier-free Path, Knowledge at Wharton - 2/22/2020
• Can Luxury Retail Attract a New Generation of Shoppers?, Knowledge at Wharton - 1/13/2020

Wharton Stories

• Undergraduate to Cycle World’s Highest Volcano to Raise Funds for Cycling Access, Wharton Stories - 12/22/2022