Patti Williams

Patti Williams
  • Ira A. Lipman Associate Professor of Marketing
  • Vice Dean, Wharton Executive Education

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    762 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    3730 Walnut Street
    University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: emotion regulation, emotional and attitudinal ambivalence, emotions and social identity, the persuasive effects of emotion, brand purpose

Overview

Patti Williams is the Ira A. Lipman Associate Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Vice Dean of Wharton Executive Education.

Professor Williams examines ways consumers’ emotional responses influence consumption and persuasion. Her current research projects focus on how emotions influence consumer decisions and processes of persuasion; consumer responses to emotional and attitudinal ambivalence; and emotion regulation.

Her research has been published in top-tier academic journals including the Journal of Marketing Research and the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. She serves on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Marketing Research and is an Associate Editor at the Journal of Consumer Psychology. She previously served as an Associate Editor at the Journal of Consumer Research and as President of the Society for Consumer Psychology.

She teaches a course on Strategic Brand Management to undergraduate and MBA students; previously she has taught the MBA core courses and classes on Advertising Management. Professor Williams earned her PhD and MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her BA from Stanford University.

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Research

  • Yimin Cheng, Anirban Mukhopadhyay, Patti Williams (2020), Smiling Signals Intrinsic Motivation, Journal of Consumer Research, 46 (5), pp. 915-935. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucz023

  • Evan Weingarten, Amit Bhattacharjee, Patti Williams (Under Review), So Bad It’s Good: When Consumers Prefer the Bad Option.

  • Ludovica Cesareo, Eugenia C. Wu, Keisha M. Cutright, Patti Williams (Under Revision), The Consequences of Beautiful Products: Sacredness, Awe, and Forgiveness.

  • Patti Williams (2014), Emotions and Consumer Behavior, Journal of Consumer Research, 40 (5).

  • Nicole Verrochi Coleman and Patti Williams (2013), Feeling Like My Self: Emotion Profiles and Social Identity, Journal of Consumer Research, 40 (August)), pp. 203-222.

  • Eric Bradlow, Keith Niedermeier, Patti Williams, Marketing for Financial Advisors: Build Your Business by Establishing Your Brand, Knowing Your Clients and Creating a Marketing Plan (2009)

  • Aimee L. Drolet, Patti Williams, Loraine Lau-Gesk (2007), Age-Related Differences in Responses to Emotional vs. Rational Ads for Hedonic vs. Utilitarian Products (Lead Article), Marketing Letters, Volume 18, Number 4 (December), pp. 211-221.

  • Suresh Ramanathan and Patti Williams (2007), Immediate and Delayed Emotional Consequences of Indulgence: The Moderating Influence of Personality Type on Mixed Emotions, Journal of Consumer Research, 34 (August), pp. 212-223.

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  • Gavan Fitzsimons, Joseph C. Nunes, Patti Williams (2007), License to Sin: The Liberating Role of Reporting Expectations, Journal of Consumer Research, 34 (June), pp. 22-31.

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  • Patti Williams, Lauren G. Block, Gavan J. Fitzsimons (2006), Simply Asking Questions About Health Behaviors Increases Both Healthy and Unhealthy Behaviors, Social Influence, 1 (2, June), pp. 117-127.

Teaching

Current Courses (Summer 2022)

  • MKTG7780 - Strategic Brand Mgmt

    Which brands make you happy? Apple? Amazon? Starbucks? Everlane? Soulcycle? Sweetgreen? What draws you into these brands? How do companies create compelling brand experiences? How could you cultivate a well-loved brand? This course explores such questions with the goal of identifying the ingredients for building an inspired brand. The course is created for students interested in building a brand and/or immersing themselves in the enhancement of an existing brand, and it is comprised of lectures, cases, guest speakers, discussions, in and out of class exercises, and a final project. Broadly, the course will be divided into four parts: 1) Understanding Brand, 2) Crafting Brand, 3) Measuring Brand, and 4) Managing Brand. The course will provide students with an appreciation of the role of branding and (taking a consumer-centric approach) will augment students' ability to think creatively and critically about the strategies and tactics involved in building, leveraging, defending, and sustaining inspired brands.

    MKTG7780701

Awards and Honors

  • President-Elect, Society for Consumer Psychology, 2019-2020
  • President, Society for Consumer Psychology, 2020-2021
  • Outstanding Reviewer, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2018
  • Outstanding Reviewer, Journal of Consumer Research, 2016
  • Wharton WEMBA Class of 2016 Excellence in Teaching Award, 2016
  • MBA Core Curriculum Award, “Goes Above and Beyond the Call of Duty”, 2014
  • MBA Core Curriculum Award “Goes Above And Beyond The Call of Duty”, 2012
  • MBA Core Curriculum Excellence in Teaching Award, 2011
  • Wharton Excellence in Teaching Award, 2010
  • MBA Core Curriculum Award “Goes Above And Beyond The Call of Duty”, 2008
  • Wharton Excellence In Teaching Award, 2007
  • Fellow, Wharton Risk Center, 2007
  • Wharton Excellence in Teaching Award, 2006
  • 2001 Marketing Science Institute Young Scholars Conference, 2001
  • 2000-2006 James G. Campbell Jr. Memorial Term Assistant Professor, 2000
  • 1999 Marketing Science Institute Research Grant (with Aimee Drolet), 1999
  • 1997 Procter & Gamble Market Innovation Research Fund Recipient, 1997
  • 1997 UCLA Graduate Division Merit Fellowship, 1997
  • 1997 American Marketing Association Doctoral Consortium Fellow, 1997
  • 1997 Center for International Business (CIBER), Internationalization Marketing Consortium Fellow, 1997
  • 1996 CIBER International Research Grant (with Jennifer Aaker), 1996
  • 1992-1993 Los Angeles Women in Business MBA Fellowship Recipient, 1992
  • 1991-1993 Dean’s List, UCLA, MBA Program, 1991
  • Past-President, Society for Consumer Psychology, 2020-2021
  • President, Society for Consumer Psychology, 2020-2021

In the News

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Latest Research

Yimin Cheng, Anirban Mukhopadhyay, Patti Williams (2020), Smiling Signals Intrinsic Motivation, Journal of Consumer Research, 46 (5), pp. 915-935. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucz023
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In the News

Scoring the Super Bowl Ads

Wharton marketing professor Patti Williams offers her take on this year’s Super Bowl ads.…Read More

Knowledge at Wharton - 2/15/2022
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Wharton Magazine - 04/19/2019

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