My research sits at the intersection of psychology, ethics, and the marketplace. I study why consumers make the moral and political judgments they do — and what that means for brands, policymakers, and society. Below is my published work organized by theme.
Politics & the Marketplace
How political identity shapes what people buy, which brands they boycott, and how consumers respond to corporate controversy.
- “Why is it Wrong to Sell Your Body? Understanding Liberals’ vs. Conservatives’ Moral Objections to Bodily Markets” Journal of Marketing, 2023 | Link. Both liberals and conservatives find commercial bodily markets morally wrong — but for completely different reasons. Liberals object because of exploitation; conservatives because of violations of sanctity. 🏆 Top 5% Altmetric score | Featured in JM Buzz Podcast
- “Are Conservatives Less Likely than Liberals to Accept Welfare?” Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2022 | Link. Political ideology shapes not just attitudes toward welfare policy but actual willingness to accept government assistance — and the presence of a work requirement changes everything. 🏆 Top 5% Altmetric score
- “Partisan Media Sentiment Toward Artificial Intelligence” Social Psychological and Personality Science, 2024 | Link. Liberal-leaning media covers AI more negatively than conservative media, driven primarily by concerns about AI magnifying social bias. 🏆 Top 5% Altmetric score
- “Brand Political Ideology” Manuscript in preparation | Consumers systematically perceive brands to be liberal, conservative, moderate, apolitical, or bipartisan. MSI Research Grant awarded
Price Fairness & Consumer Backlash
When prices feel morally wrong, why consumers punish brands for it, and how framing drives or defuses outrage.
- “Price Partitioning of Socio-Moral Surcharges” Journal of Consumer Research, 2025 | Link. When companies add a separate line item for ethical costs — like a sustainability or living-wage surcharge — consumers react more negatively than when the cost is rolled into the price. Counterintuitively, transparency backfires. 🏆 Editors’ Choice Lead Article | Best Competitive Paper, SCP Conference 2023
- “Justifying Price Increases with Labor and Material Costs” Manuscript in preparation | How companies frame the reason for a price increase — labor costs vs. material costs — dramatically changes whether consumers accept it as fair. | MSI Working Paper 2024
- “Pricing Sustainability Without Backlash” NIM Marketing Intelligence Review, 2026 (practitioner article) A plain-English guide for brand managers on how to communicate ethical pricing without triggering consumer outrage.
Moral Values & Consumption
How personal moral beliefs shape what people buy, avoid, and feel guilty about.
- “Moral Motives in Consumption” Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2025 | Link. Introduces a new framework — the Three Moral Motives — explaining when, how, and why consumers seek moral meaning in their purchasing decisions.
- “Moral Foundations Theory and Consumer Behavior” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2024 | Link. Maps how the five moral foundations — care, fairness, loyalty, authority, purity — predict a wide range of consumer behaviors.
- “When is Sensory Consumption Immoral?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2023 | Link. People are hardwired to pursue pleasure — yet moral beliefs lead many to suppress sensory enjoyment. This paper explains when and why.
- “The Malleable Morality of Conspicuous Consumption” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2020 | Link. Whether flaunting wealth feels morally wrong depends entirely on which moral lens you use — equality or social order. This explains why liberals and conservatives see luxury so differently.
Consumer Welfare & Market Ethics
Who gets left behind by market systems, and the ethics of inclusion and harm in the marketplace.
- “The Ethical Foundation for Marketplace Inclusion” Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, 2026. Develops an ethical framework for understanding when and how markets should be designed to include marginalized consumers.
- “Markets and Morality” Oxford Bibliographies in Marketing, 2026. A comprehensive review of the intersection of moral psychology and market behavior.
- “Enhancing Consumer and Planetary Well-Being by Consuming Less, Consuming Better” Journal of Sustainable Marketing, 2024 | Link. How shifting consumption patterns — rather than just adding sustainable options — can improve both consumer and environmental outcomes.
- “Charities Can Increase the Effectiveness of Donation Appeals by Using a Morally Congruent Positive Emotion” Journal of Consumer Research, 2019 | Link. Charities that match their emotional appeal to their moral mission — welfare organizations using warmth, justice organizations using pride — raise significantly more donations.
- “A New Framework for Consumption Harm” Manuscript in preparation | Develops a framework to explain when and how market systems can harm consumers.