Poole College Lab Focuses on How Consumers Respond to New Product Information, Innovation

Change and innovation are among the key drivers of new business and economic growth. But how do consumers respond to innovations in the market?

That is a key focus of research under way in a new Consumer Research Laboratory established in the North Carolina State University Poole College of Management by Dr. Stacy Wood, Langdon Distinguished Professor of Marketing.

In her research, Wood explores both how individuals process new product information and their emotional reactions to new innovations, trends, or customs.

“Consumer research is a fascinating field because it combines economics, psychology, and sociology to better understand how we, as consumers, make choices in the marketplace and the outcomes of those choices,” Wood said. “Consumer research can help firms to better connect with their customers and help customers be more savvy about how they spend their money.”

Current projects include investigations of new product learning, differences in how experts and novices adopt new products, how consumers respond to high-technology innovations and medical innovations, adoption of risky innovations, and the neuroscience of change behavior.

Dr. Michael Stanko, assistant professor of marketing in Poole College’s Department of Business Management, is collaborating with Wood on a project exploring how firms can best use consumers to participate in brainstorming in new product development.

Wood also is a leader in the growing consumer decision neuroscience field. Together with researchers at other universities, she explores the relationship between consumer decision making and specific regions of brain activity.

Hollie Jones, a second-year student in Poole College’s Jenkins MBA program, has been working with Wood as a graduate assistant this past year, helping to get the lab finished and assisting with the coordination of research projects. The position is closely aligned with her career interests.

“I first met Dr Wood as a student in her Consumer Behavior course in Fall 2010. She is one of the best instructors I’ve ever seen,” Jones said. “She is engaging and has an excellent ability to explain the complex and abstract in a way that makes it straightforward and digestible.”

Wood also “is an expert in combining diverse ideas while keeping the emphasis on practical application,” Jones said. “So, of course, when I was offered the opportunity to work as her graduate assistant, I was both honored and really excited. Her research projects are tremendously interesting and I am glad to help her. I am also continuing to learn from her. “

Wood’s interdisciplinary approach to research also is aligned with Jones’ interests.

A Fayetteville, N.C., native, Jones academic background includes undergraduate studies in political science, international studies and media studies, with a concentration in film production, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Two semesters abroad at the Uniwersytet Wroclawski in Wroclaw, Poland, led to her undergraduate honors dissertation on the local democratization in Poland.

“Although not an obvious link, this part of my background does connect with my current studies and this assistantship,” Jones said.

“I have had a lifelong fascination with the diffusion of ideas to the public, whether this take the form of a country embracing a new government system, the creation of a documentary that convinces a person to consider a new point of view, or the development of a marketing strategy to encourage adoption of a new technology or product that changes the way we live,” she said. “Dr. Wood’s research centers on how consumers respond and adapt to change and innovation. So working with her is a good fit for me and ties naturally with a lot of the things I am interested in.”

Jones is graduating in May 2012 with MBA concentrations in marketing management and services management. She also is completing an internship this spring with Red Hat University’s Sales College.

Wood joined the NC State Poole College faculty in 2010 as the Langdon Distinguished Professor of Marketing. The professorship is supported by a financial gift from J. Lloyd Langdon, a 1940 graduate of NC State with a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture and Life Sciences. He retired as president of PET Dairy, Inc., in 1979 and as chairman of the board of directors of the Hamilton Bank of Upper East Tennessee in 1984 and was an early proponent of understanding consumer behavior.

Langdon is a retired lieutenant colonel in the Air Force Reserve, former member of the NC State Alumni Association Board of Directors and current member of the NC State Lifetime Giving Societies and the Pullen Society. He presently resides in Southern Pines, North Carolina.

Related research

Study Shows How the Brain Responds to Deceptive Advertising

Fans of Winning Teams Linked to Fatal Crashes (Bloomberg Businessweek, March 11, 2011)