The assistant professor of marketing won a best paper in social media and marketing technology award and presented two papers during the association’s annual conference.
Prachi Gala, assistant professor of marketing in the Martha and Spencer Love School of Business, presented on consumer purchase intentions and consumer perception during the Society for Marketing Advances (SMA) Annual Conference held Nov. 6-9 in New Orleans.
Gala received the Best Paper in Social Media & Marketing Technology award for “Lonely and Insecure Consumers Experiencing Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and its Effects on Retail Patronage.”
In the paper, Gala and co-authors Cindy Rippe, Alan Dubinsky and Brent Smith, apply attachment theory and predict that the relationship between consumers’ loneliness (social and emotional) and fear of missing out (FOMO) is anteceded by their insecure attachments (anxiety and avoidance). They also propose FOMO is a consumption-related emotion that relates directly to consumers’ retail patronage. Their findings support a theoretical explanation for connections between insecure attachments, loneliness, FOMO, and retail outcomes.
Additionally, Gala presented on two research papers she co-authored. The first, “The Consumer Truth about Message Framing, Nostalgia, and the Dark Triad,” was co-authored with James Blair of Eastern Kentucky University and Matthew Lunde of Ithaca College. The paper examined how message framing and nostalgia altered consumer purchase intentions, attitude, and intention to recommend based on their varying levels of this dark triad personality trait (Machiavellianism, narcissism, and psychopathy).
Gala also presented “The Impact of CEO Behavior on Consumer Brand and Shareholder Perception.” Gala and co-author Samuel Staebler of Tilburg University looked at the impact of CEO behavior covered in press media on returns with the mediating role of consumer perception in the CEO behavior-stock returns relationship. The researchers also looked at potential drivers such as media intensity and type of CEO news (personal, professional, positive or negative).
The Society for Marketing Advances annual conference brings together marketing educators and professionals from the United States and abroad. SMA was founded to foster service, research, and education in all phases of marketing and to encourage the exchange of ideas among members with similar interests.
Gala joined Elon’s faculty in 2018 after earning her doctorate in business administration with a concentration in marketing from the University of Mississippi. Her research interests lie in marketing strategy and marketing-finance interface. Prior to her academic career, Gala worked as a business technology analyst and as a marketing strategist.