Social Psychology Network

Maintained by Scott Plous, Wesleyan University

Tina M. Lowrey

Tina M. Lowrey

  • Media Contact
  • SPN Mentor

Tina M. Lowrey holds a Ph.D. in Communications from the Institute of Communications Research at the University of Illinois, an M.S. in Advertising from the University of Illinois, and a B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Houston. Professor Lowrey was previously a faculty member at Rider University, and has visited at Ecole Superieur de Commerce de Paris (ESCP), the Stern School of Business at New York University, Tulane University, and the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Professor Lowrey’s research interests include children’s understanding of brand symbolism, gift giving and ritual, and the application of psycholinguistic theory to marketing communications. Her research has appeared in numerous journals, including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and Journal of Advertising, as well as numerous edited volumes. She has edited three scholarly books, including the recent 2008 Brick & Mortar Shopping in the 21st Century (Erlbaum) and 2007 Psycholinguistic Phenomena in Marketing Communications (Erlbaum).

Professor Lowrey is currently the Treasurer of the Association for Consumer Research and serves on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Advertising, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Media Psychology, and Psychology & Marketing.

Current Projects

Investigating the role of psycholinguistic characteristics in the interpretation of brand names: One of the aspects of words that have been shown to have an effect on interpretations of those words is phonetic symbolism. Phonetic symbolism refers to the ability of phonemes (the fundamental building blocks of language) to convey information on their own. This project investigates the implications of this notion for the interpretation of brand names and the processes that underlie these effects. In addition, these same types of relations are being investigated in other languages, such as French, Spanish, and Mandarin, and with bilinguals in these languages. [with L. J. Shrum (UTSA), David Luna (Baruch College, CUNY), Dawn Lerman (Fordham University), and Min Liu (UTSA)]

Investigating advertising complexity: Past research on the effects of complexity in an advertising context has yielded seemingly contradictory findings. Rather than being problematic, however, the results from previous research can be reconciled by placing each set of findings along a complexity continuum based on textual factors, the advertising medium, and individual difference variables. The purpose of this research is to understand the interactive effects of respondent characteristics, the medium, and the message itself in determining the ultimate impact of the message, allowing for a more thorough understanding of how complexity operates. [with Youngseon Kim (UTSA)]

Investigating the nature of gift giving in extreme settings: Most gift-giving research in the field of consumer behavior has been conducted in fairly normal contexts such as romantic dyads and family holiday exchanges. In this project, our purpose is to investigate a context that is much more extreme, where gift-giving can embody life and death decisions. To that end, we explore instances of gift-giving in Nazi concentration camps. In spite of intense pressures toward selfishness, prisoners gave gifts to one another, demonstrating the basic personal need to express humanity through generosity. [with Jill G. Klein (Melbourne Business School)]

Investigating children’s consumption constellations: Individuals group together products, brands and services based on social stereotyping, thereby forming consumption constellations. Although this phenomenon is well documented among adult consumers, we know very little about if and when children develop consumption constellations. In this project, we examine whether children also group products together in stereotypical fashion, and if so, at what age these consumption constellations begin to appear. In a study with children 8 to 12 years of age, we find that not only are children as young as 8 capable of forming consumption constellations, but the structure of their consumption constellations are also similar to those of adults. [with Lan Nguyen Chaplin (Villanova U)]

Primary Interests:

  • Applied Social Psychology
  • Attitudes and Beliefs
  • Communication, Language
  • Persuasion, Social Influence
  • Sociology, Social Networks

Books:

Journal Articles:

Other Publications:

Courses Taught:

  • Advertising Campaigns
  • Advertising Copy and Layout
  • Advertising Management
  • Advertising Principles
  • Behavioral Seminar
  • Consumer Behavior
  • International Marketing
  • Introduction to Media Planning
  • Marketing Communications
  • Marketing Principles
  • Non-Profit Marketing Management
  • Problems in Marketing Management

Tina M. Lowrey
College of Business
University of Texas at San Antonio
One UTSA Circle
San Antonio, Texas 78249-0638
United States of America

  • Phone: (210) 458-5384
  • Fax: (210) 458-6335

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