Vita 

Professor Lowrey's curriculum vitae is available as a Word file

Research Interests

Psycholinguistic Theory and Marketing Communications; Gift Giving and Ritualistic Consumption; Children’s Acquisition of Encoding of Consumption Knowledge

· 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) and Dawn Lerman (Fordham University)]

· 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.

· 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, INSEAD]  

· 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)]

Current and Recently Published Papers and Books

• Shrum, L. J., Tina M. Lowrey, and Yuping Liu (forthcoming), “Current Issues in Advertising Research,” in Handbook of Media Effects, eds. M. B. Oliver and R. Nabi, Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage Publications. - Full Text  (PDF)

• Lowrey, Tina M. (2008), “The Case for a Complexity Continuum” in Go Figure:  New Directions in Advertising Rhetoric, eds. Edward F. McQuarrie and Barbara J. Phillips, Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe, 159-177. - Full Text (PDF) (Visit www.mesharpe.com for more information. All Rights Reserved. Not for reproduction.)

• Lowrey, Tina M., ed. (2008), Brick & Mortar Shopping in the 21^st Century, New York, NY:  Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Lowrey, Tina M. & L. J. Shrum (2007), “Phonetic Symbolism and Brand Name Preference,” Journal of Consumer Research, 34 (October), 406-414. - Full Text (PDF)

• Lowrey, Tina M., ed. (2007), Psycholinguistic Phenomena in Marketing Communications, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Shrum, L. J., and Tina M. Lowrey (2007), “Sounds Convey Meaning: The Implications of Phonetic Symbolism for Brand Name Construction,” in Psycholinguistic Phenomena in Marketing Communications, ed. Tina M. Lowrey, Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 38-58. - Full Text (PDF)

• Otnes, Cele C., Julie A. Ruth, Tina M. Lowrey, and Suraj Commuri (2006), “Capturing Time,” in Handbook of Qualitative Research in Marketing, ed. Russell W. Belk, New York: Sage Publications, 387-399. - Full Text (PDF)

• Lowrey, Tina M. (2006), "The Relation Between Script Readability and Commercial Memorability," Journal of Advertising, 35 (3), 7-15. - Full Text (PDF)

• Lowrey, Tina M., L. J. Shrum, and John A. McCarty (2005), "The Future of Television Advertising" in Marketing Communication:  New Approaches, Technologies, and Styles, ed. Allan J. Kimmel, London: Oxford University Press, 113-132.- Full Text (PDF)

• Lowrey, Tina M., Cele C. Otnes, and Julie A. Ruth (2004), "Social Influences on Dyadic Giving Over Time: A Taxonomy From the Giver's Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, 30 (4), 547-558. - Full Text (PDF)