Michael Solomon

Biography

Michael R. Solomon, Ph.D. is Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Consumer Research in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph`s University in Philadelphia. He also is Professor of Consumer Behaviour at the Manchester School of Business, The University of Manchester, U.K. Prior to joining the St. Joe`s faculty in Fall 2006, he was the Human Sciences Professor of Consumer Behavior, at Auburn University and he served as Chairman of the Department of Marketing in the School of Business at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Prof. Solomon began his academic career in the Graduate School of Business Administration at New York University, where he also served as Associate Director of NYU`s Institute of Retail Management. He earned B.A. degrees in Psychology and Sociology magna cum laude at Brandeis University in 1977, and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. He was awarded the Fulbright/FLAD Chair in Market Globalization by The U.S. Fulbright Commission and the Government of Portugal.

Prof. Solomon`s primary research interests include consumer behavior and lifestyle issues, branding strategy, the symbolic aspects of products, the psychology of fashion, marketing applications of virtual worlds and the development of visually-oriented online research methodologies. He has published numerous articles on these and related topics in academic journals, and he has delivered invited lectures on these subjects in The United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Australia, and Latin America. His research has been funded by the American Academy of Advertising, the American Marketing Association, U.S. Department of Agriculture, the International Council of Shopping Centers and the U.S. Department of Commerce. He currently sits on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Consumer Behaviour, the Journal of Retailing, and The European Business Review, and he recently completed an elected six-year term on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Marketing Science. Prof. Solomon has been recognized as one of the fifteen most widely cited scholars in the academic behavioral sciences/fashion literature, and as one of the ten most productive scholars in the field of advertising and marketing communications.

Prof. Solomon received the Cutty Sark Men`s Fashion Award for his research on the psychological aspects of clothing. He is Editor of The Psychology of Fashion and Co-Editor of The Service Encounter: Managing Employee/Customer Interaction in Services Businesses, both published by Lexington Books. His textbook, Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being, published by Prentice Hall is widely used in universities throughout North America, Europe, and Australasia and is now in its eighth edition. The text has been translated into several languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, German, French, Russian, Chinese and Korean, and separate European, Australian and Canadian versions are the market leaders in those areas. Prof. Solomon`s text, Marketing: Real People, Real Choices was published in its sixth edition by Prentice Hall in October 2008 and is currently one of the five most widely-adopted Principles of Marketing texts. Soundview Executive Summaries named his trade book, Conquering Consumerspace: Marketing Strategies for a Branded World, (AMACOM) one of the best business books of 2004. He is the first author of LAUNCH! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time (Flat World Knowledge), which is the first open platform commercial textbook. His most recent trade book, The Truth about What Customers Want, was published in October 2008 by FT (Financial Times) Press.

Prof. Solomon is a frequent contributor to mass media. His feature articles have appeared in Psychology Today, Gentleman`s Quarterly and Savvy. He is often quoted in national magazines and newspapers, including Newsweek, The New York Times, USA Today, and The Wall Street Journal. He has appeared on television and radio to comment on consumer behavior issues, including "The Today Show," "Good Morning America," CNBC, Channel One, "Inside Edition," "Newsweek on the Air," The Wall Street Journal Radio Network, the Entrepreneur Sales and Marketing Show, the WOR Radio Network and National Public Radio.

Prof. Solomon has provided input as a marketing consultant and an expert witness to a variety of organizations on issues related to consumer behavior, branding, services marketing, retailing and advertising. His clients have included Armstrong World Industries, Bayer Healthcare, Celanese, Gap, Inc., Hakuhodo Advertising (Tokyo), H&M, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Kayser-Roth, Levi Strauss, Prudential Securities, State Farm, United Airlines, DuPont, Black & Decker, eBay, PPG Industries, Visa, VF Corp., Timberland, and Calvin Klein. Prof. Solomon is in demand as a speaker to business groups; he has delivered keynote addresses to numerous organizations including The Cosmetics, Toiletries, and Fragrances Association, Experian, Dentsu, Inc. (Tokyo), The Fragrance Foundation, The Point of Purchase Advertising Institute (POPAI), The International Furnishings and Design Association, The Japan Marketing Association, The SAS Institute, The National Kitchen and Bath Association, NCR Corporation, Symantec, The Toy Industry Association, The U.S. Army, The Vision Council of America, Self magazine, and U.S. Cellular.

Publications

Conquering Consumerspace:
Marketing Strategies for a Branded World

Once upon a time, marketers barraged customers with hard-sell tactics. Today, consumers use products to define themselves and others. People are swayed not by corporate-generated hype, but by consumer-generated buzz. That means companies must shift their focus away from marketing to people and toward marketing with them. In "consumerspace," firms partner with customers to develop brand personalities and create interactive fantasies. The winners understand that we buy products not just because of what they do, but because of what they mean. Market share is out; share of mind is in.

Conquering Consumerspace reveals the accelerating blurring of traditional boundaries between branded commodities and everyday life. Solomon`s timely book presents a new way of looking at customers: recognizing them as partners in an ongoing marketing transaction rather than as passive pawns at the receiving end of a sales pitch. Conquering Consumerspace also defines the place of customer feedback in product conception, design, and production, and why customizability is no longer a luxury option but a requirement.

From online "buzz communities" to theme stores and product placement to guerrilla marketing, what we consume is inextricably woven into our daily life experience, creating both challenges and opportunities for companies to accelerate and deepen their customers` relationships with their products, services, and brands.

Titles

The Brave New World of Consumerspace

Why We Buy

Lifestyle Marketing: You Really Are What You Wear (and Eat, and Drive)

Consumer Behavior and the Marketing Mix

Finding Gold in the New Green Economy

Getting Consumers to Consume in Tough Times: How can Marketers Motivate Reluctant Buyers?