Marketing and Business Law research

Faculty in the Marketing and Business Law academic area include a roster ranging from industry professionals with experience analyzing consumers, building brands or practicing law, to tenure-track faculty who contribute to the creation of knowledge in their respective fields. Not only are they frequently cited in leading academic journals; they provide commentary about current events and trends in media.

Many of our marketing faculty are interdisciplinary in their research, using consumer behavior, psychology and social cognition to better understand marketing strategies and their effects. The knowledge they create and bring to the classroom prepares our students for both research and creative work in this fast-paced, dynamic field.

Our business law faculty introduce students to the basic principles of law that apply to business transactions and equip students with concepts related to dispute resolution and negotiation in business mediation.

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Degree programs

Faculty research topics

Business law
Consumer behavior
Integrated marketing communications
Marketing strategies
Retail pricing
Social influence
Social marketing
Strategic marketing

In the media

Lawrence Journal-World
As tipping prompts rise, KU professor offers ways to ease stress
Read the LJW article
Harvard Business Review
Why some sales teams are actually growing alongside AI
Read the HBR article

KCUR's Up To Date
KU expert says more Americans are voting with their dollars
Listen to the KCUR episode
Forbes
Here’s how much it cost to prevent a single Covid infection via lockdown
Read the Forbes article

Recent Marketing and Business Law research & news

A hand arranges blocks that represent different aspects of business relationships, from ideas to profitability to manufacturing to sales.

Marketing expert develops framework providing retailers strategies for organizing around ecosystems

In a new article, Murali Mantrala, the Ned Fleming Professor of Marketing at the University of Kansas, provides a practical framework for how retailers can deploy an ecosystem-centric strategy focusing on interdependent sets that jointly create and capture customer value.

KU Business faculty experts discuss: Tipping culture and consumer behavior

Jonathan Beck, assistant professor of marketing at the KU School of Business, explains how tipping culture has evolved in recent years and how it's changed consumer behaviors.

A Mason jar filled with tips sits on a counter of a restaurant.

Strategies for fixing out-of-control tipping practices revealed in new article

In a new article, Rob Waiser, assistant professor of marketing, examines how tipping — a social process once confined to hospitality — is now appearing in unexpected places and becoming more expensive. But when designed thoughtfully, it can reinforce customer centricity rather than undermine it.

A waitress picks up a small tray that contains a customer’s bill and cash tip.

Witnessing service workers being treated poorly inspires bigger tips, study finds

In a new article, Jonathan Beck, assistant professor of marketing at the University of Kansas, finds that customers who witness incivility toward service employees experience feelings of pity, followed by increased emotional support and, ultimately, an increased tip for the target employee.

More marketing, business law research