Issue link: http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/58065
Research Transformative Consumer Research Gains Ground A new movement called "Transformative Consumer Research" (TCR) is inspiring business researchers to explore how scholarship can change consumer behaviors for common and personal good, explains Punam Anand Keller, professor of manage- ment at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business in Hanover, New Hampshire, and president elect of the Association for Con- sumer Research (ACR). ACR sparked the TCR movement in the fall of 2005 to foster research efforts that can improve consumers' quality of life. In her own research, Keller looks specifically at improving consumer welfare. In June 2007, for example, she will design a marketing program for private-sector financial regulatory service provider NASD to market programs on financial literacy. Keller is currently working with the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at the Dartmouth- Hitchcock Medical Cen- ter on a project aimed at reducing childhood obesity through the development of a communica- tions program. Keller's research also has inspired a new, second-year elective at Tuck called "Transformative Marketing: Health, Wealth, and the Arts." The course, which begins in January, presents major marketing challenges around issues such as financial health, obesity, exercise, nutrition, and diet, she explains. "We developed this course to get students thinking about how 50 BizEd JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2007 marketing can be applied to broader social issues," says Keller. "Instead of restricting our focus to the impact marketing has on one's own goals or organization performance, we illus- trate how it can have an impact on both individual and collective social well-being." Keller will serve as co-chair of the first TCR conference, "Transforma- tive Consumer Research: Inspiring Scholarship for Collective and Per- sonal Well-Being," to be held July 6–8 at Tuck. The conference will champion interdisciplinary TCR projects that combine the work of social scientists and health research- Punam Anand Keller B-Schools and Businesses: Partners in Exec Ed Academic research over the past decade has shown a growing preference among corporations for customized executive education offerings over conventional, open-enrollment pro- grams. New research from Pennsyl- vania State University's Smeal Col- lege of Business in University Park indicates that this trend is intensify- ing—so much so that corporations are seeking not only customization, but also long-term educational partners who will analyze their indi- vidual needs, develop customized solutions, and offer ongoing counsel. Jeffrey Spearly, managing director of Penn State executive programs and senior instructor at Smeal, surveyed 22 executives responsible for execu- tive education at For- tune 500 companies. He found that these executives are seeking "deep partner rela- tionships that include assessment and consul- tation with education ers with that of consumer researchers on topics such as obesity, smoking, gambling, parenting and consump- tion, the elderly and consumption, and financial decision making. ACR recently received a $30,000 grant from the Kellogg Foundation to begin funding TCR projects, and the Journal of Consumer Research has announced a related issue on consumer welfare. For information about the TCR conference, visit mba.tuck.dartmouth.edu/pages/ faculty/punam.keller/conference/. as a by-product." Some business schools' experi- ences provide evidence of this trend. The Eller College of Man- agement at the University of Arizo- na in Tucson, for example, recently partnered with SAP America Inc. to collaborate on two research projects—one to help SAP apply its software code to new technolo- gies and another to improve the company's supply chain efficiency with radio frequency identification (RFID) technology. JON GILBERT FOX