My research interests largely center around the question: How do we enhance consumer experiences?
Why "enhance experiences"?
Because today nearly everything is consumption! Consumer experiences dominate modern existence—from the mundane (TV watching or an afternoon tea) to the spectacular (a day at Disneyland or Coachella Festival)—this question has become a fundamentally important one for marketers, individual consumers, and policy makers alike.
What does it mean to “enhance experiences”?
Generally, it means increasing enjoyment, but enhancing experiences can mean something more specific such as: increasing fun, improving hedonic enjoyment, creating a more meaningful moment, fostering more social harmony, or maximizing multiple goal pursuits.
How does one get interested in this question?
Before starting graduate school, I spent time as an “experience creator.” I worked as a Disney Imagineer, short film maker, writer, tourist website designer, events manager, product manager, teacher, DJ, and even an acrobatic performer. In each of these roles, I kept wanting to better understand the underlying principles of consumers’ level of satisfaction and how to market this enjoyment. This interest led me to pursue a psychology degree at The University of California at Irvine and a Ph.D in marketing at Duke University.
Why "enhance experiences"?
Because today nearly everything is consumption! Consumer experiences dominate modern existence—from the mundane (TV watching or an afternoon tea) to the spectacular (a day at Disneyland or Coachella Festival)—this question has become a fundamentally important one for marketers, individual consumers, and policy makers alike.
What does it mean to “enhance experiences”?
Generally, it means increasing enjoyment, but enhancing experiences can mean something more specific such as: increasing fun, improving hedonic enjoyment, creating a more meaningful moment, fostering more social harmony, or maximizing multiple goal pursuits.
How does one get interested in this question?
Before starting graduate school, I spent time as an “experience creator.” I worked as a Disney Imagineer, short film maker, writer, tourist website designer, events manager, product manager, teacher, DJ, and even an acrobatic performer. In each of these roles, I kept wanting to better understand the underlying principles of consumers’ level of satisfaction and how to market this enjoyment. This interest led me to pursue a psychology degree at The University of California at Irvine and a Ph.D in marketing at Duke University.
How does one “enhance experiences”?
Here are the three things I think most about.
Mastery - My dissertation examines how consumers can be made to feel subjective mastery of a consumption domain and how this increases various types of enjoyments for certain types of products.
Social Element - Experiences have a lot to do with other people. Accordingly, in one project I examine errors and biases in recommendation processes. I also examine how people attempt to enhance others’ experience. They do this by moderating how they share about their own experiences (e.g. sharing about a good or bad similar experience) and how they choose products when they are with others (e.g. from different food options).
Goals and Identities – Finally, experiences have a lot to do with goals, such as between two personal goals like health and taste or between personal and social goals like one’s own feelings and another’s feelings. Also identity (and self-related concerns like beliefs) looms large in experiences in a way research often does not acknowledge. It's important to realize that identity expression, affirmation, and security are ways to enhance positive emotions through experiences, and these elements exist or can better exist in everyday consumption from Facebook posts to hobbies to the news media.
In the future what more is there to learn about “enhancing experiences”?
In my early career I am excited to develop a web of projects united mostly by this "enhancing experiences" question. I intend to stay focused with a couple projects at a time that all deal with a few interconnected socio-psychological foci. I see these constructs as the basis for further exploration.
Subjective mastery
Example future direction: how it can be triggered, and the pleasures and burdens of it.
Identity
Example future direction: its effects on media and fantasy enjoyment such as in an ad, movie, or even theme park ride.
Social/personal concerns
Example future direction: in co-consumption between consumers of different familiarity levels.
Empathy gaps
Example future direction: how being in different emotional states influences advice and recommendations.
Some original cartoons by M.R. Trower about my work on the enjoyment of consumer experiences and domains.
Here are the three things I think most about.
Mastery - My dissertation examines how consumers can be made to feel subjective mastery of a consumption domain and how this increases various types of enjoyments for certain types of products.
Social Element - Experiences have a lot to do with other people. Accordingly, in one project I examine errors and biases in recommendation processes. I also examine how people attempt to enhance others’ experience. They do this by moderating how they share about their own experiences (e.g. sharing about a good or bad similar experience) and how they choose products when they are with others (e.g. from different food options).
Goals and Identities – Finally, experiences have a lot to do with goals, such as between two personal goals like health and taste or between personal and social goals like one’s own feelings and another’s feelings. Also identity (and self-related concerns like beliefs) looms large in experiences in a way research often does not acknowledge. It's important to realize that identity expression, affirmation, and security are ways to enhance positive emotions through experiences, and these elements exist or can better exist in everyday consumption from Facebook posts to hobbies to the news media.
In the future what more is there to learn about “enhancing experiences”?
In my early career I am excited to develop a web of projects united mostly by this "enhancing experiences" question. I intend to stay focused with a couple projects at a time that all deal with a few interconnected socio-psychological foci. I see these constructs as the basis for further exploration.
Subjective mastery
Example future direction: how it can be triggered, and the pleasures and burdens of it.
Identity
Example future direction: its effects on media and fantasy enjoyment such as in an ad, movie, or even theme park ride.
Social/personal concerns
Example future direction: in co-consumption between consumers of different familiarity levels.
Empathy gaps
Example future direction: how being in different emotional states influences advice and recommendations.
Some original cartoons by M.R. Trower about my work on the enjoyment of consumer experiences and domains.
Psychological triggers: identity, social comparison
Psychological trigger: subjective mastery
Psychological triggers: subjective/perceived expertise, empathy-gaps, repeated exposure bias