Spencer M. Ross, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Marketing at UMass Lowell’s Manning School of Business. My dual research interests in consumer contexts focus on both consumer welfare, marketplace ethics, and technology.
Within the area of consumer welfare and marketplace ethics, my research specializes in how consumers behave with respect to marketplace issues of societal well-being. I primarily focus on prosocial consumption behaviors and consumer ethics; I have published work in the European Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Business Ethics on consumer dispositions toward equity (fairness) in prosocial consumption. I have also published in the Journal of Business Research, Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, and Journal of Consumer Affairs on consumer welfare-related issues such as sustainability, mindfulness, and cashless economies. In Spring 2024, I will be on sabbatical as a Fulbright Scholar to Colombia, researching coffee value systems– a core interest of mine, as relates to understand marketplace justice.
Additionally, I examine how consumers engage with digital marketing technologies, such as social media and holograms, in branding contexts. And, I connect how marketplace technologies potentially improve or undermine consumer and societal well-being.
I received my Ph.D. in marketing from University of Massachusetts Amherst, my MBA in international business from St. John’s University (Queens, NYC), and my BA in political science (minor in French Language & Literature) from McGill University (Montreal, Canada). Aside from spending time cupping coffees with my family, I enjoy noodling around on the guitar and watching Montreal Canadiens games (in French).