Ted Matherly December 12, 2011

Education

• Ph.D., Marketing, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 2012 (expected).
  • Dissertation Title: Observer Interpretation of Signaling in Consumer Decision Making
  • Dissertation Co-Chairs: Amna Kirmani and Roland Rust
• B.S., Communications, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 2006.
  • Undergraduate Research: Automobiles, Advertising, Autocracy?: The Impacts of Advertiser-Sponsored Automotive Industry Coverage on Editorial Content in Newspapers
  • Research Advisor: Nojin Kwak (Communications)

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Research Interests

• Signaling, identity construction, social influence, consumer inferences

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Working Papers

• Ferraro, Rosellina, Amna Kirmani, and Ted Matherly, “Don’t Flaunt It, Even If You’ve Got It: Conspicuous Brand Usage, Perceived Authenticity, and Brand Image Dilution," invited revision at Journal of Marketing Research.
  • Abstract. We examine observers’ perceptions of the authenticity of a brand user engaged in conspicuous use of the brand, and the effect of this inference on both attitude toward the brand user and brand image. We propose that observers infer that a consumer engaged in conspicuous brand usage, such as flaunting or name-dropping, is driven by ulterior motives. This inference leads to perceptions that the brand user is inauthentic, negatively affecting attitude toward the user (study 1 and 2). Observers with high self-brand connection maintain their positive view of the brand in the face of an inauthentic user. Observers with low self-brand connection, however, have more negative perceptions of the brand when the brand user is perceived as inauthentic (study 3). For this group of observers, perceptions of inauthenticity lead to brand dilution.
• Matherly, Ted and Anastasiya Pocheptsova, “Is What You See What They Feel? Fluency and Identity Signaling,” under review at Psychological Science.
  • Abstract. We consider the effect of processing fluency of identity signals on behavior in intergroup interactions. In three studies, we show that an increase in the difficulty of processing of identity signals leads individuals to perform worse on competitive tasks diagnostic of their identity, derogate the out-group in communication, and to behave less cooperatively in an ultimatum game. We propose that the use of more difficult to process signals in interactions with members of an out-group threatens the identity of the signalers, which leads them to engage in behaviors to reaffirm their identity. Interestingly, we show that these effects are stronger for individuals who have a high degree of association with the in-group identity

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Dissertation

Observer Interpretation of Signaling in Consumer Decision Making

• Committee: Amna Kirmani (co-chair), Roland T. Rust (co-chair), David Godes, Rosellina Ferraro, Charles Stangor (Department of Psychology).
• Proposal defended: December 13, 2010.

Essay 1: “Carrying the Torch for the Brand: Observer Interpretation of Brand Logo Signaling”

• Co-authored with Amna Kirmani.
• Target Journal: Journal of Consumer Research.
• Abstract. Brand managers frequently use promotion items, such as branded T-shirts, tattoos, stickers or even personal web pages to help create awareness for their brands. However, brand awareness is only one potential outcome of these activities. Consumers often elect to use these items as signals to communicate about themselves. We refer to these types of signals as brand logo signals. Logo signals are unique in that they do not require that the signaler own or use a brand’s core products. For instance, the wearing of a Prius t-shirt does not confirm that the individual owns a Prius. We suggest that observers infer that signalers use logo signals solely to communicate about themselves to others, because they do not serve a functional motive that differentiates them from an unbranded product. This contrasts with ownership signals, which can be used for functional as well as social identity purposes, and thus the motive for their use is less clear-cut.

  Because of the strictly communicative function of logo signals, we find observers conclude that logo signal users are signaling about their attachment to the brand — that they have favorable attitudes towards and are more connected to the brand compared to someone using an ownership signal. However, observer beliefs about ownership of the brand and traits associated with brand users are relatively constant between logo signals and usage signals. This suggests that signalers may be able to use logo signals to inexpensively signal to others about themselves, since logo signals tend to be less expensive than usage signals. Furthermore, from the perspective of the brand manager, the potentially beneficial outcomes of the brand’s users as highly attached to the brand may be underweighted when only brand awareness is considered as a result of promotions using logo signals.

Essay 2: “Matching the Motive to the Market: Advertising for Socially Influenced Consumer Decisions”

• Co-authored with Roland T. Rust.
• Target Journal: Journal of Marketing Research.
• Abstract. Brands frequently tailor their advertising strategies for positioning their products to best meet the needs of their potential customers. When these consumers have imperfect information, they may rely on the behavior of other customers to inform their decisions. How this behavior is interpreted can be affected by the observers’ motives, and the brand’s advertising can in turn drive these motives. A large group of people using a brand may be indicative of high quality, and thus allow it to satisfy utilitarian motivations. At the same time, a consumer motivated by social identity may consider a brand�ĂŹs usefulness for identity signaling. A brand used by a group with preferences shared similar to the consumer’s would be more effective for communicating about identity, and thus help achieve this goal.

  We propose that consumers consider, in addition to their inherent preferences, the information they can infer from a brand’s existing customers, and that brands can use their advertising to motivate consumers and affect how they weigh these different utilities. We develop an analytical model to demonstrate these propositions, and our results suggest that managers of brands with large market shares should use their advertising message to highlight their brand’s popularity, because consumers infer that popular brands are of high quality. On the other hand, managers of niche brands should emphasize the character of their current users, because their differential advantage lies in potential customers identifying with the brand’s installed customers.

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Research in Progress

• Arens, Zac and Ted Matherly, “Standing Out in the Crowd: Business Diversity and Population Density,” collecting data, targeted to Journal of Marketing.
• Pocheptsova, Anastasiya, Rosellina Ferraro, and Ted Matherly, “Effects of Reviewer Provided Context in Online Product Reviews,” data collected, targeted to Journal of Consumer Research.
• Tseng, Peggy and Ted Matherly, “Social Influence in Deal-Of-The-Day Website Sales,” preparing for submission to Marketing Science.

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Presentations

• Matherly, Ted and Anastasiya Pocheptsova (2011), “Is What You See What They Feel? Fluency and Identity Signaling,” poster presented at Marketing Academic Research Conference, College Park, MD.
• Matherly, Ted and Roland Rust (2011), “Safety in Numbers,” paper presented at Senior Students Research Colloquium, University of Maryland, College Park, MD.
• Matherly, Ted and Anastasiya Pocheptsova (2010), “Is What You See What They Feel? Fluency and Identity Signaling,” paper presented at Association for Consumer Research, Jacksonville, FL.
• Matherly, Ted and Anastasiya Pocheptsova (2010), “Is What You See What They Feel? Fluency and Identity Signaling,” paper presented at Society for Consumer Psychology, St. Pete Beach, FL.
  • *Session Co-Chair
• Matherly, Ted and Anastasiya Pocheptsova (2009), “Is What You See What They Feel? Fluency and Identity Signaling,” paper presented at Society for Judgment and Decision Making, Boston, MA.
• Ferraro, Rosellina, Amna Kirmani and Ted Matherly (2009), “Signaling Identity Through Brands,” paper presented at Association for Consumer Research, Pittsburgh, PA.
• Ferraro, Rosellina, Amna Kirmani and Ted Matherly (2009), “Signaling Identity Through Brands,” paper presented at Society for Consumer Psychology , San Diego, CA.
• Matherly, Ted (2008). “Impacts of Motivation on Socially Influenced Product Choice,” poster presented at Association for Consumer Research, San Francisco, CA.

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Teaching Experience

• Teaching Interests: Marketing Research, Consumer Behavior, Marketing Strategy
• Marketing Research Methods (Undergraduate), Fall 2009, Instructor, University of Maryland.
• Marketing Management (MBA), Spring 2009, Teaching Assistant, University of Maryland, Washington, DC.
• Marketing Research Methods (Undergraduate), Fall 2008, Instructor, University of Maryland, Shady Grove.

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Honors and Awards

• 2011 Nomination for Nash Award for Outstanding Doctoral Student, College Park, MD.
• 2009 AMA-Sheth Doctoral Consortium Fellow, Atlanta, GA.
• 2006 Michigan Men’s Crew, Team Spirit Award, Ann Arbor, MI.
• 2003 ECAC Rowing National Championship, 1st place, Second Freshmen Eight, Cherry Hill, NJ.

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Reviewing

• Social Influence
• Journal of Consumer Research, trainee reviewer
• Association for Consumer Research conference
• Society for Consumer Psychology conference

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Professional Affiliations

• Association for Consumer Research
• Society for Consumer Psychology

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Professional Experience

• re:group Agency, 2006, Ann Arbor, MI.
• Account Coordinator and Media Planning
  • Developed database system for management and traffic for $980K advertising account.
  • Managed advertising accounts within organization, established workflows from creative to media outlets.
  • Analyzed market data and developed media plans for clients.

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Professional IT Skills

• Language Familiarity: SQL, Perl, PHP, R, C++
• Database Familiarity: MySQL, Access

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Service

Professional

• Behavioral Lab, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park.
  1. Lab Manager (2008-2009)
• Association of Doctoral Students, Robert H. Smith School of Business, University of Maryland, College Park.
  1. President (2009-2010)
  2. Social Chair (2007-2009)

Community

• Michigan Rowing Association.
  1. Board Member (2006-Present)
• Men’s Crew, University of Maryland, College Park.
  1. Head Coach (2008-2010)
  2. Assistant Coach (2006-2008)

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Coursework

• Marketing
  Behavioral Research in Marketing	Joydeep Srivastava
  Marketing Models in R	Michel Wedel
  Survey Research Methods in Marketing	Janet Wagner
  Survey of Marketing Models	P.K. Kannan
  Information Processing	Rosellina Ferraro
  Experimental Research in Marketing	Rebecca Hamilton
  Marketing Strategy	Roland Rust
  Mathematical Models in Marketing	Yogesh Joshi
  Psychology
  Quantitative Methods I	Kent Norman
  Quantitative Methods II	Kevin O’Grady
  Social Cognition	Arie Kruglanski
  Goal Systems Theory	Arie Kruglanski

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References

• Amna Kirmani, Ph.D.	Roland Rust, Ph.D.
  Professor of Marketing	Distinguished University Professor
  Robert H. Smith School of Business	David Bruce Smith Chair in Marketing
  University of Maryland	Robert H. Smith School of Business
  College Park, MD 20742	University of Maryland
  akirmani@rhsmith.umd.edu	College Park, MD 20742
  (301)-405-2202	rrust@rhsmith.umd.edu
  	(301)-405-4300
  Rosellina Ferraro, Ph.D.	Anastasiya Pocheptsova, Ph.D.
  Assistant Professor	Assistant Professor
  Robert H. Smith School of Business	Robert H. Smith School of Business
  University of Maryland	University of Maryland
  College Park, MD 20742	College Park, MD 20742
  rferraro@rhsmith.umd.edu	apochept@rhsmith.umd.edu
  (301)-405-0146	(301)-405-8342