Evan Polman may be an expert in consumer behavior and decision-making, but even he has seen unprecedented shifts brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s very salient that we are consuming things differently. Even when we put on our ‘consumer hat’ and go to the grocery store, we can’t always buy what we want because it’s just not there,” he says.
Polman says the uncertainty of our lives now links what he calls the “three Cs: Consumer Behavior, COVID, and Curiosity,” making us wonder how others are doing and how they are impacted. “What are other people doing to cope?”
Polman, an associate professor of marketing at the Wisconsin School of Business at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, shared his expertise with an alumni audience during the virtual series, “The UW Now Livestream: The Future of Consumer Behavior.” He was joined by Nancy Wong, professor and chair of the Consumer Science Department at UW–Madison’s School of Human Ecology. Wong’s research expertise includes consumer behavior in relation to health care, personal finance, and sustainability.
The live YouTube event was hosted by Mike Knetter, president and CEO of the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association (WFAA) and former WSB dean. Read the WFAA recap and watch the full video:
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