Biography
Amber Epp is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Wilbur Dickson-Bascom Professor in Business at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Business. Amber’s research advances an interdisciplinary perspective of the relationship between family and the marketplace. In particular, she studies what products, brands, or services mean to families; how families derive value from brand uses and experiences; how families’ choices facilitate or hinder collective goals; and how families evaluate and make sense of their choices within the broader context of family life. Her work has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Service Research, and Journal of Retailing, and she has co-authored book chapters on qualitative data analysis, family consumption behavior, and assemblage theory. Professor Epp received the inaugural Sidney J. Levy Award for outstanding Consumer Culture Theory research, and her research has been funded by the Marketing Science Institute. She also serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Marketing, sits on the editorial review board for Journal of Consumer Research, and is a member of AMA academic council. Professor Epp currently teaches Consumer Behavior for professional MBA & undergraduates and Qualitative Data Insights in the full-time MBA program. In addition, she has taught Services Marketing, Marketing Management, and Honors Introductory Marketing.
Research
Selected Published Journal Articles
Velagaleti, S. & Epp, A. (2024). When Fields are Destabilized: Mobilizing Gendered Capital to Resolve Hysteresis Journal of Consumer Research
Epp, A. & Otnes, C. (2021). High-Quality Qualitative Research: Getting into Gear Journal of Service Research
Thomas, T. & Epp, A. & Price, L. (2020). Journeying Together: Aligning Retailer and Service Provider Roles with Collective Consumer Practices Journal of Retailing
Thomas, T. & Epp, A. (2019). The Best Laid Plans: Why New Parents Fail to Habituate Practices Journal of Consumer Research
Epp, A. & Price, L. (2018). Constraints and Possibilities in the Thrown Togetherness of Feeding the Family European Journal of Marketing
Price, L. & Epp, A. (2015). The Heterogeneous and Open-Ended Project of Assembling Family Assembling Consumption
Epp, A. & Velagaleti, S. (2014). Outsourcing Parenthood? How Families Manage Care Assemblages Using Paid Commercial Services Journal of Consumer Research
Epp, A. & Jensen Schau, H. & Price, L. (2014). The Role of Brands and Mediating Technologies in Assembling Long-Distance Family Practices Journal of Marketing
Epp, A. & Price, L. (2011). Family Time in Consumer Culture: Implications for Transformative Consumer Research Transformative Consumer Research for Personal and Collective Well-Being
Epp, A. & Price, L. (2011). Designing Solutions around Customer Network Identity Goals Journal of Marketing
Epp, A. & Price, L. (2010). The Storied Life of Singularized Objects: Forces of Agency and Network Transformation Journal of Consumer Research
Thompson, B. & Koenig Kellas, J. & Soliz, J. & Thompson, J. & Epp, A. & Schrodt, P. (2009). Family Legacies: Constructing Individual and Family Identity through Intergenerational Storytelling Narrative Inquiry
Epp, A. & Price, L. (2008). Family Identity: A Framework of Identity Interplay in Consumption Practices Journal of Consumer Research
Arnould, E. & Epp, A. (2006). Deep Engagement with Consumer Experience: Listening and Learning with Qualitative Data The SAGE Handbook of Marketing Research
Working Papers
Robinson, A. & Epp, A. & Tomar, N. (2023). Challenges to Intervention: Parental Justifications for Vaccine-Hesitancy within Economies of Worth
Tomar, N. & Epp, A. Exploring Market-Mediated Play as a Creative Mode of Public Dialogue: The Case of Story Slams
Presentations
Research Seminar (2024) Holding it Together: Assembling Tech-Product Continued Use through Entropy Work
Association for Consumer Research Conference (2023) Ludic Publics: Transformation through Ludic Consumption
Consumer Culture Theory Conference (2023) Moving Toward an Institutional Utopia for CCT: Developing Plans for CCT Market Expansion
Research Seminar (2023) Resisting Entropy: How Consumers and Objects Share ‘Work’ to Sustain Continued Tech-Product Use
Webinar (2023) How Culture Influences Product Strategy
Association for Consumer Research Conference (2022) Resisting Entropy: How Consumers and Objects Share ‘Work’ Involved in Sustaining Continued Use of Tech-Products
Consumer Culture Theory Conference (2022) Ethnographic Futures in the Pandemic World
Consumer Culture Theory Data Analysis Workshop (2022) Data Analysis: Moving Beyond Description
Consumer Culture Theory Conference (2022) Community through Competition – Exploring the Trajectories of Deep Play and Communal Experiences Post Disruption
AMA Winter Educators’ Conference (2022) Challenges to Social Solidarity: How Vaccine-Hesitant Parents’ use Emotion Work to Navigate an Economy of Morals
Research Series (2021) When Fields are Destabilized: Mobilizing Capital to Establish Legitimacy
Association for Consumer Research Conference (2021) The Babel of Collective Consumption: Tensions and Heterogeneity in Communities and Subcultures
Association for Consumer Research Conference (2021) The Seesaw of Loss and Hope: How Vaccine-Hesitant Parents Justify and Experience their Choices within Economies of Worth
Research Series (2021) When Fields are Destabilized: Mobilizing Capital to Establish Legitimacy
Research Series (2020) When Fields are Destabilized: Mobilizing Capital to Establish Legitimacy
Economy and Society Workshop (2020) Relational Work
Consumer Culture Theory Conference (CCTC) (2020) The Seesaw of Loss and Hope: How Vaccine-Hesitant Parents Make Sense of and Experience their Choices to Engage in Oppositional Social Practices
Association for Consumer Research Conference (2019) Beyond Identity Salience: How the Dynamic Self Impacts Consumer Behavior
Association for Consumer Research Conference (2019) When Consensus Is Lost: Mobilizing Capital to Establish Consumer Legitimacy
Consumer Culture Theory Data Analysis Workshop (2019) Data Journey into the Woods
Consumer Culture Theory Conference (2019) Let Me Write That Down’: Material Speed and Older Consumer Technology Adoption
Hightower Speaker Series (2019) Best Laid Plans: Why New Parents Fail to Habituate Practices
Consumer Culture Theory Conference (2018) Reaching Out and Building Up: Making Theoretical Contributions to Substantive Domains
AMA Winter Educators’ Conference (2018) Doing Observational Research
ACR Doctoral Symposium (2017) Oh the Places You’ll Go!: Advice for Young Scholars Panel
Research Series (2017) From Symbolic Violence to Symbolic Revolution: How Does Social Change Impact Consumer Legitimacy in the Marketplace
Consumers and Consumption Symposium (2017) Assembling Family: Sociological Intersections
Research Series (2017) From Symbolic Violence to Symbolic Revolution: The Diverse Destigmatization Experiences of LGBT Consumers
MSI Young Scholars Event (2017) The Commercialization of Family Life
Association for Consumer Research Conference (2015) Pursuing Marriage Equality in the Marketplace: Stigmatized Consumers’ Responses to Mainstream Marketplace Access
Families and Well-Being Seminar Series (2015) Outsourcing Parenthood: How Families Manage Care Assemblages Using Expanded Services
Consumer Culture Theory Conference (2015) Pursuing Marriage Equality in the Marketplace: Stigmatized Consumers’ Responses to Mainstream Marketplace Access
C4 Research Series (2015) New Parent Decision Making in a Culture of Choice Overload
ACR Perspectives Session (2014) (Re)assembling the Social in Consumer Research
AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium (2014) Consumer Culture Theory Session
ACR Doctoral Symposium (2013) Consumer Culture Theory Session
ACR Doctoral Symposium (2012) Consumer Culture Theory Session
Speaker Series (2012) Connected Families: How Consumption Practices Survive Distances
Association for Consumer Research Conference (2011) Connected Families: How Consumption Practices Survive Distance
AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium (2011) Qualitative Data Analysis Session
AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium (2011) Young Scholars Panel
European Association for Consumer Research conference (2010) Eliciting and Analyzing Collectively-Told Narratives for Consumer Research
AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium (2010) Young Scholars Panel
Speaker Series (2010) Designing Solutions around Customer Network Goals
Speaker series (2010) How Customer Networks Integrate Resources to Accomplish Identity Goals: A New Approach to Platform Design
AMA Summer Educators’ Conference (2009) Transitioning from Doctoral Student to Junior Faculty: Best Practices
Consumer Culture Theory Conference (2009) The Idealization of Family Dinner and Post-Feminist Strivings
American Marketing Association Winter Educators’ conference (2008) Authoritative Performances: How Families Use Firms’ Operand Resources
Association for Consumer Research conference (2008) Agency, Identity, and Materiality: The Storied Life of a Family and Their Table
Consumer Culture Theory conference (2008) Consuming Together and Apart: Sharing as Being a Family
Association for Consumer Research conference (2007) Idealized Family Time: Collective Identity Interplay in Vacations
European Association for Consumer Research Conference (2007) Family Identity and the Meaning of Home
Association for Consumer Research Conference (2006) Enacting the Family Legacy: How Family Themes Influence Consumption Behavior
European Association for Consumer Research Conference (2006) Reflecting Family: Home Furnishings as Consumption Symbols of Family Identity
National Communication Association Conference (2006) Family Legacies: Constructing Individual and Family Identity through Intergenerational Storytelling
Association for Consumer Research Conference (2005) Rethinking Family Consumption: An Exploration of Family Identity
International Conference on Marketing and Development Proceedings (2005) Senses of Family as Judged from Cross-Country Comparisons of Family Public Policies
Teaching
Undergraduate Courses
Services Marketing (MKT 490), Fall 2005.
Services Marketing (MKT 490), Fall 2006.
Marketing Management (MKT 442), Summer 2006.
Provides a framework for evaluating marketing problems and developing a marketing strategy. Customer, company, competitive, and collaborator factors are emphasized as foundations for marketing decision making. The key aspects of product, pricing, distribution, and promotion strategy are also examined.
Introduction to Marketing (MKT 341), Summer 2004.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 305), Fall 2014.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to MKT decision-making. Psychological,economic,anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 305), Fall 2015.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to MKT decision-making. Psychological,economic,anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 305), Fall 2008.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to marketing decision-making. Psychological, economic, anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 305), Fall 2017.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to marketing decision-making. Psychological,economic,anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 305), Fall 2018.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to MKT decision-making. Psychological,economic,anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes. Enroll Info: None
Consumer Behavior (MKT 305), Fall 2009.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to marketing decision-making. Psychological, economic, anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 305), Fall 2010.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to marketing decision-making. Psychological, economic, anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 305), Fall 2012.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to marketing decision-making. Psychological, economic, anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 305), Fall 2013.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to marketing decision-making. Psychological, economic, anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes.
Graduate Courses
Qualitatively-Based Marketing Insights (MKT 805), Fall 2017.
Understanding and application of in-depth qualitative market research methods,with an emphasis on the interpretation of qualitative data. Provides hands-o experience with different methodological techniques and immersion in a cultural perspective for sys
Consumer Behavior (MKT 705), Fall 2009.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to marketing decision-making. Psychological, economic, anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 705), Fall 2010.
Analysis of the theories of consumer behavior and their application to marketing decision-making. Psychological, economic, anthropological and sociological perspectives are integrated to enhance understanding of consumer acquisition processes.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 705), Fall 2011.
Analysis of theories and models of behavior which underlie the process of consumer decision-making. Marketing applications of psychological, sociological and social-psychological factors.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 705), Fall 2013.
Analysis of theories and models of behavior which underlie the process of consumer decision-making. Marketing applications of psychological, sociological and social-psychological factors.
Consumer Behavior (MKT 705), Fall 2014.
Analysis of theories and models of behavior which underlie the process of consumer decision-making. MKT applications of psychological,sociological and social-psychological factors.
Learning/Teaching Oriented Publications
Epp, A. & Thomas, T. (2018). Family and Collective Identity Consumer Culture Theory
Epp, A. & Thomas, T. (2023). Family and Collective Identity Consumer Culture Theory, 2nd edition
Service
Editorial and Reviewing Activities
Journal of Public Policy & Marketing – Since April 2020
Editorial Board Member
Journal of Services Research – Since January 2019
Editorial Board Member
Journal of Marketing – Since March 2018
Associate Editor
Journal of Marketing Research – Since November 2015
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Journal of Services Research – December 2014 – December 2018
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Journal of Consumer Research – Since June 2013
Editorial Board Member
Journal of Marketing – December 2012 – February 2018
Editorial Board Member
Journal of Consumer Culture – Since January 2010
Invited Manuscript Reviewer
Journal of Consumer Psychology – Since January 2010
Ad Hoc Reviewer
Alden G. Clayton Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Competition – January 2010 – December 2010
Ad Hoc Reviewer
ACR/Sheth Foundation Dissertation Grants Competition – January 2010 – December 2010
Ad Hoc Reviewer
John A. Howard/AMA Doctoral Award Competition
John A. Howard/AMA Doctoral Award Competition