Beth Vallen, PhD
Professor of Marketing and Business Law | Villanova School of Business Villanova University
- Villanova PA
Beth Vallen, PhD, is an expert on consumer behavior, with a focus on health-related decision making.
Media
Social
Areas of Expertise
Biography
Her research has appeared in peer-reviewed publications like the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Consumer Psychology and Appetite. It has also been cited by a number of media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times and Psychology Today.
The recipient of the 2013 Marketing and Society Emerging Scholar Award from the American Marketing Association, Dr. Vallen currently serves on the editorial review board for the Journal of Consumer Marketing, the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing and the Journal of Consumer Affairs. She also serves as an ad hoc reviewer for a variety of journals in the fields of both marketing and public health and nutrition.
Education
Baruch College
PhD
Baruch College
MBA
Lehigh University
BS
Select Accomplishments
Media Relations Rising Star Award, Villanova School of Business
2018
Emerging Scholar Award, Marketing and Society Special Interest Group, American Marketing Association
2013
Best Working Paper Award, Association for Consumer Research Annual North American Conference
Awarded in 2010 for the working paper "Environmental Cues and Food Consumption."
Best Paper Award, Marketing and Public Policy Conference, American Marketing Association
Awarded in 2009 for the paper "Vicarious Goal Fulfillment: When the Mere Presence of a Healthy Option Leads to an Ironically Indulgent Decision."
Sheth Doctoral Consortium Fellowship, American Marketing Association
2006
Links
Affiliations
- American Marketing Association
- Association for Consumer Research
- Transformative Consumer Research (TCR) Advisory Committee
- MacDonald Center for Obesity Prevention and Education Advisory Committee
Select Media Appearances
Why Are New Year's Resolutions Hard to Keep?
NBC 10
2024-01-09
Pretty much everyone makes New Year's resolutions this time of year. However, these hopes for the future can often get dashed as easily as they were made... "We generally start off on the right foot, start off doing very well," said Villanova University's Beth Vallen. "[But] we see that these goals are hard to maintain. Most of them are based on making very virtuous decisions, and those are easy to break with time and temptation."
It's Pi Day, Which Means Deals on Pies, as Well as on Some Geeky Gear
NBC News
2018-03-14
"There's a natural link between pies and Pi Day, and that's always been the biggest promotional opportunity," Dr. Beth Vallen, associate professor at Villanova School of Business, told NBC News. "But the more interesting [opportunity] is for the businesses centered around brainy endeavors. They can use the day to run promotion that is really on brand."
A New Approach to Combat America's Obesity Epidemic
Morning Consult
2017-09-07
"Across the country, the obesity epidemic and related health issues affect more than 66 percent of the U.S. adult population and increase direct and indirect health care costs as much as 30 percent. To combat this epidemic, health professionals are increasingly turning to insights from behavioral science to guide clients and patients—focusing not only on what people eat, but behavioral strategies for navigating today's food-rich environment."
Inside Amazon + Whole Foods: The First Day
Food Dive
2017-08-29
"While consumers often bemoan the prices at Whole Foods, higher prices come with higher perceptions of quality," Beth Vallen, associate professor of marketing and business law at Villanova School of Business, wrote in a note emailed to Food Dive. "It is interesting to consider what cutting prices will mean for consumer inferences related to the quality of items in their basket and, in turn, the Whole Foods brand."
Cut Down on Food Waste and Save Money in the Process
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
2017-03-22
"Consumers aren't great planners," says Beth Vallen, an associate professor for marketing and business law at Villanova University. "We over-buy for a lot of reasons, and then are optimistic we’ll eat the foods we buy." People don't realize how much money they're wasting because food goes in the trash a little here, a little there. But when you quantify the number to people, Vallen says, "they're shocked."
Beauty Is Skin Deep, but Ugly Produce Causes Much Deeper Waste Issues
Food Dive
2017-01-12
"We eat with our eyes," Beth Vallen, associate professor of marketing and business law at Villanova University, told Food Dive. "When you're looking at an ugly fruit, it just doesn't have that aesthetic appeal." Vallen and fellow researchers explored the evolutionary drivers behind this visual bias in the scientific study "The Squander Sequence: Understanding Food Waste at Each Stage of the Consumer Decision-Making Process."
Research Grants
Duke-Ipsos Research Grant
Duke-Ipsos Research Center and Think Tank
2012
Select Academic Articles
Food Waste (Mis)takes: The Role of (Mis)perception and (Mis)estimation
Consumer PsychologyBlock, L., Vallen, B. & Paul Austin, M.
2022
Shape- and Trait-Congruency: Using Appearance-Based Cues as a Basis for Product Recommendations
Journal of Consumer PsychologyVallen, B., Sridhar, K., Rubin, D., Ilyuk, V., Block, L.G. & Argo, J.J.
2018
Negative Associations of Frozen Compared With Fresh Vegetables
AppetiteConnell, P.M., Finkelstein, S.R., Scott, M.L. & Vallen, B.
2018
The Squander Sequence: Understanding Food Waste at Each Stage of the Consumer Decision-Making Process
Journal of Public Policy & MarketingBlock, L.G., Keller, P.A., Vallen, B., Williamson, S., Birau, M.M., Grinstein, A., Haws, K.L., LaBarge, M.C., Lamberton, C., Moore, E.S., Moscato, E.M., Walker Reczek, R. & Heintz Tangari, A.
2016
The Impact of Holiday Eating Cues on Self-Regulatory Bolstering for Dieters and Non-Dieters
Psychology & HealthMartins, C.M. & Vallen, B.
2014
Time of Day Effects on the Regulation of Food Consumption After Activation of Health Goals
AppetiteBoland, W.A., Connell, P.M. & Vallen, B.
2013
