Eric Spangenberg
Professor of Marketing and Psychological Science; Academic director for the Center for Global Leadership | UC Irvine
Irvine, CA, UNITED STATES
Eric Spangenberg is an expert in consumer behavior, psychology, leadership and statistics.
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Biography
With a 30-year career dedicated to excellence in scholarship and business education, Eric R. Spangenberg has served The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine, as dean since June 2014.
Dr. Spangenberg earned his PhD from the University of Washington in 1990 and joined the faculty at the Carson College of Business at Washington State University (WSU) where he was named the Maughmer Freedom Philosophy Chair and Professor of Marketing in 2003. He also served as dean of the Carson College from 2005 to 2014. International appointments include a Fulbright International Education Administrator position in France and Germany in 2014 and a Permanent Visiting Faculty position in the Center for Customer Insight at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland since 2010.
Spangenberg is an active volunteer for the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), the largest and most prestigious international accrediting body for business schools. He has served as an accreditation mentor and reviewer to numerous schools around the world, and was elected to the AACSB Board of Directors in 2017.
At UC Irvine, Spangenberg has led several initiatives, including engaging and strengthening ties with the external business community both locally and abroad. He has motivated strategic curricular updates to the MBA as well as development of a hybridized (partially online), part-time MBA program, one-year specialized masters programs in finance, data analytics and entrepreneurship, and a completely online minor in undergraduate business to help meet the University's demand for business programs. International expansion initiatives include an international residential for undergraduates and several additional residentials for MBAs including unique programs in Cuba and Israel. Executive Education programs have doubled since 2014 through partnerships with local Orange County businesses as well as with Swiss, Korean, and Chinese universities. He oversaw the Merage School strategic planning process articulating a clear vision and reward structure; led development of a differentiation strategy for the School; successfully navigated a (once a decade) UC Senate school review; and established an AACSB plan and process ensuring successful maintenance of accreditation. He has also prioritized the recruitment of faculty and students across several disciplines and programs thereby enriching diversity of the Merage School community.
Areas of Expertise (5)
Environmental Psychology
Question-Behavior Effects
Consumer Behavior
Marketing
Psychometrics
Accomplishments (1)
AcademicKeys Who’s Who in Business Education (professional)
2006
Education (3)
University of Washington: PhD, Marketing 1990
Minor: Social Psychology
Portland State University: MBA 1986
Washington State University: BA, Business Administration 1982
Minor: Economics
Affiliations (4)
- Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB)
- Association for Consumer Research
- American Psychological Association
- Society for Consumer Psychology
Links (6)
Media Appearances (7)
An Artist Asks, What Is Luxury Without the Logos?
The New York Times online
2022-05-25
Abigail Glaum-Lathburry in her studio in Chicago, April 8, 2022. Called the Genuine Unauthorized Clothing Clone Institute, her newest project revolves around what Glaum-Lathbury has termed “clothing clones”: garments whose patterns are made from mirror selfies she has taken in luxury fitting rooms.
Costco Anywhere Visa® Card by Citi
Wallet Hub online
2021-01-28
Expert opinion on Wallet Hub.
UCI business dean: ‘Going out to shop is just not going to be as enjoyable’
Orange County Register online
2020-06-08
Eric Spangenberg, dean of UC Irvine's Paul Merage School of Business and a professor of marketing and psychological science, has definite ...
In-person 'retail therapy' may be gone for good
Futurity online
2020-06-04
For merchants, expecting a return to pre-pandemic business is not a strategy for success, says Eric Spangenberg, dean of the University of California, Irvine’s Paul Merage School of Business.
What’s next: The future of retail
UCI News online
2020-06-03
Eric Spangenberg, dean of UCI’s Paul Merage School of Business and professor of marketing and psychological science, says that, for merchants, expecting a return to pre-pandemic business is not a strategy for success. Those who can innovate and put together the best alternatives to business as usual, he says, will be in the strongest position to capitalize on consumer demand moving forward. Here, Spangenberg discusses how coronavirus-induced shifts in shopping behavior will likely transform the retail industry.
New UCI Biz School Dean Brings International Experience
Orange County Business Journal online
2020-05-20
The Merage School’s current dean, Eric Spangenberg, will return to the classroom as a faculty member.
Job-searching during a pandemic: local career advisors are guiding their graduates
Daily Pilot online
2020-05-14
Eric Spangenberg, dean and professor at the UCI Paul Merage School of Business, said now more than ever, the school is leaning into their tagline, “Leadership for a Digitally Driven World.” “The philosophy of the Merage School is that we must adapt ourselves and businesses for the disruption inherent in the digital environment,” he said. “This is why we reframed our curricula to give students the frameworks and analytical skills to lead through these transformative moments.”
Articles (5)
Consumer preference for national vs. private brands: The influence of brand engagement and self-concept threat
Journal of Retailing and Consumer ServicesRichie L Liu, David E Sprott, Eric R Spangenberg, Sandor Czellar, Kevin E Voss
2018 Previous research on self-brand connections has not considered the inclusion of brand categories (e.g., national and private brands). The current work examines consumers’ preference for national and private brands and their tendency to include brands as part of their self-concept (measured by the brand engagement in the self-concept (BESC) scale and manipulated using a tagline).
Engaging with Brands: The Influence of Dispositional and Situational Brand Engagement on Customer Advocacy
Customer Engagement MarketingRichie L. Liu, David E. Sprott, Eric R. Spangenberg, Sandor Czellar
2017 Branding research has explored the processes underlying consumers’ engagement with brands, with research exploring both dispositional and situational forms of engagement. Despite this work, scholars have yet to examine the relationship between dispositional and situational approaches to brand engagement. In the current chapter, we report the results of an empirical study testing the influence of dispositional brand engagement on customer advocacy (i.e., positive word-of-mouth and “Liking” on Facebook), as mediated through situational engagement with a specific brand.
A meta-analytic synthesis of the question–behavior effect
Journal of Consumer PsychologyEric R Spangenberg, Ioannis Kareklas, Berna Devezer, David E Sprott
2016 Asking people a question about performing a target behavior influences future performance of that behavior. While contextually robust and methodologically simple, this “question–behavior effect” reveals theoretical complexity as evidenced by the large number of proposed explanations for the effect. Furthermore, considerable heterogeneity exists regarding the “question” used to elicit the effect and the variety of different types of target “behaviors” for which the effect has manifested.
Consumer Attitudes and Intentions Regarding Environmental Behaviors: Effects of Firm-Stated Motives
Marketing in Transition: Scarcity, Globalism, & SustainabilityDavid RaskaDavid E. Sprott, Jeff Joireman, Eric R. Spangenberg
2015 As many as 90% of Fortune 500 companies have integrated explicit corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives into their marketing actions, taking visible steps to communicate their socially responsible actions to consumers (Lichtenstein, Drumwright, and Braig 2004*). One of the most dominant recent CSR platforms is adopting environmentally friendly practices. This increasingly popular CSR initiative of “going green” has been adopted as a marketing platform by major companies such as Honda, Toyota, GE, Bank of America, Starbucks, REI, Whole Foods, and Home Depot (Frazier 2007; Makower 2008), with the obvious hope of increased patronage of consumer segments in appreciation of such behaviors.
Consumer Well-Being: Effects of Subgoal Failures and Goal Importance
Journal of MarketingBerna Devezer, David E. Sprott, Eric R. Spangenberg, Sandor Czellar
2014 Although there is increased awareness of issues surrounding consumer well-being, consumers often lack the personal commitment to improve their quality of life. This article builds on the concept of a goal hierarchy to propose that small acts may have unintended, large consequences on various domains of consumer well-being.
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