Mitchell Hamilton, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Marketing, College of Business Administration Loyola Marymount University
Media
Biography
Dr. Mitch Hamilton is an award-winning scholar who earned a B.S. in marketing from San Diego State University, an MBA from Clark Atlanta University, and a Ph.D. in consumer behavior from Syracuse University. Dr. Hamilton began teaching marketing at LMU in the fall of 2012. Prior to LMU, he was an instructor at Syracuse University, a market research analyst and worked for a collegiate athletics marketing department. As a doctoral student, he capitalized upon a unique opportunity to be simultaneously trained in quantitative modeling by the marketing department and experimental design by the social psychology department. This experience helped Dr. Hamilton develop the socio-cultural lens through which he approaches marketing, as well as the triple-bottom-line (profit + people + planet) philosophy he adheres to in his teaching, research, and business practices. Over time, he gravitated toward the “consumer-self” literature which offered a vast river of knowledge. And from this river, he began to carve out two streams of research: [1] the consumer-brand paradigm and [2] the digital consumer-self (which also considers image manipulation mechanisms that are unique to digital environments). Eventually, after an 8-year educational odyssey, Dr. Hamilton finally returned home to Southern California with his wife, Chinyarai, and their daughter, Rylie. In 2014, the Hamiltons welcomed their newest addition to the family, baby Carter.
In 2018, Dr. Hamilton co-founded the Applied Learning in Societal Transformation (A-LIST) Pathway, a specialized program within the LMU marketing major that prepares changemakers to understand diverse consumer cultures and create inclusive societal change through effective marketing. His most recent work investigates the nuanced relationship between brands and consumers, and highlights the power of building brand meaning through culture. Dr. Mitch Hamilton is also a renowned thought leader on the topic of brand activism.
Education
Syracuse University
Ph.D.
Consumer Behavior
2012
Clark Atlanta University
MBA
2006
San Diego State University
B.A.
Marketing
2002
Social
Areas of Expertise
Industry Expertise
Media Appearances
Crossing Bridges
OneOpp online
2021-07-12
Mitch interviews Garlin Gilchrist III, Lt. Governor of Michigan. They discuss the intersection of local government, state government and law enforcement.
Press the Issue hosted by Snoop Dogg
SnoopDoggTV online
2020-11-02
Mitch and Snoop discuss several issues plaguing Black and Brown communities. The clip has received nearly 400,000 YouTube views.
Taking a Stand: Four Steps to Creating and Marketing Authentic Brand Activism
Marketing Science Institute print
2020-10-20
Mitch Hamilton was featured in "Taking a Stand: Four Steps to Creating and Marketing Authentic Brand Activism" published by Marketing Science Institute.
Event Appearances
Brand Activism Webinar
Marketing Science Institute Virtual
2020-10-28
Articles
Creating cool: The crafting, development, and management of cool brands
Journal of Global Fashion MarketingGeraldo Matos, Delancy H.S. Bennett, Mitchell Hamilton, Cecilia Ruvalcava, Bhaskar Upadhyaya, and Nwamaka A. Anaza
2025-02-06
For a brand, being cool can be an important driver of consumer purchase, yet little is known about how marketers can make a brand cool. This study aims to understand how cool brands are created and maintained. To this end, this paper leverages qualitative and quantitative studies to determine how cool brands are created, and in turn, develops a formative scale for measuring brand coolness.
When Diversity Backfires: The Asymmetric Role of Multicultural Diversity on Brand Perception
Journal of Consumer ResearchEsther Uduehi, Julian K. Saint Clair, Mitchell Hamilton, Americus Reed, II
2025-01-28
Brands are expanding their market to new consumers by displaying cultural diversity in marketing campaigns—but the risks are unclear. This article explores the role of the brand’s characteristics in multicultural diversity. Our findings suggest that when brands launch a new multicultural diversity campaign, it may be well-received if the brand’s original focus was on the needs of nonmarginalized consumers. However, for brands with a focus on the needs of marginalized consumers (i.e., marginalized-focused brands), such a campaign may be perceived as selling out, thereby negatively impacting consumers’ reactions.
Is this real life? Is it just fantasy? The development and validation of a media-evoked fantasy scale
Journal of Consumer MarketingBennett, D. H., Matos, G., Anaza, N. A., Ruvalcaba, C., & Hamilton, M.
2023-02-01
The purpose of this paper is to develop a multidimensional scale for measuring narrative-driven fantasy in order to detail which dimensions of fantasy facilitate narrative transportation. Further, this paper posits that prior research has overlooked the mediating role that fantasy plays within the narrative consumption and narrative transportation process.
Researching Quality of Life Marketing Using a Mixed Methods Approach
SAGE Research Methods Videos2020-08-01
Professor Mitch Hamilton discusses the use of mixed methods to research quality of life marketing.
Dine-in or take-out: Modeling millennials’ cooking motivation and choice
Journal of Retailing and Consumer ServicesNamin, A., Ratchford, B. T., Saint Clair, J. K., Bui, M. M., & Hamilton, M. L.
2020-03-02
Students, in general, get into undesirable eating habits, partly due to the decrease in consumption of unhealthy, prepared food items (e.g., take-out). This research applies a multi-method approach to modeling the motivations behind cooking behavior for this cohort of young-adult consumers. Focus groups are conducted and findings are incorporated into an integrative framework to develop and estimate three quantitative choice models for predicting millennials’ cooking behavior.
Is it Expensive? The Dual Effect of Construal Level on Price Judgments
Journal of Marketing Theory and PracticeSaint Clair, J. K., Hamilton, M. L., Woodham, O. P., Namin, A. T., & Bennett, D. H.
2019-07-18
When judging the expensiveness of a product or service, consumers often make comparisons to similar offerings that serve as reference points. Extant pricing literature shows that reference items in the consideration set may trigger a “contrast effect,” where higher-priced items make the target item seem less expensive. Two studies show that the effect of reference price depends on the consumer’s level of abstract thinking—or “construal level” —at the time of judgment. Concrete construal leads to the standard contrast effect, but abstract construal leads to an assimilation effect, where higher-priced reference items make the target seem more expensive.
Impact of message design on banner advertising involvement and effectiveness: An empirical investigation
Journal of Marketing Communications2017-10-25
Following past research examining online advertising design and effectiveness, this research studies the impact of variations in the design of online banner advertisements on advertising involvement and effectiveness. Advertisement involvement and effectiveness are measured as response to changes in message design and are determined by the number of clicks on the banner ad (involvement) as well as the click-through rate, or CTR (effectiveness). The latter is the ratio of ad clicks to its total impressions. Related to the message design, the type (static or dynamic), size (pixel ratios), and the format of a banner advertisement are studied employing behavioral response data from a single apparel retailer. Results suggest that the type of banner advertisement significantly influences advertising involvement and effectiveness. Results also suggest that banner ad size in terms of pixel ratios significantly increases advertising involvement through total number of clicks but does not affect effectiveness through CTR. Our findings also identify and empirically validate the important role of the Golden Ratio in banner ad message design and its effectiveness.
I Know What I Like, I Like What I Know: How Breadth of Brand Experience and Cognitive Effort Influence Brand Switching
Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice2017-02-16
The authors propose that segmenting loyal consumers according to their history of switching in a product category may help managers improve advertising effectiveness by stimulating appropriate levels of elaboration. More elaboration by multiple-brand consumers for their current brand choice increases the likelihood of future switching, whereas single-brand consumers are unaffected. For single-brand consumers, need for cognition decreases switching intent under high elaboration conditions, whereas multiple-brand consumers are unaffected. Lastly, the effect of cognitive processing on brand switching is greater for single-brand consumers for high elaboration advertisements, and greater for multiple-brand consumers for low elaboration advertisements.
Social Media and Value Creation: The Role of Interaction Satisfaction and Interaction Immersion
Journal of Interactive Marketing2016-11-01
This research examines the effects of social media brand consumer interactions on three types of customer value: customer lifetime value (CLV), customer influencer value (CIV) and customer knowledge value (CKV). By examining the differential effects of consumers' satisfaction and immersion with social-media brand interactions on CLV, CIV and CKV, the authors identify conditions under which interaction satisfaction and interaction immersion create value for brands.
Hashtags and Handshakes: Consumer Motives and Platform Use in Brand-Consumer Interactions
Journal of Consumer Marketing2016-07-01
The current increase in social media activity related to brand–consumer interactions is progressively influencing the manner in which brands and their customers communicate. Whereas this attention to social media is warranted, researchers and brand managers must also recognize that consumers connect and engage with brands across other communication platforms as well. Accordingly, this study aims to examine brand–consumer interactions taking place across social, online and physical platforms, as well as consumer motives for initiating these brand interactions across various platforms.
The Power of Promoting Healthy Brands: Familiarity in Healthy Product Decision Making
Journal of Promotion Management2015-12-14
This research investigates consumer decision making and brand commitment for brands promoted as “healthy.” The authors examine the relationship of brand familiarity to brand credibility, brand quality, purchase intentions, and brand commitment. The findings indicate that familiarity can help increase purchase intentions and brand commitment for healthy brands with low credibility. However, to go beyond a transactional exchange to one that is relational in nature, familiarity, credibility, and quality are all crucial for fostering brand commitment.
