RESEARCH INTERESTS

Destigmatization and Legitimization of Cannabis Consumption

Despite its legal status in ten states and Washington D.C. cannabis is still illegal at the federal level in the United States and regardless of its partial-legal status cannabis consumption still has a stigma attached to it. Together with my co-authors, I explore the process of destigmatization in the context of cannabis consumption, particularly in legal markets. I have two conference presentations based on this topic.

  • Üçok Hughes, M., and Pehlivan, E. (2020, May). Destigmatization and Legitimization of Cannabis Consumption: A Semiotic Analysis of the Current Cannabis Market. AMA Marketing and Public Policy Conference, Marina del Rey, CA.
  • Üçok Hughes, M., Pehlivan, E., & Coskuner-Balli, G. (2019, June). Legitimization of Recreational Cannabis Consumption: Introduction of Market and Aesthetics Logics in the Field. Paper presented at nitmkg2: Bringing Institutional Theory to Marketing Conference, Paris, France.


Social Marketing and Sustainability

In recent years, my teaching and research interests have moved towards sustainable marketing and social marketing. I am studying ecovillages, whose members live in intentional communities striving to practice and promote sustainable lifestyles. Situated in the margins of mainstream societies, both figuratively and literally, ecovillages pose alternative modes of living and consuming with often utopian undertones.

  • Üçok Hughes, M., McConnell, W., & Groner, S. (2019). A Community-Based Social Marketing Anti-Littering Campaign: Be the Street You Want to See. In Basil, D., Gonzalo, M., D. (Eds.), Social Marketing in Action: Cases from Around the World. Springer.
  • Üçok Hughes, M., & Martin, D. (2018, July). When Utopian Ideologies Meet Marketplace Realities: Fairy Tale Dreams at Ecovillage Communities. Paper presented at Consumer Culture Theory Conference, Odense, Denmark. [web link]
  • Üçok Hughes, M. & McConnell, W. (2016, August). Alternative Lifestyles for a Sustainable Future: Issues, Dilemmas and Paradoxes of Ecovillages. Paper presented at International Society for Markets and Development Conference, Lima, Peru.
  • McConnell, W. & Üçok Hughes, M. (2016, August). Fissures of “Place” in the Globalization of Marketing: Leveraging Survival for Cabo Pulmo, North America’s Oldest Coral Reef. Paper presented at International Society for Markets and Development Conference, Lima, Peru.

Digital Consumers: A Study of Pinterest

Taking Pinterest, an online image sharing site, as a context of study my research partner Kristen Schiele and I look into how consumers collect, organize, and categorize images to present their taste. Based on semi-structured in-depth interviews with female Pinterest users and visual analysis of their Pinterest boards we explore the ways in which people conspicuously consume and present their taste via a social media platform. Our preliminary findings indicate interesting possession rituals of the digital consumers. I presented the following papers based on this research in the following venues:

  • Schiele, K., & Üçok Hughes, M. (2013). Possession Rituals of the Digital Consumer: A Study of Pinterest. In G. Cornelissen, E.  Reutskaja, & A. Valenzuela (Eds.), E- European Advances in Consumer Research (pp. 47-50). Duluth, MN: Association for Consumer Research. [full paper]

Digital Co-Creation: Storygiving

In this research, we looked into the concept of storygiving as a co-creation tool and provided a strategy guideline for marketing managers by using Tiffany & Co.’s “What Makes Love True” online campaign as the main example.

  • Üçok Hughes, M., Bendoni, W., & Pehlivan, E. (2016). Storygiving as a co-creation tool for luxury brands in the age of the internet : A love story by Tiffany and thousands of lovers. Journal of Product and Brand Management – Special Issue: Technology’s Transformation of People, Products and Brands, 24 (4). [web link]

Digital Consumers: Hispanics

Despite their growing numbers and concomitant increase in buying power, marketers increasingly fall short in their efforts to effectively target the Hispanic segment. By using current and historical analysis of marketing campaigns targeting this group accompanied by interviews with industry experts we propose digital marketing strategy opportunities and future managerial implications.

  • Üçok Hughes, M., Stovall, T., Pehlivan, E., & Cardona, R. (2018). Strategic Target Marketing Considerations and Implications for the U.S. Hispanic Market. Journal of Cultural Marketing Strategy, 3 (2), 152-171.
  • Üçok Hughes, M., Stovall, T., & Cardona, R. (2016, October). Digital Marketing and the Overlooked Hispanic 50+ Demographic. Presentation given at Marketing EDGE Direct/Interactive Marketing Research Summit Los Angeles, CA. [abstract]

Digital Fashion Marketing

These conference presentations focus on digital marketing in the context of fashion marketing. The first paper looks at the impacts of digital age, specifically social media on fashion marketing. In the second paper, we define and describe digital curation in the context of fashion marketing, and provide a brief typology of digital curators. The purpose is to derive strategic implications for fashion marketers.

  • Üçok Hughes, M., Bendoni, W., & Nagel, A. (2015, June). Fashion Disruption in the Digital Age. Paper presented at GAMMA Fashion Management Conference, Florence, Italy.

Marketing Education

  • Üçok Hughes, M., Upadhyaya, S., & Houston, H. R. (2018). Educating Future Corporate Managers for a Sustainable World: Recommendations for a Paradigm Shift in Business Education. On the Horizon. [weblink] [pdf]
  • Üçok Hughes, M. (2015). Design and implementation recommendations for an undergraduate sustainable marketing course. In G. Black, & M. M. Nelson (Eds.), Teaching Marketing to New Generations and Non-Traditional Students. Proceedings of Marketing Educators’ Association Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 15-17 April (pp. 163-169). [pdf]
  • Üçok Hughes, M., & McConnell, W. (2015). A journey towards an interdisciplinary integrated marketing curriculum. In G. Black, & M. M. Nelson (Eds.), Teaching Marketing to New Generations and Non-Traditional Students. Proceedings of Marketing Educators’ Association Conference, Las Vegas, NV, 15-17 April (pp. 44-48). [pdf]

Immigrant Consumer Research

For my doctoral thesis, I studied the consumption practices of Turkish transmigrants (transnational immigrants) whose lives stretch between Turkey and Denmark. Below are the publications based on this research:

  • Üçok Hughes, M. (2013). “Social Status Implications of Transmigrants’ Consumer Practices in Their Cultures of Origin”, in Advances in Consumer Research. Association for Consumer Research. [special session extended abstracts]
  • Üçok, M. (2011). “Consumption Practices of Transmigrants: A Multi-sited Ethnographic Study of Turkish Immigrants in Denmark”, published doctoral thesis, University of Southern Denmark University Press.

 “Other” As The Extended Self

In this research, we studied how children’s appearances relate to their parents’ extended selves and the dynamics of negotiation and projection between these two parties. Following is a conference proceeding based on this research:

  • Üçok Hughes, M., Kaigler-Walker, K., & Bendoni, W. (2012). Young Children as Parents’ Extended Selves. In L. Robinson (Ed.), Marketing Dynamism & Sustainability: Things Change, Things Stay the Same. Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science [CD-ROM]. Ruston, LA: Academy of Marketing Science. [full paper]

Nation Branding

With my two co-authors, I studied the notion of nation branding specifically in the context of Ukraine, an emerging post-communist market. Below are the two conference proceedings and a poster stemming from this research:

  • Visconti, L. M., Üçok Hughes, M., & Bagramian, R. (2012). Diversity Appreciated? A Visual Longitudinal Analysis of Ukraine’s Nation Branding Campaigns. In Z. Gürhan-Canli, C. Otnes, & R. Zhu (Eds.), NA – Advances in Consumer Research (pp. 935-936). Duluth, MN: Association for Consumer Research. [extended abstract]