Marina Puzakova

Marina's research interests are in branding strategies, brand anthropomorphism, and negative brand performance. Specifically, she examines consumers' attributions and brand inferences, consumer-brand relationships, and the impact of different brand positioning strategies on performance and consumer responses to marketing communications. Marina has published in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Business Research, International Journal of Advertising, and Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice. Her dissertation was selected as a Runner-Up for the Mary Kay Dissertation Competition sponsored by the Academy of Marketing Science. She is an Editorial Board Member at the Journal of Advertising and the International Journal of Advertising. In 2017, Marina received the Lehigh University Early Career Award for Distinguished Teaching, and in 2018 she was named the recipient of the Robert & Christine Staub Faculty Excellence Award in Business & Economics.

Education

• Voronezh State Technical University, Russia, B.S.
• Drexel University, Ph.D.

Research Interests

• Branding positioning strategies; brand inference; anthropomorphization
• Negative brand performance
• International and cross-cultural branding

• Khamitov, Mansur and Marina Puzakova (2022), “Possessive Brand Names in Brand Preferences and Choice: The Role of Inferred Control,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, forthcoming.
• Puzakova, Marina and Hyokjin Kwak (2021), “Two’s Company, Three’s a Crowd: The Interplay between Collective versus Solo Anthropomorphic Brand Appeals and Gender,” Journal of Advertising, forthcoming.
• Zhang, Yuli, Hyokjin Kwak, Marina Puzakova, and Charles R. Taylor (2021) “Space between Products on Display: The Impact of Interspace on Consumer Estimation of Product Size,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 49, 1109–1131.
• Kwak, Hyokjin, Puzakova Marina, Joseph F. Rocereto, and Takeshi Moriguchi (2020), “When the Unknown Destination Comes Alive: The Detrimental Effects of Destination Anthropomorphism in Tourism,” Journal of Advertising, forthcoming.
• Zhang, Yuli, Hyokjin Kwak, Marina Puzakova, and Charles R. Taylor (2020), “When Distraction May Be a Good Thing: The Role of Distraction in Low-Fit Brand Extension Evaluations”, Psychology&Marketing, forthcoming.
• Zhang, Yuli , Haeyoung Jeong, Hyokjin Kwak, and Marina Puzakova (2019), “Facing the “Right” Side? The Effect of Product Facing Direction”, Journal of Advertising, 48 (2), 153-166.
• Puzakova, Marina and Pankaj Aggarwal (2018), “Brands As Rivals: The Role of Brand Anthropomorphism and Consumer Pursuit of Distinctiveness,” Journal of Consumer Research, 45 (4), 869-888.
• Puzakova, Marina and Hyokjin Kwak (2017), “Should Anthropomorphized Brands Engage Customers? The Impact of Social Crowding on Brand Preferences”, Journal of Marketing, 81 (6), 99-115.
• Bell, Monique and Marina Puzakova (2017), “¿Y Usted?: Social Influence’s Effects on Consumers’ Service Language Preferences”, Journal of Business Research, 72 (March), 168-177.
• Kwak, Hyokjin, Marina Puzakova, and Joseph F. Rocereto (2017), “When Brand Anthropomorphism Alters Perceptions of Justice: The Moderating Role of Self-Construal,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 34 (4), 851-871.
• Puzakova, Marina, Hyokjin Kwak, Suresh Ramanathan, and Joseph F. Rocereto (2016), “Painting Your Point:  The Role of Color in Firms’ Strategic Responses to Product Failures,” Journal of Advertising, 45(4), 365-376.
• Kwak, Hyokjin, Marina Puzakova, and Joseph F. Rocereto (2015), “Better Not Smile at the Price: The Differential Role of Brand Anthropomorphization on Price Fairness,” Journal of Marketing, 79 (4), 56-76.
• Puzakova, Marina, Hyokjin Kwak, and Monique Bell (2015), “Beyond Seeing McDonald’s Fiesta Menu: The Role of Accent in Brand Sincerity of Ethnic Products and Brands,” Journal of Advertising, 44 (3), 219-231.
• Puzakova, Marina, Hyokjin Kwak, and Joseph F. Rocereto (2013), “When Humanizing Brands Goes Wrong: The Detrimental Role of Brand Anthropomorphization Amid Product Wrongdoings,” Journal of Marketing, 77 (3), 81-100.
• Puzakova, Marina, Hyokjin Kwak, and Charles R. Taylor (2013), " The Role of Geography of Self in “Filling In” Brand Personality Traits: Consumer Inference of Unobservable Attributes," Journal of Advertising, 42 (1), 16-29.