INTEREST CATEGORY: CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
POSTING TYPE: Revisits

Author: Eric Yorkston

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PRE-CONFERENCE WEBINAR SERIES

“SOCIOLOGICAL AND CONSUMER LANDSCAPE OF PUERTO RICO”

• Thursday, February 23 from 2pm – 3pm ET
• Beth Colón-Pizzini, Assistant Professor in the Department of African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin
• Sandra Laporte, Professor of Marketing at Toulouse School of Management
• Erick Mas, Assistant Professor of Marketing at Indiana University Kelley School of Business

Overview

Puerto Rican Culture as a Continuous Battle Between Consumption & Resistance (Beth Colón-Pizzini). Puerto Rico is an archipelago with a diverse cultural repertoire that intersects Taíno, West African, West European, and American sources. This repertoire would not be possible without colonial control and consumption as well as the resistance to said control and consumption. This webinar presentation has three objectives: 1) Connect Puerto Rico’s political, economic, and historical key points to cultural practices; 2) Demonstrate how Puerto Rico’s colonial status has enacted a continuous battle between the consumption of and resistance by its people and natural resources; and 3) Share examples of Puerto Rican culture that demonstrate resistance to colonial consumption. These objectives will allow SCP attendees to better grasp that particular geography that is Puerto Rico, its people, and its cultural landscape.

Things to do in Puerto Rico. Sandra Laporte and Erick Mas from the SCP Social Planning Committee will discuss how to best experience Puerto Rico’s rich culture through recommendations for food and drink, and other attractions on the island. From mofongos and mojitos to hiking and zip lining, these recommendations will get you ready for your upcoming trip to Puerto Rico!

Speakers

Dr. Beth Colón-Pizzini is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the African and African Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. Her work focuses on Puerto Rican music and street art, along with Afro-Puerto Rican women’s decolonial praxes, Pan-Caribbean cultural exchange, and Black diasporic anti-colonial feminist theory. She is the author of “On the Wings: Muralism as Feminist Political Praxis by Afro-Puerto Rican Women” in Black Resistance in the Americas (Routledge, 2018). Other publications include “Despacito” at the Grammys and the New Latin Boom (2018) and Puerto Rico, Political Activism, and Urban Art in 2016, for the online publication Latinx Spaces. She is currently working on my first book manuscript titled Libres, Peligrosas, y Todopoderosas: Afro-Puerto Rican Women’s Anti-Colonial Feminist Art and a peer-reviewed article titled “Nunca Te Olvidaremos: Post-Disasters Grief & Memory Cultures in Puerto Rico.” She received her MA and PhD in African and African Diaspora Studies from The University of Texas at Austin in 2017 and 2021, respectively, and her BA in Political Science and Latino/a Studies from Northwestern University in 2014. She is originally from Bayamón, Puerto Rico.

Sandra Laporte is a Full Professor at Toulouse School of Management, specializing in Marketing. Sandra is the co-director of TSM-Research and the Marketing Track Coordinator on the TSM Doctoral Programme. She has also been awarded a Junior Chair by the Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) in 2022. Her research focuses on how consumers interact with technology, and specifically their perceptions of Artificial Intelligence. In addition, she investigates the development of false beliefs and opinion polarization in a disinformation context. She also works on the psychological history of eating behaviors. Sandra’s work has been published in international journals such as the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and the International Journal of Research in Marketing. Sandra is Associate Editor of Research et Applications en Marketing, and a member of the editorial board of the International Journal of Research in Marketing. Sandra obtained her doctorate at HEC Paris in 2010. She has previously held Assistant Professor and Associate Professor roles at HEC Montreal.

Erick Mas is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University Bloomington. Prior to Indiana University, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at Vanderbilt University. Erick holds a PhD in Marketing from the University of North Texas, an MBA from Barry University, and a BS in Marketing from the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez. Erick’s research uses consumer psychology to draw strategic consumer insights centered around the influence of social hierarchies, including social class and political ideology on marketplace behaviors.