The American Marketing Association is pleased to announce the recipients of the seventh annual AMA-EBSCO-RRBM Award for Responsible Research in Marketing. The research groups honored this year explore topics such as nutritional inequality, financial vulnerability across socioeconomic consumer segments, how the rise of video calling is affecting crucial interpersonal outcomes, consumer response to Black-owned businesses in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, gender inequality in entrepreneurial finance, and much more.
This award honors outstanding research that produces both credible and useful knowledge that can be applied to benefit society. A diverse team of scholars with input from dozens of subject matter expert reviewers selected the winners out of a pool of over 30 nominations. The winning work exemplifies the Seven Principles of Responsible Research that support the general notion of “better marketing for a better world.” These principles include:
- Service to Society: Development of knowledge that benefits business and the broader society, locally and globally, for the ultimate purpose of creating a better world.
- Valuing Both Basic and Applied Contributions: Contributions in both the theoretical domain to create fundamental knowledge and in applied domains to address pressing and current issues.
- Valuing Plurality and Multidisciplinary Collaboration: Diversity in research themes, methods, forms of scholarship, types of inquiry, and interdisciplinary collaboration to reflect the plurality and complexity of business and societal problems.
- Sound Methodology: Research that implements sound scientific methods and processes in both quantitative and qualitative or both theoretical and empirical domains.
- Stakeholder Involvement: Research that engages different stakeholders in the research process, without compromising the independence of inquiry.
- Impact on Stakeholders: Research that has an impact on diverse stakeholders, especially research that contributes to better business and a better world.
- Broad Dissemination: Diverse forms of knowledge dissemination that collectively advance basic knowledge and practice.
Funded via support from the AMA and EBSCO, the award is co-sponsored by the Sheth Foundation and presented in cooperation with Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM). Both Distinguished Winners and Winners receive grant money to continue their efforts in the field. The 2026 winners include:
Distinguished Winners
- Bernardo Andretti, Yan Vieites, Larissa Elmor, and Eduardo B. Andrade, “How Socioeconomic Status Shapes Food Preferences and Perceptions” | Journal of Marketing
- Linda Court Salisbury, Gergana Y. Nenkov, Simon J. Blanchard, Ronald Paul Hill, Alexander L. Brown, and Kelly D. Martin, “Beyond Income: Dynamic Consumer Financial Vulnerability” | Journal of Marketing
Winners
- Melanie S. Brucks, Jacqueline R. Rifkin, and Jeff S. Johnson, “Video-Call Glitches Trigger Uncanniness and Harm Consequential Life Outcomes” | Nature
- Siddharth Sharma, Justin Frake, and Jared Watson, “Symbolic vs. Substantive Support: The Impact of Black Lives Matter on Black-Owned Businesses” | Marketing Science
- Christopher P. Blocker, Joseph P. Cannon, and Jonathan Z. Zhang, “Purpose Orientation: An Emerging Theory Transforming Business for a Better World” | Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
- Huachao Gao, Xin (Shane) Wang, Xi Li, and June Cotte, “Crowdfunding Success for Female Versus Male Entrepreneurs Depends on Whether a Consumer Versus Investor Decision Frame Is Salient” | Journal of Marketing Research
Finalists
- Lama Lteif, Helen van der Sluis , Lauren G. Block, Luca Cian, Vanessa M. Patrick, and Maura L. Scott, “Creating Equity by Design: A Conceptual Framework for Marketplace Inclusion” | Journal of Public Policy & Marketing
- Linda Alkire, Laura Hesse, Amir Raki, Silke Boenigk, Sertan Kabadayi, Ray Fisk, and Andrés Mora, “From Theory to Practice: A Collaborative Approach to Social Impact Measurement and Communication” | European Journal of Marketing
- Corinne M.K. Hassler, Martin Mende, Maura L. Scott, and Lisa E. Bolton, “The Prosocial Ambassador Effect: Adopting an Ambassador Role Increases Sustainable Behavior” | Journal of Marketing
- Szu-chi Huang, Michal Maimaran, and Daniella Kupor, “Using Price Promotions to Drive Children’s Healthy Choices in a Developing Economy” | Journal of Marketing Research
About the American Marketing Association (AMA)
As the leading global professional marketing association, the AMA is the essential community for marketers. From students and practitioners to executives and academics, we aim to elevate the profession, deepen knowledge, and make a lasting impact. The AMA is home to five premier scholarly journals including: Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of International Marketing, and Journal of Interactive Marketing. Our industry-leading training events and conferences define future forward practices, while our professional development and PCM® professional certification advance knowledge. With 70 chapters and a presence on 350 college campuses across North America, the AMA fosters a vibrant community of marketers. The association’s philanthropic arm, the AMA’s Foundation, is inspiring a more diverse industry and ensuring marketing research impacts public good.
AMA views marketing as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. You can learn more about AMA’s learning programs and certifications, conferences and events, and academic journals at AMA.org.
About the Sheth Foundation
Founded by Dr. Jagdish & Madhu Sheth, the Sheth Foundation supports the academic scholarship, publications, education, and research of tax-exempt, publicly-supported educational organizations, primarily focusing on the discipline of marketing, by providing support to grant awarding Recipient Organizations.
https://www.shethfoundation.org/
About Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM)
Responsible Research for Business and Management (RRBM) is dedicated to inspiring, encouraging, and supporting credible and useful research in the business and management disciplines.
https://rrbm.network/