Hugh M. Cannon and Attila Yaprak Win 2025 Hans B. Thorelli Award

Hugh M. Cannon and Attila Yaprak have been selected as the recipients of the annual Hans B. Thorelli Award for their article, “Will the Real-World Citizen Please Stand Up! The Many Faces of Cosmopolitan Consumer Behavior,” which appeared in the December 2002 issue (Vol. 10, No. 4) of Journal of International Marketing. The Hans B. Thorelli award honors a Journal of International Marketing article published 5+ years ago that has made the most significant and long-term contribution to international marketing theory or practice.

The committee overseeing the selection process included Ayşegül Özsomer (Koç University), Simon Bell (University of Melbourne), and Cheryl Nakata (University of North Carolina at Greensboro. The committee stated:

“Cannon and Yaprak’s ‘Will the Real-World Citizen Please Stand Up!’ is a groundbreaking contribution to international marketing research, offering a nuanced reconceptualization of cosmopolitan consumer behavior. Their work challenges existing assumptions that cosmopolitan consumers are simply seekers of cultural diversity, instead presenting a dynamic framework that integrates local and global orientations. By expanding the conceptual boundaries of cosmopolitanism beyond traditional binaries, the paper provides a theoretically rich perspective that continues to shape scholarly discourse on globalization, consumer identity, and cross-cultural segmentation.”

“This article is particularly deserving of the Hans B. Thorelli Award because of its long-term impact on international marketing theory. Its insights into how consumers construct their identities in an interconnected world remain highly relevant. The study’s integration of sociological and marketing perspectives exemplifies Thorelli’s vision of international marketing as a multidisciplinary field. Furthermore, its implications for practitioners—particularly in segmentation, branding, and global strategy—continue to influence both academia and industry.”

“Cannon and Yaprak’s is a significant contribution because of the fundamental examination involved, in this case of cosmopolitanism, an enduring construct in IM. The authors set out to study anew what it is and how it works, providing a fresh, nuanced, and critical reframing and interpretation. The construct continues to be central in international marketing scholarship, yet many studies assume an overly simplified interpretation of cosmopolitanism as the embrace all things global. This study returns to the origins of the concept and traces its evolution while considering alternative perspectives on its meaning. The work continues to be cited and should be used more as it raises a still new, relevant, and thoughtful view on a critical construct in IM.”

Attila Yaprak is Professor of Marketing and International Business (Emeritus) at Wayne State University. He holds a PhD degree in international business and marketing from Georgia State University and MBA and BS degrees from Indiana University. He is a Fellow and the Historian of the Academy of International Business, and the Historian of the Academy’s Fellows. A winner of many teaching awards, he has had teaching and/or research visits to business schools in Austria, China, Finland, France, Germany, Spain and Turkey and has consulted for the International Trade Center, the World Trade Organization in China, the Philippines, and Thailand. His scholarship has appeared in the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of World Business, Journal of International Marketing, International Marketing Review, and Political Psychology, among others. He is a coauthor of four books, including “Foundations of Consumer Behavior: Insights from Cross-cultural Contexts” (with R. P. Bagozzi) and “The Historical Evolution of International Business: Growth Trajectories of a Field of Study” (with L. Nachum), both forthcoming in 2025. He serves/has served on the editorial review boards of the Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of International Marketing, Journal of Business Research, International Marketing Review, and International Business Review among several others. He has served as Director, Doctoral Programs, Ilitch Business School at Wayne State and the Executive Secretary of the Academy of International Business. He has mentored many graduate students, including serving on 40 doctoral dissertation and master’s thesis committees in the U.S. and abroad. A winner of federal research grants and corporate contracts, he continues to teach in executive MBA and executive development programs.

Hugh Cannon is Adcraft/Simons-Michelson Professor of Advertising and Marketing (emeritus) at the Mike Illich School of Business, Wayne State University. He completed his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University and received both his MBA and PhD degrees from New York University. Prior to his position at Wayne State, he held faculty positions at Northwestern University and Miami University of Ohio. He has also served as a visiting professor at several major universities in the U.S. and abroad. He has been recognized for his work in the areas of marketing, advertising, and management education, with 240 scholarly papers published and/or presented at professional conferences. He has received numerous awards for the quality of his scholarly contributions.

The winners will be celebrated at the 2025 AMA Summer Academic Conference in Chicago, IL. View past winners of this award here.

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