Given the quantity and quality of research studies he has already conducted in his academic career, it’s no surprise that one of the largest draws to Kent State University at Stark for Assistant Professor Haithem Zourrig, Ph.D., was the marketing department’s robust research initiatives.
"Designing and conducting research are my favorite parts of being a professor,” said Zourrig, and it shows. His efforts so far have been productive and rewarding, earning him numerous awards and accolades in the marketing community. Zourrig’s research has appeared in the Journal of Business Research and Journal of Service Management, Academy of Marketing Science Review and Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services. Most recently, he was awarded “Best Paper” in the Cross-Cultural category by the Society for Marketing Advances (SMA), for his work entitled “The perceived deceptiveness of insurance fraud: a cross-cultural perspective on Information Manipulation Theory.”
Zourrig also was recently awarded a Transformative Consumer Research Grant from the Association for Consumer Research for his study of the “Effects of Stress on Consumption Patterns and Subjective Well-being of Refugee Consumers (VULN),” a project that will allow him to delve in to an understudied area of consumer behavior – one of Zourrig’s special areas of interest.
“The goal of this particular study is to shed light on the activities of vulnerable refugee consumers,” he explains. “It investigates changes in refugees’ consumption patterns – viewed as consumers’ efforts to cope with stressful life events – as well as vulnerable consumers’ well-being. I’m looking forward to disseminating my research to our students and the community as a whole.”
In addition to his wealth of research experience, Zourrig also brings an international perspective to the department.
Prior to joining Kent State Stark, he served at IESEG-Paris in France and the University of Regina in Canada. “I’m teaching international marketing, so I’m bringing a lot of examples from my international experience to the class,” said Zourrig.
A. Bathi Kasturiarachi, Ph.D., associate dean of academic affairs, is excited by Zourrig’s passion for research, and anticipates great contributions from the newly hired faculty member moving forward. “Dr. Zourrig has already presented me with an idea to start a consumer research lab on campus, something I am very much interested in doing,” said Kasturiarachi. “Not only would the lab provide a platform for interdisciplinary behavioral research, it would enhance students’ learning experience and provide the business community with a convenient space to test ideas, concepts and products in a structured environment.”