Wearing Cardinal Red for a day
with Stanford Design School, video presentation at SXSW.
with Stanford Design School, video presentation at SXSW.
Hi, I am Troy Campbell, a professor at the University of Oregon.
I study what people love, like, and find most important. From our favorite hobbies, to our most cherished beliefs, and yes, even the state of feeling nerdy, I study what aspects affect us, how we can be better people, why we sometimes lie to ourselves, and how we can enjoy life more.
That's the fun way to say what I do. More formally, I explore how identity and beliefs affect consumption, behavior, and marketing. Most of the days I spend in a lab, silent and serious, but with some playful desk decorations and endless podcasts to brighten days of data analysis. My work seeks to advance theory that has an impact on the world from improving policy communication to improving a day at Comic Con. As a former Disney Imagineer and a former nonprofit marketer, I've seen the smiles and good that quality research can bring people. See my research overview for ways my recent scientific publications try to do just that.
My dissertation explores how believing one has expertise in a consumption category (e.g., with wine, film, or poetry) affects identity, consumption enjoyment, and engagement. The main take away is that businesses shouldn't just make great products, they should make people feel great at using the products. It's more complicated than that of course, but that is the gist.
Selected Media:
'30 Under 30' in Pacific Standard
'Testing Sports Rituals At Scale' at SXSW
'Enabling Dissenters' in Politico
'Climate Psychology' in Washington Post
'Star Wars Fandom' in Huffington Post
'Solution Aversion' in Wired
'Why People Fly From Facts' in Scientific American
'Going Viral' on becoming the most viewed research press release in Duke University history. Duke Today
I study what people love, like, and find most important. From our favorite hobbies, to our most cherished beliefs, and yes, even the state of feeling nerdy, I study what aspects affect us, how we can be better people, why we sometimes lie to ourselves, and how we can enjoy life more.
That's the fun way to say what I do. More formally, I explore how identity and beliefs affect consumption, behavior, and marketing. Most of the days I spend in a lab, silent and serious, but with some playful desk decorations and endless podcasts to brighten days of data analysis. My work seeks to advance theory that has an impact on the world from improving policy communication to improving a day at Comic Con. As a former Disney Imagineer and a former nonprofit marketer, I've seen the smiles and good that quality research can bring people. See my research overview for ways my recent scientific publications try to do just that.
My dissertation explores how believing one has expertise in a consumption category (e.g., with wine, film, or poetry) affects identity, consumption enjoyment, and engagement. The main take away is that businesses shouldn't just make great products, they should make people feel great at using the products. It's more complicated than that of course, but that is the gist.
Selected Media:
'30 Under 30' in Pacific Standard
'Testing Sports Rituals At Scale' at SXSW
'Enabling Dissenters' in Politico
'Climate Psychology' in Washington Post
'Star Wars Fandom' in Huffington Post
'Solution Aversion' in Wired
'Why People Fly From Facts' in Scientific American
'Going Viral' on becoming the most viewed research press release in Duke University history. Duke Today
e: troy.campbell@duke.edu
t: @troyhcampbell
