Ben Marder

• Director of Research Degrees
• Course Coordinator (Lecturer) for Introduction to Business Research 
• Online survey champion

• BSc Financial Economics (First Class), University of Leicester
• MSc Marketing (Distinction), University of Leicester
• PhD Marketing/Information Systems, University of Bath

My research interest surrounds social and commercial consumer behaviour linked to the use of digital technologies, more specifically I am a social media nerd. Since 2015 I have had 40+ articles accepted at well-known journals, such as the Journal of Retailing, Journal of Advertising Research, Psychology & Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, International Marketing Review, Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Travel Research, New Technology, Work and Employment, Journal of Health Psychology, and the Journal of Business Research. This work has received quite a lot of media attention, including The New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Havard Business Review and the BBC. I draw mainly from social psychological theory and I am pragmatic with regard to research methodology having experience in both quantitative and qualitative techniques. However, I am predominately a quantitative researcher and like experiments best.

My paper on the 'Chilling Effect' of social media became the most read paper in the world for a short period in 2017, according to ResearchGate. This paper was the first to evidence that being a social media user constrains our actions in reality. For example, people are less likely to let loose at parties now as they may be snapped.

At present, I am particularly interested in Instagrammability, whether social media surveillance makes people 'better' service employees, human factors related to AI, the dark side of impression management linked to technology, impact of emojis/GIFs, vertical video formats (e.g. TikTok), digital size, online games, augmented/virtual reality, online reviews, virtual items in the games/Metaverse, influencers, and the impact of viewing those slightly annoying braggy posts on social media. 

Beyond research, I really love teaching digital marketing, discussing/debating new digital phenomenon with students and supervising research in my area. 

I am sorry I am currently not accepting new PhD students until 2026 - if you are interested in doing a PhD at Edinburgh please contact Dr Kirsten Cowan - who is the lead for PhDs for the group.

I am also passionate about initiatives to improve wellbeing of students and academics.

Please check out some of my blog posts:

• The struggle is real: six ways to get ahead with your publications for early career researchers at UK Business Schools
• When reviewers give you lemons, bench press them: how I found solace from paper rejections in the gym
• "You're a lecturer in a Business School but you can't spell business" - A note on dyslexia by a busyness academic
• Photographs with empty shelves actually destroy attempts to reduce panic buying
• Approaching coaching: Should schools be providing psychological coaching to improve student well-being?

Ben Marder discusses his research on revealing the unintended consequences of marketing technologies, particularly in the context of online reviews, uncovering how the mere imagination of reviews prompts employees to provide exceptional service.