Professor Ben Lowe

Ben Lowe is a Professor of Marketing at Kent Business School, University of Kent. He was previously Director of the Marketing Group for a number of years and has also taken on other leadership roles within the School including Interim Director of Education, Programme Director for the MSc in Marketing and the MSc in Management, Academic Lead for the Periodic Programme Review. Currently, he is on the editorial board of several journals and is an Associate Editor at the European Journal of Marketing.
Ben has received funding from the Technology Strategy Board (now Innovate UK), the British Academy and the Hong Kong Research Grant Council and has also had many awards for his work:

• Best Overall Conference Paper Award, American Marketing Association Summer Educators' Conference, San Francisco, 2011 – 'Understanding Consumer Active Participation in Healthcare Virtual Communities' (also Best Paper in Track, Innovative Marketing Technology).

• Faculty of Social Sciences Teaching Prize, University of Kent, 2011 – 'The Twitter Project: Using Twitter to Enhance Student Learning in Business and Economics Modules.

• Academy of Marketing Research Initiative Award, 2008 - 'A Comparison of Promotional Strategies for Market Penetration'. The completed research was subsequently published in the Journal of Marketing Management). 

• Outstanding Reviewer for International Journal of Bank Marketing in the Emerald Literati Network 2019 Awards for Excellence.

• Outstanding Reviewer for International Journal of Bank Marketing in the Emerald Literati Network 2016 Awards for Excellence.

• Outstanding Journal Contribution Award for the European Journal of Marketing in Emerald Literati 2019 Awards for Excellence.

Ben has published around forty refereed journal articles in journals such as: 

• European Journal of Marketing
• Journal of Public Policy and Marketing
• Journal of Interactive Marketing
• Journal of Business Research
• Psychology & Marketing
• Technovation
• International Marketing Review
• Journal of Marketing Management
• American Journal of Agricultural Economics and many others.

He has co-authored a book on Marketing Research, currently in its 5th edition and has also co-edited special issues on “Consumers and Technology in a Changing World” (European Journal of Marketing) “Changing Food Consumption Behaviours” (Psychology & Marketing) and “Online financial Services in a Changing World” (Service Industries Journal). 

Research Grants

‘Product placement in Hong Kong television programmes: The role of prior notification and humour on brand persuasiveness’, Hong Kong Research Grant Council, HK$417 100. With Fong Yee Fanny Chan.
'The Use of Mobile Technology to Enhance Nutritional Information Provision for Healthy Diet Choices', British Academy, £7,400. With Iain Fraser and Diogo de Souza-Monteiro.
'Developing a Marketing Orientation at Erlang Solutions', Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Technology Strategy Board, £98,053, 2010. Lead academic. With Des Laffey (Academic support).
'Comparison of Promotional Strategies for Market Penetration', Academy of Marketing, 2008.
'Measuring Perceived Innovativeness', Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kent, 2008. 'A Comparison of Managerial and Consumer Perceptions of Innovativeness', Kent Business School, University of Kent, 2008 

'Is there a Demand for Nutritional Information through Wi-Fi Devices?’ Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kent, 2008.
'Operationalising the Concept of Reference Price', School of Marketing Research Development Grant, Griffith University, 2002." 

Ben has taught across the marketing curriculum in the UK, Europe and Australia, at undergraduate and postgraduate level. He teaches marketing and research methods modules on this programme. Ben’s area of specialism is Marketing Research, and he has co-authored a best-selling book in this area which is in its fourth edition. This book was shortlisted for an Australian Educational Publishing Award by the Australian Publishers Association. He has also co-authored a book on SPSS. 

He has published several articles about marketing education in journals such as the Journal of Marketing Education and the Journal of Consumer Behaviour. In 2011 he won the Faculty of Social Sciences Teaching Award at the University of Kent for using Twitter to enhance learning outcomes in business modules (with Des Laffey and William Collier). " 

Ben is happy to consider supervising proposals in the broad area of consumer behaviour but is particularly interested in discussing projects with applicants who have an interest in the following areas:

• Communicating innovativeness through marketing communications. 
• Consumer adoption and usage of pro-poor innovations in developing country contexts and subsistence marketplaces.
• Consumer adoption and usage of automated products and services with a particular focus on autonomous vehicles and robotics.
• The use of technology to change behaviours within a social marketing related context (e.g. food consumption, health behaviours etc.)

Current Supervisees

Afshan Hafiz: First time and Repeated Life Events Predicting Consumer Purchase Behaviour

Past Supervisees

Sheena Karangi: Touch and Valuation: Understanding the Psychological Mechanisms Driving Product Valuation as a Result of Touch

Gaye Bebek: Analysing the Differences in the Cultural Meaning of Green Products

Fong Yee Chan: The Effectiveness of Product Placement in Films Across Cultures: The Role of Prominence, Brand Awareness, Prior Disclosure and Depth of Processing

Ugwushi Bellema Ihua: Knowledge Management in Small to Medium-Sized Enterprises

David Yawson: Entrepreneurial Marketing Decision Making in Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SME) in the Food Industry: 

Donna Knowles: What effect, if any, does the use of social media have on dynamic capabilities?

MD Rajibul Hasan: Consumer Adoption of Pro-poor Innovations in the Bottom of the Pyramid 

Ben has worked with a range of private and public sector organisations in the UK and Australia assisting with a variety of marketing problems.