Projects per year
Personal profile
Research interests
My main research focuses on consumer decision making applied to branding and charitable giving, the effect of marketing on society, and marketing ethics.
I study consumers' inferences about brand quality based on the information people have about brands in their memory. More specifically, I am interested in exploring the relative importance of different memory cues (for example, whether or not consumers recognize a brand, how often they have seen or heard of it, how much and what they know about the brand’s quality) in consumer inference making depending on the structure of the brand information in the marketing environment. For this stream of research, I use mathematical modelling to predict consumers' inferences about brand quality and confidence in those inferences.
The other major stream of my research focuses on peoples' willingness to donate to charitable causes and the factors that affect this giving. I am especially interested in the effect of the perceived physical attractiveness of the donation recipient, or the charity beauty premium (Cryder, Botti, Simonyan 2017), and the role of intuitive versus deliberative decision-making mechanisms involved in the giving/ helping behaviour critical for charitable organizations. This research is particularly important in the domains where people consider the neediness of the donation recipient as the main criteria for choosing a charitable cause, but instead donate mostly to more attractive (less needy) causes. While this effect has been often documented in the domain of animal conservation, it is also affecting the organizations assisting the most deprived population groups in the developing world.
Finally, I am very passionate about investigating the effects of marketing activities on the society. Does the marketing communication from different channels affect people’s behaviour beyond the market environment: do the incentives encouraging rational consumer decision-making affect people’s behaviour as the members of society? How do unconventional marketing offers/opportunities that are often controversial (for example, paying children to read books or giving offenders an opportunity to buy a prison cell upgrade) affect people’s perception about the world around them? What are the factors affecting the perceived suitability of these offers for the modern world from the ethical point of view?
Willing to supervise doctoral students
I am interested in supervising prospective doctoral students who would like to engage in research within my area of expertise. This includes both primary and secondary supervision.
Education/Academic qualification
Marketing, Doctor of Philosophy, London Business School
Oct 2006 → Nov 2012
Award Date: 1 Jul 2017
Marketing, Master of Research, London Business School
Oct 2006 → Jul 2008
Award Date: 1 Jul 2008
Business Administration, Master of Business Administration, Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Sept 1999 → Dec 2001
Award Date: 23 Dec 2001
Pharmaceuticals, Master of Pharmacy, Yerevan State Medical University
Sept 1989 → Jun 1994
Award Date: 1 Aug 1994
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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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The role of inspiration in decision-making at different stages of a customer Journey
Simonyan, Y. (CoI)
1/09/24 → …
Project: Other
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Exploring Consumer decision trees with eye-tracking data in grocery stores
Simonyan, Y. (CoI)
1/09/24 → …
Project: Other
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The impact of syndicated content on consumer experience and retailer performance
Simonyan, Y. (CoI)
1/09/24 → …
Project: Other
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Persuasion ethics: Ethical evaluations of marketing communications
Khon, Z. (PI), Simonyan, Y. (PI), Hang, H. (PI), Chen, Y.-J. (CoPI) & Johnson, S. (PI)
1/09/20 → …
Project: Other
Research output
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Limits to The Price-Tag Society: Ethical Evaluations of Controversial Market Offers
Smith, N. C. & Simonyan, Y., 22 May 2024.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
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Limits to The Price-Tag Society: Ethical Evaluations of Controversial Market Offers
Smith, N. C. & Simonyan, Y., 7 Jun 2024.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
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Consumer Choices around Corporate Giving: Should Companies Prioritise Aid to the Most Effective Causes?
Shine, A., Simonyan, Y. & Johnson, S. G. B., 11 Nov 2022.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
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Consumers Prefer System 2 Marketing Tactics: Dual Process Intuitions: Consumers’ Beliefs about Persuasion Processing Drive Morality of Marketing Communication
Khon, Z., Simonyan, Y., Hang, H., Chen, Y.-J. & Johnson, S. G. B., 11 Feb 2022.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review
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Coronavirus Ethics: Pandemic Severity and Judgments of Marketing Ethics
Simonyan, Y. & Smith, C., 10 Jun 2022.Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review