Quinnipiac University

School of Business Marketing Insights and Behavioral Research Lab

As a part of the Innovation Hub, the mission of Quinnipiac’s Marketing Insights and Behavioral Research Lab is to foster a dynamic and collaborative research environment dedicated to advancing knowledge, innovation and societal impact.

The latest technology in marketing research

A professor speaking to a student in the Marketing Insights and Behavioral Research Lab

We are committed to cultivating a diverse community of scholars, students and professionals who are driven by a shared passion for exploration and discovery. Through cutting-edge technology, interdisciplinary collaboration and the mentorship of emerging talent, we drive advancements in the academic understanding and practical implications of behavioral research.

The lab houses cutting-edge equipment and software to design, execute, manage and schedule studies. Along with 10 dedicated workstations and two high-powered laptops, the lab has:

  • Tobii Eye Tracking hardware and software: This software and equipment allows us to test what people pay attention to when viewing advertisements, videos, websites and other screen-based content.
  • Noldus Facereader emotion detection software: With this software, we can read people’s emotions while interacting with screen-based content. Emotion reading and eye tracking can be tested simultaneously.
  • Sawtooth choice-based conjoint software: Want to determine what attributes are important to consumers when purchasing products? This software allows us to design studies to answer these questions.
  • E-Prime response time software: We often need to understand the level at which individuals are thinking versus automatically responding to stimuli without much thought. This software allows us to test this, along with allowing us to understand what combinations of stimuli might conflict with consumer beliefs. These are important factors when developing advertising messages and other communications.
  • ESRI ArcGIS geographical analysis software: Ever wonder about population, health, commercial or other characteristics across a geographic region? ArcGIS allows for easy geographic depiction of these things. Numerous datasets can be overlaid onto maps with this software to answer marketing problems like where a business should be located.
  • Qualtrics Survey Software: This is the gold standard for survey software.  Many marketing studies are based on surveys and experiments that can be designed in Qualtrics.
  • Linguistics Inquiry: If you are interested in identifying content categories in text data like data you might have scraped from the web, or if you are interested in understanding the amount of elaboration that goes into a verbal response to a question, this software allows users to investigate these types of questions.
  • Adobe Creative Cloud: You name it, you can create it.  Adobe’s Creative Cloud allows for image, video and audio editing, along with animation and other cutting edge creative content makers.
  • SONA lab scheduling system / Behavioral lab subject pool: Running a behavioral research lab is complicated.  We have software to manage the day-to-day operations of the lab.

Pioneering innovation through behavioral research

Fundamental Principles

By embracing our fundamental principles, Quinnipiac’s Marketing Insights and Behavioral Research Lab seeks to be a leader in advancing the understanding of consumer behavior, driving innovation in marketing practices and contributing to the improvement of consumer welfare.

  • Education through Mentorship: We are committed to fostering a learning community where students, academics and industry professionals engage in the latest advancements in behavioral research. Through hands-on research experiences, mentorship programs and educational initiatives, we empower students to become critical thinkers and problem solvers capable of making meaningful contributions in the domain of behavioral research.
  • Interdisciplinary Collaboration: Embracing the power of collaboration, we actively foster interdisciplinary interactions within our lab and beyond. By bringing together diverse perspectives, expertise and methodologies, we develop insights into consumer decision-making processes, enabling businesses to create winning marketing strategies.
  • Research Excellence: Through rigorous research methodologies, we work to conduct sound empirical research that provides the academic community with a deeper understanding of the drivers, motivations and nuances underlying consumer behavior and affords businesses with actionable knowledge to navigate the complex landscape of consumer interactions.
  • Ethical Considerations: Upholding the highest ethical standards, we conduct research that respects the rights and well-being of participants and promotes responsible and inclusive practices in understanding and influencing consumer behavior.

Current Research Projects

Student Research Projects

  • Labeling of sustainable meat alternatives – how to convey favorable attitudes, understanding of products and willingness to try.
    • Arity Morrison ’24, MBA ’25 and Kaylee Chmieleski '25
  • Artificial Intelligence in product recommendation agents – the role of transparency on willingness to buy.
    • Corinna Pazzanese ‘24, MBA ’25 
  • Search engine privacy and AI – an eye tracking study on attention differences between public and private search engines.
    • Eldin Mrkulic ‘24, MBA ’25
  • Streaming services advertising – an eye tracking study on attention to advertising.
    • Montez Osbey '23, MBA '24
  • AI vs Artist-created Music – Do consumers care about authenticity?
    • Chris Collins ’25
  • Fandom – how do fans of winning and losing teams differ?
    • Matthew Gasparello ’25
  • Social media influencer impact on consumer purchase anxiety
    • Ariadne Papadakis ‘24, MBA ’25
  • Past self and future self goals – does music selection influence goal perception?
    • Emelin Gustafsson '24, MBA '25
  • Colors and sports sponsorship perceptions.
    • Anna Kiernan ’24

Undergraduate Lab Fellows Program

Undergraduate students in the marketing programs who have an interest in marketing/behavioral research and demonstrate the qualities sought for the fellows program are invited to apply for intensive independent research studies for class credit. These students have the opportunity to learn new software tools and work closely with the Faculty Program Director on research and lab administration.  Students receive three credits for the class and are encouraged to spend two semesters (six credits) in the program to immerse in a research project.

Chris Collins ’25 is a marketing and business analytics double major with a psychology minor. His research topic focuses on consumer reaction to Audio AI when presented in different contexts. The study aims to compare differing reactions to a song clip generated by either audio AI or a songwriter. He is using Qualtrics to test his hypotheses. Chris is in his second semester as a lab fellow as of Spring 2024.

Headshot of Chris Collins
Headshot of Chris Collins

Kaylee Chmieleski ’25 is a marketing major with a psychology minor. She is also in the honors program.  Kaylee has worked on two different projects as a lab fellow.  During her first semester, she compared the simultaneous influences of the decoy effect and the scarcity effect on consumer response to product offers. These effects are common psychological biases that influence consumer behavior.  In her second semester as a fellow, she partnered with Arity Morrison to pilot the examination of name choices for lab grown meat on consumer perceptions of and emotions toward this new innovation.  While Kaylee was unable to fit the lab fellowship into her schedule this semester, she still stays connected with the lab.

Headshot of Kaylee Chmieleski
Headshot of Kaylee Chmieleski

Matthew Gasparello ’25 is a marketing major with interests in consumer behavior, sports marketing and digital marketing.  Relatedly, his research explores the dynamic relationship between a team’s success and the commitment of its fans in the NFL. His research focuses on exploring why fans of bad NFL teams are still loyal to their team. He hopes to gain valuable insights into the symbiotic nature of sports teams and their fans, potentially informing strategies for fostering stronger fan engagement and team performance.  Matthew is currently using Qualtrics to study his research questions.  Matthew is in his second semester as a lab fellow as of Spring 2024.

Gasparello
Gasparello

Emelin Gustafsson ‘24, MBA ‘25 is a marketing major with a management minor. 

Anna Kiernan ’24 is a marketing major with a sports studies minor. While serving as a lab fellow, Anna has found an interest in color theory and its real-life implications. As a sports fan hoping to pursue a career in sports marketing, she has been researching the impact of sports team colors, and is now pursuing research on sports sponsorship colors and team colors on consumer (fan) perceptions of sponsors. She is using E-Prime response time software and Qualtrics survey software for her project. Anna is in her second semester as a lab fellow as of Spring 2024.

Headshot of Anna Kiernan
Headshot of Anna Kiernan

Arity Morrison ’24, MBA ’25 is a third-year student in the 3+1 marketing program and has a minor in public relations. She worked last semester with another fellow and is now working independently to investigate how to label lab-grown meats to both inform consumers of what it is and generate positive attitudes about this new product innovation – a sustainable alternative to traditional farming.  She is using Qualtrics to design her experiments and SPSS to analyze her data.  Arity is in her second semester as a lab fellow as of Spring 2024.

Headshot of Arity Morrison
Headshot of Arity Morrison

Eldin Mrkulic ‘24, MBA ’25 is a student in the 3+1 marketing program. The research question he is examining in the lab is, "Does the implementation of Artificial Intelligence or Privatized Search Engines Alter Consumer Behavior?" Eldin is using Qualtrics survey software and Tobii Eye Tracker for his study designs. Eldin is in his third semester as a lab fellow as of Spring 2024.

Headshot of Eric Mrkulic
Headshot of Eric Mrkulic

Ariadne Papadakis ‘24, MBA ’25 is in the 3+1 marketing program. As a marketing major, she is interested in social media influencers and how such influence might be related to purchase anxiety. She began her study to understand the types of relationships individuals believe they have with influencers, from parasocial, to communal, to authentic. Ariadne is currently using Qualtrics to investigate her research questions.  Ariadne is in her second semester as a lab fellow as of Spring 2024.

Headshot of Ariade Papadakis
Headshot of Ariade Papadakis

Corinna Pazzanese ‘24, MBA ’25 is a 3+1 marketing major with a business analytics minor. Corinna’s research project consists of testing how transparency levels with Artificial Intelligence (AI) affect consumer emotion, trust, and purchase intention. In other words, what emotions do consumers feel when they know AI is being used beforehand versus when they find out after the fact? Corinna set up experiments using Qualtrics survey software and uses SPSS statistical software to analyze her data. Corinna served as a lab fellow in Spring 2023 and Fall 2024, but still stays connected to the lab. 

Headshot of Corrina Pazzanese
Headshot of Corrina Pazzanese

Contact Us

About Patricia Norberg
Director of the Marketing Insights and Behavioral Research Lab

Patricia Norberg, PhD, is a professor of marketing at Quinnipiac University and oversees the Marketing Research and Behavioral Insights Lab and the Lab Fellows Program. Her primary research interests are in the public policy domain, including privacy/personal information disclosure, well-being and advertising comprehension. Her secondary research interests are in incentives and pricing/value. Norberg received her Bachelor’s Degree, MBA and PhD from the University of Rhode Island.

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