Dr Katerina Karanika

About me:

Katerina Karanika is a Lecturer in Marketing at the University of Exeter Business School. She has a PhD in Marketing (Lancaster University). She studied Business Administration at University of Macedonia (Thessaloniki, Greece), followed by a MSc in Marketing Management at Aston University. She then worked as a qualitative marketing researcher in Synovate – Censydiam (International Consultant Marketing Research Company; Athens branch).

Her research interests are around consumer desires, distastes, consumer ambivalence, family, downward mobility, consumer coping and self-compassion. She is also interested in cultural aspects of identity and consumption. She has presented papers at a number of international conferences including the Consumer Culture Theory Conference (CCT), European Marketing Academy (EMAC) and European Advances in Consumer Research (EACR). 

Nationality: Greek - British

Administrative responsibilities

• Programme Director of BA Management with Marketing

Interests:

Katerina’s research interests lie in the field of consumer behaviour and more specifically the relationship between self-identity and consumption (avoidance). She is particularly interested in consumer desires and distastes, consumer ambivalence, consumers’ self-coherence issues, family, coping with downward mobility and cultural aspects of identity and consumption in order to gain insight into consumers’ identity projects and symbolic (anti-) consumption. She draws on key social science literature and methodologies from social psychology, psychology and sociology for her research.

Her doctoral research examined consumers’ desired and undesired selves and their interrelationships in consumers’ experiences with their important possessions, products and consumption activities. Her research also focused on the self-possession relationship over time and on the self-expressive and self-transformative character of consumers’ cherished possessions and products. Her more recent research examines the changing family forms, practices and living arrangements in economically turbulent times and their impact on consumption experiences and consumer ambivalence as well as consumers’ self-compassion in coping with downward mobility.

Qualifications:

PhD (Lancaster University), MSc Marketing Management (Aston University), BA Business Administration (University of Macedonia, Greece)