Kaitlin Woolley

Biography

Professor Kaitlin Woolley is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the SC Johnson Cornell College of Business. She studies the psychological processes underlying consumer motivation to understand what separates the goals consumers achieve from the goals they fail at. By uncovering new insights into the processes affecting goal pursuit, she develops and demonstrates the efficacy of interventions to increase consumers’ motivation.

Woolley’s research is published in top journals in marketing and psychology, including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Psychological Science. Her work is regularly featured in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, and NPR. Woolley has won several awards and honors for her research, including the Rising Star award from the Association for Psychological Science and the Young Scholar Award from the Marketing Science Institute.

At Johnson, Woolley connects with MBA students in teaching the core marketing course and an elective on customer insights. She earned a bachelor’s degree magna cum laude in psychology from Cornell University. Her MBA and PhD are from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.

Selected Publications

• Woolley, Kaitlin; Sharif, Marissa. "Down a Rabbit Hole: How Prior Consumption Shapes Future Media Consumption"Journal of Marketing Research. (forthcoming).
• Woolley, Kaitlin; Sharif, Marissa. "Incentives Increase Relative Positivity of Review Content and Enjoyment of Review Writing"Journal of Marketing Research. 58.3 (2021): 539-558
• Woolley, Kaitlin; Liu, Peggy. "How You Estimate Calories Matters: Calorie Estimation Reversals"Journal of Consumer Research. 48.1 (2021): 147-168
• Lopez, Jessica; Woolley, Kaitlin; McGill, Ann. "A preference for preference: Lack of subjective preference evokes dehumanization"Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 164 (2021): 52-67
• Sharif, Marissa; Woolley, Kaitlin. "The Effect of Categorization on Goal Progress Perceptions and Motivation"Journal of Consumer Research. 47.4 (2020): 608-630
• Woolley, Kaitlin; Risen, Jane. "Hiding from the Truth: When and How Cover Enables Information Avoidance"Journal of Consumer Research. 47.5 (2021): 675-697
• Woolley, Kaitlin; Fishbach, Ayelet; Wang, Ronghan. "Food Restriction and the Experience of Social Isolation"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 119.3 (2020): 657-671
• Woolley, Kaitlin; Fishbach, Ayelet. "Shared Plates, Shared Minds: Consuming from a Shared Plate Promotes Cooperation"Psychological Science. 30.4 (2019): 541-552
• Woolley, Kaitlin; Risen, Jane. "Closing Your Eyes to Follow Your Heart: Avoiding Information to Protect a Strong Intuitive Preference"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 114.2 (2018): 230-245

Awards and Honors

• Rising Star (2021) Association for Psychological Science
• MSI Young Scholars Award (2021) Marketing Science Institute
• Outstanding Reviewer Award (2020) Journal of Consumer Research
• Cornell Center for Social Sciences Faculty Fellowship (2021) Cornell University
• Clifford H. Whitcomb Faculty Fellowship (2020) SC Johnson College of Business

Recent Courses

• NBA 6260 - Consumer Behavior
• NMI 5000 - Directed Reading & Research
• NCC 5030 - Marketing Management

Academic Degrees

• PhD Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, 2017
• MBA Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, 2017
• BA Cornell University, 2012

In the News

• March 18, 2021 Should you make your preferences clear? Study suggests yes
• September 21, 2020 Goal Pursuit, Information Avoidance, and Social Connection Around Food
• July 22, 2020 Don't Work on Vacation. Seriously.