Vladas Griskevicius joined the faculty of the Carlson School's marketing department as an assistant professor in 2008 after earning his PhD in social psychology at Arizona State University.  Griskevicius' prolific research has made him an expert in the area of evolutionary consumer behavior, which utilizes theoretical principles from evolutionary biology to study consumers' often unconscious preferences, decision processes, and behavioral strategies.  His work on conspicuous product displays and donations as a mating strategy has been recognized by the Society for Consumer Psychology and reported in The Economist.  Additionally, his research on the influence of emotions on desire for uniqueness and conformity was lauded by the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, the New York Times has covered his study of conforming to social norms, and his work has been published in top-tier marketing and psychology journals.

• Evolutionary biology and consumer behavior
• Social norms, peer influence, and conformity
• Influences of emotion and motivation on behavior
• Conspicuous consumption, altruism, and self-presentation
• Persuasion and advertising

Full List of Publications

Selected Recent Publications:

• "Aggress to Impress: Hostility as an Evolved Context-Dependent Strategy," Vladas Griskevicius, Joshua M. Tybur, Steven W. Gangestad, Elaine F. Perea, Jenessa R. Shapiro, and Douglas T. Kenrick, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (forthcoming).
  
  
• "Fear and Loving in Las Vegas: Evolution, Emotion, and Persuasion," V. Griskevicius, N.J. Goldstein, C.R. Mortenson, J. M Sundie, R.B. Cialdini, and D. T. Kenrick, Journal of Marketing Research (forthcoming).
  
  
• "Normative Social Influence is Underdetected," J.M. Nolan, P.W. Schultz, R. B. Cialdini, N.J. Goldstein, and V. Griskevicius, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (July 2008).
  
  
• "A Room with a Viewpoint: Using Social Norms to Motivate Environmental Conservation in Hotels," N.J. Goldstein, R.B. Cialdini, and V. Griskevicius, Journal of Consumer Research (October 2008).
  
  
• "Applying (and Resisting) Peer Influence," V. Griskevicius, R.B. Cialdini, and N.J. Goldstein, Sloan Management Review (Winter 2008).
  
  
• "Blatant Benevolence and Conspicuous Consumption: When Romantic Motives Elicit Strategic Costly Signals," V. Griskevicius, J.M. Tybur, J.M. Sundie, R.B. Cialdini, G.F. Miller, and D. T. Kenrick, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2007).

Vladas Griskevicius CV

Selected Media

• August 22, 2008 press release, "A Room with a Viewpoint," was picked up by over a dozen news outlets, and this research on conservation messages and social norms was reported in articles on blogs hosted by Psychology Today and Time Magazine.
  
  
• March 17, 2008.  "Dos and Don'ts of Gentle Prodding," by Alex Mindlin, New York Times.
  
  
• December 6, 2007.  "Philanthroparties Catching On," by Judy Gerstel, The Toronto Star.
  
  
• August 2, 2007.  "Evolutionary Psychology: Blatant Benevolence and Conspicuous Consumption," in The Economist.
  

Recent Presentations

• Will present "Aggress to Impress: Status Cues and Hostility" and "Social Norms and Environmental Conservation" at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology meeting in Tampa, FL, February 2009.
  
  
• October 2008 presented "Conspicuous Conservation: Promoting Green Consumption through Status Competition" and "Limitations of Global Norms on Global Conservation: Using Provincial Norms to Motivate Pro-Environmental Behavior" at the Association for Consumer Research meeting in San Francisco, CA.
  
  
• June 2008 presented "Microbes, Mating, and Morality: Individual Differences in Three Functional Domains of Disgust" at the meeting of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society in Kyoto, Japan.  This paper was the winner of the Best New Investigator award.
  
  
• February 2008, "The Many Shades of Rose-Colored Glasses: Positive Emotions and Persuasion," presented to the Evolutionary Pre-Conference, Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Albuquerque, NM.
  

Selected Honors

• Names to the consulting board of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes), 2008.
  
  
• Best Competitive Paper Award from the Society for Consumer Psychology, 2007.
  
  
• National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, 2004-2007.

Vladas Griskevicius, Assistant Professor of Marketing

Carlson School of Management

University of Minnesota

321 Nineteenth Avenue South, Suite 3-150

Minneapolis, MN  55455-0438  USA

(612) 626-3793, fax (612) 624-8804

vladasg@umn.edu

Instructional Profile