Eileen currently serves as senior co-editor of the Journal of Consumer Research, and is recognised as an outstanding scholar in the fields of consumption, consumerism and markets as well as cognate areas in entrepreneurship and organisational studies. By integrating cultural and cognitive perspectives on consumer phenomena, her research has shed light on various topics including, but not limited to, the dynamic processes of person branding, marketplace identity projects and how marginalised consumers can establish their presence in markets.

As part of her visit, Eileen presented her most recent research to the department and worked closely with individual members of faculty to discuss their ongoing research and current projects. Eileen also delivered a session at the LUMS annual faculty research conference on 30 September which focussed on the review process and the various author submission requirements at the Journal of Consumer Research.

Eileen discussed the importance of maintaining a strong institutional orientation towards research and commented on the diversity in research interests across the Marketing Department: “I am overwhelmed with the activities here. Just the size of the group is impressive but it is far more than that. The intensity and the concentration on research here is really impressive.”

Currently, the Marketing Department at Lancaster University Management School constitutes one of the largest groups of marketing academics in the UK, with specialisms in the key areas of consumer behaviour, business-to-business marketing and purchasing, marketing channels, market studies and international marketing. 

“There is volume and there is also quality”, Eileen says,“I think having more than one cluster is not only OK, I think it is pretty vital.  It is healthy for intellectual crossover.”Within the consumer behaviour cluster, various faculty members at Lancaster continue to explore subjects of relevance to Transformative Consumer Research (TCR), a stream of research that focuses on benefitting consumer welfare and quality of life, with a clear emphasis on policy implications.

Speaking directly about the faculty’s involvement in work that seeks to encourage and promote wellbeing, Eileen suggested: “I think it is a good place to be. Issues of poverty and quality, market manipulation and a weight of assumptions about whether markets actually legitimate behaviours that are negative for society. I think these are the directions that we have to take but we will make some faltering steps along the way.”

Professor Fischer’s most recent work “Frustrated Fatshionistas: An Institutional Theory Perspective on Consumer Quests for Greater Choice in Mainstream Markets” is co-authored with Daiane Scaraboto and available to read in the Journal of Consumer Research. She is currently exploring consumer engagement with markets and marketers influences, and how consumers are influenced by them.