Courtney Szocs

Color portrait of Courtney Szocs

Associate Professor in Marketing

Department Marketing
Office Address 458 Business Building
Email Address cks6084@psu.edu

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Expertise

Sensory Marketing, Aesthetics & Design, Retailing, Food Marketing, Store Atmospherics, Managerially Relevant Consumer Behavior

Education

PhD, Marketing, University of South Florida, Tampa, 2014

MBA, Marketing, Cleveland State University, 2010

BS, Apparel Merchandising (Minor: Business Administration), Ohio State University, 2006

Courses Taught

MKTG 590 – Colloquium (3)
Continuing seminars that consist of a series of individual lectures by faculty, students, or outside speakers.

MKTG 330 – Consumer Behavior (3)

Selected Publications

Patil R. K., Szocs C., "Effects of Bitten Food Images in Marketing Communications." Appetite, vol. 200, no. 107566, 2024
Lim M., Abell A., Szocs C., Biswas D., "Mathematics is Good for the Mind and Body: Children Make Better Food Choices After Solving Math Problems." Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, vol. 9, no. 2, 2024, www.journals.uchicago.edu/journals/jacr/forthcoming-9.2-2
Szocs C., Kim Y., Lim M., Arroyo Mera C., Biswas D., "The store of the future: Engaging customers through sensory elements, personalized atmospherics, and interpersonal interaction." Journal of Retailing, vol. 99, no. 4, 2023, pp. 15
Biswas D., Hartmann P., Eisend M., Szocs C., Jochims B., Apaolaza V., Hermann E., López C. M., Borges A., "Caffeine's Effects on Consumer Spending." Journal of Marketing, vol. 87, no. 2, 2023, pp. 149-167
Altmetric score 1005
Discussed by Wall Street Journal
Szocs C., Williamson S., Mills A., "Contained: why it's better to display some products without a package." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 50, no. 1, 2022, pp. 131-146
Williamson S., Szocs C., "Smiling faces on food packages can increase adults' purchase likelihood for children." Appetite, vol. 165, 2021, pp. 105301
Suher J., Szocs C., van Ittersum K., "When imperfect is preferred: the differential effect of aesthetic imperfections on choice of processed and unprocessed foods." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 49, no. 5, 2021, pp. 903-924
Houghtaling B., Holston D., Szocs C., Penn J., Qi D., Hedrick V., "A rapid review of stocking and marketing practices used to sell sugar-sweetened beverages in U.S. food stores." Obesity Reviews, vol. 22, no. 4, 2021, pp. e13179
Biswas D., Szocs C., Abell A., "Extending the Boundaries of Sensory Marketing and Examining the Sixth Sensory System: Effects of Vestibular Sensations for Sitting versus Standing Postures on Food Taste Perception." Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 46, no. 4, 2019, pp. 708-724
Altmetric score 301
Discussed by US News & World Report
Biswas D., Szocs C., "The Smell of Healthy Choices: Cross-Modal Sensory Compensation Effects of Ambient Scent on Food Purchases." Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 56, no. 1, 2019, pp. 123-141
Altmetric score 596
Discussed by Time Magazine and Newsweek
Biswas D., Lund K., Szocs C., "Sounds like a healthy retail atmospheric strategy: Effects of ambient music and background noise on food sales." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 47, no. 1, 2019, pp. 37-55
Altmetric score 404
Discussed by New York Times, Washington Post, and Newsweek
Szocs C., Lefebvre S., "Spread or stacked? Vertical versus horizontal food presentation, portion size perceptions, and consumption." Journal of Business Research, vol. 75, 2017, pp. 249-257
Biswas D., Szocs C., Chacko R., Wansink B., "Shining light on atmospherics: How ambient light influences food choices." Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 54, no. 1, 2017, pp. 111-123
Altmetric score 569
Discussed by Men’s Health
Szocs C., Biswas D., "Tasting in 2D: implications of food shape, visual cues, and oral haptic sensory inputs." Marketing Letters, vol. 27, no. 4, 2016, pp. 753-764
Szocs C., Lefebvre S., "The blender effect: Physical state of food influences healthiness perceptions and consumption decisions." Food Quality and Preference, vol. 54, 2016, pp. 152-159
Szocs C., Biswas D., Borges A., "Cheers to haptic sensations and alcohol consumption: How glassware weight impacts perceived intoxication and positive emotions." Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, vol. 1, no. 4, 2016, pp. 570-578
Szocs C., Biswas D., "Forks over spoons: The impact of cutlery on calorie estimates." Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, vol. 1, no. 1, 2016, pp. 161-174
Szocs C., Biswas D., "Aesthetics." (Wiley), 2015
Biswas D., Szocs C., "Sensory Marketing." (Wiley), 2015
Biswas D., Szocs C., Krishna A., Lehmann D. R., "Something to chew on: The effects of oral haptics on mastication, orosensory perception, and calorie estimation." Journal of Consumer Research, vol. 41, no. 2, 2014, pp. 261-273
Szocs C., Abell A., Ruzevicute R., Kim Y., Biswas D., "Contextual Effects of Color on Food Choices: Red Ambient Color Encourages Indulgence." Journal of Consumer Psychology
Revising to submit to the third round of review

Editorships

Journal of Business Research, Associate Editor, January 2023 - Present
Journal of Retailing, Associate Editor, July 2022 - Present
Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Other, June 2022 - Present
Journal of Retailing, Other, January 2019 - January 2022
Journal of Business Research, Other, January 2016 - Present
Journal of Consumer Marketing, Associate Editor, January 2015 - January 2020
Journal of Consumer Marketing, Other, January 2014 - January 2015

Honors and Awards