Valerie Trifts

Professor of Marketing, Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie University

bio:

Valerie Trifts is a Professor of Marketing at the Rowe School of Business, Dalhousie University. She holds a PhD in Marketing from the University of Alberta. Her research interests include online consumer decision making and information search behavior. Her work has been presented at numerous conferences and published in journals including Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Psychology & Marketing, and Journal of Business Research.

Website: https://www.dal.ca/faculty/management/rsb/faculty-and-staff/our-faculty/valerie-trifts.html

3 questions:

• What aspects of this research agenda are you most excited about?

My research interests revolve around the question of using technology to initiate behavioural change. More specifically, how can technology be used to adapt information presented to individual users to better personalize the information search and consumption experiences?

• Of all the work you have done, what project / paper is your personal favourite and why?

I’ve always been fascinated by how technology influences consumer decision making, which is evident by my early work focusing on consumer decision aids. With the rapid growth of artificial intelligence,  my current focus more specifically on examining ways digital content can be adapted to better personalize consumers’ consumption experiences. For example, could product placements found in a program streaming on Netflix be adapted to the individual subscriber, based on previously defined brand preferences?  What are the potential benefits/consequences of such personalization?

•  Which is the one paper or book that you wish you had written (but have not)?

  A difficult question. One in which I’m still seeking the answer to.