Dr. Rucker holds the Sandy & Morton Goldman Professorship of Entrepreneurial Studies in Marketing. His research focuses broadly on social rank, compensatory consumption, persuasion, and consumer behavior. His work asks, and seeks answers to, what makes for effective advertising and what motives underlie consumer consumption. To answer these questions, Dr. Rucker draws on his rich training in social psychology. His work has appeared in leading journals such as the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Science, the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Consumer Psychology. His research has been covered in major media outlets such as The New York Times, Time Magazine, and ABC News.
Dr. Rucker currently teaches Advertising Strategy at Kellogg. The course focuses on basic psychological principles to better understand how to plan and execute successful advertising. In recognition of his commitment to teaching excellence Dr. Rucker was a recepient of the Top Elective Professor Award, a recipient of the Sidney J. Levy Award, and a finalist for the L.G. Lavengood Outstanding Professor of the Year Award. Dr. Rucker is also a co-instructor of the annual Kellogg Advertising Superbowl Review. The review is in the spirit of Kellogg's focus on experiential learning and cultivates basic principals learned in the classroom to critically evaluate advertising in a real world and high stakes environment.