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Miguel Brendl
Miguel Brendl

MARKETING
Associate Professor of Marketing
Associate Professor of Psychology, Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences (Courtesy)

Print Overview
Miguel Brendl joined the Kellogg School of Management in 2007 after serving on the faculties of INSEAD, Fontainebleau (1999-2007), the University of Heidelberg (1998-99) and the University of Konstanz (1995-1998). He holds a PhD degree from Columbia University and an undergraduate degree form the University of Mannheim, Germany.

Professor Brendl's expertise lies in the psychological foundations of consumer behavior. He is a member of the editorial review boards of the Journal of Consumer Research and the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the leading academic journals for consumer research. The Journal of Consumer Research has acknowledged his research with the Best Article of the Year 2003 Award. He was founder of the center for behavioral research at INSEAD, Fontainebleau.

His teaching experience comprises marketing and consumer behavior to executives and MBA students, as well as psychology and research methods to PhD students. He does research on how customers make intuitive decisions, or "gut-feel" decisions. This work investigates unconscious and motivational influences on decision making. For example, he has developed a computerized measurement tool (EMA) that allows inferring peoples' instinctive "gut-reactions" toward brands by measuring respondents' reaction times to brands, without asking them for their evaluations of these brands. His research has appeared in some of the most prestigious academic journals of marketing and of psychology, in academic books, as well as in the public press.

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Print Vita
Education
PhD, 1995, Psychology, Columbia University
MPhil, 1994, Psychology, Columbia University
MA, 1992, Psychology, Columbia University
BA, 1990, Business Administration, Psychology, University of Mannheim

Academic Positions
Associate Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2007-present
Associate Professor, Weinberg College of Arts of Sciences, Northwestern University, 2007-present
Associate Professor of Marketing, INSEAD, 2005-2007
Assistant Professor of Marketing, INSEAD, 1999-2005
Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Heidelberg, 1998-1999
Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Konstanz, 1995-1998

Grants and Awards
Outstanding Reviewer Award, Journal of Consumer Research, 2010

Editorial Positions
Editorial Review Board, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2004-Present
Editorial Review Board, Journal of Consumer Research, 2003-Present

 
Print Research
Research Interests
Consumer behavior: preference formation, decision making, motivation, automatic psychological processes

Articles
Bonezzi, Andrea, Miguel Brendl and Matteo De Angelis. Forthcoming. Stuck in the Middle: The Psychophysics of Goal Pursuit. Psychological Science.
Dai, Xianchi, Miguel Brendl and Dan Ariely. 2010. Wanting, Liking, and Preference Construction. Emotion. 20: 324-334.
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Dai, Xianchi, Klaus Wertenbroch and Miguel Brendl. 2008. The Value Heuristic in Judgements of Relative Frequency. Psychological Science. 19(1): 18-19.
AbstractLink
Markman, Arthur B., Miguel Brendl and Kyungil Kim. 2007. Preference and the Specificity of Goals. Emotion. 7: 680-684.
AbstractLink
Markman, Arthur B. and Miguel Brendl. 2005. Constraining Theories of Embodied Cognition. Psychological Science. 16(1): 6-10.
AbstractLink
Brendl, Miguel, Arthur B. Markman and Claude Messner. 2005. Indirectly measuring evaluations of several attitude objects in relation to a neutral reference point. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 41(4): 346-368.
AbstractLink
Brendl, Miguel, Amitava Chattopadhyay, Brett W. Pelham and Mauricio Carvallo. 2005. Name Letter Branding: Valence Transfers when Product Specific Needs are Active. Journal of Consumer Research. 32(3): 405-415.
AbstractLink
Brendl, Miguel, Arthur B. Markman and Claude Messner. 2003. The Devaluation Effect: Activating a Need Devalues Unrelated Choice Options. Journal of Consumer Research. 29(4): 463-473.
AbstractLink
Brendl, Miguel, Arthur B. Markman and Claude Messner. 2001. How do Indirect Measures of Evaluation Work? Evaluating the Inference of Prejudice in the Implicit Association Test. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 81(5): 760-773.
AbstractLink
Markman, Arthur B. and Miguel Brendl. 2000. The Influence of Goals on Value and Choice. Psychology of Learning and Motivation. 39: 97-128.
Link
Brendl, Miguel, Arthur B. Markman and E. Tory Higgins. 1998. Mentale Kontoführung als Selbstregulierung: Repräsentativität für zielgeleitete Kategorien. Zeitschrift fur Sozialpsychologie. Sonderheft Konsumentenpsychologie. 29: 89-104.
Abstract
Brendl, Miguel and E. Tory Higgins. 1996. Principles of Judging Valence: What makes Events Positive or Negative. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. 28: 95-160.
Link
Higgins, E. Tory and Miguel Brendl. 1995. Accessibility and Applicability: Some 'Activation Rules' Influencing Judgment. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. 31(3): 218-243.
AbstractLink
Brendl, Miguel and E. Tory Higgins. 1995. Sensitivity to varying Gains and Losses: The Role of Self-Discrepancies and Event Framing. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 69(6): 1028-1051.
AbstractLink
Book Chapters
Markman, Arthur B., Miguel Brendl and Kyungil Kim. 2009. "From Goal-Activation to Action: How Does Preference and Use of Knowledge Intervene?." In The Psychology of Action, edited by Ezequiel Morsella, John A. Bargh, and Peter M. Gollwitzer, vol. 2: Mechanisms of Human Action, 328-349. New York: Oxford University Press.
Isaac, Mathew and Miguel Brendl. 2009. "Transfer of Value from Decision Interruption." In Advances in Consumer Research, edited by Ann L. McGill and Sharon Shavitt, vol. 36, Duluth: Association for Consumer Research.
Markman, Arthur B., Miguel Brendl and Kyungil Kim. 2007. "From Goal-Activation to Action: How Does Preference and Use of Knowledge Intervene?." In The Psychology of Action, edited by Ezequiel Morsella, John A. Bargh, and Peter M. Gollwitzer, Oxford University Press, 2nd edition.
Markman, Arthur B. and Miguel Brendl. 2005. "Goals, Policies, Preferences, and Actions." In Applying Social Cognition to Consumer-Focused Strategy, edited by Frank R. Kardes, Paul M. Herr, Jacques Nantel, 183-200. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Brendl, Miguel. 2001. "Goals and the Compatibility Principle in Attitudes, Judgment, and Choice." In Cognitive Social Psychology: The Princeton Symposium on the Legacy and Future of Social Cognition, edited by Gordon B Moskowitz, 317-332. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Brendl, Miguel. 2000. "Subjective Experience in the Effect of Sample Size on Likelihood Judgments." In The Message Within: The Role of Subjective Experience in Social Cognition and Behavior, edited by Herbert Bless and Joseph P Forgas, 69-87. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.

 
Print Teaching
Teaching Interests
Consumer behavior, psychology
Full-Time / Part-Time MBA
Consumer Behavior (MKTG-458-0)

This course counts toward the following majors: Marketing, Marketing Management

This course covers the field of consumer psychology and provides a systematic framework for analyzing consumer behavior from the standpoint of the marketer. The focus is on generating consumer insights as a necessary basis for developing marketing strategies, as well as for improving marketing mix decisions. The psychological concepts we cover enable marketers to make better use of market research. The course is directed at students preparing for brand/product management, business development, or consulting positions.

Design Lab (MKTG-945-0)
A special course available to all Kellogg students will be offered in the Winter quarter of this year. The course covers the intersection of design and marketing. It looks at how design and design thinking can be incorporated into marketing thinking. The course has a special format. Three professors from the marketing department will lead the course- Professors Brendl, Calder, and Roese- as well as Steven Dupuis who is a Clinical Professor and the President of a leading design firm. Designers from several other design firms located in Chicago will participate on an ongoing basis as well. The format of the course will be experiential. Students, professors, and design professionals will work on a design project from the inception of a creative concept to complete design implementation. The project is based on the premise of creating a new type of outside-the-home movie watching experience. In addition to providing a valuable learning experience for students interested in design, the course is also intended to provide a vehicle for determining how to incorporate design into the Kellogg curriculum better in the future. Enrollment in the course will be restricted due to the experiential and interactive learning format. One goal is also to find ways of involving members to the Design Club in the project on an at-large basis. Note: This course may not be dropped after the second week of the quarter.

If you are interested in enrolling in the course please email Faye Palmer (faye-palmer@kellogg.northwestern.edu) for the enrollment request form..



Doctoral
General Seminar For Phd Candidates (MKTG-520-2)
This seminar confronts students with significant problems, issues and theories at the leading edge of the marketing field. Presentations and discussions are designed to stimulate thinking on important areas of research and the development of new theoretical viewpoints.

Psychological Theory in Consumer Behavior ( formerly MKTG-520-2) (MKTG-541-0)
This course builds a bridge from social and cognitive psychology to consumer behavior research. The objectives are to give an integrated overview of key psychological principles, which lays the foundations for understanding advanced readings and for developing consumer research out of psychological theory, and learn about the nature of theory construction and theory testing by means of experiments. The course will move from classic psychology readings to cover more recent consumer behavior readings and the type of research questions studied in consumer research. Topics covered include perception, judgment, memory, attitudes, choice, always with an eye for how these mental functions influence preferences.

Executive MBA
Consumer Insight and Marketing Strategy (MKTGX-922-0)
Consumer Insight and Marketing Stratey addresses three key areas: the future of marketing, sales-force management and marketing services to “nanosecond customers.” The course focuses on customer-centricity, creating innovative frameworks, developing strategic perspectives toward the company’s sales force, and implementing effective marketing programs in service sectors.