Faculty Research Spotlight: Dr. John Yi
John Yi studies how digital technologies influence the way that consumers interact with firms and other consumers. John is especially fascinated by how and when personalized marketing actions, like customized greetings and automated recommendations, can backfire. John finds that personalized messages can be threatening when it is related to a negative identity (for example eating unhealthy, or being unproductive). This is becoming even more prevalent as firms are tracking what consumers do each day. “Netflix knows that I have binged-watched ‘Vampire Diaries’ and Amazon knows I ordered 2 boxes of sweets every week. The problem arises when the algorithm starts recommending related items to me personally.”
In his other research work, John focuses on investigating how innovations in hardware (such as touchscreens) and software (think humorous image filters) are changing the way that consumers evaluate products and share content on social media platforms, like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat.
About John Yi
John is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Madden School of Business, Le Moyne College. He holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from University of Arizona. His research interests span the areas of digital marketing, personalization, and word of mouth. John is teaching Introduction to Marketing and Digital Marketing at Le Moyne.
