Assistant Professor of Marketing Kelly Eunjung Yoon

Assistant Professor of Marketing Kelly Yoon was chosen to receive the Journal of Consumer Psychology’s 2022 Early Career Contributor Award, based on her paper, “Perceived Costs versus Actual Benefits of Demographic Self-Disclosure in Online Support Groups,” published in the 2021 (31/3) volume of Journal of Consumer Psychology.

This JCP Early Career Contributor Award is given to the best refereed paper by an “early career contributor” published in the past year (2021 for the 2022 conference). For this award, an early career contributor is defined as a scholar whose work is published within two years of receiving his or her Ph.D. (or a scholar who had not yet received the Ph.D. when the paper was published). Dr. Yoon was awarded a plaque and $2,500 at the 2022 Society of Consumer Psychology’s virtual conference on Friday, March 4.

Assistant Professor of Marketing Kelly EunJung Yoon

Assistant Professor of Marketing Kelly EunJung Yoon, of UMW’s College of Business, co-conducted a study, led by the University of California, Irvine, into how participants in online support groups tend to hide demographic information, in an effort to form better connections with other members.

“Our findings indicate a striking discrepancy between people’s perception of self-disclosure effects and the reality in online support groups. Members tended to refrain from revealing when they were demographically different from their interaction partner or had overall minority status, believing it would hinder them from fitting in or relating well to others. But when members naturally engaged in communicating those details, the result was strong relationships that produced health benefits,” said Connie Pechmann, UCI professor of marketing and lead author of the study. Read more.