Research

As an experimentalist, I employ a mix of methods including on-line, lab, and field studies, as well as secondary data, to evaluate how consumers make financial and health related decisions. When pursuing research ideas, I draw inspiration from firm and consumer behaviors present in society, as well as my own personal experiences. For instance, over the past few years, consumers have demonstrated an increasing willingness to accrue more debt and agree to longer loan terms. In my earlier research, I demonstrate how financial institutions may be influencing these behaviors. Moreover, my recent community involvement has provided me opportunities to partner with financial institutions and non-profit agencies to conduct field studies to better understand the role of financial institutions in underrepresented consumer financial decision making. These institutions differ in the marketing problems they face, and offer varying industry insights, which I draw from to inform my research.


PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

Johnson, Alicia M., Daniel Villanova and Ronn J. Smith (2023), “The Effect of Loan Application Formats on Consumer Loan Decisions,” Journal of Consumer Research, https://doi.org/10.1093/jcr/ucad015 (Dissertation Essay 1).


Rybak, Garrett, Alicia M. Johnson, and Scot Burton (2023), “How Restaurant Ad Messaging Can Increase Patronage Intentions During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Serial Mediation and Conditional Effects of Consumer Concern about COVID-19,” Journal of Advertising, 52, 145-156.


Rybak, Garrett, Scot Burton, Alicia M. Johnson, and Christopher Berry (2021), “Promoted claims on food product packaging: Comparing direct and indirect effects of processing and nutrient content claims,” Journal of Business Research, 135, 464-79. 



WORKING PAPERS UNDER REVIEW

Johnson, Alicia M., Daniel Villanova and Scot Burton (2023), “Rethinking Consumer Borrowing Term Preferences: The Roles of Typical and Advertised Terms on Consumer Loan Decisions,” under review, (Dissertation Essay 2).



SELECTED  RESEARCH IN PROGRESS

Johnson, Alicia M., Anastasiya Pocheptsova Ghosh, and Bikram Ghosh (2023), “The Effects of Pay Frequency on Budget Setting,” preparing submission.  

Johnson, Alicia M., Daniel Villanova, Julio Sevilla, Matthew Issac, and Rajesh Bagchi, “FIFO: How Debt Age Affects Debt Repayment,” preparing submission.

Kim, Lena, Emily Garbinsky, and Alicia M. Johnson, “How Gender of the Higher Earner Affects Couples’ Financial Management Strategies,” collecting data.

 

Johnson, Alicia M. and Yuna Choe, “How and When Expense Reduction Strategies Affect Anticipated Goal Adherence,” collecting data.

Garcia-Rada, Ximena and Alicia M. Johnson, “Caring Up Versus Down: The Effect of Caring for One’s Child Versus Parent on Financial Responsibility,” collecting data.

 

Johnson, Alicia M. and Anastasiya Ghosh, “The Effect of the Child Tax Credit on Consumer Spending and Well-Being,” collecting data.

 

Johnson, Alicia M. and Adam Greenberg, “How Beliefs about Whether to Prioritize Debt Before Savings Influence Financial Decisions,” pilot completed.  

 

Johnson, Alicia M. and Matthew Godfrey, “Breaking Paycheck-to-Paycheck Cycles of Poverty,” collecting and analyzing data.


GRANTS, AWARDS, AND SCHOLARSHIPS