Patti Williams

Patti Williams
  • Ira A. Lipman Associate Professor of Marketing
  • Vice Dean, Wharton Executive Education

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    762 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    3730 Walnut Street
    University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, PA 19104

Research Interests: emotion regulation, emotional and attitudinal ambivalence, emotions and social identity, the persuasive effects of emotion, brand purpose

Links: CV

Overview

Patti Williams is the Ira A. Lipman Associate Professor of Marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Vice Dean of Wharton Executive Education.

Professor Williams examines ways consumers’ emotional responses influence consumption and persuasion. Her current research projects focus on how emotions influence consumer decisions and processes of persuasion; consumer responses to emotional and attitudinal ambivalence; and emotion regulation.

Her research has been published in top-tier academic journals including the Journal of Marketing Research and the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied. She serves on the Editorial Review Board for the Journal of Marketing Research and is an Associate Editor at the Journal of Consumer Psychology. She previously served as an Associate Editor at the Journal of Consumer Research and as President of the Society for Consumer Psychology.

She teaches a course on Strategic Brand Management to undergraduate and MBA students; previously she has taught the MBA core courses and classes on Advertising Management. Professor Williams earned her PhD and MBA from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her BA from Stanford University.

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Research

Teaching

Past Courses

  • MKTG2780 - Strategic Brand Mgmt

    Which brands make you happy? Apple? Amazon? Starbucks? Everlane? Soulcycle? Sweetgreen? What draws you into these brands? How do companies create compelling brand experiences? How could you cultivate a well-loved brand? This course explores such questions with the goal of identifying the ingredients for building an inspired brand. The course is created for students interested in building a brand and/or immersing themselves in the enhancement of an existing brand, and it is comprised of lectures, cases, guest speakers, discussions, in and out of class exercises, and a final project. Broadly, the course will be divided into four parts: 1) Understanding Brand, 2) Crafting Brand, 3) Measuring Brand, and 4) Managing Brand. The course will provide students with an appreciation of the role of branding and (taking a consumer-centric approach) will augment students' ability to think creatively and critically about the strategies and tactics involved in building, leveraging, defending, and sustaining inspired brands.

  • MKTG3990 - Independent Study

  • MKTG6110 - Marketing Management

    This course addresses how to design and implement the best combination of marketing efforts to carry out a firm's strategy in its target markets. Specifically, this course seeks to develop the student's (1) understanding of how the firm can benefit by creating and delivering value to its customers, and stakeholders, and (2) skills in applying the analytical concepts and tools of marketing to such decisions as segmentation and targeting, branding, pricing, distribution, and promotion. The course uses lectures and case discussions, case write-ups, student presentations, and a comprehensive final examination to achieve these objectives.

  • MKTG7780 - Strategic Brand Mgmt

    Which brands make you happy? Apple? Amazon? Starbucks? Everlane? Soulcycle? Sweetgreen? What draws you into these brands? How do companies create compelling brand experiences? How could you cultivate a well-loved brand? This course explores such questions with the goal of identifying the ingredients for building an inspired brand. The course is created for students interested in building a brand and/or immersing themselves in the enhancement of an existing brand, and it is comprised of lectures, cases, guest speakers, discussions, in and out of class exercises, and a final project. Broadly, the course will be divided into four parts: 1) Understanding Brand, 2) Crafting Brand, 3) Measuring Brand, and 4) Managing Brand. The course will provide students with an appreciation of the role of branding and (taking a consumer-centric approach) will augment students' ability to think creatively and critically about the strategies and tactics involved in building, leveraging, defending, and sustaining inspired brands.

  • MKTG8990 - Independent Study

    A student contemplating an independent study project must first find a faculty member who agrees to supervise and approve the student's written proposal as an independent study (MKTG 899). If a student wishes the proposed work to be used to meet the ASP requirement, he/she should then submit the approved proposal to the MBA adviser who will determine if it is an appropriate substitute. Such substitutions will only be approved prior to the beginning of the semester.

  • MKTG9520 - Consumer Research Topics - A

    The purpose of this seminar is to provide graduate students with an overview of contemporary topics in consumer research. Depending on faculty, areas addressed may include basic research on consumer knowledge (learning and memory), goals, persuasion, and emotions, with applications to branding. consumer finance, human-technology interaction, and social influence. The course draws from the literature in marketing, psychology and economics. The course will enable students to conceptualize, operationalize, and develop research ideas. Therefore, the focus is on understanding theoretical and methodological approaches to various aspects of consumer behavior, as well as advancing this knowledge by developing testable hypotheses and theoretical perspectives that build on the current knowledge base.

  • MKTG9530 - Consumer Research Topics - B

    The purpose of this seminar is to provide graduate students with an overview of contemporary topics in consumer research. Depending on faculty, areas addressed may include basic research on consumer knowledge (learning and memory), goals, persuasion, and emotions, with applications to branding. consumer finance, human-technology interaction, and social influence. The course draws from the literature in marketing, psychology and economics. The course will enable students to conceptualize, operationalize, and develop research ideas. Therefore, the focus is on understanding theoretical and methodological approaches to various aspects of consumer behavior, as well as advancing this knowledge by developing testable hypotheses and theoretical perspectives that build on the current knowledge base.

  • MKTG9990 - Independent Study

    Requires written permission of instructor and the department graduate adviser.

  • PPE3999 - Independent Study

    Student arranges with a faculty member to pursue a research project on a suitable topic. For more information about research and setting up independent studies, visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/independent-studies

Awards And Honors

  • President-Elect, Society for Consumer Psychology, 2020
  • President, Society for Consumer Psychology, 2020
  • Outstanding Reviewer, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2018
  • Outstanding Reviewer, Journal of Consumer Research, 2016
  • Wharton WEMBA Class of 2016 Excellence in Teaching Award, 2016
  • MBA Core Curriculum Award, "Goes Above and Beyond the Call of Duty", 2014
  • MBA Core Curriculum Award "Goes Above And Beyond The Call of Duty", 2012
  • MBA Core Curriculum Excellence in Teaching Award, 2011
  • Wharton Excellence in Teaching Award, 2010
  • MBA Core Curriculum Award "Goes Above And Beyond The Call of Duty", 2008
  • Wharton Excellence In Teaching Award, 2007
  • Fellow, Wharton Risk Center, 2007
  • Wharton Excellence in Teaching Award, 2006
  • 2001 Marketing Science Institute Young Scholars Conference, 2001
  • 2000-2006 James G. Campbell Jr. Memorial Term Assistant Professor, 2000
  • 1999 Marketing Science Institute Research Grant (with Aimee Drolet), 1999
  • 1997 Procter & Gamble Market Innovation Research Fund Recipient, 1997
  • 1997 Center for International Business (CIBER), Internationalization Marketing Consortium Fellow, 1997
  • 1997 American Marketing Association Doctoral Consortium Fellow, 1997
  • 1997 UCLA Graduate Division Merit Fellowship, 1997
  • 1996 CIBER International Research Grant (with Jennifer Aaker), 1996
  • 1992-1993 Los Angeles Women in Business MBA Fellowship Recipient, 1992
  • 1991-1993 Dean’s List, UCLA, MBA Program, 1991
  • President, Society for Consumer Psychology, 1970
  • Past-President, Society for Consumer Psychology, 1970

In the News

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Latest Research

Patti Williams, Jennifer Edson Escalas, Andrew Morningstar (2022), Conceptualizing brand purpose and considering its implications for consumer eudaimonic well-being, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 32 (), pp. 699-723. 10.1002/jcpy.1324
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Awards and Honors

President-Elect, Society for Consumer Psychology 2020
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