Anders Emil Tobias Otterbring

I work as a Full Professor of Marketing at the University of Agder. A common denominator of my research is an interest in how the real, imagined, or implied presence of other individuals influences people’s cognitions, emotions, and behavior. I also study how various nonverbal cues, such as smiling, physical attractiveness, and interpersonal touch, can influence consumers’ product preferences and purchase patterns. Thus, a frequently occurring theme in my research, and a likely consequence of my PhD in Psychology, is social influence applied to various consumption contexts. Another prominent aspect of my research is a passion for field studies and work capturing real, observable behavior. Prior to my move to Norway, I worked at the MAPP Centre at Aarhus University for three years as an Assistant and Associate Professor.  

My scholarly work has been featured in journals such as Nature Communications, Nature Human Behaviour, and PNAS as well as the British Journal of Management, the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. I have also served as a Guest Editor in several well-known journals, including the European Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Business Research, Personality and Individual Differences, and Psychology & Marketing. Currently, I am an Editorial Board Member of Food Quality and Preference, Recherche et Applications en Marketing, and PLOS ONE. Between 2018 and 2020, I also served on the Editorial Board of Psychology & Marketing. I have published more than 100 peer-reviewed journal articles and acted as a reviewer in over 50 different journals, including Nature Human Behaviour, Nature Communications, the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the Journal of Service Research, and the Journal of Business Ethics. 

My doctoral research received several international academic awards and recognitions, and I was fortunate enough to win the 27th Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Mary Kay Doctoral Dissertation Award, while also being a runner-up for the 13th Human Behavior and Evolution Society (HBES) Post-Doctoral Research Award and the 3rd American Marketing Association (AMA) SERVSIG Best Dissertation Award, as well as the recipient of the 2018 Emerald/EFMD Highly Commended Doctoral Research Award in Marketing. In 2021, I was selected as a new member of the Young Academy of Norway, which is an interdisciplinary organization for talented young scholars with a demonstrated commitment to research policy and innovative research dissemination. During the same year, I received an Early Career Recognition at the 14th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium. A portion of my research, which was published in Food Quality and Preference, also became a Selected Highlight of the competition arranged by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), entitled “Innovations that Inspire.” Most recently, I won the 2022 Outstanding Paper Emerald Literati Award based on a lead-authored article in the Journal of Managerial Psychology. 

Some of the international media outlets that have featured my research include BBC News, New York Times, New York Post, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, Psychology Today, Daily Mail, The Independent, The Telegraph, The Times, Alpha Galileo, Metro UK, and Fox News. I have been approached by several managers from international businesses and conducted field experiments in collaboration with companies such as IKEA, Telia, Stadium, and Swedbank to test the real-world applicability and effectiveness of different interventions in such consumption contexts. I have also collaborated in the development of a communication campaign aimed at improving consumer well-being and public health in a project funded by UNICEF.