Curriculum Vitae

Education

• Doctorate of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Business: University of South Florida; Concentration: Marketing (2017-22)

• Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Management: TN Open University, India (2006-07)

• Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.) in Marketing: Southern Adventist University, India (2001-02)

• Bachelor of Physical Therapy (B.P.T.): MGR Medical University, India (09/1995-08/1999)

Experience

• Assistant Professor of Marketing, Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Florida, FL (08/2023-Present). 

• Research Scholar, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL (09/2022-08/2023). 

• Graduate Research Assistant, University of South Florida (USF), Tampa, FL (08/2017-08/2022). Conducted experiments and interviews; analyzed surveys, interviews, and eye-tracking data; and interpreted and presented the results at conferences.

• Instructor, USF, Tampa, FL (08/2019-05/2021). Taught undergraduate courses.

• Junior Lab Coordinator, Center for Marketing and Sales Innovation Lab, USF (Fall 2020). Assisted Professors and Ph.D. Students in data collection. Managed participants through the SONA system.

• Project Analyst (Centre for Learning and Management Practice), Indian School of Business (ISB), India (01/2015-06/2017). Assessment of Assurance of Learning for Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

• Teaching Assistant, Academic Services and Administration, ISB, India (05/2010-12/2015). Assisted professors in course delivery.

• Faculty Associate, ICFAI University (11/2007-5/2010). Designed and launched graduate-level management programs. Coordinated accreditation process.

• Research Associate, ICFAI University (10/2003-10/2007). Developed graduate-level courseware for management programs. Maintained institutional memberships.

• Manager, Mission for the Suffering in India Trust, India (2002-2003). Street Kids Rehabilitation Program.

• Assistant Manager, Pandian Food Products, India (2000-2002). Sales & Business Development.

Research Papers Under Review  

• Nathaniel Hartmann, Mauricio Palmeiro, and Samuel Sekar, “Don’t Blame the Powerless The Impact of Hierarchy on Reactions to Responses to Ethical Scandals,” is under second round, revising for resubmission  to the Journal of Business Research.

• Samuel Sekar, Sajeev Varki, and Yasmeen Elsantiel, “Centrality of Sensory Attributes in Brand Extensions,” under second review at the Journal of Consumer Marketing.

Research in Progress  

• Samuel Sekar, Anand Kumar, and Mark Bender, “The Incidental Effect of Changes in Nutritional Labelling Regulations on Consumers’ Preference for Healthy Options – An Attention Based Explanation*,” in preparation for submission to the Journal of Public Policy and Marketing.

  • Winner, 2021 Association of Consumer Research (ACR) Small Research Grants Award

  • Winner, 2022 ACR-AMA Transformative Consumer Research Grants Award

  • Noteworthy Applicant, 2020 Bassi Scholarship

• Samuel Sekar and Sajeev Varki, “Spillover Effects in Product Customization,” Target: Journal of Marketing Research.

• Sajeev Varki, Ling Hu, Loran Jarrett, and Samuel Sekar, “Perceived Control, Flow, and the Online Experience,” two studies completed. Target: Journal of Retailing 

• Samuel Sekar, De Vreede, Gert-Jan, Dezhi Yin, De Vreede, Triparna & Jiang Lin, “The Effect of Artificial Intelligence Self-Learning Capability on User Cognitive Efforts," two studies completed. Target: Journal of Experimental Psychology.

Research Publications

(Before entering Ph. D. Program)

• [Teaching Case] Samuel Sekar and Thalluri P. Vidyasagar, "Neuromarketing: Is Campbell in a Soup?," (2012), ICFAI University Press, Journal of Marketing Management, ICFAI Press, Hyderabad.

• Samuel Sekar, "Better World as their Bottom-line – CSR in Insurance Industry" (2007), The Journal of Insurance Institute of India, (Jun-Dec ’07 issue), Insurance Institute of India, Mumbai.

• Samuel Sekar, "A Study on the Present Condition of Affordable Health Insurance Schemes in India" (2007), ICFAI Journal of Risk and Insurance, ICFAI Press, Hyderabad, India.

• Samuel Sekar, "Demand-Driven Innovation In Health Insurance Products" (2007), Pravartak Journal, National Insurance Academy Journal, National Insurance Academy, Pune, India.

Conference Presentations (Refereed)

• Samuel Sekar, Anand Kumar, and Mark Bender, “The Incidental Effect of Changes in Nutritional Labeling Regulations on Consumers’ Preference for Healthy Options – An Attention Based Explanation,” 2021 AMA Marketing + Public Policy Summer Conference (Virtual).

• Benny Sekar, Sheeba Daniel, and Samuel Sekar, “The Effect of Front-of-Pack Communications on Product Quality Perceptions,” 2021 AMS Virtual Annual Conference.

• Samuel Sekar, “The Influence of Experiential Attributes Based Brand Positioning on Brand Extensions,” 2021 Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators (ACME) Virtual Conference

• Samuel Sekar, Anand Kumar, and Mark Bender, “The Unintended Consequences of the New FDA Labels.” Annual Virtual Graduate Student Research Symposium 2021 on Friday, April 9th, 2021.

• Samuel Sekar, “The Product Depth Effect: The Effect of Product Depth Size of a Brand on the Overall Impression of a Product,” 2020 AMS Annual Conference, Coral Gables, FL.

• Samuel Sekar and Sajeev Varki, “The Role of Degree of Fit of Experiential Attributes in Brand Extensions,” 2020 AMA Summer Academic Conference.

• Samuel Sekar, “Sensory Attributes in Brand Extensions: The Role of Attribute Centrality in Evaluations of Fit,” 2020 Association for Consumer Research Conference.

• Samuel Sekar and Anand Kumar, “The Unintended Consequence of Salient Calorie Information in the New Nutrition Label on Product Evaluation: Saliency Bias Leading to Less Healthy Food Choices.” 2020 Annual Graduate Student Research Symposium at USF. (Event canceled due to Covid-19).

• Samuel Sekar and Robert Hooker, “Supply Chain Resilience on Business Continuity Programs: The Role of Anticipated, Inherent and Adaptive Resilience,” 2019 AMS Annual Conference, Vancouver, BC, Canada.

Research Publications (Conference Proceedings)

• Samuel Sekar and Robert Hooker (2020), “Supply Chain Resilience on Business Continuity Programs: The Role of Anticipated, Inherent, and Adaptive Resilience: An Abstract.” In: Wu S., Pantoja F., Krey N. (eds) Marketing Opportunities and Challenges in a Changing Global Marketplace. AMSAC 2019. Developments in Marketing Science: Proceedings of the Academy of Marketing Science. Springer, Cham.

• Samuel Sekar, “The Product Depth Effect: The Effect of Product Depth Size of a Brand on the Overall Impression of a Product,” Academy of Marketing Science (2020). 

• T. S. Ramakrishna Rao and Samuel Sekar (2008), “Role of Information Asymmetry in Inducing Health Insurance Fraud,” 10th Global Conference of Actuaries on the theme “Back to Basics – Adding Value in Risk Management” conducted by Institute of Actuaries of India (IAI), Mumbai, India.

• Samuel Sekar (2011), “Is Corporate Social Responsibility an Important Business Among Indian Insurance Companies?” University Grants Commission’s National Seminar on “Innovative Management Practices,” Annamalai University, India.

• Samuel Sekar (2006), “Importance of Smile in Managerial Communication,” 6th Asia Pacific ABC Conference on Management Communication on the theme "Management Communication: Trends & Strategies,” Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, McGraw Hill, India.

Teaching Interests

Marketing Management | International Marketing | Brand Management | Advertising | Consumer Behavior | Marketing Research | Marketing Analytics | Digital/Social Media/Influencer Marketing  | Sales Management  | Business-to-Business Marketing | Services Marketing

Research Interests

Judgment and Decision Making | AI, Machine Learning and User Behavior | Brand Extensions | Sales Technologies | Product Labels

Selected Trade Publications, ICFAI University Press, India

• Samuel Sekar, Insurance Advertisements: Employing the Right Emotional Appeal, Insurance Chronicle (2009)

• Samuel Sekar, The Psychology of Insurance Decision Making, Insurance Chronicle (2009)

• Samuel Sekar, The Indian Insurance Industry Inching Forward (Cover Story), Insurance Chronicle (2009)

• Samuel Sekar, Shopassurance: New Kid on the Block (Cover Story), Insurance Chronicle (2008)

• Samuel Sekar, Indian Insurance Industry Poised for Growth, Insurance Chronicle (2008)

• Samuel Sekar, Micro Health Insurance Frauds, Insurance Chronicle (2007)

• Samuel Sekar, Smile Begets Smile: Importance of Smile in Leadership, HRM Review (2007)

• Samuel Sekar, Know Your Policyholder, Insurance Chronicle (2007)

• Samuel Sekar, Insurance Industry – Embarking on the Social Responsibility Path (C. Story), Insurance Chronicle (2007)

• Samuel Sekar, Intelligence in Insurance Business, Insurance Chronicle (2007)

• Samuel Sekar, The Insurer-Insured Knowledge Gap, Insurance Chronicle (2006)

• Samuel Sekar, Balance Scorecard of Insurance Industry, Insurance Chronicle (2006)

• Samuel Sekar, Lemons Problem and Health Insurance Fraud, Insurance Chronicle (2008)

• Samuel Sekar, Smile your Way Up – Importance of Smile in Personal Branding, Advertising Express (2007)

• Samuel Sekar, Personal Branding Clinic, Marketing Mastermind (2006)

• Samuel Sekar, The Business of Patenting, Effective Executive (2005)

• Samuel Sekar, Leading Through Innovation, Effective Executive (2005)

Software Tools

• MS Word; Excel; Powerpoint; Teams

• SAS; SPSS

• Conjoint Simulator; MARKSTRAT Simulator

• AMOS (SEM)

• TIBCO Spotfire; Tableau

References