In May, MSI announced winners in the 2020 Alden G. Clayton Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Competition:

WINNERS

Johann Melzner, New York University, NYU Stern School of Business
Advisors: Andrea Bonezzi, Tom Meyvis, Priya Raghubir, Yaacov Trope
Entering the Auditory Era: Implications for Audio Branding, Online Information Disclosure, and Privacy

Olivia Natan, University of Chicago, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business
Advisors: Pradeep K. Chintagunta, Jean-Pierre Dube
Choice Frictions in Large Assortments

Jeremy Yang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT Sloan School of Management
Advisor: Juanjuan Zhang
First Law of Motion: Influencer Video Advertising on TikTok

“The competition encourages scholars early in their careers to focus on research that not only contributes to theory but that is also relevant and applicable to marketing managers,” said Executive Director Barbara Kahn. “This year, our winners Johann Melzner, Olivia Natan, and Jeremy Yang combined state-of-the-art methods to provide meaningful insights about how marketers can better serve customers. MSI is proud to support these young scholars and share their research findings with the business community.”

As winners, Johann Melzner, Olivia Natan, and Jeremy Yang will receive $5,000 each. In addition, winners are invited to attend the MSI 2022 Summit, where their work will be acknowledged.

The 2020 competition received almost 90 submissions from doctoral students around the world, said Senior Research Program Director Sherry Pincus. “We are excited about the level of interest and the quality of the submissions, and we are extremely grateful to the numerous scholars who donated their valuable time to serve as reviewers.”

Now in its 37^th year, the competition was established in honor of MSI president Alden G. Clayton. Many past recipients have become leading marketing academics who maintain a career-long association with MSI. The inaugural winner of the Clayton Competition was Dartmouth’s Kevin Lane Keller, MSI’s 2013-15 Executive Director.