August 5-7, 2011
San Francisco, CA
Marriott San Francisco

Recession or uncertainty? - While most would argue that the former is a more daunting environment for business and consumerism, a case can be made that the latter poses even greater challenges. Unpredictability and uncertainty over ones employment future, the value of a home, or the wild swings of a tumultuous global economy cannot just reduce but fundamentally change spending patterns and attitudes. With a U.S. stock market that lost over half its value and regained half of that in just a matter of months, marketers are having to rethink and sharpen the value they provide consumers, and squeeze every penny of inefficiency out of their own supply chains. The result of surviving this turbulence should be firms that are even more efficient on a global basis and consumers who may have more intensified brand loyalties than ever before.

The theme of this year's conference, "Delivering Value in Turbulent Times" is intended to spur thinking on these issues. We need richer theories to help understand how consumers react to not just a depressed economy but to a turbulent and uncertain one. From a managerial perspective, we need to better understand whether fundamental rethinking is needed - Are things like 'experience marketing' and 'small indulgences' (recently active topics in the field) still viable in this turbulent world, or being replaced by a simple focus on core product and service value? For this conference, we particularly encourage papers which touch on all areas of the marketing mix, consider societal implications, consumer perspectives, services, relationships, international issues, and macro-level analyses of issues related to this turbulent world.

In general, we hope to see you all in San Francisco for the 2011 Summer Educators Conference. It promises to be a stimulating weekend in an exciting environment. Beyond traditional paper submissions, we strongly encourage you to think about interesting special session and panel possibilities for this event. Last, we plan on several unique social events and innovative research forums at the conference making this sure to be a productive and stimulating event for all.