Faculty and Staff

Robert Arias

About

Dr. Robert A. Arias is an assistant professor of marketing in the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University Chicago. His research aims to better understand how consumer behavior intersects with cultural dynamics and how consumers exhibit resilience. He engages in international research projects including work in Uganda, Tanzania, India, Singapore, and Malaysia. His scholarship employs an interdisciplinary approach, incorporating various academic domains such as organizational behavior, Latinx studies, and criminology.

Dr. Arias’ work has been published in leading academic journals such as the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, the Journal of Consumer Affairs, and the Journal of Marketing Management. At Quinlan, Dr. Arias teaches undergraduate courses in consumer behavior and marketing research. He also has experience teaching courses such as principles of marketing and multinational marketing.

In addition to conducting research and teaching, he also engages in consulting, volunteering, and serves as the acting secretary officer of the Marketing Ethnic Faculty Association.

Degrees

• PhD, Business Administration (marketing concentration), Gies College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• BS, Marketing, Driehaus College of Business, DePaul University

Professional Employment

• Assistant Professor, Quinlan School of Business, Loyola University Chicago, 2021-Present
• Assistant Professor, Boler College of Business, John Carroll University, 2019-21

Research Interests

• Transformative Consumer Research
• Subsistence Consumers
• Consumer Resilience
• Consumer Perceptions of Crime and Safety
• Consumer Culture
• Rituals and Belonging

Professional & Community Affiliations

• American Marketing Association
• Association for Consumer Research
• Consumer Culture Theory Consortium
• Marketing Ethnic Faculty Association, Secretary

Courses Taught

• Marketing Research
• Consumer Behavior
• Multinational Marketing
• Principles of Marketing

Selected Publications

Sreekumar, A., Arias, R. A., Otnes, C. C., & Zayer, L. T. (2023). Shining the Spotlight on Marketplace Rituals: A Review and Research Agenda. Journal of Marketing Management, 39, (13-14), 1166-1196.

Viswanathan, M., Arias, R. A., & Sreekumar, A. (2020). Extreme Exclusion and Relative Deprivation in Subsistence Marketplaces: A Study in a Refugee Settlement in Nakivale, Uganda. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 55(1), 87-117.

Otnes, C., Tuncay Zayer, L., Arias, R., & Sreekumar, A. “The Roles of Extraordinary Beliefs in Consumption Rituals” (2018). Journal of the Association for Consumer Research special issue on The Science of Extraordinary Beliefs, Eds. P. Aggarwal, L. Block, T. Kramer., & A. L. McGill, 3(4).