Narayanan Janakiraman

[Narayanan Janakiraman]

Associate Professor, Marketing

Last Updated: January 24, 2021

about me

Research Interests

Time Perception, Donations, Unexpected Shocks

Biography

Prof. Narayanan Janakiraman is an of in the College of Business at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA). He received his Ph.D degree in marketing from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA, in 2004 and joined UTA later in 2012. Prof. Janakiraman’s research focuses on three substantive areas: Time Perception, Donations, Unexpected Shocks. His work has appeared in the Journal of Marketing Research,Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Retailing and several peer-reviewed proceedings. Prof. Janakiraman serves as a reviewer for a number of journals including the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Marketing, OBHD, Psychological Science, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Association for Consumer Research, Society for Consumer Psychology At UTA, Prof. Janakiraman primarily teaches Marketing at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Education

- 2003 PhD in Marketing
  University of Pennsylvania, 2003
- 1995 MBA in Business
  Pondicherry University, 1995
- 1993 BA in Electronics & Instrumentation Engineering
  Govt. College of Technology, 1993

Memberships

- 2004 to Present Society for Consumer Psychology
  Member
- 2003 to Present Association for Consumer Research
  Member
- 2011 to 2013 Society for Consumer Psychology
  Ethics Committee Member
- 2011 to 2011 Society for Consumer Psychology
  Winter Conference Program Committee
- 2007 to 2007 Association for Consumer Research
  Working Paper Session Chair

News Articles

- Dec 2016 Denver Post
  In this article, the author wished to convey how consumers could manage their gift returns from holiday gifts, given the various return policies that retailers offered them
- Dec 2016 Toronto Star
  The newspaper article tried to inform its readers about how lenient return policies could be risky for them
- Oct 2016
  Harvard Business Review
  
  The October 2016 print edition of HBR featured a short write up off the results of the return policy paper published in the Journal of Retailing. In the supplemental files, a pdf of the same has been presented.
- June 2016
  Science Daily, Phys.org, Scienmag.com, eScienceNews, Science Newsline, Science Codex
  
  A new meta-analysis by Narayanan Janakiraman, UTA assistant professor of marketing, shows that return policies that offer consumers more monetary rewards are likely to increase their consumer purchases, Science Daily, Phys.org, Scienmag.com, eScienceNews, Science Newsline, Science Codex reported.
- June 2016
  Science Codex; Science Newsline
  
  A recently published study in the Journal of Retailing shows that lenient return policies can boost consumer demand, Science Codex and Science Newsline reported. Narayan Janakiraman, a UTA assistant professor of marketing, led the study.
- Jan 2016 New York Magazine
  Research by Narayan Janakiraman, UTA assistant professor of marketing, was cited in a New York Magazine article and in a Huffington Post article on the psychology of store returns. He discovered that the longer a store allows its customers to return something after purchasing, the less likely they are to ever actually return it.
- Jan 2016 Washington Post
  In this article the author wanted to use the results of the JR article to inform readers about how return policies can affect their behavior
- Jan 2016 Entrepreneur
  Narayan Janakiraman, assistant professor of marketing in the UTA College of Business, was quoted in an Entrepreneur article on how companies are using speed as a competitive advantage. “The need for instant gratification is not new, but our expectation of ‘instant’ has become faster, and as a result, our patience is thinner,” Janakiraman said. The article also appeared on RealWise.com.
- Nov 2015 The American Genius
  Narayan Janakiraman, a UTA assistant marketing professor, was quoted in an editorial by Gary Picariello in The American Genius about our culture of instant gratification and last-minute deals. Picariello quoted Janakiraman’s 2011 study “The Psychology of Decisions to Abandon Waits for Service,” which pointed out that the need for instant gratification is not new, but our expectation of what constitutes “instant” has become faster, and as a result, our patience is thinner.
- July 2015 Hopes & Fears
  A study co-written by UT Arlington marketing professor Narayan Janakiraman was mentioned in an article addressing money-back guarantees on return policies, Hopes & Fears reported. Janakiraman’s study showed consumers had a higher rate of return when a smaller window for those returns was given. Janakiraman teamed with Lisa Ordóñez of the University of Arizona
- May 2015 WFOR/CBS (Miami)
  WFOR/CBS Miami broadcast a report that included an interview with UT Arlington assistant business professor Narayanan Janakiraman. He discussed how stores spend millions of dollars to analyze consumer behaviors, which is why Janakiraman said consumers should make sure that they are "in the know."
- May 2015 KTVT CBS 11
  Narayanan Janakiraman, UT Arlington assistant professor of marketing in the College of Business, was featured on a KTVT CBS 11 story showing how consumers are baited into buying too much or the wrong things at a supermarket. Janakiraman has done research on consumer behavior
- Jan 2015 Detroit Free Press
  Holiday returns can come with minimal stress, the Detroit Free Press reported. Narayan Janakiraman, a UT Arlington associate professor of marketing, who writes about return policies, said if a more flexible return policy is offered, it increases the perceived quality of the product and decreases perceived risk. "Return policies increase the likelihood of a purchase." Stadium Impact (Faculty) Study shows businesses' synchronization with AT&T Stadium events fare much better than those that panic.
- Dec 2014 Wonkblog
  The Washington Post blog, Wonkblog, interviewed Narayan Janakiraman, an assistant marketing professor at UT Arlington, for a story about fast shipping service and how it is making Americans more impatient.
- May 2013 Boston Globe
  The growing culture of impatience makes people crave more and more instant gratification, the Boston Globe reported. “The need for instant gratification is not new, but our expectation of ‘instant’ has become faster, and as a result, our patience is thinner,” said Narayan Janakiraman, an assistant professor of marketing at The University of Texas at Arlington.
- Dec 2011 WYNC Public Radio
  In a 30 minute radio segment we [the Leonard Lapate the host of WYNC, Ray Smith of WSJ and I discussed how consumers wait in line, and how the science of waiting in line can be used to better inform them of waiting in line.
- Dec 2011 Wall Street Journal
  Based on my JMR publication on bailing from waits, the author interviewed me and asked me how it would affect holiday sales and what it meant for shoppers.
- Nov 2006
  CNBC - Street Signs with Erin Burnett
  
  This was an interview on CNBC Street Signs - Erin Burnett on how retailers benefit from offering large discounts on a few products

Publications

In Process

Journal Article
Spending as Protection: The Need for Safety Increases Preference for Luxury Products
[Ma, Han, Bradshaw, HannahK., Janakiraman, Narayanan, Hill, SarahE.]. Marketing Letters. Published.

Journal Article
Determinants of Product-Form Strategy Decisions in Early-Stage Ventures: An Experimental Investigation
Entrepreneurship, New Product Venture
[Frias, Kellilynn, Janakiraman, Narayanan, Ghosh, Mrinal, Duhan, DaleF.]. Journal of Marketing. Submitted.

Journal Article
How Does Consumers’ Local or Global Identity Influence Price-Perceived Quality Associations? The Role of Perceived Quality Variance
Culture, Quality Perceptions
[Yang, Zhiyong, Sun, Sijie, Lalwani, Ashok, Janakiraman, Narayanan]. Journal of Marketing. Published.

Journal Article
Differential Effects of Pay-It-Forward and Direct-Reciprocity on Prosocial Behavior
[Yang, Zhiyong, Janakiraman, Narayanan, Hossain, MehdiT., Grisaffe, DouglasBlair]. Journal of Business Research. Submitted.

Journal Article
The Interactive Effect of Cultural Orientation and Social Distance on Pay-It-Forward: A Meta-Analysis
[Janakiraman, Narayanan, Velasco, Franklin, Yang, Zhiyong, Ma, Han]. Psychology & Marketing. Submitted.

Journal Article
Should Starbucks discount prices and give free products to help initiate and support pay-it-forward chains in its stores?
[Janakiraman, Narayanan, Chen, Kay Yut, Yang, Zhiyong]. Decision Sciences. Submitted.

Journal Article
Dyadic model comparing the differential effect of salesperson listening vs. talking, on customer perceptions of Service Quality
[Janakiraman, Narayanan, Bullemore, Jorge, Valenzuela, Leslier, Jaramillo, JorgeF]. Journal of Consumer Marketing. Accepted.

2017

Journal Article
Slogan Recall Effects on Marketplace Behaviors: The Roles of External Search and Brand Assessment
[Briggs, Elten, Janakiraman, Narayanan]. Journal of Business Research. 80, 98-105.

2016

Journal Article
The Effect of Return Policy Leniency on Consumer Purchase and Return Decisions: A Meta-Analytic Review
[Janakiraman, Narayanan, Syrdal, HollyA, Freling, RyanE]. Journal of Retailing. 92(2), 226-235.

2012

Journal Article
Effect of Effort and Deadlines on Consumer Product Returns
[Janakiraman, Narayanan, Ordonez, Lisa]. Journal of Consumer Psychology. 22(2), 260-271.

2011

Journal Article
The Psychology of Decisions to Abandon Waits for Service
[Janakiraman, Narayanan, Meyer, RobertJ, Hoch, StephenJ]. Journal of Marketing Research. 48(6), 970-984.

2006

Journal Article
Spillover Effects: How Consumers Respond to Unexpected Changes in Price and Quality
[Janakiraman, Narayanan, Meyer, RobertJ., Morales, AndreaC.]. Journal of Consumer Research. 33(3), 361-369.

2016

Magazine/Trade Publication
How to Design a Return Policy
[Janakiraman, Narayanan, Syrdal, Holly, Freling, RyanE.]. Harvard Business Review.
https://hbr.org/2016/08/how-to-design-a-return-policy

Presentations

- October 2018
  Sun, Sijie, Yang, Zhiyong, Lalwani, Ashok, Janakiraman, Narayanan, "Consumer’s Local-Global Identity and Price-Quality Associations", Dallas, Texas. (October , 2018).
- August 2018
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Briggs, EltenD, "Consumer Prior Experience and Delay Expectations", Dallas, Texas. (August 1, 2018).
- October 2017
  Yang, Zhiyong, Janakiraman, Narayanan, Sun, Sijie, Saini, Ritesh, "Regulatory Focus and Donation to Proactive and Reactive Causes", San Diego, California. (October , 2017).
- July 2017
  Yang, Zhiyong, Janakiraman, Narayanan, Grisaffe, DouglasBlair, Hossain, MehdiT., "“Differential Effects of Pay-It-Forward and Direct-Reciprocity on Prosocial Behavior", Montreal, Canada. (July , 2017).
- June 2016
  Janakiraman, Narayanan (Author & Presenter), Chen, Kay Yut (Author), Yang, Zhiyong (Author), ""Starbucks and Discounts? Pricing Analysis"", Hawaii. (June 12, 2016).
- November 2015
  Janakiraman, Narayanan (Author & Presenter), Chen, Kay-Yut (Author), Yang, Zhiyong (Author), "Pay-it-forward: Theory, Experiments, and Managerial Implications", Philadelphia, PA. (November 1, 2015).
- October 2015
  Briggs, Elten (Author & Presenter), Janakiraman, Narayanan (Author), "I Remember…So What? The Moderating Role of Information Search on the Effectiveness of Slogan Recall”", Atlanta, Georgia. (October , 2015).
- October 2015
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Yang, Zhiyong, Winterich, Karen, "I won’t Pay-it-Forward if it has no impact: Role of Communal Orientation,” ", New Orleans, Louisiana. (October , 2015).
- October 2015
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Yang, Zhiyong, Ward, Morgan, "Moral Responsibility and Paying It Forward: the Effects of Social Distance and Queue Length on Paying Forward Generosity", New Orleans, Louisiana. (October , 2015).
- October 2015
  Janakiraman, Narayanan (Author & Presenter), Yang, Zhiyong (Author), Winterich, Karen Page (Author), "Looking Forward, Looking Back: How Communal Orientation and Perceived Impact Influence Paying it Forward", New Orleans, LA. (October 2, 2015).
- October 2015
  Janakiraman, Narayanan (Author & Presenter), Yang, Zhiyong (Author), Ward, Morgan K. (Author), "Moral Responsibility and Paying it Forward: The Effects of Social Distance and Queue Length on Paying Forward Generosity", New Orleans, LA. (October 2, 2015).
- May 2015
  Janakiraman, Narayanan (Author & Presenter), Chen, Kay Yut (Author), Yang, Zhiyong (Author), "Should Starbucks price differently for pay it forward as compared to paying for self? Theoretical and Empirical Analysis", Philadelphia, PA. (May 1, 2015).
- October 2013
  Yang, Zhiyong, Janakiraman, Narayanan, Saini, Ritesh, Ma, Zhenfeng, "Me’ Likes Expert Reviews and ‘We’ Like Consumer Reviews: Moderating of Product Newness", Chicago, IL. (October , 2013).
- October 2013
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Yang, Zhiyong, Ma, Zhenfeng, Saini, Ritesh, "““Me” Likes Expert Reviews and “We” Like Consumer Reviews: Moderating Role of Product Newness", Chicago, Illinois. (October , 2013).
- February 2013
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, "Preference for Staff Choice Recommendations in Specialty Stores and Bestseller Lists in General Stores: Role of Consumer Need for Uniqueness and Introjection". (February , 2013).
- February 2013
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Sinha, Jayati, "“Preference for Staff Choice Recommendations in Specialty Stores and Bestseller Lists in General Stores: Role of Consumer Need for Uniqueness and Introjection", San Antonio, Texas. (February , 2013).
- October 2012
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Sinha, Jayati, Lu, Fang-Chi, "When Do Consumers Forgive? a Causal Attribution Model of Marketer Transgression and the Moderating Effects of Self-Construal", San Antonio, Texas. (October , 2012).
- February 2011
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, "2+2 is greater than 4: The effect of matching donations on compliance and donation amounts", Atlanta. (February , 2011).
- February 2011
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Bradlow, Eric, "“2+2 is greater than 4: The effect of matching donations on compliance and donation amounts", Atlanta, Georgia. (February , 2011).
- October 2008
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Benson, Lehman, "Effect of service time on perceived wait in queue: The role of fairness and expectations", San Fransisco, California. (October , 2008).
- February 2008
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Benson, Lehman, "Effect of service time on perceived wait in queue: The role of fairness and expectations", New Orleans, Louisiana. (February , 2008).
- October 2007
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Ordonez, Lisa, "Stricter return policies: The effect of time to return an item and product returns", St Pete Beach, Florida. (October , 2007).
- October 2005
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Erickson, Lance-Michael, "The effect of unexpected delays on consumer’s time/money tradeoff decisions", San Antonio, Texas. (October , 2005).
- October 2005
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Erickson, Lance-Michael, "The effect of unexpected delays on consumer’s time/money tradeoff decisions", St Pete Beach, Florida. (October , 2005).
- May 2003
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Meyer, RobertJ., Hoch, StephenJ., "The Psychology of Consumer Time Budgeting", College Park, Maryland. (May , 2003).
- October 2002
  Janakiraman, Narayanan, Meyer, RobertJ., Morales, Andrea, "The Psychology of Price Shocks and Rational Fairness of Prices", Austin, Texas. (October , 2002).

Students Supervised

- Present
  Dissertation Committee Chair
  Hsin-Yi Liao,
- Present
  Dissertation Committee Chair
  Xiadong Nie,
- Present
  Dissertation Committee Chair
  Han Ma,
- Present
  Dissertation Committee Chair
  Sijie Sun,
- 2018
  Dissertation Committee Co-Chair
  Franklin Velasco,
- 2015
  Other
  Holly Syrdal,
  Oral Comprehensive Exam Committee Member
- 2014
  Dissertation Committee Member
  Kristopher Floyd,
- 2014
  Dissertation Committee Member
  Mehdi Hossain,
- 2013
  Other
  Rebecca Vanmeter,
  Oral Comprehensive Exam Committee Member
- 2012
  Dissertation Committee Member
  Wilson Neto,
- 2011
  Dissertation Committee Member
  Kelli Frias,
- 2010
  Dissertation Committee Member
  Rebecca Trump,
- 2009
  Dissertation Committee Member
  James Carver,
- 2005
  Dissertation Committee Member
  Ruoh-Nan Yan,

Courses

Service to the University

- 2018 to Present Program Coordinator
  (Impact: ABout 8 faculty members and 6 Ph.D. students use the subject pool to run their studies | Engagement: At the beginning of the semester along with a PhD student we explain the working of the subject pool to all the introductory marketing courses. After students sign up for the same we ensure that researchers are able to collect data for their research projects.)
  
  REP - Subject Pool Co-ordinator
  One of the most important requirements for researchers is having access to data. The subject pool helps manager researcher studies with student participants
- 2018 to Present Committee Chair
  
  Scholarship Chair
  Help identify how the different marketing scholarships can be given to deserving students
- 2015 to Present Chairperson
  
  College Wide - Subject Pool Co-ordinator
  Across the college of business, various researchers are interested in behavioral experiments that involve recruiting student participants for participating in studies for which they are paid compensation based on performance. The subject pool helps create and manage a database of around 1500 participants that researchers can access for their behavioral experiments.
- Aug 2014 to Present Committee Member
  
  Help access scholarships for MSMR students
  Assess which of the students among the applicants are eligible for the scholarship
- Aug 2013 to Present Behavioral Lab Commitee
  (Impact: The behavioral lab is now used by about 10-15 faculty and Ph.D. students | Engagement: The physical behavioral lab space and scheduling it is now done online, but every year I work with the researchers to better use the behavioral lab | Innovation: We designed the space such that one on one interviews, focus groups or large lab type data collection was possible.)
  
  University of Texas at Arlington
- 2013 to Present Part of Technology committee
  
  University of Texas at Arlington
- 2013 to 2017 Committee Member
  
  Recruitment Committee
  Any staff and faculty positions that get opened requires an advertisement to be scripted, incoming applicants to be screened, and finally interviews to be scheduled and done in order to select the right person for the job.
- Mar 2016 to Mar 2016 Program Organizer
  
  50th Year Celebration Texas Marketing Conference
  Was in charge of organizing a conference that would showcase the marketing department and also UTA to the rest of the marketing world. Helped bring five journal editors, about 50 researchers from across the state, to have a 2 day event
- Mar 2016 to Mar 2016 Program Coordinator
  
  Texas PhD student Marketing Conference
  Helped organize a Texas PhD conference, the proceedings for which was part of a journal publication

Service to the Profession

- Apr 2016 to Present
  Editorial Review Board Member
  Journal of Business Research
  Help review atleast 5 to 10 papers each year
- Jan 2015 to Present
  Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer
  Journal of Retailing
  Reviewed about 7 papers for JR last year
- Jan 2015 to Present
  Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer
  Psychological Science
  Reviewed about 2 papers for PS last year
- Mar 2014 to Present
  Editor, Associate Editor
  Journal of Consumer Marketing
- Jan 2014 to Present
  Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer
  Management Science
- 2013 to Present
  Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer
  Journal of Marketing Research
- 2012 to Present
  Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer
  Journal of Consumer Marketing
- Jan 2009 to Present
  Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer
  OBHDP
  Reviewed about 1 paper for OBHDP last year
- Jan 2007 to Present
  Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer
  Journal of Marketing
  Reviewed about 2 papers for JM last year
- Jan 2005 to Present
  Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer
  Journal of Consumer Psychology
  Reviewed about 2 papers for JR last year
- Jan 2004 to Present
  Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer
  Journal of Consumer Researcher
  Reviewed about 1 papers for JCR last year
- 2016 to 2016
  Chairperson
  Texas Marketing Conference
- 2011 to 2013
  Committee Member
  SCP Ethics Committee
- 2011 to 2011
  Committee Member
  SCP Winter Conference
- Past to 2011
  Committee Member (Atlanta,
  Society for Consumer Psychology Winter Conference
- Past to 2007
  (Memphis,
  Association for Consumer Research Conference

Faculty & Staff Resources