Michael R. Solomon, Ph.D. is Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Consumer Research in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia. He also is Professor of Consumer Behaviour at the Manchester School of Business, The University of Manchester, U.K. Prior to joining the St. Joe’s faculty in Fall 2006, he was the Human Sciences Professor of Consumer Behavior, at Auburn University and he served as Chairman of the Department of Mar¬keting in the School of Business at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Prof. Solomon began his academic career in the Graduate School of Business Administration at New York University, where he also served as Associate Director of NYU's Insti¬tute of Retail Management. He earned B.A. degrees in Psychology and Sociology magna cum laude at Brandeis University in 1977, and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. He was awarded the Fulbright/FLAD Chair in Market Globalization by The U.S. Fulbright Commission and the Government of Portugal.
Prof. Solomon received the Cutty Sark Men's Fashion Award for his research on the psychological aspects of clothing. He is Editor of The Psychology of Fashion and Co Editor of The Serv¬ice Encounter: Managing Employee/Customer Interaction in Services Businesses, both published by Lexington Books. His textbook, Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being, published by Prentice Hall is widely used in universities throughout North America, Europe, and Australasia and is now in its eighth edition. The text has been translated into several languages including Spanish, Portuguese, Czech, German, French, Russian, Chinese and Korean, and separate European , Australian and Canadian versions are the market leaders in those areas. Prof. Solomon’s text, Marketing: Real People, Real Choices was published in its sixth edition by Prentice Hall in October 2008 and is currently one of the five most widely-adopted Principles of Marketing texts. Soundview Executive Summaries named his trade book, Conquering Consumerspace: Marketing Strategies for a Branded World, (AMACOM) one of the best business books of 2004. He is the first author of LAUNCH! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time (Flat World Knowledge), which is the first open platform commercial textbook. His most recent trade book, The Truth about What Customers Want, was published in October 2008 by FT (Financial Times).
Prof. Solomon has provided input as a marketing consultant to a variety of organiza¬tions on issues related to consumer behavior, branding, services marketing, retailing and advertising. His clients have included Armstrong World Industries, Bayer Healthcare, Celanese, Gap, Inc., Hakuhodo Advertising (Tokyo), H&M, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Kayser Roth, Levi Strauss, Prudential Securities, State Farm, United Airlines, DuPont, Black & Decker, eBay, PPG Industries, Visa, VF Corp., Timberland, and Calvin Klein. Prof. Solomon is in demand as a speaker to business groups; he has delivered keynote addresses to numerous organizations including The Cosmetics, Toiletries, and Fragrances Association, Experian, Dentsu, Inc. (Tokyo), The Fragrance Foundation, The Point of Purchase Advertising Institute (POPAI), IBM, The International Furnishings and Design Association, The Japan Marketing Association, The SAS Institute, The National Kitchen and Bath Association, NCR Corporation, Symantec, The Toy Industry Association, The U.S. Army, The Vision Council of America, Self magazine, and U.S. Cellular. He has also keynoted numerous international marketing congresses in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Germany Mexico Japan, Peru, Poland, The United Kingdom, and Turkey.