Katie Claussen Bell, '23
Executive Director, Kilts Center for Marketing
Katie Claussen Bell, '23
Kilts Center Year in Review 2024 Advancing Marketing Theory and Practice at Chicago Booth
24 Years of the Kilts Center
As we reflect on the past year, we are deeply grateful for the unwavering support of the Booth alumni community, the dedication of our current MBA students, the insightful leadership of faculty, and the collaborative spirit of colleagues. Together, we have made an impact on the Booth community in ways that advance the theory and practice of marketing.
This annual report highlights a variety of Kilts Center programs and activities that facilitate academic scholarship and enhance the school’s reputation for all things marketing.
Noteworthy achievements include the addition of 140 papers to the Center’s research collection featuring data from its archive, a 21% increase in paper downloads, and the commission of 32 business-friendly research articles now available from the Chicago Booth Review. Additionally, the Center’s 50 programs engaged more than 250 alumni, convened 350 global scholars, and supported hundreds of Booth MBA students pursuing careers in product, marketing, brand, and general management.
These accomplishments build on the foundation of Booth's unique, scientific approach to marketing, underscoring the crucial relationship between its application and company growth.
Thank you for making this past year a resounding success.
Jean-Pierre Dubé
James M. Kilts Distinguished Service Professor of Marketing and Charles E. Merrill Faculty Scholar
Faculty Director, Kilts Center for Marketing
Snapshots of Our Year
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Data Relationships and Research
13 Datasets Offered for Academic Research
The Kilts Center partners with 10 leading data providers, including NielsenIQ, Nielsen, TransUnion, Numerator, and more, offering access to 13 datasets that support cutting-edge academic research in a wide range of multidisciplinary research topics.
1,200 papers across disciplines
Researchers utilizing Kilts Center data have authored over 1,200 academic papers, collectively earning more than 23,000 citations on Google Scholar. This demonstrates the widespread impact of the Center’s resources on advancing marketing knowledge.
32 Business-Friendly Articles
Chicago Booth Review featured 32 business-friendly articles highlighting research by Booth marketing faculty and other scholars using data available from the Kilts Center.
How Can Discount Brands Stay Discounted?
During tough times, more Americans buy house brands, driving up prices faster than for national brands.
How Can Discount Brands Stay Discounted?
Pausing Student-Loan Payments Boosted the Economy
But the pandemic-era moratorium may also have led some borrowers to take on even more debt.
Pausing Student-Loan Payments Boosted the Economy
Soda Taxes Could Help Americans Tackle Their Sugar Addiction
A multicity study in the US finds sugar-sweetened beverage taxes hit sales hard.
Soda Taxes Could Help Americans Tackle Their Sugar Addiction
How the Budgeting Tail Wags the Corporate Dog
Big companies try to impose discipline on spending by setting budgets for everything, but the rules lead to lots of waste.
How the Budgeting Tail Wags the Corporate Dog
The ‘Bottle Bill’ Price Boost
When New York introduced a deposit law, retailers raised prices on consumers.
The ‘Bottle Bill’ Price Boost
Why Craft Breweries May Strategically Underadvertise
The findings may have lessons for other nascent industries.
Why Craft Breweries May Strategically Underadvertise
Organic Milk Is Booming, but Its Farmers Are Not
While consumer demand for organic milk has climbed, small organic dairy farms have dwindled.
Organic Milk Is Booming, but Its Farmers Are Not
What Would Make Americans Eat Better?
Demand may be the key to healthier diets.
What Would Make Americans Eat Better?
Don’t Cry Over It: Almond Milk Isn’t Displacing Dairy Milk
The rise of almond milk hastened a long decline in dairy milk consumption, but households aren’t just swapping one for the other.
Don’t Cry Over It: Almond Milk Isn’t Displacing Dairy Milk
What’s a Trademark Worth?
For the first time, researchers have come up with a figure—$22.5 million for the median trademark.
What’s a Trademark Worth?
Why Your Credit Report Stopped Showing Your Card Payments
Large credit-card lenders stopped reporting information to limit competition.
Why Your Credit Report Stopped Showing Your Card Payments1 of 1
Events and Alumni Engagement
50 Programs
Hundreds of students, alumni, and faculty participated in Kilts Center programs that highlighted the power of marketing skills. In many cases, the center collaborated with student-led groups, Booth research centers, and faculty to plan and execute events. These events featured the participation and support of more than 49 alumni fostering a strong and vibrant marketing community.
2 Executive Speakers
The Kilts Speaker Series highlighted industry leaders Anuj Bhasin, ’08 (Chief Brand Officer, Gatorade, PepsiCo), and John Kim, ’99 (EVP & Chief Product Officer, PayPal), in hybrid events that engaged a global audience on topics ranging from iconic brand marketing to the transformative impact of AI.
"Events like the Marketing & Management Forum provide actionable takeaways and opportunities for mentorship that can shape your career path. This is the heart of what an MBA offers—the chance to build real connections and gain lasting insight."
— Mason Yu, Class of 2025
200+ Alumni
Engaged with the center through marketing lab sponsorships, speaking opportunities, mentoring, and event participation.
10 Alumni Executives
10 senior-level alumni with backgrounds in marketing, product, innovation, digital, and general management led small-group roundtable discussions with students during the Marketing and Management Forum.
95 Prep for Tech
In partnership with the Booth Technology Group, the Kilts Center hosted 95 students during an online Tech PM/PMM Interview Prep Workshop. Twelve alumni from both large and small tech companies shared their insights and expertise, equipping attendees with practical tools for career success.
10 Student Teams
Ten student teams participated in the annual Kilts Case Competition, tackling a real-world marketing challenge for Microsoft. Guided by three Booth alumni champions, Harika Guddanti, ’18, Liska Rutherford, ’95, and Abe Thomas, ’10, the teams worked to redefine the value proposition of Microsoft.com.
26 Kilts Fellows
In FY24, the Center supported 26 Fellows across the full-time, evening, and weekend MBA programs, by offering programming and experiences to enrich their experience at Booth. Find out more about the Kilts Fellowship, along with how select students benefit from the exclusive programming and connections.
"The Kilts Center's PitchCamp event has helped me feel more confident in my ability to give great presentations and I learned a concrete framework to tell a story in a way that is audience-focused."
— Anna Petrilli, Class of 2025
Alumni Thought Leadership
Savoring the Challenge
After taking the 60-year-old restaurant public, Portillo’s CEO Michael Osanloo, ’96, feels vindicated in his own career choices—and in the universal appeal of Chicago comfort food.
Savoring the Challenge
Transforming Walmart’s Global Technology Business
Leader in tech Anshu Bhardwaj, ’08, is changing the way that Walmart leverages and shares its technology.
Transforming Walmart’s Global Technology Business
The Stories Inside the Data
Led by alumnus Eric Belcher, ’95, a partnership between his data insights company and Chicago Booth has proved mutually beneficial.
The Stories Inside the DataChicago Booth Marketing Faculty
Our faculty regularly receive recognition for their research and expertise. In FY24, the following faculty were honored for their work.
Daniel Bartels
Daniel Bartels served as Section Editor for Cognition. He was also named the Leon Carroll Marshall Professor of Marketing.
Daniel Bartels
Pradeep Chintagunta
Pradeep Chintagunta served on the advisory editorial boards of Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and Quantitative Marketing & Economics. He was an Associate Editor of the Journal of Marketing and International Journal of Research in Marketing. He is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing, and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
Pradeep Chintagunta
Berkeley J. Dietvorst
Berkeley J. Dietvorst served as guest editor for Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. He won the 2024 Kilts Family Faculty Research Prize for Excellence in Marketing from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Berkeley J. Dietvorst
Jean-Pierre Dubé
Jean-Pierre Dubé won the 2023 Marketing Science Institute Robert D. Buzzell Best Paper Award. He served as Department Editor for Management Science. Dubé is also a member of the editorial board of Quantitative Marketing and Economics.
Jean-Pierre Dubé
Ayelet Fishbach
Ayelet Fishbach served as Associate Editor for Psychological Science, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Attitude and Social Cognition, and Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. She was also named the Eric J. Gleacher Distinguished Service Professor of Behavioral Science and Marketing.
Ayelet Fishbach
Günter J Hitsch
Günter J. Hitsch served as Public Editor and Co-Editor of Quantitative Marketing and Economics and Associate Editor of Marketing Science and Management Science.
Günter J Hitsch
Sanjog Misra
Sanjog Misra was appointed the Faculty Director for The Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business. He was also named the Charles H. Kellstadt Distinguished Service Professor of Marketing and Applied AI.
Sanjog Misra
Bradley Shapiro
Bradley Shapiro served as Co-Editor for Quantitative Marketing & Economics, Associate Editor for Marketing Science, Associate Editor for Management Science (marketing desk), Associate Editor for Journal of Marketing Research, and sat on the Editorial Review Board for Marketing Science and Journal of Marketing Research.
Bradley Shapiro
Avner Strulov-Shlain
Avner Strulov-Shlain was named The Saroj & Vithala Rao Young Scholars Award, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business (2024).
Avner Strulov-Shlain
Abigail Sussman
Abigail Sussman served as the Associate Editor on the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General and was the SJDM Guest Editor for Policy Insights from Behavioral and Brain Sciences. She was the Guest Editor for the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research Making. She is also the President of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making (SJDM).
Abigail Sussman
Oleg Urminsky
Oleg Urminsky was named the Theodore O. Yntema Professor of Marketing. He served as an Associate Editor of the Journal of Consumer Research.
Oleg Urminsky
30+ News Outlets
Interviewed or featured research by our marketing faculty during this past year, including the Wall Street Journal, BBC News, Forbes, and the Washington Post.
33 Marketing Labs
33 companies and 16 Booth alumni supported hands-on learning opportunities in “New Products and Services” and “Digital Marketing Lab” courses.
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