Staff profile

Mike Nicholson is Professor of Strategic Marketing in our Management and Marketing Department.  He joined the Business School in 2001 after a successful career in the FMCG marketing industry and as an entrepreneur.

A psychologist by background, Mike’s research focuses on the broad area of brand storytelling strategies in the attention economy, with particular emphasis on the role of behavioural science in story and content optimisation.  He has recently authored two books in this area.  Primal Marketing applies his innovative behavioural approach to decoding the stories told by brands such as BMW, Lego, Jacuzzi, Cadbury and Louboutin, while Identity, Content Creation and the Sight-Loss Journey documents work crafting the social media personas of well-known influencers and creators in the sight-loss community.  A third book is currently in development exploring the mushrooming field of Chaos Marketing, a book which delves into its origins in Chaos Magick and considers what marketers can learn from practitioners such as folk witches, tarot readers, spiritual coaches and glamour witches.

A particular feature of Mike’s work is his blending of both quantitative and qualitative methods. This involves orthodox techniques such as design thinking,  scenario planning and storytelling workshops, as well as behavioural science methodologies that include optimisation of social media content and advertising using biofeedback, eye-tracking and use of electroencephalography (EEG).

These interests are integral to Mike’s award-winning teaching activities, which span both our undergraduate and postgraduate portfolios. He delivers popular courses in areas such as behavioural science, influencer marketing and cross-media brand strategies, as well as engaging in external consultancy and training activities. 

Mike is also well-known as a disability advocate and, being sight-impaired himself, is a passionate campaigner for greater accessibility and inclusivity in contemporary marketing practice.

 

• Behavioural Science Marketing
• Brand Storytelling Strategies
• Chaos Marketing
• Cross-media Brand Strategies
• Design Thinking
• Scenario Thinking
• Witchcraft

Conference Paper

• Impulsivity and Impulse Buying: A Cross-National Examination.
  
  Xiao, S., Iyer, G., & Nicholson, M. (2013). Impulsivity and Impulse Buying: A Cross-National Examination [Conference paper]. Presented at EMAC 2013 Conference, ITU., Istanbul, Turkey.
• Social Marketing: Contributions from Evolutionary Psychology
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2009, June). Social Marketing: Contributions from Evolutionary Psychology [Conference paper]. Presented at International Symposium on Social Marketing and Behavioural Change, Durham University.
• Symposium: Old Wine in New Bottles? Social Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Analysis.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2008, September). Symposium: Old Wine in New Bottles? Social Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Analysis [Conference paper]. Presented at British Academy of Management Conference, Harrogate, UK.
• Evolutionary Psychology and the Behavioural Perspective Model
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007, September). Evolutionary Psychology and the Behavioural Perspective Model [Conference paper]. Presented at 1st International Symposium on Consumer Behaviour Analysis, Cardiff, UK.
• Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationships in a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Marketplace.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2007, July). Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationshipsin a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Marketplace [Conference paper]. Presented at 5th International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Consumer Channel Choice as an Operant Process.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007, July). Consumer Channel Choice as an Operant Process [Conference paper]. Presented at 5th International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Luxury for the Masses: An Exploratory Study on New Luxury Brands Consumption in China.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2007). Luxury for the Masses: An Exploratory Study on New Luxury Brands Consumption in China [Conference paper]. Presented at 3rd Annual Colloquium of the Academy of Marketing’s Brand, Corporate Identity and Reputation Special Interest Group., London, UK.
• Faking It! Consumer Behaviour towards Counterfeit Goods in China.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2004, July). Faking It! Consumer Behaviour towards Counterfeit Goods in China [Conference paper]. Presented at 2nd International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Toys for Boys and the Girl Game Jinx: Sex differences in computer gaming.
  
  Hindmarsh, S., & Nicholson, M. (2004). Toys for Boys and the Girl Game Jinx: Sex differences in computer gaming [Conference paper]. Presented at 2nd International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Multichannel Consumer Behaviour in the Retail Fashion Sector
  
  Nicholson, M., Clarke, I., & Blakemore, M. (2001, June). Multichannel Consumer Behaviour in the Retail Fashion Sector [Conference paper]. Presented at 11th International Conference on Research in the Distributive Trades., Tilburg, NL.

Journal Article

• Consumer Revenge Using the Internet and Social Media: An Examination of the Role of Service Failure Types and Cognitive Appraisal Processes
  
  Obeidat, Z., Xiao, S., Iyer, G., & Nicholson, M. (2017). Consumer Revenge Using the Internet and Social Media: An Examination of the Role of Service Failure Types and Cognitive Appraisal Processes. Psychology and Marketing, 34(4), 496-515. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21002
• Behavioral issues in price setting in business-to-business marketing: a framework for analysis
  
  Iyer, G., Xiao, S., Sharma, A., & Nicholson, M. (2015). Behavioral issues in price setting in business-to-business marketing: a framework for analysis. Industrial Marketing Management, 47, 6-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.02.001
• Mapping impulse buying: a behaviour analysis framework for services marketing and consumer research
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2011). Mapping impulse buying: a behaviour analysis framework for services marketing and consumer research. Service Industries Journal, 31(15), 2515-2528. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.531123
• Consumer behaviour analysis and social marketing practice.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2011). Consumer behaviour analysis and social marketing practice. Service Industries Journal, 31(15), 2529-2542. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.531124
• Consumer consideration of non-deceptive counterfeit goods: a contingency matrix approach.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2011). Consumer consideration of non-deceptive counterfeit goods: a contingency matrix approach. Service Industries Journal, 31(15), 2617-2631. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.529608
• Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationships in a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Market.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2010). Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationships in a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Market. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 30(3), 247-270.
• On the Evolutionary Bases of Consumer Reinforcement.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2010). On the Evolutionary Bases of Consumer Reinforcement. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 30(2), 127-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/01608061003756356
• Understanding and profitably managing customer loyalty
  
  Gee, R., Coates, G., & Nicholson, M. (2008). Understanding and profitably managing customer loyalty. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 26(4), 359-374. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634500810879278
• One brand, three ways to shop: Situational variables and multichannel consumer behaviour
  
  Nicholson, M., Clarke, I., & Blakemore, M. (2002). One brand, three ways to shop: Situational variables and multichannel consumer behaviour. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 12(2), 131-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593960210127691

Working Paper

• Darwin’s ghost : evolutionary psychology and consumer behaviour analysis
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007). Darwin’s ghost : evolutionary psychology and consumer behaviour analysis.
• Darwin's Ghost: Evolutionary Psychology and Consumer Behaviour Analysis
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007). Darwin’s Ghost: Evolutionary Psychology and Consumer Behaviour Analysis.