Wendy Boland AA Academic Affairs
- Additional Positions at AU
- Associate Professor of Marketing
- Degrees
- Ph.D. in Marketing, University of Arizona
M.B.A., University of Massachusetts
B.S.B.A. in Accounting, Bucknell - Bio
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Wendy A. Boland is the Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies for American University. In her role, Dean Boland is responsible for overseeing graduate academic regulations, graduate policies and processes, the portfolio of academic programs, the allocation of graduate financial aid, graduate data analytics and reports, and the graduate brand campaign. In addition, she oversees AU’s Professional and Lifelong Learning efforts which provides degree, non-degree, and non-credit educational opportunities.
Dean Boland joined American in August of 2008 after completing her Ph.D. at the University of Arizona and is currently an Associate Professor of Marketing within the Kogod School of Business. Her research interests are centered on decision making and risky consumption with a specific focus on the choices of children and youth consumers. Explicitly, her primary interests are in understanding the long-term effects that result from the risky consumption decisions made by adolescents and the impact that their decisions have on their future as individuals and consumers. Consequently, her goals are to gain knowledge of the factors that influence the decisions of young consumers in order to better educate them about the marketplace and protect them from practices that might exploit their vulnerabilities.
Based on her research focus, Professor Boland has conducted research on a variety of topics including: how elementary age children understand sales and whether or not the presence of a sale affects a child’s decision to purchase a product; the role of cigarette advertisements on adolescents’ decision to start smoking; the role of violent video games on adolescent aggression; the impact of fatty food commercials on consumption; how the consumption of alcohol in television programs impacts underage drinking; consumer well-being and maladaptive consumption; and, most recently, vaccine hesitancy and parental decision-making around vaccinations. Her research has been published in a variety of marketing and interdisciplinary journals including the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Consumer Psychology, the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Consumer Affairs, and Appetite.
Prior to becoming the Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies, Dean Boland served as the Associate Dean for Programs and Learning, and the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, both at the Kogod School of Business.
- See Also
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Scholarly, Creative & Professional Activities
Selected Publications
Boland, Wendy Attaya, Martin, Ingrid M., and Maryls Mason (2020), “In Search of Well-being: Factors Influencing the Movement Toward and Away from Maladaptive Consumption” Journal of Consumer Affairs, July. Ěý
Finkelstein, Stacey R., Wendy Attaya Boland, Beth Vallen, Paul M. Connell, Gary D. Sherman, and Kristen A. FeemsterĚý(2019), “Psychological reactance impacts ratings of pediatrician vaccine-related communication quality, perceived vaccine safety, and vaccination priority among U.S. parents,”ĚýHuman Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics,ĚýDecember.
Soster, Robin L. and Wendy Attaya Boland (2019), “Private Disclosure; Public Exposure: An Exploratory Consideration of Gender Asymmetries in Adolescent Sexting,” Journal of Marketing Behavior, 3 (4), 263-292.
Pettigrew, Simone, Laurel Anderson, Wendy Boland, Valerie-Ines de La Ville, , Susan Dobscha, Ilaisaane Fifita, Marie-Helene Fosse-Gomez, Marie Kindt, Laura Luukkanen, Ingrid Martin, Lucie K. Ozanne, Dante M. Pirouz, Andrea Prothero and Tony Stovall (2014), “The Experience of Risk in Families: Conceptualisations and Implications for Transformative Consumer Research,” Journal of Marketing Management, 1-28.
Russell, Cristel Antonia, Dale W. Russell, Wendy Attaya Boland and Joel W. Grube (2014), “Television’s Cultivation of American Adolescents’ Beliefs about Alcohol and the Moderating Role of Trait Reactance,” Journal of Children and Media, 8 (1), 5-22.
Boland, Wendy Attaya, Paul M. Connell, and Beth Vallen (2013), “Time of Day Effects on the Regulation of Food Consumption After Activation of Health Goals,” Appetite, 70, 47-52.
Mason, Marlys J., John. F. Tanner, Maria Piacentini, Dan Freeman, Trena Anastasia, Wided Batat, Wendy Boland, Murad Canbulut, Jenna Drenten, Anne Hamby, Priyam Rangan, and Zhiyang Yang (2013), “Advancing a Participatory Approach for Youth Risk Behavior: Foundations, Distinctions, and Research Directions,” Journal of Business Research, 66 (8), 1235-1241.
Boland, Wendy Attaya, Paul M. Connell and Lance-Michael Erickson (2012), “Children’s Conceptualization of Sales Promotions and Their Impact on Purchase Behavior,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22 (2), 272-279.
Boland, Wendy Attaya, Merrie Brucks and Jesper H. Nielsen (2012), “The Attribute Carryover Effect: What the “Runner-up” Option Tells Us about Consumer Choice Processes,” Journal of Consumer Research, 38 (5), 872-885.
Mason, Marlys J., John. F. Tanner, Trena Anastasia, Wided Batat, Wendy Boland, Murad Canbulut, Jenna Drenten, Dan Freeman, Anne Hamby, Maria Piacentini, Priyam Rangan, and Zhiyang Yang (2011), “Youth and Risky Consumption: Moving Toward a Transformative Approach.” Journal of Research for Consumers, 19.
Freeman, Dan, Merrie Brucks, Melanie Wallendorf, and Wendy Boland (2009), “Youths’ Understanding of Cigarette Advertising,” Addictive Behaviors, 34, 36-42.
AU Experts
Area of Expertise
Consumer decision making, emotional and high-risk choices, information processing, marketing and public policy issues dealing with child and adolescent consumers
Additional Information
Wendy Boland's teaching interests include consumer behavior, principles of marketing, marketing research, and marketing policy. She serves as the faculty advisor to the Graduate Marketing Club. Prior to receiving her PhD from the University of Arizona, Boland worked as an auditor for a large public accounting firm.
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.