Professor Cathrine Jansson-Boyd

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Professor of Consumer Psychology
Faculty:
Faculty of Science and Engineering
School:
Psychology, Sport and Sensory Science
Location:
Cambridge
Areas of Expertise:
Mind and Behaviour , Societies and Groups
Research Supervision:
Yes

Cathrine is a Professor of consumer psychology with an particular interest in tactile perception, environmentally friendly/sustainable consumption and how consumers aesthetically evaluate products and consumer environments.

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Background

Cathrine is a Professor of Consumer Psychology. She is a member of our Cognition Group which forms part of our ARU Centre for Mind and Behaviour. She has written several books of which one, Consumer Psychology (now in its second edition) is a commonly used textbook for courses covering consumer psychology. The first edition was also translated into Korean. Moreover, her co-authored book about Consumer Neuroscience has been hailed as a ‘must read’ for anyone who truly wish to delve deeper into the mind of a consumer.

Cathrine is passionate about communicating science to wider audiences. She is a blogger for Psychology Today and is also frequently appearing on radio, TV, podcasts and print media work (see examples further on). Moreover, she is frequently invited to companies and governmental agencies, all over the world, to give talks. 

Cathrine is the Director of the MSc in Consumer Psychology, and she also teaches consumer psychology to undergraduates. Previously, Cathrine has held academically related positions at the London Metropolitan University, Birkbeck and London School of Economics.

Research interests

Cathrine’s research has covered a multitude of consumer related topics. Including the following:

  • The role of touch in product evaluation
  • Tactile and visual influences upon aesthetic appreciation
  • Operationalism of aesthetic concepts
  • What makes a stimulus attractive
  • Sustainable consumption
  • Interpersonal touch
Areas of research supervision
  • Tactile perception
  • Multisensory perception
  • Aesthetic evaluation of products and retail environments
  • Environmentally linked consumption

Cathrine would be pleased to consider applications from prospective PhD students.  Find out more about our Psychology PhD and exciting PhD project opportunities.

Teaching
  • Consumer Analysis (L7)
  • Consumer psychology (L6)
  • Cyber psychology (L6)
Memberships, editorial boards
  • Society of Consumer Psychology
  • American Psychological Association
  • Review Editor, Frontiers in Psychology
  • Principal Fellow, Advance HE
Research grants, consultancy, knowledge exchange
  • WRAP (The Waste and Resources Action Programme) (2021), investigating how decrease fresh food waste within British households, £65,691 (PI)
  • Too Good to Go (2019), investigating how emotions experienced whilst cooking can affect food waste, £7,800 (PI)
  • Church of England (2019), training on perception, £650 (consultant)
  • Essex Police (2016), exploring how to ensure effective communication between the population in Essex and Essex Police, £10,000 (ARU Co-lab).
  • Unilever (2015), investigating links between tactile and visual perception, £14,000 (PI)
  • Unilever (2014), investigating links between tactile and visual perception, £15,000 (PI)
  • Energy Saving Trust (2012,), investigation together with Suffolk County Council into how low-income homes can be more energy efficient, £130,000 (PI)
  • Skanska (2011), investigated how to make house buyers perceive environmentally friendly messages in a positive light., £48,000 (PI)
  • European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) (2011), collaboration with Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC) and the Luminus Group. Investigating how to reduce energy consumption within residential housing, £800,000 (Co-I)
  • SSL (now Reckitt Benckiser) (2010), how to market Durex condoms, £2500 (consultant)
  • Sainsbury’s (2008), designing survey materials used to investigate consumer satisfaction, £800 (consultant)
  • Office of Fair Trading (2007), investigating selected factors that affect consumer decision making, £2700 (consultant)
  • Disney & Coutts Retail Communications (2005), investigating the influence of tactile properties on evaluation of DVD boxes, £3000 (PI)
Selected recent publications

Jansson-Boyd, C.V., Mul, C, & Raeva-Beri, D.  (2024). Cerebrating and engagement: the key to reduce fresh produce waste within homes. Scientific Reports. 14 (1), 8120.

Jansson-Boyd, C.V., & Mul, C. (2024). Drivers that affect households to reduce food waste: a UK qualitative study, Sustainability. 16 (5), 2188

Jansson-Boyd, C.V & Bright, P. (2023). Consumer Neuroscience: Theory and Application. Elsevier.

Jansson-Boyd, C.V. (2023). Consumer Psychology. In. G. Davey (Ed). Applied Psychology, 2nd Edition. Wiley

Jansson-Boyd, C.V. & Plagnol, A. (2020). Why happiness studies ought to include qualitative research components. In P.M.W. Hackett & C. Hayre (Eds). Handbook of Ethnography in Healthcare, London:  Taylor & Francis, pp. 467-480

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., & Kobescak, M. (2019). To see is to hold: Using food surface textures to communicate product healthiness. Food Quality and Preference, 81, 103866.

Jansson-Boyd, C.V (2018). Quantitative research: Its place in consumer psychology. In P.M.W. Hackett, (Ed). Quantitative research methods in consumer psychology (pp. 1- 21), New York: Routledge.

Jansson, C.V. (2018). Staying in touch with food preferences, The Journal of the Institute of Food Science and Technology, 32, 22-25

Recent presentations and conferences

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., Cloherty, R., 2014. Using Self-Awareness as a Means to Reduce Energy Consumption. The 4th World Sustainability Forum.

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., 2014. Factors that affect Autotelic and Instrumental need for touch. Invited speaker at a symposium titled: The Relationship between Touch Perception and Socioemotional Processes, 26th Annual Convention for the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco.

Cloherty, R., Jansson-Boyd, C. V., Jiminez- Bescos, C., 2014. Helping people to help themselves: Encouraging people to reduce their energy consumption. Poster presented at the International Congress of Applied Psychology, Paris.

Dlugokencka, A., Jansson-Boyd, C. V., 2014. Self-esteem and Materialistic Value Orientation as Predictors of Compulsive Buying in British and Polish people. Poster presented at the International Congress of Applied Psychology, Paris.

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., 2013. Visual design: It is more to it than meets the eye. VIVID (Value Increase by Visual Design): Increase Growth by Visual Design International Conference, Cambridge, UK,

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., Taylor-Whiffen, E., 2013. Factors That Influence Consumers’ Need for Touch. Paper presented at the 121st annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Society for Consumer Psychology Division, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., Robison, R., 2013. Changing Lives, Changing Priorities: Teaching People to Use Less Energy, Poster presented at the 121st annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Environmental, Population and Conservation Psychology Division, Honolulu, Hawaii.

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., Robison, R., 2013. Is It Possible to Encourage 'Vulnerable' Housing Tenants to Reduce Their Energy Consumption? Paper to be presented at the European Congress of Psychology, Stockholm, Sweden

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., Taylor-Whiffen, E., 2013. Explaining Why People Differ in Their 'Need for Touch': an Investigation into Early Years and Recent Tactile Experiences, Paper presented at the European Congress of Psychology, Stockholm Sweden.

Aruk, N., Jansson-Boyd, C. V., Crilly, N., 2011. What users know about the design process: a report on two exploratory studies. Designing Pleasurable Products and Interfaces, Milan, Italy.

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., 2011. The role of touch in product design. Paper presented at the 119th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Society for Consumer Psychology division, Washington, USA.

Aruk, N., Jansson-Boyd, C. V., Crilly, N., 2011. Are consumers aware of the product design intent? An exploratory investigation. Paper presented at the 119th annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Society for Consumer Psychology division, Washington, USA.

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., 2010. Making touch count: when do consumers evaluate tactile product features? Paper presented at the 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.

Jansson-Boyd, C. V., 2010. Capitalising on pleasure: A way to increase condom use. Symposia organised by NeuroSci on behalf of SSL International/Reckitt Benckiser.

Spiers, R., Jansson-Boyd, C. V., 2010. Materialism: Friend or foe? The link between materialism, subjective-well being and friendship. Electronic poster presented at the 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.

Bloomfield, S., Jansson-Boyd, C. V., 2010. Do the media contribute to whether British teenagers feel confident? Electronic poster presented at the 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.

Media experience