Professor Danae Manika
Acting Executive Dean - CBASS / Professor - Marketing and Business Education
- Marketing
Research area(s)
- Knowledge-Behaviour Gap
- Effective Message Construction for Behaviour Change
- Information Processing & Persuasive Communication
- Health Communication
- (Employee) Pro-environmental Behaviour
- Technology Adoption for Behaviour Change
- Consumer Psychology
- Social Marketing
- Advertising
Research Interests
Using an interdisciplinary approach, blending the lines between marketing, advertising and psychology her research aims to answer a fundamental marketing research question: How to diminish the knowledge-behaviour gap? Particularly, her research focuses on effective message construction for behaviour change. It takes an information processing approach, which identifies, classifies and examines cognitive (e.g., knowledge, confidence, trust, values) and affective (e.g., pride, fear, disgust) factors that influence individuals’/consumers’/employees’ decisions and choices after exposure to campaigns/messages/interventions, and translate knowledge acquisition to behaviour change/formation.
Her research is theory-based but practically applicable research, and often uses health (e.g., weight control, alcohol consumption, vaccination), well-being and environmental (e.g. energy saving, recycling) social issues as the venue for understanding the knowledge-behaviour gap, with direct implications for persuasive communication and behavioural interventions that motivate health and environmental action. The campaigns/messages/interventions often examined involve digital components (e.g., websites, social media, mobile applications, online tracking tools) and technology adoption behaviours (e.g., adoption and usage of technology-based solutions). Other projects with information technology and effective message construction focus include: social media service failure apologies, online petitions, and online political engagement. Side projects include innovative research methodologies, female-disparaging adverts, and consumer animosity, amongst others.
Danae’s recent research has been published in journals such as Journal of Service Research, Journal of Business Ethics, Tourism Management, Annals of Tourism Research, Psychology and Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Journal of Business Research, European Management Review, International Business Review, Information Technology and People, Studies in Higher Education, Journal of Marketing Management, Computers in Human Behavior, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Health Communication, Journal of Marketing Communications, Health Marketing Quarterly, and Multivariate Behavioral Research, amongst others.
She often engages in research projects that require collaborations with other disciplines such as medicine, engineering and geography; and her research has been supported by £364,000+ of funding (e.g., CRUK, EPSRC/Innovate UK, RED, and Arrow/ERDF). She also strongly believes in the interplay and interdependence of academia, government, business and society and hence she is often involved in various consultancies (e.g., Harrow Council, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council, RECOUP, Global Action Plan, Texas Comprehensive Cancer Control Coalition), in line with her research (i.e., effective message construction for behaviour change).
Danae is Section Editor for the Journal of Business Ethics (section: Marketing Ethics; FT50 journal), and Associate Editor (AE) for Business and Society and the Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, while in the past she was AE for the Journal of Marketing Management (2017-21). She is also currently on the Editorial Review Boards of: Technological Forecasting & Social Change, and Journal of Marketing Management; with guest editor experience across multiple top journals. Danae also has experience as: funding reviewer for Cancer Research UK (2015-19); and track chair for the Academy of Marketing Science World Marketing Congress Conference in 2023, the Transformative Consumer Research Conference in 2021, and the European Social Marketing Association Conference in 2016.
Research grants and projects
Research Projects
Grants
Funder: Research England
Duration: June 2019 - February 2021
In this project we want to improve Internet of Thing (IoT) cluster mapping, our understanding of IoT related barriers to growth and assist companies to overcome them A series of business clinics with companies listed in the database developed will be hosted as part of this work. The project taps into the themes of health, well-being & energy in regards to the selection of the types of companies and hence as a Co-I provide the necessary thematic expertise and work with technology acceptance and IoT researchers (PI: Prof. Savvas Papagiannidis; Prof. Jonathan Linton; Dr. Eleftherios Alamanos) to carry out this project.
Funder: Arrow/ERDF
Duration: January 2019 - March 2019
ActivCare Coaching wanted to develop a health app to assist older adults and their families to engage in regular physical activity safely in their own home and monitor their progress. The business school team developed a health app journey map. I provided expertise in health behaviour change and technology adoption, based on my paper on health marketing communications (Manika & Gregory-Smith, 2017, Journal of Marketing Communications; see health marketing communication guide developed at: http://danaemanika.co.uk/download.html).
Funder: Cancer Research UK
Duration: December 2017 - November 2018
This project developed a stealth marketing intervention that promotes employee physical activity in the workplace. The stealth marketing intervention, focused on encouraging environmental behaviour change among employees (i.e., energy saving and recycling). A pilot was then conducted to assess the potential spill over effects of employee environmental behaviour on physical activity in the workplace (e.g., taking the stairs instead of using the lift to save energy could also increase physical activity).
Funder: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council
Duration: April 2017 - June 2019
This project aimed to develop a new solar photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T) system, which has higher overall efficiency, lower cost, and better monitoring and control system than existing systems. Prof. Manika was the Principle Investigator for the business side of the project (funded by EPSRC) and led the team based at Queen Mary Innovation. She provided expertise on environmental behaviour change, technology adoption and business modeling to develop the business and commercialisation plan of the new environmentally-friendly PV/T system.