Dr Paul Bottomley

Overview

Obtained a B.A. and an M.A. in Economics from the University of Manchester in 1985 and 1986 respectively, and a Ph.D. from Manchester Business School (1993).

His thesis entitled "Competitive Modelling: An Application to High Technology Markets", critically examined the incorporation of competition into models of innovation diffusion and discrete choice from a forecasting perspective. Empirical applications were taken from the recently liberalised U.K. mobile telecommunications markets.

Today, his general research interests concern the use of mathematical models in marketing. He is particularly interested in new product forecasting, and specifically the impact of competition and marketing mix variables on models of innovation diffusion, international comparisons of diffusion patterns and forecasting using analogous products.

However, more recent research has focused on consumer behaviour and decision-making. The former has primarily been concerned with branding, centring on the role of brand extensions, how consumers evaluate them, their launch strategies and the impact of extension failure on the parent brand. Current research projects address the impact that typeface and colour can play, in addition to the brand name itself, in influencing consumers' preferences and choice.

Research on decision-making and the psychology of survey response has investigated the behavioural influences operating on various weight elicitation techniques. It suggests that the choice of weight elicitation method is neither arbitrary nor cost-less, in terms of convergent validity and test-retest reliability, that is whether the methods yield the same weights, and their ability to consistently capture decision makers' preferences over time.

Professional memberships

Member of the American Marketing Association, and Association of Consumer Research.