About

P. K. Kannan is the Dean’s Chair in Marketing Science at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. He previously served as associate dean for strategic initiatives at the Smith School. His research expertise is in marketing modeling, applying statistical, econometric, machine learning, and AI methods to marketing data. His current research focuses on digital marketing, including mobile marketing, attribution modeling, media mix modeling, new product and service development, and customer relationship management. Kannan has received grants from the National Science Foundation, Mellon Foundation, SAIC, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, and his work has been published in leading journals such as Marketing Science, Management Science, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, and the International Journal of Research in Marketing. His research has won several awards, including the John Little Best Paper Award, the INFORMS Society for Marketing Science Practice Prize, and the AMA/MSI Paul Root Award, and he was named a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Maryland. He is an associate editor for the Journal of Marketing Research and the Journal of Marketing, and a senior editor at Production and Operations Management. Kannan has also served on the editorial board of the Journal of Service Research and was editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Research in Marketing from 2018 to 2021. His teaching interests include marketing modeling, digital marketing, customer relationship management, and pricing, and he has taught in executive programs for various companies and has corporate experience with Tata Engineering and Ingersoll-Rand, as well as consulting for firms such as Frito-Lay, PepsiCo, Giant Food, Black & Decker, SAIC, Fannie Mae, and IBM.

Research topics

• Business
• Computer Science
• Advertising
• Physics
• Psychology
• Marketing

Selected publications

• Influencer marketing unlocked: Understanding the value chains driving the creator economy

  Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science · 2025-01-01 · 29 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract As influencer marketing evolves into a dominant force in the marketing landscape, it necessitates a deeper theoretical exploration to understand its strategic implementations and impacts. This article examines the dynamics of influencer marketing within the growing creator economy, emphasizing the interactions among firms, influencers, followers, and digital platforms. We introduce a novel, equity-driven framework that analyzes how influencers contribute to customer equity, how influencers manage and leverage the value from their followers, and how platforms maximize the value from their users. We detail the complex relationships and value exchanges within the influencer marketing ecosystem, highlighting the challenges of measuring the return on investment and influencers’ strategic use of content to maintain authenticity and influence. By synthesizing diverse academic literature and current industry practices, this manuscript provides a comprehensive overview of the mechanisms of value creation and exchange in influencer marketing, offers strategic implications for marketers aiming to optimize their influencer engagements, and outlines future work in the form of the eleven “INFLUENCERS” research directions.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Leveling up retail: How retailers and brands thrive in the video game ecosystem

  Journal of Retailing · 2025-06-06 · 1 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Introduction to the Special Issue: The Game of Life – The Role of Videogames in Marketing

  International Journal of Research in Marketing · 2025-10-17 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Influencer Marketing Unlocked: Understanding the Value Chains Driving the Creator Economy

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2024 · 4 citations

  • Computer Science
  • Business
  • Marketing
  PublisherDOI

• Influence of Advertisements Effects in Impulse Buying Behaviour Towards Social Media in Electronic Retailing

  Advances in economics, business and management research/Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research · 2024

  • Advertising
  • Business
  • Psychology

  Advertisements are cold, indifferent attempts to get the word out about a services, goods, concepts and ideas.In advertisement there is no interaction between the manufacturer and the final customer.In order to get this 'ad' message across to the intended market.The advertiser employs a variety of effective and practical media vehicle.Promotions in social media can lead to a hasty purchase.The marketer then selects the most appropriate medium in which to disseminate the message to the intended market.The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of social media on consumers' propensity to make impulsive purchases when shopping online.Use of the internet for both personal and professional reasons.The purpose of this observational research is to gain insight into the realities of those who promote their goods and services on social media.To solve this mystery, the researcher has employed a mixed methodology, drawing on both main and secondary sources.The structured questionnaire has served as a primary source of information, while articles from periodicals and online resources served as supplementary sources.Researchers recruited 400 randomly selected customers who made purchases through electronic channels, and then surveyed them about their social media usage and preferences.Standard deviation of the sample was used to determine the final sample size for this research.According to the results of this research, Instagram is widely regarded as the most effective instrument for promoting businesses and expanding business networks.To make a snap decision, many business owners use Instagram to look at products before buying.Instagram is a specialized marketing strategy developed by business owners to increase brand recognition and consumer interest in their wares.

  DOI

• A Message from the Incoming Editor

  International Journal of Research in Marketing · 2018-10-25 · 1 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Social Tags and Brand Maps

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2016-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Beyond Citizen Engagement: Involving the Public in Co-Delivering Government Services

  2013-01-01 · 12 citations

  article1st authorCorresponding
  Publisher

Frequent coauthors

• Jeremy J. Yang

  University of California, San Diego

  1 shared

• Reto Hofstetter

  University of Pennsylvania

  1 shared

• Hyoryung Nam

  Syracuse University

  1 shared

• Lingling Zhang

  1 shared

• Eitan Muller

  1 shared

• Daniel Shapira

  1 shared

• Yogesh V. Joshi

  University of Maryland, College Park

  1 shared

• Andreas Lanz

  University of Basel

  1 shared

Awards & honors

• John Little Best Paper Award
• INFORMS Society for Marketing Science Practice Prize
• AMA/MSI Paul Root Award (twice)
• European Marketing Academy’s Distinguished Marketing Scholar…
• Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland