Research Interests
Marketing Marketing Communications Marketing Research Methodology Marketing TheoryProf Rachel Kennedy
Research Professor
Office of Business and Law
College of Business and Law
Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.
As Associate Director and one of the founders of the world famous Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science, Rachel is heavily involved in advancing and disseminating empirically grounded knowledge about how brands grow and how marketing interventions especially media and advertising work.
She is actively engaged with industry through the Institute's Corporate Sponsor Program as well as contract market research projects across many industries around the globe. Rachel is a regular speaker on the international stage, sharing innovative research on media, advertising and buyer behaviour topics. Advancing knowledge that is of direct relevance to industry is central to Rachel's work.
Her research interests include improving measures of how media and advertising work – from biometrics and other competing pre-testing approaches to single source in-market; knowing how much to spend and in which media; understanding patterns in shopper behaviour and much more. See more at:
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8052-6293
Supervising research degree students is core to Rachel's role.
Recognitions include: Great minds award: Runner up for Journal of Advertising Research (2022), Top Cited Article 2020-2021 Psychology & Marketing (Wiley), Runner up Best paper award for Journal of Advertising Research in 2017, 2020 and 2021; Finalist for Silver Medal, MRS UK in both 2019 and 2015. ARF CONSUMERxSCIENCE Conference best paper 2018. Telstra Business Women’s Award Finalist 2017. Top 10 article in the field of Neuromarketing awarded by Neuromarketing Science & Business Association (2017). Best Reviewer Award, International Journal of Advertising (2016). Finalist for Innovation in Research Methodology, MRS UK (2015) - Achievement in Industry Collaboration Research Award, UniSA Business School (2015) - Research Commendation (Top 10% of Researchers), UniSA Business School.
Rachel is also on the Editorial Advisory Boards for the Journal of Advertising Research, International Journal of Market Research and International Journal of Advertising.
Media and Advertising Effectiveness - to understand attention and sales effective advertising across media, Evidenced based Advertising Budgeting, Buyer behaviour and marketing interventions, Marketing decision making, Validating marketing tools such as neuro and biometrics for ad testing
| Date | Position | Institution name |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 - 2025 | Associate Director | Adelaide University |
| Date | Type | Title | Institution Name | Country | Amount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Award | Best Reviewer Award | International Journal of Advertising | United States | - |
| 2010 | Award | Reviewer of the Year | International Journal of Market Research | United Kingdom | - |
| Date | Institution name | Country | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 - 2000 | University of South Australia | Australia | PhD |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Co-Supervisor | Understanding Category User Profiles | Master of Research (Marketing) | Master | Full Time | Ms Kirra Bradley-Thomas |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Measuring out-of-home advertisings exposure to pedestrians and its effect on their brand awareness | Master of Research (Marketing) | Master | Full Time | Ms Ka Yin Wong |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | The Effectiveness of Targeted Advertising on Social Media | Master of Research (Marketing) | Master | Full Time | Miss Tahlia Seymour |
| 2024 | Co-Supervisor | Measuring out-of-home advertising?s exposure to pedestrians and its effect on their brand awareness | Master of Research (Marketing) | Master | Full Time | Ms Ka Yin Wong |
| Date | Role | Research Topic | Program | Degree Type | Student Load | Student Name |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 - 2023 | Co-Supervisor | A replication and extension of ‘measuring advertising’s effect on mental availability’ | Master of Research (Marketing) | Master | Full Time | Miss Danae Underwood |
| 2020 - 2022 | Co-Supervisor | Documenting patterns in advertising post-testing measurement | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Miss Emily Gray |
| 2018 - 2022 | Co-Supervisor | Out of sight... What happens to brand share, penetration, and loyalty when advertising stops? | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Peilin Phua |
| 2018 - 2020 | Co-Supervisor | How do disruptions to physical and mental availability of brands affect consumer behaviour? | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Miss Sahar Faghidno |
| 2017 - 2021 | Co-Supervisor | Do brands that grow advertise differently to those that do not? | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Miss Kelly Vaughan |
| 2017 - 2019 | Co-Supervisor | More than meets the eye. Audio branding tactics and advertising memory | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Miss Allison Bond |
| 2015 - 2017 | Principal Supervisor | What matters in media? An investigation of media decision makers' perceptions of value | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Miss Pippi Redden |
| 2015 - 2018 | Principal Supervisor | How does childhood brand exposure influence buying behaviour and brand recognition in adulthood? | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Miss Peilin Phua |
| 2015 - 2017 | Principal Supervisor | What happens when brands stop advertising? Documenting long-term sales trends | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Mr Adam Gelzinis |
| 2015 - 2019 | Co-Supervisor | Attention to commercial and public health executions: examining advertising effectiveness using psychophysiology | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Lucy Simmonds |
| 2014 - 2016 | Co-Supervisor | What's the category got to do with it: investigation of retailer performance at the category level in the UK market | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Mr John Robinson |
| 2012 - 2016 | Co-Supervisor | Does size matter? Assessing brand portfolio size and its relationship with penetration and sales | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Arry Tanusondjaja |
| 2012 - 2014 | Co-Supervisor | How do manufacturers and retailers make decisions about price promotions? | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Ms Marietta Szabo |
| 2012 - 2016 | Principal Supervisor | Advertisements that sell | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Nicole Hartnett |
| 2012 - 2014 | Co-Supervisor | How online shoppers behave: describing and comparing patterns in online supermarket shopper behaviour | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Dr Zachary Anesbury |
| 2012 - 2019 | Principal Supervisor | An investigation of the validity of virtual reality for shopper research | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Part Time | Ms Katherine Anderson |
| 2010 - 2012 | Co-Supervisor | Evaluating reach-maximising tactics on a fragmented television audience market | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Mr Arry Tanusondjaja |
| 2009 - 2011 | Co-Supervisor | Distinctive assets and advertising effectiveness | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Ms Nicole Hartnett |
| 2009 - 2013 | Co-Supervisor | Assessing the value of neurophysiological measurement for advertising pre-testing. Are biometrics better? | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Haydn Northover |
| 2008 - 2010 | Co-Supervisor | Is once really enough? measuring the advertising response function | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Dr Jennifer Taylor |
| 2008 - 2011 | Co-Supervisor | Best-practice media scheduling: a real-world application | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Ms Kate Newstead |
| 2007 - 2010 | Co-Supervisor | Light TV viewers: who they are and how they can be reached | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Ms Melanie Ceber |
| 2005 - 2008 | Co-Supervisor | Exploring the impact of clutter on advertising effectiveness across broadcast media | Master of Business | Master | Full Time | Mr Peter Hammer |
| 2004 - 2008 | Co-Supervisor | Testing the advertising intensiveness law in budgeting | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Mr Nicholas Danenberg |
| 2002 - 2005 | Principal Supervisor | Investigating whether advertising pre-test measures can identify effective fundraising direct mail materials | Doctor of Philosophy | Doctorate | Full Time | Ms Margaret Faulkner |
| Date | Role | Board name | Institution name | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Director | Surf Life Saving SA | Surf Life Saving SA | Australia |
| 2019 - ongoing | Director | Victor Harbor Horse Tram Authority | Victor Harbor Horse Tram Authority | Australia |
| Date | Role | Editorial Board Name | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 - ongoing | Member | Journal of Communication / Revista de Comunicación | Journal of Communication / Revista de Comunicación | Peru |
| 2011 - ongoing | Member | Journal of Advertising Research (JAR) Editorial Review Board | Journal of Advertising Research (JAR) Editorial Review Board | United States |
| 2008 - ongoing | Member | International Journal of Advertising (IJA) Editorial Review Board | International Journal of Advertising (IJA) Editorial Review Board | United States |
| 2008 - ongoing | Member | International Journal of Market Research (IJMR) Editorial Review Board | International Journal of Market Research (IJMR) Editorial Review Board | United Kingdom |
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