Rebecca Dolan

Associate Professor Rebecca Dolan

Associate Professor

Adelaide Business School

Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics

Eligible to supervise Masters and PhD - email supervisor to discuss availability.

Engagement is key to Dr Dolan’s research. Her work in the wine, tourism and sharing economy and other industries focuses on understanding the consumer decision-making process and how to leverage connection to create change.

Engagement across industries

Dr Dolan’s research encompasses influencer, social media, and diversity marketing, as well as purposeful and social enterprise branding, but the core of her work is consumer engagement in the wine industry, and student engagement in the education sector. In both areas, the key is understanding consumer trends and choices, and how these can be influenced to create positive change. ‘I find that interesting – how to engage customers in a new idea or a new behaviour and discover at what point they’re onboard with the idea rather than resisting it,’ says Dr Dolan. 

Influencing change

Dr Dolan’s ground-breaking work on the theory of engagement behaviour in the social media space was recognised early in her career, with a key paper published in Journal of Strategic Marketing. Increasingly cited each year, this work continues to shape Dr Dolan’s future research plans around influencer marketing, especially in the wine industry. She is keen to understand the characteristics of influencers and whether those who are health conscious can perhaps have an impact, for example, on consumer decisions around now or low (nolo) wine and alcohol alternatives. There are major shifts happening in the market in terms of consumption, which need further investigation. ‘There is a big consumer segment of young people who don’t drink at all or who don’t drink wines, so it feels like a good opportunity for the industry to explore these low or zero alcohol options.’

With an impressive pedigree in winemaking, it seemed inevitable that Dr Dolan would be involved in the industry in some way. Dr Dolan already has strong links to key industry organisations and leaders, and intends to strengthen those connections with more collaboration planned for the immediate future. As well as looking into the Australian wine drinking culture, Dr Dolan is also interested in investigating sustainability in the wine industry, in terms of alternative packaging and sustainability. ‘There’s still lots of consumer resistance to alternative packaging. But there’s actually no reason for wine to be packaged in glass bottles, unless you want to store them for some time,’ says Dr Dolan.

Student focused research

Dr Dolan has successfully dovetailed her passion for teaching with her research expertise via exploring student engagement. Dr Dolan has applied her knowledge in social media marketing to investigate how to engage students outside of traditional university platforms, by using, for example, Facebook. Her research in university O week activities has also provided insight into students’ sense of belonging and how connected they feel to their university as a result of those activities. With the education sector having gone through several upheavals recently, Dr Dolan anticipates generating much more work in this space.  

Delivery tangible outcomes

Keen to produce academic work and projects that address industry needs, Dr Dolan’s research seeks to solve problems and provide novel insights, especially in the wine area. ‘I want to know what’s creating challenges in marketing, or barriers in terms of engagement,’ Dr Dolan says. 

  • Journals
    Year Citation
    2025 Shaw, C. L., Dolan, R., Corsi, A. M., & Goodman, S. (2025). From Vice to Virtue: Disentangling Consumer Engagement With Regular and Innovative Wine and Meat Products. Australasian Marketing Journal, 18 pages.
    DOI
    2025 Ford, H., Dolan, R., Goodman, S., Bastian, S., Pearson, W., & Corsi, A. M. (2025). Exploring consumers’ drinking behaviour regarding no-, low- and mid- alcohol wines: a systematic scoping review and guiding framework. Journal of Marketing Management, 1-31.
    DOI
    2024 Gray, H., Dolan, R., Wilkie, D., Conduit, J., & Burgess, A. (2024). Social Purpose Branding Approaches: A Typology of How Brands Engage with a Social Purpose. European Journal of Marketing, 58(5), 1207-1240.
    DOI Scopus5
    2024 Burgess, A., Wilkie, D. C. H., & Dolan, R. (2024). The power of beliefs: how diversity advertising builds audience connectedness. European Journal of Marketing, 58(9), 1969-1994.
    DOI
    2024 Mosikyan, S., Dolan, R., Corsi, A. M., & Bastian, S. (2024). A systematic literature review and future research agenda to study consumer acceptance of novel foods and beverages. Appetite, 203, 17 pages.
    DOI Scopus7 Europe PMC2
    2023 Burgess, A., Wilkie, D. C. H., & Dolan, R. (2023). Brand approaches to diversity: a typology and research agenda. European Journal of Marketing, 57(1), 60-88.
    DOI Scopus19 WoS2
    2023 Hentzen, J. K., Hoffmann, A. O. I., & Dolan, R. M. (2023). The role of digital technology in communication and information flow in the Australian Superannuation industry. Australian Journal of Management, 49(4), 031289622311702.
    DOI Scopus3
    2023 Shaw, C. L., Dolan, R., Corsi, A. M., Goodman, S., & Pearson, W. (2023). Exploring the barriers and triggers towards the adoption of low- and no-alcohol (NOLO) wines. Food Quality and Preference, 110, 104932.
    DOI Scopus15
    2023 Wilkie, D. C. H., Burgess, A. J., Mirzaei, A., & Dolan, R. M. (2023). Inclusivity in Advertising: A Typology Framework for Understanding Consumer Reactions. Journal of Advertising, 52(5), 721-738.
    DOI Scopus10 WoS1
    2022 Hugh, D. C., Dolan, R., Harrigan, P., & Gray, H. (2022). Influencer marketing effectiveness: the mechanisms that matter. European Journal of Marketing, 56(12), 3485-3515.
    DOI Scopus55
    2022 Lang, B., Kemper, J., Dolan, R., & Northey, G. (2022). Why do consumers become providers? Self-determination in the sharing economy. Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 32(2), 132-155.
    DOI Scopus35 WoS11
    2021 Hentzen, J. K., Hoffmann, A., Dolan, R., & Pala, E. (2021). Artificial intelligence in customer-facing financial services: a systematic literature review and agenda for future research. International Journal of Bank Marketing, 40(6), 38 pages.
    DOI Scopus120 WoS27
    2021 Harrigan, P., Dolan, R., & Lee, M. S. W. (2021). Marketing Education: Reflecting on Relevance. Australasian Marketing Journal, 30(3), 178-184.
    DOI Scopus9 WoS8
    2021 Hentzen, J. K., Hoffmann, A. O. I., & Dolan, R. M. (2021). Which consumers are more likely to adopt a retirement app and how does it explain mobile technology‐enabled retirement engagement?. International Journal of Consumer Studies, 46(2), 23 pages.
    DOI Scopus25 WoS12
    2021 Shahbaznezhad, H., Dolan, R., & Rashidirad, M. (2021). The Role of Social Media Content Format and Platform in Users' Engagement Behavior. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 53(1), 47-65.
    DOI Scopus370 WoS107
    2021 Burgess, A. J., Wilkie, D. C. H., & Dolan, R. (2021). Towards successful diversity initiatives: the importance of building audience connectedness. Journal of Marketing Management, 37(1-2), 1-18.
    DOI Scopus16 WoS7
    2020 Northey, G., Dolan, R. M., Etheridge, J., Septianto, F., & Van Esch, P. (2020). LGBTQ imagery in advertising: how viewers' political ideology shapes their emotional response to gender and sexuality in advertisements. Journal of Advertising Research, 60(2), 222-236.
    DOI Scopus59 WoS38
    2020 Septianto, F., Nallaperuma, K., Bandyopadhyay, A., & Dolan, R. (2020). Proud powerful, grateful powerless: the interactive effect of power and emotion on gift giving. European Journal of Marketing, 54(7), 1703-1729.
    DOI Scopus13 WoS6
    2020 Lang, B., Botha, E., Robertson, J., Kemper, J. A., Dolan, R., & Kietzmann, J. (2020). How to grow the sharing economy? Create Prosumers!. Australasian Marketing Journal, 28(3), 58-66.
    DOI Scopus45 WoS22
    2020 Lang, B., Dolan, R., Kemper, J., & Northey, G. (2020). Prosumers in times of crisis: definition, archetypes and implications. Journal of Service Management, 32(2), 1-14.
    DOI Scopus70 WoS37
    2019 Dolan, R., Conduit, J., Frethey Bentham, C., Fahy, J., & Goodman, S. (2019). Social Media Engagement Behavior: A Framework for Engaging Customers in Social Media Content. European Journal of Marketing, 53(10), 2213-2243.
    DOI Scopus382 WoS159
    2019 Dolan, R. M., Seo, Y., & Kemper, J. (2019). Complaining practices on social media in tourism: a value co-creation and co-destruction perspective. Tourism Management, 73, 35-45.
    DOI Scopus196 WoS105
    2019 Septianto, F., Northey, G., & Dolan, R. (2019). The effects of political ideology and message framing on counterfeiting: The mediating role of emotions. Journal of Business Research, 99, 206-214.
    DOI Scopus42 WoS32
    2019 Seo, Y., Dolan, R., & Buchanan-Oliver, M. (2019). Playing games: advancing research on online and mobile gaming consumption. Internet Research, 29(2), 289-292.
    DOI Scopus25 WoS16
    2018 Northey, G., Govind, R., Bucic, T., Chylinski, M., Dolan, R., & van Esch, P. (2018). The effect of “here and now” learning on student engagement and academic achievement. British Journal of Educational Technology, 49(2), 321-333.
    DOI Scopus48
    2018 Altschwager, T., Dolan, R., & Conduit, J. (2018). Social Brand Engagement: How Orientation Events Engage Students with the University. Australasian Marketing Journal, 26(2), 83-91.
    DOI Scopus17 WoS13
    2018 Szolnoki, G., Dolan, R., Forbes, S., Thach, L., & Goodman, S. (2018). Using social media for consumer interaction: An international comparison of winery adoption and activity. Wine Economics and Policy, 7(2), 109-119.
    DOI Scopus54
    2017 Dolan, R., & Goodman, S. (2017). Succeeding on social media: Exploring communication strategies for wine marketing. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 33, 23-30.
    DOI Scopus35 WoS17
    2017 Dolan, R., Conduit, J., Fahy, J., & Goodman, S. (2017). Social Media: Communication Strategies, Engagement and Future Research Directions. International Journal of Wine Business Research, 29(1), 2-19.
    DOI Scopus66 WoS37
    2016 Dolan, R., Conduit, J., Fahy, J., & Goodman, S. (2016). Social media engagement behaviour: a uses and gratifications perspective. Journal of Strategic Marketing, 24(3-4), 261-277.
    DOI Scopus553 WoS327
    2015 Forbes, S., Goodman, S., & Dolan, R. (2015). Adoption of Social Media in the Australian and New Zealand Wine Industries. The Journal of New Business Ideas and Trends, 13(2), 1-14.
    - Dolan, R., & Shahbaznejad, H. (n.d.). Social Media Strategy in Services: The Effect of Airline Brand Posts on Engagement. SSRN Electronic Journal.
    DOI

  • Book Chapters
    Year Citation
    2018 Dolan, R., Conduit, J., & Fahy, J. (2018). Creating, contributing and consuming behavior: How rational and affective appeals in social media facilitate engagement. In B. Rishi, & S. Bandyopadhyay (Eds.), Contemporary Issues in Social Media Marketing (pp. 102-116). New York: Routledge.
    DOI Scopus1
    2017 Dolan, R., & Conduit, J. (2017). Social Media Analytics: Measurement Tools for Exploring Online Engagement. In E. Juholin, & V. Luoma-aho (Eds.), Mitattava Viestinta [In Finnish: Measurable Communication] (pp. 47-54). Helsinki, Finland: ProCom Ry.
    2016 Dolan, R., Conduit, J., & Fahy, J. (2016). Social media engagement: a construct of positively and negatively valenced engagement behaviours. In R. Brodie, L. Hollebeek, & J. Conduit (Eds.), Customer Engagement: Contemporary Issues and Challenges (pp. 102-123). London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
    DOI Scopus35

  • Conference Papers
    Year Citation
    2019 Gray, H., Wilkie, D., & Dolan, R. (2019). Authenticity in social media sponsored posts. In 2019. Wellington.
    2018 Shahbaznezhad, H., Dolan, R., & Tripathi, A. K. (2018). The power of facebook and instagram fans: An exploration of fan comments and their effect on social media content strategy. In Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing Vol. 328 (pp. 109-117). Springer International Publishing.
    DOI Scopus2
    2018 Dolan, R., & Lang, B. (2018). #TipsyTuesday: Understanding Alcohol and Social Media Influence. In ANZMAC 2018 Conference Proceedings. Adelaide.
    2018 Etheridge, J., Northey, G., Septianto, F., Dolan, R., & van Esch, P. (2018). LGBT-Themed Advertising: Gender, Disgust, and Political Ideology. In ANZMAC 2018 Conference Proceedings. Adelaide.
    2017 Dolan, R., & Jury, K. (2017). Instafamous or Instafail? Exploring the relationship between Social Influencers and Engagement. In QUIS Conference Proceedings. Porto, Portugal.
    2017 Wilkie, D., Johnson, L., Dolan, R., & Dwivedi, A. (2017). The Two Traditional Concepts Underlying Customer - Brand Engagement. In ANZMAC 2017 Conference proceedings. Melbourne.
    2016 Dolan, R. M. (2016). Communication orientations on Facebook: How do consumers perceive brand posts?. In Academy of Wine Business Research Conference. Adelaide, Australia.
    2014 Dolan, R. M., Szolnoki,, G., Taits, D., Hoffman, C., & Thach, L. (2014). A Cross-Cultural Comparison of Social Media Usage in the Wine Business. In Proceedings of the 8th AWBR International Conference. St Catherines, Ontario.
    2013 Dolan, R., & Goodman, S. (2013). South Australian Wine Brands on Facebook: An Exploration of Communication Orientations. In AWBR 2013 : Wine enrichment through experience : Proceedings of the 7th International Conference of the Academy of Wine Business Research. Ontario Canada: Academy of Wine Business Research and Brock University.
    2012 Dolan, R. M., & Reddaway, M. (2012). A Critical Reflection on the Application of Marketing Theory to an Accounting Problem. In ANZMAC. Adelaide, Australia.
    2012 Dolan, R. M., & Goodman, S. P. (2012). Engaging Friends and Influencing People: Consumer Perceptions of Brand Communication Strategies on Facebook. In ANZMAC. Adelaide.
    2012 Dolan, R. M. (2012). Netnography as a Research Method: Exploring Consumer Perceptions of Brand Communication Strategies on Facebook. In ANZMAC. Adelaide.

  • Conference Items
    Year Citation
    2017 Altschwager, T., Dolan, R., & Conduit, J. (2017). University-Hosted Events Facilitate Social Brand Engagement. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference (ANZMAC).
    2016 Dolan, R., Conduit, J., Fahy, J., & Goodman, S. (2016). Facebook for Wine Brands: An Analysis of Post Strategies and User Engagement Actions. Poster session presented at the meeting of Academy of WIne Business Research Conference.
    2016 Dolan, R., Conduit, J., & Fahy, J. (2016). Determining Uses and Gratifications for Social Media Engagement Behaviour. Poster session presented at the meeting of Frontiers in Service Conference. Bergen, Norway.
    2016 Dolan, R., Conduit, J., & Fahy, J. (2016). Information Overload in Social Media: The Effect of Social Media Content Types on Engagement Behaviour. Poster session presented at the meeting of AMA Servsig Conference. Maastricht, The Netherlands.
    2015 Dolan, R., Conduit, J., Fahy, J., & Goodman, S. (2015). Big Social Data and Social Media Analytics: Tools for exploring Social Media Engagement Behaviour. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australia and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference.
    2014 Dolan, R., Fahy, J., Conduit, J., & Goodman, S. (2014). Customer Brand Engagement Behaviour in Online Social Networks: A Conceptual Framework. Poster session presented at the meeting of Australian and New Zealand Marketing Academy Conference. Brisbane, Australia.

2023

$209,768*

Wine Grape Council of SA

CI: Farm Business Resilience Program

2023

$23,990.10*

Food South Australia

Lead CI, Towards a Unified Understanding and Implementation of Sustainability Indications, Credentials and Accreditations

2021

$21,000*

AWRI

Lead CI, Exploring barriers and triggers for NOLO wine consumption.

2022-2024

$337,500*

Wine Australia

Chief Investigator, The Wine Australia partnership, PhD Research Scholarships

2023

$5000^

Adelaide Business School

Conference Travel Scheme for Academy of Wine Business Research Conference

2022

$72,000*

Adelaide Hills Wine Region

CI, Wine Business and Tourism Short Course

2021

$19,800^

FAME initiate grant

CI, Building TTA systems for agri-food & wine supply chains,

2021

$4,300^

Adelaide Business School

CI, Data Collection Funding Scheme

2021

$1,500^

Adelaide Business School

CI, Data Collection Funding Scheme

2021

$4,000^

Adelaide Business School

CI, Data Collection Funding Scheme

2021

$28,899.95^

University of Adelaide

Barbara Kidman Women’s Fellowship

2021-2022

$45,730.25*

CSIRO

Co-investigator, perspectives on risk to local markets and industries.

2020

$4,000^

Adelaide Business School

CI, Data Collection Funding Scheme

2017

$9800^~

Food and Health Programme

CI, One More for The Road, Exploring the Role of Alcohol in New Zealanders Lives

2017

$5000^~

U. Auck Centre for Learning and Research in Higher Education (CLeaR)

Lead CI, Digital Content Creation Management and Evaluation in Education 

Key: *External Funding, ^Internal Funding, ~NZD, CI=Chief Investigator

Program Director - Master of Marketing 

Program Director - Master of Wine Business 

I teach a range of Wine Business and Marketing courses within these programs 

 

  • Current Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2024 Co-Supervisor The role of functional ingredients in influencing consumers willingness to purchase No- and Low- alcohol wines and how this primes their expectation of the product Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Eleanor Olivia Bilogrevic
    2022 Co-Supervisor Practice makes perfect: Exploring music scenes through organisational and consumer perspectives, understanding modes of interaction and outcomes Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Mr Slade Dean Richardson
    2022 Principal Supervisor Vice or Virtue: Examining the Factors Influencing the Adoption of NOLO Wines and Plant-Based Meats Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Cassidy Lia Shaw
    2022 Co-Supervisor Examining Consumer Acceptance of Alternative and Gene-edited Traditional Grape Varieties Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Ms Syuzanna Mosikyan
    2020 Co-Supervisor Transcendent Customer Experiences Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Part Time Miss Katelyn Jane Harris

  • Past Higher Degree by Research Supervision (University of Adelaide)
    Date Role Research Topic Program Degree Type Student Load Student Name
    2020 - 2025 Principal Supervisor Effective Social Purpose Branding Implementation: A Conceptualisation and Empirical Analysis of Brand Approaches and Consumer Perceptions Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Harriet Gray
    2020 - 2022 Co-Supervisor Technology-Facilitated Customer Engagement and Actor Networks in Financial Services - A Retirement Planning Perspective Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Janin Karoli Hentzen
    2019 - 2022 Co-Supervisor Moving Towards a More Effective Consideration and Application of Diversity in Marketing Doctor of Philosophy Doctorate Full Time Miss Amelie Jay Burgess

  • Other Supervision Activities
    Date Role Research Topic Location Program Supervision Type Student Load Student Name
    2018 - 2019 Co-Supervisor Online Customer Reviews: Exploring the influence of online reviews on post-consumers online customer reviews University of Auckland - Master - Shujun Hughes
    2017 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Native Advertising: A revolutionary marketing technique or deception? University of Auckland - Honours Full Time Cavin Toh
    2017 - 2017 Principal Supervisor Fighting Binge Drinking with Facebook: An exploration of alcohol related social media campaigns and their potential impact on alcohol consumption in New Zealand University of Auckland - Honours Full Time Bianca D'Souza
    2017 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Fifty Shades of Gay: How an Individual’s Political Ideology Influences their Acceptance of LGBT Themes in Advertising University of Auckland - Master Full Time Jane Etheridge
    2017 - 2018 Co-Supervisor CONSUMER ONLINE ENGAGEMENT: An Exploration of the use of Mafengwo.com for High Involvement Decision Making of Chinese Tourists University of Auckland - Master Full Time Min Li
    2017 - 2018 Principal Supervisor E-Consumer Empowerment Practices University of Auckland - Master Full Time Michelle Kim
    2017 - 2018 Principal Supervisor Healthcare Systems Utilising Online Health Communities on Social Media: Perspective of New Zealand Healthcare Consumers and Providers University of Auckland - Master Full Time Justin Jang
    2016 - 2016 Principal Supervisor Instafamous or Instafail:An Exploration of Social Influencers and Engagement, Brand Attitudes and Purchase Intent Univeristy of Auckland - Honours Full Time Kirsty Jury
  • Position: Associate Professor
  • Phone: 83139272
  • Email: rebecca.dolan@adelaide.edu.au
  • Campus: North Terrace
  • Building: Nexus 10, floor 10
  • Org Unit: Marketing
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