Anna McAlister
Profile
Anna McAlister joined the School of Business in 2015. She teaches marketing courses and enjoys introducing students to research methods and statistics. Dr. McAlister’s research focuses on advertising to children (especially how ads influence children’s food choices). She is the faculty advisor for Charity Craft Club, and co-advises DECA. She serves on the editorial review board of Journal of Interactive Advertising and is a deputy editor for Journal of Marketing Communications.
Education
University of Queensland, Australia
Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology
2006
University of Queensland, Australia
Graduate Certificate in Higher Education
2005
University of Queensland, Australia
Bachelor of Psychological Science (Hons I)
2002
Research
Children and Marketing:
- How children learn about food via marketing communications
- Marketing messages on social networks (e.g., alcohol promotions, anti-bullying)
- Consumer socialization and child development (social, cognitive, and language development)
Public Policy:
- Food branding as it relates to taste preferences and eating habits
- Children’s financial literacy and nutrition literacy
- Child-parent conflict versus compliance in dietary choices
- Unit pricing and its role in consumers’ perceptions of food (value and health)
Courses
BUS200 Marketing
BUS206 Intro to Creative Tools in Marketing
BUS330 Consumer Behavior
BUS370 Business Analysis and Research
BUS444 Contemporary Topics in Marketing
BUS480 Semester Internship
BUS489 Senior Thesis I
BUS490 Senior Thesis II
Office Hours
I am generally available 10am - 2pm Monday through Friday. Drop ins are welcome during that time. To make a specific appointment time, please use my Calendly: https://calendly.com/anna-mcalister/20min. If you sign up using Calendly, you can choose to meet in-person or via Zoom.
Accomplishments
Awards
- Academic Excellence Award, Endicott College (2020).
AT&T Faculty-Staff Instructional Technology Award, Michigan State University (2019).
Australasian Human Development Association Scholarship to attend the 15th Biennial Conference of the Australasian Human Development Association (2007).
- Australasian Human Development Association Scholarship to attend the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development Conference (2006).
- Award of Excellence, Wisconsin Obesity Prevention Research Symposium (2010).
- Best Academic Paper, International Social Marketing Conference (2014).
- Best Article Award, Journal of Interactive Advertising (2015).
- Best Article of the Year Award, Mass Communication & Society (2015).
- Best Conference Paper, Society for Consumer Psychology Conference (2008).
- Best Conference Paper, American Academy of Advertising Conference (2009).
- Best Early Career Conference Paper, Faculty of Business, Economics & Law Research Conference, University of Queensland (2008).
- Best Early Career Presentation, Australasian Society for Behavioural Health and Medicine Conference (2009).
- Outstanding Paper Award, Young Consumers (2017).
- Outstanding Reviewer, Appetite (2016).
- Teacher-Scholar Award at Michigan State University (2015).
- Top Poster Award, DC Health Communication Conference (2017).
University of Queensland Postgraduate Research Scholarship for PhD studies (2004–06).
- Woman of Impact Award, Endicott College (2018).
Publications
- Hartmann, M., Cash, S.B., Yeh, C.-H., Landwehr, S.C., & McAlister, A.R. (2017). Children’s purchase behavior in the snack market: Can branding or lower prices motivate healthier choices? Appetite, 117, 247-54.
- McAlister, A.R., & Kononova, A. (2022). Consumption of fruits, vegetables, and nuts can be increased when multitasking with screen devices. Health Communication, 37(2), 141-151, DOI: 10.1080/10410236.2020.1827527.
- McAlister, A.R., & Bargh, D.M. (2016). Dissuasion: The Elaboration Likelihood Model and young children. Young Consumers, 17(3) 210-25.
- Albuquerque, P., Brucks, M., Campbell, M.C., Chan, K., Maimaran, M., McAlister, A.R., & Nicklaus, S. (2018). Persuading children: Long-lasting influences on children’s food consideration sets, choices, and consumption. Customer Needs & Solutions, 5(1-2), 38-50. DOI: 10.1007/s40547-017-0083-x.
- Kononova, A., McAlister, A.R., Oh, H.J. (2018). Screen overload: Pleasant multitasking with screen devices leads to the choice of healthful over less healthful snacks when compared with unpleasant multitasking. Computers in Human Behavior, 80, 1-11.