Sheth Foundation Dissertation Award

I am extremely grateful to the Sheth Foundation for their financial support of my research area–low literate consumers. I was blessed to receive multiple dissertation grants sponsored in part by the Sheth Foundation. These grants helped me collect depth interviews with adults who possess limited literacy skills. Because the Sheth Foundation believed in the potential value of my work, I gained confidence and committed myself to working in a previously unexplored area. The dissertation resulted in a Robert Ferber Award-winning article published in the Journal of Consumer Research…a huge accomplishment that would not have materialized without the support (both financial and conceptual feedback) of the Sheth Foundation and its partners. Thank you from the bottom of my heart….

With the early support it provided, The Sheth Foundation was instrumental in helping fund my dissertation, which took me to India to study how foreign companies adapt to the Indian market. Not only did I manage to finish an interesting dissertation which won 3 awards, I also met my wife in India so the Sheth Foundation had a real impact on my life!

The SHETH Dissertation award in consumer psychology, for which I was a runner-up, is noteworthy to me in several respects. First, as part of the application process, the reviewers provided useful feedback on my proposal, which influenced my thinking and the subsequent experiments I ultimately carried out. Second, as a runner-up I was given funding to present at the Society for Consumer Psychology, which served as an excellent way to share and receive feedback on my dissertation as a graduate student. These were influential in my career as they culminated in successfully publishing my research in the society’s journal, the Journal of Consumer Psychology. Thus, to me, the award, and the activities attached to it, provided a remarkable means for cultivating and stimulating the thinking and ideas early in my career. I valued the experience so much that I urge Ph.D. students to apply for the award.

In 2008, I was fortunate to receive the Association for Consumer Research (ACR)/Sheth Foundation Dissertation Grant in the Cross-Cultural/Global Track. I had also been selected to represent the university where I was studying for my PhD (The University of California, Irvine), as UC Irvine’s Consortium Fellow to attend the 2008 American Marketing Association (AMA) Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium. In 2007 and 2009, I was again a recipient of the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Sheth Foundation Marketing Doctoral Student Association Travel Grants, which allowed me to attend the AMS conferences in those years. The paper I presented at the 2007 AMS conference in Coral Gables, FL was awarded the Jane K. Fenyo Best Paper Award for Student Research. I benefited not only from the financial components of the awards, which allowed me to present my research at conferences and complete my dissertation, but the recognition allowed my research to be acknowledged by my peers in academia.

To say that the Sheth Foundation has had a tremendous impact on my academic career would be an understatement. I have a tremendous respect for Madhuri and Jagdish Sheth and what the Sheth Foundation has committed to achieving in the marketing academic community. Like many other doctoral students, I have had the opportunity to interact with Jagdish Sheth and benefit from his advice and kindness to doctoral students. As an assistant professor, I am convinced that my path to successful completion of the doctoral degree in marketing, and my subsequent acceptance of an academic position, was facilitated by the indirect support of the Sheth Foundation during my years in the doctoral program. Thank you.

Being a winner of the Sheth Foundation Dissertation Award (2006) has always been a great honor to me, and has a profound… impact on me throughout these years. It always inspires me to work hard, pursue excellence and excel in academic performance. Also it always reminds me of the spirit of “abundant life: to live a prosperous life through contributing to the marketing area. Generous financial support from the Sheth Foundation helps fulfill many doctoral students’ dreams and enrich their life experience through engaging in marketing activities. I always feel grateful to the Foundation for the wonderful memories and experience I had at the consortium, as well as the financial support at the critical stage of my doctoral study!!