Senior Instructor I
Marketing

Nicole Brown

Overview
Overview
Publications

Overview

Career Interests

Nikki is an instructor in the Marketing Department and the former Director of the Close to the Customer Project (C2C) at OSU. The C2C Project provides market research services to a variety of professional clients and is part of the Austin Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business. Nikki earned her M.A. degree in Applied Anthropology with an emphasis on consumer behavior at Oregon State University. Her focus is on qualitative research methods, consumer research, problems of small to medium sized business, and issues pertaining to the development of markets for sustainably produced forest products. In addition, she has worked as a marketing research consultant to companies such as HP, Nissan, Yamaha, and Harley-Davidson. Nikki teaches classes in Principles of Marketing and Fundamentals of Marketing Research.

Publications

Other
Marketing

“Meeting Students Where They Are”

The flexibility of the online classroom gives busy students around the world access to educational opportunities that have not been available in the past. These students are working hard in every aspect of their lives and with a little support from us, their online instructors, we can help them make the most of the time they have in order to learn and grow.
Details
Academic Journal
Marketing

“Reaching Low-Income Mothers to Improve Family Fruit and Vegetable Intake: Food Hero Social Marketing Campaign”

The objective of this study was to create/test a social marketing campaign to increase
fruit/vegetable (FV) intake within Oregon Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
eligible families. Focus groups (n = 2) and pre/post campaign phone surveys (n = 2082) were
conducted in intervention counties (IC) and one control county. Participants were female (86%–100%)
with 1–2 children at home. Mean FV intake/without juice was 3.1 servings/day; >50% preferred the
Internet for delivery of healthy eating information. Participants reported time/financial burdens, low
household FV variety and desirability of frozen/canned FV, and acceptance of positive messages.
A Food Hero (FH) campaign was created/delivered daily August–October 2009 to mothers through
multiple channels (e.g., grocery stores, online, educators). Results showed that the IC had better FH
name recall (12%) and interpretation of intended messages (60%) vs. control (3%, 23%, respectively).
Compared to controls, the IC were less likely to report healthy food preparation as time consuming or
a FV rich diet expensive, and it was easier to get their family to eat fruit. Results did not vary based
on county/household characteristics. The FH campaign increased FH awareness and positive FV
beliefs. A longer campaign with FV assessments will increase understanding of the target audience,
and allow for campaign refinement.
Details