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Levelling the Playing Field for Marginalized Market Actors - Meet New Faculty Member Myriam Brouard

Artist working in her studio

Myriam Brouard was hired last July as an assistant professor in marketing at the Telfer School of Management. She completed her PhD in marketing at HEC Montréal. We interviewed her to learn more about her research interests in consumer culture, technology adoption and discrimination in markets.

Why did you choose to study marketing? Any personal motivation behind your research interests?

Myriam Brouard

Why do some people choose to buy a Mac over a PC? Why do people stand in line for hours to have the opportunity to buy a Supreme T-shirt? Why are people spending millions on CryptoPunks? These are the type of questions that drive me and the reason I chose to study consumer culture theory.

How does your PhD training inform your current research program?

During my PhD, I studied binge-watching. When I started the process, Netflix was still sending out DVDs and people were not talking about binge-watching at all. Throughout my study, I was lucky enough to witness the birth of a phenomenon that has completely changed the way in which people watch TV. Not only that, but it has also changed the whole industry. This made me realize that I was really interested in the intersection of technology and consumer culture.

Do you have any new research highlights to share?

I am currently working on several projects, many of which revolve around the use of technology and social justice. I am excited about work I am doing with BIPOC artists who have taken the plunge into the realm of non-fungible tokens (NFT art) and decentralized internet platforms (Web3). I am interested in seeing if decentralization will remove some of the traditional barriers that these artists face when trying to live from their art, including the biases of the gatekeepers of the art world — the galleries, the museums, the institutional players that often overlook art from BIPOC artists.

How can your research influence businesses in Canada?

Issues of social justice and market access are relevant to everyone. I hope that by doing this type of research I will play a small part in inspiring others to either learn more about these issues or start research projects that centre around BIPOC interests. I think that there is a disturbing dearth of work done in marketing on these communities. With more research, I truly believe will come better understanding and hopefully more opportunities for marginalized market actors.

About the Author

Rania Nasrallah a rejoint le bureau de recherche Telfer en 2019. Elle a obtenu son doctorat en médecine à l'Université d'Ottawa et apporte à ce rôle plus de deux décennies d'expérience en recherche. Rania participe à tous les aspects du mandat du Bureau de la recherche et est responsable de fournir un large éventail de services aux membres du corps professoral et aux étudiants de recherche de deuxième et troisième cycle. Elle gère les subventions internes et les bourses d'études, et participe à la stratégie de communication de la recherche. Elle fournit également un soutien aux chercheurs avant l'attribution des subventions afin de maximiser le succès du financement au niveau national et international. En outre, elle travaille en étroite collaboration avec le Vice-doyen à la recherche pour élaborer et mettre en œuvre des stratégies visant à améliorer le financement et la vélocité de la recherche à Telfer, conformément à notre vision pour créer un meilleur Canada et un meilleur monde pour tous.<br/><br/>Rania Nasrallah joined the Telfer Research Office in 2019. She completed her PhD in Medicine at the University of Ottawa and brings over two decades of research experience to this role. Rania is involved in all aspects of the mandate of the Research Office and is responsible for providing a wide range of services to faculty members and research based graduate students. She manages internal grants, student awards, and participates in the research communication strategy. She also provides pre-award support to researchers to optimize funding success nationally and internationally. In addition she works closely with the Vice Dean Research to develop and implement strategies to enhance research funding and intensity at Telfer following our vision to create a better Canada and a better world for all.

Profile Photo of Rania Nasrallah