Conference Research Awards
About the Awards
Nicosia Best Paper Award
Established in 1998, the Franco Nicosia Best Competitive Paper Award is presented to the author/s of the best competitive paper presented at the ACR Annual conference. The winners, selected by the conference chairs, receive a plaque and a financial award funded by the Sheth Foundation.
Best Working Paper
Working Paper sessions provide the opportunity to present preliminary results and receive feedback and ideas from session attendees. Working papers are featured in a poster session at the conference, where authors have an opportunity to receive feedback from attendees on their work.
Best Film
The ACR Conference Film Festival continues the tradition of advancing videographic consumer research. We invite films that address the audiovisual character of consumer research phenomena or innovative film-based approaches that advance the field in new directions, as well as submissions outside of these themes.
2025 Recipients
Best Film
Winner
I Can’t Really Tell You What It Is But I Like You Because You Are Into It Too
Lucy Henke, University of Louisiana at Lafayette
Honorable Mention
Flagship Tribes
Máté Bencze, Corvinus University of Budapest
Best Working Paper
Winner
Protected Heterogeneity and the Cost of Fairness
Noah Ahmadi, Harvard Business School
Ayelet Israeli, Harvard Business School
Eva Ascarza, Harvard Business School
Honorable Mention
Made to repair: How production mode influences consumers’ product repair decisions
Eldrin Hermoso, RMIT University
Ulku Yuksel, The University of Sydney
Best Competitive Paper (Buying and Beyond)
The Impact of Adding a Financing Option to Affordable Purchases
Ye Rin Yoon, University of Iowa
Suzanne Shu, Cornell University
Best Competitive Paper (Politics and Governance)
Winner
Group Size Matters: Liberals Donate More in Large Groups, Conservatives in Small Groups
Xiajing Zhu, University of Oregon
Cornelia Pechmann, University of California, Irvine
Honorable Mention
Foreshadowing Collective Discontent with Deliberate, Less Moderated Online Content
Sheena Sidhu, University of Sydney
Tom van Laer, University of Sydney
Ellen Garbarino, University of Sydney
Best Competitive Paper (Sustainability)
The Role of Social Motivation in Green Consumption Among Sharing Economy Service Providers
Yuechen Wu, Oklahoma State University
Kevin Kam Fung So, Purdue University
Xiang Fang, Oklahoma State University
Best Competitive Paper (Artificial and Autonomous Technologies)
Making Sense of Really New Technologies: How Seniors Construct Meaning in Robot Encounters
Gaël Bonnin, Neoma Business School
Marat Bakpayev, University of Minnesota Duluth
Nicosia Awards
Nicosia Best Short Competitive Paper
Winner
The Rent is Too Damn High! Preferences for Supply- vs. Demand-oriented Policy Solutions to Scarcity
Franklin Shaddy, University of California Los Angeles
Linda Hagen, University of Illinois Chicago
Ryan Hamilton, Emory University
Honorable Mention
Balancing Pain and Impact: How Additional Donation Options Influence Rounding-up Behavior
Bijit Ghosh, University of Alberta
John Pracejus, University of Alberta
Nicosia Best Competitive Paper
Winner
Align or Alienate? The Impact of Ideological Confidence and Message Certainty in Response to Brand Activism
Meta Dev Prasad Murthy, Indian Institute of Management Sambalpur
Vishnu Prasad V, Jio Institute
Mahakram Wenkatesh Patri, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode
Joshy Joseph, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode
Honorable Mention
Johnson-Neyman 2.0: More Flexible, More Robust, and More Interpretable Probing of Interactions
Andres Montealegre, Yale School of Management
Uri Simonsohn, ESADE Business School
Past Conference Research Award Recipients
2024
Nicosia Best Short Competitive Paper
“Do Planning Prompts Suggesting a Default Plan Increase Follow-through? Two, 1-million Person Field Experiments”
Robert Kuan, Katherine L. Milkman, Sean Ellis, Dena Gromet, Youngwoo Jung, Madeline Paxson, Ramon Silvera Zumaran, Ron Berman, Eugen Dimant, Christophe Van den Bulte, and Angela L. Duckworth, University of Pennsylvania
Nicosia Best Competitive Paper
“Temporal Frames of Environmental Threats”
Ozlem Tetik and David Faro, London Business School
Best Working Paper
“The Value of Transgender Consumers in the Marketplace”
Varala Maraj and Mario Campana, University of Bath
Best Film
“Enter: Bird watching perspective of academic coping. An Introspective video-collage”
Dóra Horváth, Máté Bollók, Attila Cosovan, Corvinus University of Budapest
2023
Nicosia Best Paper Award
“Value-creating processes of past-themed marketing and consumption”
Christian Dam – University of Gothenburg
Benjamin J. Hartmann – University of Gothenburg
Katja H. Brunk – Europa-Universität Viadrina
Best Working Paper
“Lagging Behind: The Insidious Effects of Brief Internet Delays on Consumer Engagement”
Asaf Mazar – University of Pennsylvania
Geoff Tomaino – University of Florida
Ziv Carmon – INSEAD
Angela Duckworth – University of Pennsylvania
Wendy Wood – University of Southern California
Best Film
“Face Value”
Russell Belk – York University
Lena Cavusoglu – Pacific University
Best First-Time Film
“A Death Like No Other: The Lived Experience of COVID-19 Bereavement”
Lynn Sudbury-Riley – University of Liverpool
2022
Nicosia Best Paper: “Economic Inequality Shapes Consumers’ Engagement in the Sharing Economy”
Jinyan Xiang – Virginia Tech
Mario Pandelaere – Virginia Tech
Best Working Paper: “Children’s Susceptibility To Advertising: the (un)controllability of evaluative conditioning effects”
Serena D’Hooge – Erasmus University
Steven Sweldens – Erasmus University
Mandy Hütter – University of Tuebingen
Best Film: “ Consuming Authenticity: Eating and Drinking Local”
Benjamin Garner – University of Central Arkansas
Best First-Time Film: “Recharge Coliving Camp”
Máté Bencze – Corvinus University of Budapest
2021
Nicosia Best Paper: “The Silver Lining to the Mushroom Cloud: A Netnographic Analysis of Consumers Enjoying Systemic and Existential Risks”
Hunter Jones – Aalto University
Best Working Paper: “Human Enhancement Technologies for the Übermensch Consumer”
Vitor Lima – Audencia Business School
Russell Belk – York University
Best Film: “A Manhattan Spring Chronicle: The Untold Maslow Story of COVID-19”
Iris Mohr – St. Johns University
Best First-Time Film: “Violence Against Doctors: A Customer Incivility Perspective”
Rajesh Chandwani – Indian institute of Management Ahmedabad
2020
Nicosia Best Paper: “Why Consumers Disproportionately Invest to Improve Outcomes That Are Already Favorable”
Joshua Lewis – University of Pennsylvania
Best Working Paper: “When Does Diversity Help or Backfire? Impact of Cultural Diversity on Brand Perception”
Esther Uduehi – University of Pennsylvania
Julian Saint Clair – Loyola Marymount University
Mitchell Hamilton – Loyola Marymount University
Americus Reed II – University of Pennsylvania
Best Film: “Dignity as a Gift: An Immersion in the Gastronomic Experience at Refettorio Paris”
Ophelie Elise Mugel
Best First-Time Film: “Stanislavskij’s Reflexive Videography to Explore the Representational World of the Researcher”
Michele Corengia – Università della Svizzera italiana
