Staff profile

Mike joined the department in 2001 after a successful career in FMCG marketing and a lengthy period as an entrepreneur.  Currently our Professor of Strategic Marketing, he is a psychologist by background and an authority on Chaos Marketing; the deliberate shattering of a brand’s strategy in pursuit of competitive advantage.

Mike’s research and consultancy work aligns with the three pillars of Chaos Marketing, often described together as the controlled detonation of creativity.  The first is sensory disruption, exploring ways of deploying layered text, audio elements and unexpected visuals to grab audience attention.  The second experiments with insider humour, self-deprecation and trending topics to flirt with cultural provocation as a route to consumer engagement.  And finally, the third stream of work looks for ways of leveraging memes, platform-native trends and jargon-free conversational language to prioritise relatability over predictability and deliver high-impact ROI for a brand.

These three pillars carry through into Mike’s award-winning teaching activities too, which span our undergraduate and postgraduate portfolios.  From scenario planning and design thinking to the use of unexpected techniques from Chaos Magick, Mike delivers an interactive style of instruction that allows students to experience first-hand the application of Chaos Marketing principles to topics such as cross-media brand strategy, marketing innovation and user-generated content creation.

Beyond the university, Mike collaborates with a number of leading brands and agencies, as well as authoring books on primal marketing, creator identities and brand storytelling strategies.

 

• Behavioural Science Marketing
• Brand Storytelling
• Chaos Marketing
• Cross-media Brand Strategies
• Consumer Behaviour in the Occult Economy
• Scenario Thinking

Conference Paper

• Impulsivity and Impulse Buying: A Cross-National Examination.
  
  Xiao, S., Iyer, G., & Nicholson, M. (2013). Impulsivity and Impulse Buying: A Cross-National Examination [Conference paper]. Presented at EMAC 2013 Conference, ITU., Istanbul, Turkey.
• Social Marketing: Contributions from Evolutionary Psychology
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2009, June). Social Marketing: Contributions from Evolutionary Psychology [Conference paper]. Presented at International Symposium on Social Marketing and Behavioural Change, Durham University.
• Symposium: Old Wine in New Bottles? Social Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Analysis.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2008, September). Symposium: Old Wine in New Bottles? Social Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Analysis [Conference paper]. Presented at British Academy of Management Conference, Harrogate, UK.
• Evolutionary Psychology and the Behavioural Perspective Model
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007, September). Evolutionary Psychology and the Behavioural Perspective Model [Conference paper]. Presented at 1st International Symposium on Consumer Behaviour Analysis, Cardiff, UK.
• Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationships in a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Marketplace.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2007, July). Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationshipsin a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Marketplace [Conference paper]. Presented at 5th International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Consumer Channel Choice as an Operant Process.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007, July). Consumer Channel Choice as an Operant Process [Conference paper]. Presented at 5th International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Luxury for the Masses: An Exploratory Study on New Luxury Brands Consumption in China.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2007). Luxury for the Masses: An Exploratory Study on New Luxury Brands Consumption in China [Conference paper]. Presented at 3rd Annual Colloquium of the Academy of Marketing’s Brand, Corporate Identity and Reputation Special Interest Group., London, UK.
• Faking It! Consumer Behaviour towards Counterfeit Goods in China.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2004, July). Faking It! Consumer Behaviour towards Counterfeit Goods in China [Conference paper]. Presented at 2nd International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Toys for Boys and the Girl Game Jinx: Sex differences in computer gaming.
  
  Hindmarsh, S., & Nicholson, M. (2004). Toys for Boys and the Girl Game Jinx: Sex differences in computer gaming [Conference paper]. Presented at 2nd International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Multichannel Consumer Behaviour in the Retail Fashion Sector
  
  Nicholson, M., Clarke, I., & Blakemore, M. (2001, June). Multichannel Consumer Behaviour in the Retail Fashion Sector [Conference paper]. Presented at 11th International Conference on Research in the Distributive Trades., Tilburg, NL.

Journal Article

• Consumer Revenge Using the Internet and Social Media: An Examination of the Role of Service Failure Types and Cognitive Appraisal Processes
  
  Obeidat, Z., Xiao, S., Iyer, G., & Nicholson, M. (2017). Consumer Revenge Using the Internet and Social Media: An Examination of the Role of Service Failure Types and Cognitive Appraisal Processes. Psychology and Marketing, 34(4), 496-515. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21002
• Behavioral issues in price setting in business-to-business marketing: a framework for analysis
  
  Iyer, G., Xiao, S., Sharma, A., & Nicholson, M. (2015). Behavioral issues in price setting in business-to-business marketing: a framework for analysis. Industrial Marketing Management, 47, 6-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.02.001
• Mapping impulse buying: a behaviour analysis framework for services marketing and consumer research
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2011). Mapping impulse buying: a behaviour analysis framework for services marketing and consumer research. Service Industries Journal, 31(15), 2515-2528. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.531123
• Consumer behaviour analysis and social marketing practice.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2011). Consumer behaviour analysis and social marketing practice. Service Industries Journal, 31(15), 2529-2542. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.531124
• Consumer consideration of non-deceptive counterfeit goods: a contingency matrix approach.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2011). Consumer consideration of non-deceptive counterfeit goods: a contingency matrix approach. Service Industries Journal, 31(15), 2617-2631. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.529608
• Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationships in a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Market.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2010). Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationships in a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Market. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 30(3), 247-270.
• On the Evolutionary Bases of Consumer Reinforcement.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2010). On the Evolutionary Bases of Consumer Reinforcement. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 30(2), 127-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/01608061003756356
• Understanding and profitably managing customer loyalty
  
  Gee, R., Coates, G., & Nicholson, M. (2008). Understanding and profitably managing customer loyalty. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 26(4), 359-374. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634500810879278
• One brand, three ways to shop: Situational variables and multichannel consumer behaviour
  
  Nicholson, M., Clarke, I., & Blakemore, M. (2002). One brand, three ways to shop: Situational variables and multichannel consumer behaviour. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 12(2), 131-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593960210127691

Working Paper

• Darwin’s ghost : evolutionary psychology and consumer behaviour analysis
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007). Darwin’s ghost : evolutionary psychology and consumer behaviour analysis.
• Darwin's Ghost: Evolutionary Psychology and Consumer Behaviour Analysis
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007). Darwin’s Ghost: Evolutionary Psychology and Consumer Behaviour Analysis.