BIO

Tonya Williams Bradford conducts research on gifting, relationships, identity and well-being. In recent studies, Bradford has examined antecedents and consequences of indexical and prosaic accounts; the influence of self-construal on charitable gifting and well-being; commercial family member relationships with service providers; gender symbolism; cross-cultural consumption and identity-making as a result of myth creation; and the theoretical implications of gift registries on relationship formation and identity-making.

Bradford teaches Brand Strategy, an elective course, for MBAs and the Principles of Marketing for undergraduates. After gaining a B.A. in Anthropology from Northwestern University, she was employed in the financial services sector, domestically and abroad, from 1986 to 2003. She holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, and a doctoral degree from Northwestern University.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

• Consumer Behavior, Ritual, Communities, Identity & Culture

EDUCATION

• BA, Northwestern University
• MBA, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
• Ph D, Northwestern University

TEACHING

• Brand Strategy
• Principles of Marketing

PUBLICATIONS

"Hyperfiliation and Cultural Citizenship: African American Consumer Acculturation," (with John F Sherry, Jr.), To appear in Journal of Business Research.

"Rituals in the Market: An Examination of Gift Registry," (with John F Sherry, Jr.), To appear in Journal of Retailing.

"Intergenerationally Gifted Asset Dispositions,"  Journal of Consumer Research, June, 2009.

Book Articles and Chapters

Reconciling Conceptions of the Gift: The Case of Wedding Registries, (with John F Sherry, Jr.), Left Coast Press ().

Gifts and Gifting in Online Communities, (with Sonya A Grier, Geraldine Rosa Henderson), Emerald (2012).

PRESENTATIONS

Geraldine Rosa Henderson, Tonya Williams-Bradford, Sonya A Grier, American Marketing Association: Winter Educators Conference, American Marketing Association, Las Vegas, Nevada, "Branded Together for Support: The Role of Brand Constellations in Virtual Support Communities," (February 2013).

John F Sherry, Jr., Tonya Williams-Bradford, Association for Consumer Research, Association for Consumer Research, Vancouver, Canada, "Creating Home and Community in Public Spaces: Vestaval in Tailgating” ," (October 2012).

Tonya Williams-Bradford, Sonya A Grier, Geraldine Rosa Henderson, Consumer Culture Theory Conference, Consumer Culture Theory, Oxford University, "Gifts and Gifting in Online Communities," (August 2012).

Tonya Williams-Bradford, John F Sherry, Jr., Consumer Culture Theory Conference, Consumer Culture Theory, Northwestern University, "A Cultural Analysis of Tailgating on a Midwestern American Collegiate Campus," (June 2011).

Tonya Williams-Bradford, Marketing and the Common Good, Mendoza College of Business, Marketing Department, University of Notre Dame, "Exploring Ethics of Paired Kidney Donation," (April 2011).

Tonya Williams-Bradford, Naja Williams Boyd, Association for Consumer Research, Association for Consumer Research, Jacksonville, FL, "Organ Donation as Gifting," (October 2010).

Tonya Williams-Bradford, Christie Nordhielm, Association for Consumer Research, Association for Consumer Research, Nashville, TN, "Head, Heart, and Hand: Brand Loyalty," (October 2007).

Tonya Williams-Bradford, Angela Y. Lee, Association for Consumer Research, Association for Consumer Research, Austin, TX, "Benjamin My Friend or My Money? The Role of Transaction vs. Relationship Wealth in Subjective Well Being," (October 2005).

Tonya Williams-Bradford, John F Sherry, Jr., Association for Consumer Research, Association for Consumer Research, Austin, TX, "Constructing a Past for Today: Appropriated Collective Memory for Identity (Re)presentation," (October 2005).

Tonya Williams-Bradford, Association for Consumer Research, Association for Consumer Research, Austin, TX, "Money and Meaning: Social Capital and Inter Vivos Gifting," (October 2005).