FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The American Marketing Association (AMA) has awarded Jennifer D. Christie the best doctoral student paper at its recent Marketing and Public Policy Conference. The announcement was made at the AMA’s "Emerging Issues and Challenges in Public Policy" conference, held May 29-31 in Washington, D.C.

Christie received a Ph.D. in marketing in May 2003 from the Sam M. Walton College of Business, University of Arkansas. She also received a BA and an MBA from the University of Arkansas. She will join the University of Dayton in fall 2003 as assistant professor of marketing.

Tom Jensen, Wal-Mart Lecturer in Retailing and chair of the Walton College’s marketing and logistics department, said, "We are very excited about Jennifer’s achievement and this national recognition. Her research targets the hot topic of intellectual property in a digital context. She and her fellow researchers surveyed college students on downloading music and movies from the Internet."

Christie’s paper, "Internet Distribution of Copyrighted Digital Content: Consumer Perceptions, Ethical Issues and the Viability of Subscription Models," was coauthored by Don Lloyd Cook, assistant professor of marketing, Georgia State University, and Norma Mendoza, assistant professor of marketing, Walton College. Cook holds a BSBA ’85, MBA ’94, and JD ’88 from the University of Arkansas.

The growth of the Internet has been spectacular, but issues of intellectual property rights have yet to be resolved. Christie, Mendoza and Cook surveyed 82 college students regarding the frequency with which they download copyrighted material from the Internet, their perceptions of this practice, and the boundary conditions that define this practice as ethical or unethical. As these issues get resolved, an important consideration is whether public attitudes about the ethical and moral dimensions regarding violations of copyright protection will evolve and align with the law.

Seventy-one percent of survey respondents said they have downloaded copyrighted material (mostly music and video clips) free of costs. Of that group, 66 percent reported that the free access to content on the Internet affects their purchase behavior within traditional non-virtual environments.

Christie said, "Our findings are intended to provide a snapshot of consumer attitudes towards the practice of file sharing and the viability of fee-based services. Future research should track whether consumer attitudes towards this practice change as marketers’ offerings provide the convenience, selection, and quality consumers say they are willing to pay for."

Scot Burton, professor and Wal-Mart Chair in marketing, Walton College, co-chaired the 2003 Marketing and Public Policy Conference along with J. Craig Andrews, Marquette University, and Michael B. Mazis, American University. In 2001

Jensen said, "Congratulations also go to Scot Burton, co-chair of the conference, for executing a well organized and attended conference. In addition two other marketing faculty, Betsy Creyer and Steve Kopp, presented papers at the conference. Doctoral student Jeremy Kees attended the doctoral consortium and also assisted Scot with the conference."

The AMA’s Marketing and Public Policy Conference examined the interface between marketing and public policy from the academic, practitioner and public policy perspectives. The conference was attended by academics, marketing practitioners, government officials, consumer and trade association representatives, legal professionals, state and local regulatory agencies and others interested in discussing public policy and social marketing initiatives.

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