Big spending ahead for Black Friday and Cyber Monday amid high consumer confidence, UB experts say

By Kevin Manne

BUFFALO, N.Y. —  With consumer confidence trending upward as we move into the shopping season, experts say this year’s holiday spending per person could be at its highest point since before the pandemic. 

The University at Buffalo School of Management has experts available to discuss holiday shopping trends, the retail outlook, digital shopping and cybersecurity, and more. To interview an expert, contact Kevin Manne, associate director of communications, at 716-645-5238 or kjmanne@buffalo.edu.

Retail outlook and trends

Indranil Goswami is associate professor of marketing in the UB School of Management. He teaches marketing research and studies pro-social behavior, motivation and self-control, choice architecture and judgement, and decision-making. He can discuss flexible payment options, such as buy now, pay later, and New Year’s resolutions.

Michael Krupski is clinical assistant professor of strategy in the UB School of Management. He brings more than 10 years of industry experience in digital marketing and strategy development to his role in the classroom, where he teaches strategic management, digital marketing, advertising, corporate social responsibility and more. Krupski can discuss holiday creep (how sales begin earlier and are more spread out), buy now, pay later options, the blend of online and in-store purchasing behaviors, and general consumer shopping behavior.

Scott Laing is clinical assistant professor of finance in the UB School of Management. He studies environmental social governance, sustainability policy, asset pricing and corporate finance. Laing can speak about how inflation affects holiday spending, the choices consumers make and where they decide to shop. 

Charles Lindsey is associate professor of marketing in the UB School of Management, with expertise in consumer behavior, advertising, branding, marketing strategy, e-commerce and digital marketing. For the holiday season, Lindsey can discuss trends for Black Friday, Small Business Saturday and Cyber Monday, e-commerce versus in-person shopping and consumer tips and hacks.

Digital shopping and cybersecurity

Kevin Cleary is clinical assistant professor of management science and systems in the UB School of Management. He brings to the classroom nearly 20 years of industry experience in information security, enterprise infrastructure and IT management in higher education and the private sector (from small startups to large publicly traded companies). Cleary can speak about personalized shopping experiences using AI and data analytics, e-commerce, mobile and augmented reality shopping, and data privacy and security.

Alan Katerinsky is clinical assistant professor of management science and systems in the UB School of Management. He is an expert in data privacy, data security and telecommunications, and can discuss how to make safe banking and financial transactions online.