Dr Somayeh Zamani
About
Biography
Somayeh Zamani is a Senior Lecturer in Business Management at the Surrey International Institute (SII). She holds a PhD in Business Management with a specialisation in Marketing . Her doctoral research focused on identity formation and consumer behaviour in hyper-connected environments, particularly among smartphone users.
Areas of specialism
Previous roles
Affiliations and memberships
ResearchResearch interests
My research focuses on understanding consumer behavior in today’s digitally connected world. I explore the ways people engage with both global and local brands in online environments and how these experiences influence their attitudes, decisions, and sense of self. Drawing on qualitative and mixed-method approaches, I examine the psychological and cultural dynamics behind everyday digital consumption. My work aims to bridge academic inquiry with practical insights, contributing to better marketing strategies, digital product design, and more meaningful consumer-brand relationships.
Research interests
My research focuses on understanding consumer behavior in today’s digitally connected world. I explore the ways people engage with both global and local brands in online environments and how these experiences influence their attitudes, decisions, and sense of self. Drawing on qualitative and mixed-method approaches, I examine the psychological and cultural dynamics behind everyday digital consumption. My work aims to bridge academic inquiry with practical insights, contributing to better marketing strategies, digital product design, and more meaningful consumer-brand relationships.
Teaching
I teach Business moduels including Strategic Management, International Business Strategies Comparative Country Studies and Digital Coding for Finance
Publications
Highlights
This study explores how consumers' identification with global culture influences their willingness to generate electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on digital platforms. It provides empirical support for Global Consumer Culture Theory and offers insights for marketers aiming to engage international audiences online.
Generating positive electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) has become a goal of many advertisers, including many brands in the growing global market for luxury brands. To better understand factors related to the generation of eWOM in this market, a cross-cultural study investigating the factors associated with eWOM is conducted. Data was collected from two nations, Iran and the U.S. through an online questionnaire to examine whether consumers’ level of self-identification with global consumer culture (along with other factors) plays a key role in generating eWOM. Findings of this research are supportive of global consumer culture theory in that they suggest that there is a cross-national segment of luxury consumers who are influenced by similar factors both within the two countries and across the pooled sample from both countries. Specifically, we find that in addition to being exposed to global culture eWOM, materialistic and cosmopolitan, self-brand expression is important to this group and contributes to eWOM generation. Our findings suggest that appeals consistent with global consumer culture, can allow global luxury brands to enhance eWOM in a way such that these consumers help to promote their brands.