1. Soo Yon Ryu Presents at the Association of Consumer Research Conference

By Lily Caldwell
November 10, 2025

Soo Yon Ryu, assistant professor of business administration at Washington and Lee University, recently presented at the Association of Consumer Research Conference (ACR) on Oct. 9-11.

ACR, the largest and the most prestigious conference in consumer behavior (marketing) research, seeks to highlight the richness of consumer research focusing on the complex set of behaviors involved in the notion of buying. The conference offers the opportunity to add both theoretical and substantive insight for consumer policy and practice. Conference events included special sessions, competitive and working paper presentations, roundtables, workshops and an arts festival.

Ryu presented her paper, "The Materialization of Experiences: How Perceived Experience Depth Increases Consumers' Preference for Unique Objects," at a special session where she was invited alongside distinguished researchers in the field. Her paper explores the relationship between perceived experience depth and the type of experience-related objects consumers prefer to acquire, arguing that consumers are more likely to purchase unique (vs. typical) experience-related items when they have deeper (vs. more basic) experiences. The special session ranked as one of the most attended sessions of this year's conference.

Ryu is in her first year as a faculty member at W&L. She earned a dual bachelor's degree in business administration and culture & design management from Yonsei University, a Master of Arts in art management from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Florida, where she was recognized with the Warrington College of Business Ph.D. Teaching Award and a Marketing Science Institute Research Grant.

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