Biography

Dr. Monica Popa Sârghie’s research, teaching and service have an inter-disciplinary perspective, anchored in social responsibility, sustainable systems, and the intertwined role of businesses, not-for-profit organizations, governments and citizens/consumers for the wholistic wellbeing of individuals, communities and our planet.

Dr. Popa Sârghie’s work is at the intersection of three signature areas of the University of Saskatchewan: communities and sustainability, health and wellness, energy and mineral resources for a sustainable future. Her recent initiatives include projects on coping mechanisms and human flourishing (bridging business research with perspectives from psychiatry, psychology and kinesiology), and technology adoption in Northern Communities. Dr. Sârghie’s work in social sciences and business research, published in top-ranked journals such as Journal of Marketing and Journal of Marketing Research, examines the socially responsible attitudes of consumers and firms, mutual helping behaviours, charitable donations, fair trade systems, and strategic partnerships. To understand these phenomena, Dr. Sârghie is examining issues of trust, fairness, connectedness, empathy and reciprocity. She pays particular attention to the interplay of sensory, emotional, cognitive and linguistic influences on behaviour/choices and decision-making, scrutinizing notions of economic rationality, impulse control and psychological disorders. Focusing on the same mechanisms, Dr. Sârghie investigates the negative side of (over)consumption and compulsive/addictive behaviours such as the shopping addiction, binge eating, and even seemingly “positive addictions” like compulsive exercising. At the core of Dr. Sârghie’s academic pursuits is the strive to nurture individual wellbeing and healthy societies.

Courses

• COMM 354 Consumer Behaviour
• COMM 450 Social Cause Marketing: Designing Change for Good
• MKT 400 Honours Seminar in Marketing
• MKT 802 Marketing Theory (M.Sc. in Management Program)
• MKT 803 Consumer Behaviour (M.Sc. in Management Program)
• MGT 990 MSc Seminar

Research

Dr. Sârghie's research interests are in the following areas:

• Consumer behavior
• Consumer welfare and transformative consumer research (TCR)
• Sustainable business practices
• Sustainable consumption and addictions
• Social marketing, nonprofits, cause-related marketing, Fair Trade, helping behaviours
• The interplay of emotions and cognition in decision-making
• Communication and linguistics

Selected Publications

Nagel, Natasha, and Popa Sârghie, Monica (2023), “The Influence of Life Events on Young Consumers’ Compulsive Shopping Tendencies”, Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management, 1(2), 30-39.

Popa Sârghie, Monica, and John Pracejus (2022), “Consumer Perspectives on Fairtrade Prices,” Journal of Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management, 1(1), 27-36.

Popa Sârghie, Monica, and John Pracejus (2021), “Alleviating Inequity and Promoting a Moral Economy through Fair Trade: How Can Reluctant Consumers Become Part of the Solution?”, Journal of Strategic Marketing, 31(2), 403-420, DOI: 10.1080/0965254x.2021.1922488

Popa Sârghie, Monica (2021), “Using Social Marketing to Tackle Compulsive Buying”, Social Marketing Quarterly, 27 (1), 3-12, DOI: 10.1177/1524500420988263

Joffre Swait, Monica Popa and Luming Wang (2016), “Capturing Context-Sensitive Information Usage in Choice Models via Mixtures of Information Archetypes”, Journal of Marketing Research, 53 (5), 1–20. DOI: 10.1509/jmr.12.0518

Popa, Monica (2014), “Re-Examining the Marketing Basics: The Mirage of the Routes to Persuasion,” International Journal of Economic Practices and Theories, 4(5), 2247–7225.

Popa, Monica, Barbara J. Phillips, and Courtney Robertson (2014), “Positive Outcomes of Social Norm Transgressions,” Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 13 (5), 351–363. DOI: 10.1002/cb.1483

Argo, Jennifer, Monica Popa, and Malcolm Smith (2010), “The Sound of Brands,” Journal of Marketing, 74 (4), 97−109. DOI: 10.1002/cb.1483