Smith Student Draws High Honor at Global Marketing Research Summit

COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Oct. 7, 2015 – Marketing PhD student Seoungwoo Lee of the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business has captured the 2015 Shankar-Spiegel Dissertation Proposal Award from the nonprofit organization Marketing EDGE.

Smith School marketing professors Jie Zhang and Michel Wedel chaired Lee’s winning dissertation proposal titled “Free, Paid, or Freemium: Dynamic Versioning Decisions for Mobile Apps.”

"Seoungwoo Lee’s dissertation research rigorously addresses an important and timely topic: how app publishers make versioning decisions and how app platforms can improve their commission structures to achieve mutual benefits,” Wedel said. “The Shankar-Spiegel award is a great recognition of his work.”

The award recognizes doctoral candidates from accredited programs with the best dissertation proposals in the area of direct/interactive marketing.

"As a researcher, Seoungwoo possesses a fantastic combination of mastery of advanced quantitative modeling and computer programming skills and a sharp mind for developing research topics of managerial importance,” said Zhang. “He is keenly interested in the mobile app industry and digital technologies. I am confident that he will do impactful research in these fields."

The award’s namesake praised Lee’s work. “The Shankar-Spiegel Award’s purpose is to inspire groundbreaking research in direct/interactive marketing that has the potential to alter the field’s future,” said Venkatesh “Venky” Shankar, the respected author, consultant and Texas A&M University marketing professor. “Seoungwoo and his dissertation advisors are to be commended for an exceptional forward-looking research proposal.”

The award was presented on Oct. 4, 2015 as part of the Marketing EDGE Direct/Interactive Marketing Research Summit in Boston.

The competition was established in 2007 in honor of Shankar and the late Edward J. “Ted” Spiegel, then professor emeritus of integrated marketing communications at Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. He began his career working in the family business that mailed its first, and now well-known, Spiegel catalog in 1905.

Shankar started his academic career at the Smith School. He co-directed the Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams (QUEST) Program from 1998-2000 and served as an associate professor of marketing from 2000-2004.

“When Spiegel and Shankar created this award they stressed the importance of ensuring innovative research and education in our field,” said Marketing EDGE President Terri L. Bartlett. “We are honored to continue to support future scholars through this distinctive award.”