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Krista Hill Cummings

  • Associate Professor
Academic Division: Marketing
CV
Dr. Hill Cummings' research background is in services marketing with a focus on consumer-provider communication. Specifically, she is interested in the factors that render marketing messages such as apologies or emotional displays as more effective. She uses many methodologies in her research including meta-analysis, experimental design, and nonverbal behavior assessment. She is an interdisciplinary researcher, working with colleagues in marketing, psychology, and health care to address consumer communication research questions.

Academic Degrees

  • Ph D, Northeastern University
  • MA, Northeastern University
  • BA, Northeastern University

Academic Interest / Expertise

Consumer Psychology; Services Marketing; Marketing Experiments; Marketing Research

Awards & Honors

  • 2020 — Best Undergraduate Business Professors, Poets and Quants
  • 2020 — Dean’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, Babson

Courses

  • Degree Courses 2025

    • MKT 3550 CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY & SHOPPER MARKETING
    • MKT 2000 PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
    • MKT 3504 THE NYC STAGE&SUITE

  • Degree Courses 2024

    • MKT 2000 PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
    • SES 2000 SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMS
    • MKT 3550 CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY & SHOPPER MARKETING

  • Degree Courses 2023

    • MKT 3550 CONSUMER PSYCH&SHOPPER MARKETING
    • MKT 2000 PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
    • MKT 3550 CONSUMER PSYCHOLOGY &SHOPPER MARKETING

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Cummings, K.H., Zafari, B., Beitelspacher, L.S. (2025). # Canceled! Exploring the phenomenon of canceling. Journal of Business Research. Issue: 186.
  • Cummings, K.H., Herhausen, D., Roggeveen, A.L., Grewal, D. (in press). Countering Virtual Brand Sabotage: The Power of Informative Responses. Journal of Service Research.
  • Herhausen, D., Grewal, L., Cummings, K.H., Roggeveen, A.L., Grewal, D., Villarroel, F. (2023). Complaint Deescalation Strategies on Social Media. Journal of Marketing.
  • Cummings, K.H., Yule, J.A. (2023). Conservative Consumer Disinterest in Plant-Based Meat: A Problem of Message Incongruence. Appetite.
  • Cummings, K.H., Seitchik, A. (2020). The Differential Treatment of Women During Service Recovery: The Way Perceived Power Affects Consumers’ Post-Failure Compensation. Business Horizons. Vol: 63, Issue: 5, Page: 647-658. link
  • Cummings, K.H., Yule, J.A. (2020). Tailoring Service Recovery Messages to Consumers’ Affective States . European Journal of Marketing.
  • Wynstra, C.B., Cummings, K.H., Rodgers, V.L., Stillwagon, J.R., Tosti-Kharas, J. (2020). "Teaching 'Beyond the Horizon': Transdisciplinary Approaches". Eugene O'Neill Review, The. Vol: 41, Issue: 1, Page: 69-91. Penn State University Press.
  • Blanch-Hartigan, D., Yule, J., Hill Cummings, K., Smith, V., Schmid Mast, M. (2019). The Academic-Industry Divide in Health Communication: A Call for Increased Partnership. Patient Education and Counseling. Vol: 102, Issue: 12, Page: 2330-2334. link
  • Yule, J., Hill, K.M., Yule, S. (2018). Development and evaluation of a patient-centered measurement tool for surgeons’ non-technical skills. British Journal of Surgery. Vol: 105, Issue: 7, Page: 876-884. John Wiley & Sons Ltd..
  • Hill, K.M., Blanch-Hartigan, D. (2017). Physician gender and apologies in clinical interactions. Patient Education and Counseling. Vol: 101, Issue: 5, Page: 836-842. Elsevier Ireland Ltd..
  • Hill, K.M., Fombelle, P.W., Sirianni, N.J. (2016). Shopping under the influence of curiosity: How retailers use mystery to drive purchase motivation. Journal of Business Research. Vol: 69, Issue: 3, Page: 1028-1034.
  • Hill, K.M., Boyd, D.P. (2015). Who should apologize when an employee transgresses? Source effects on apology effectiveness. Journal of Business Ethics. Vol: 130, Issue: 1, Page: 163-170.
  • Ruben, M.A., Hill, K.M., Hall, J.A. (2014). How women's sexual orientation guides accuracy of interpersonal judgements of other women. Cognition and Emotion. Vol: 28, Issue: 8, Page: 1512-1521. Routledge.
  • Hill, K.M., Boyd, D.P. (2013). The components of a successful CEO apology. Journal of Business Case Studies. Vol: 9, Issue: 2, Page: 89-96. Clute Institute for Academic Research.
  • Blanch-Hartigan, D., Andrzejewski, S.A., Hill, K.M. (2012). The Effectiveness of Training to Improve Person Perception Accuracy: A Meta-Analysis. Basic and Applied Social Psychology. Vol: 34, Issue: 6, Page: 483-498. Psychology Press.

Cases and Teaching Notes

  • Hill, K.M., Roggeveen, A.L., Grewal, D., Nordfalt, J. (2015). ICA: Changing the supermarket business, one screen at a time. Babson Worldwide, A Special Case Collection..
  • Hill, K.M., Roggeveen, A.L., Grewal, D., Nordfalt, J. (2015). Teaching Note - ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time. Babson Worldwide, A Special Case Collection.

Book Chapters

  • Blanch-Hartigan, D., Cummings, K.H. (2021). Training and Improving Accuracy of Personality Trait Judgments: The Handbook of Accurate Personality Judgment. . Oxford University Press.
  • Blanch-Hartigan, D., Andrzejewski, S., Hill, K.M. (2016). Training people to be interpersonally accurate: The Social Psychology of Perceiving Others Accurately. Page: 253-269. Cambridge University Press.
  • Nordfalt, J., Grewal, D., Roggeveen, A.L., Hill, K.M. (2014). Insights from in-store marketing experiments: Shopper Marketing and the Role of In-Store Marketing (Review of Marketing Research). Vol: 11, Page: 127-146. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Presentations

  • You Should be Angry Too!: The Importance of Expressive Arousal in Response to Healthcare Consumer Reviews Cummings, K. Yule, J. Faculty Research Discussion, Babson (2023)
  • Optimizing Empathy: To match or mismatch a patient's emotional state Cummings, K. Yule, J. Frontiers in Service, Maastrich, Amsterdam (2023)
  • Effectiveness of Pride and Shame Messaging Appeals in Advertising the Purchase of Second-Hand Clothing to Gen Z. Heilborn, C. Cummings, K. Northeast Decision Sciences Institute Conference, Washington DC (2023)
  • Online Tools to Add to Your Teaching Toolbox Ferris, K. Cummings, K. Northeast Decision Sciences Institute Conference, Washington DC (2023)
  • Deescalating Arousal in Social Media Complaints Using Active Listening and Empathy to Enhance Customer Gratitude Herhausen, D. Grewal, L. Cummings, K. Roggeveen, A. Grewal, D. Villarroel, F. , . Association for Consumer Research, Denver, Colorado (2022)
  • Addressing Boththe Failure and the Flames: Deescalating Negative Arousal in Service Delivery Herhausen, D. Hill, K. Roggeveen, A. Grewal, D. Kredge Business School, France (2021)
  • Addressing Both the Failure and the Flames: Deescalating Negative Arousal in Service Delivery Herhausen, D. Cummings, K. Roggeveen, A. Grewal, D. Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, the Netherland (2021)
  • The Service Recovery Behavioral Change Model: Deescalating Negative Arousal and Recovering from Service Failures Cummings, K. Roggeveen, A. Grewal, D. Babson Research Day, Babson Park, MA (2020)
  • Breaking Bad (News): A Patient-Centered Approach to Apology and Disclosure Training for Medical Residents Hill, K. Yule, J. 17th International Conference on Communication in Healthcare, San Diego, CA (2019)
  • Strong Girls and Kind Boys: Understanding Preferences for Gender-Congruent Clothing in Children’s Wear Hill, K. Bal, A. Grewal, D. 22nd AMS World Marketing Congress, Edinburgh, Scotland (2019)
  • A meeting of minds: Exploring practical and intellectual synergies between business and health communication disciplines Hartigan, D. Yule, J. Hill, K. Schmid Mast, M. 16th International Conference on Communication in Healthcare, Porto, Portugal (2018)
  • Development and evaluation of a patient-centered measurement tool for surgeons' non-technical skills Yule, J. Hill, K. Yule, S. 16th International Conference on Communication in Healthcare, Porto, Portugal (2018)
  • How to Respond When a Consumer Vindictively Complains About Your Firm Online Hill, K. Roggeveen, A. 2018 Summer American Marketing Association Conference, Boston, MA (2018)
  • How to Respond when a Consumer Complains about your firm online Hill, K. Rogeveen, A. Grewal, D. American Marketing Association, Boston (2018)
  • Physician Gender and Apologies in Clinical Interactions Hill, K. Blanch-Hartigan, D. International Conference on Communication in Healthcare (ICCH) & Health Literacy Annual Research Conference (HARC), Baltimore, MD (2017)
  • How to Respond When a Consumer Complains About Your Firm Online Hill, K. Roggeveen, A. Northeast Decision Sciences Institute Annual Conference, Springfield, MA (2017)
  • Should I Copy Her? A Meta-Analytic Synthesis Of Mimicry Effects Hill, K. Andrzejewski, S. Grewal, D. Puccinelli, N. Association for Consumer Research, Berlin, Germany (2016)
  • Instructional revolution mediated by technology: The use of social media in the classroom. Ferris-Costa, K. Hill, K. Northeast Decision Sciences Institute, Alexandria, Virginia (2016)
  • Improving students’ online presence with a personal branding assignment Hill, K. Ferris-Costa, K. American Marketing Association Collegiate Conference, New Orleans, LA (2016)
  • The use of social media in the classroom Hill, K. Ferris-Costa, K. New England Faculty Development Consortium, East Greenwich, Rhode Island (2015)
  • The influence of emotional responses on service recovery efforts Hill, K. Yule, J. Association for Consumer Research, New Orleans, LA (2015)
  • The impact of service recovery strategies on consumer responses: A conceptual model and meta-analysis Hill, K. Roggeveen, A. Grewal, D. Association for Consumer Research Conference, New Orleans, LA (2015)
  • Scale development of NOTSS-pt: Measuring patients’ perspectives of physicians’ non-technical skills Yule, J. Hill, K. McRitchie, A. Yule, S. AMA Winter Marketing Educators’ Conference, San Antonio, TX (2015)
  • When are apologies effective? Examining the components that increase an apology’s effectiveness Hill, K. AMA Winter Marketing Educators’ Conference, Orlando, FL (2014)
  • The role of curiosity in consumer behavior Hill, K. Fombelle, P. AMA Summer Marketing Educators’ Conference, Boston, MA (2013)
  • A meta-analysis of mimicry outcomes in consumer research settings Andrzejewski, S. Grewal, D. Hill, K. European Association for Consumer Research Conference, Barcelona, Spain (2013)
  • When are apologies effective? A meta-analysis on the outcomes of apologies Hill, K. Colvin, R. Conlon, T. Annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA (2013)
  • Predicting romantic relationship fate using nonverbal cues Hill, K. Tignor, S. The annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA (2013)
  • Careers outside of academia Hill, K. Ruben, M. The annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA (2012)
  • Can training improve students’ interpersonal sensitivity? A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of training in adults Hill, K. Blanch-Hartigan, D. Andrzejewski, S. The annual meeting of the New England Conference for Teachers of Psychology, Fairfield, CT (2011)
  • The effectiveness of training to improve interpersonal sensitivity: A meta-analysis Blanch-Hartigan, D. Andrzejewski, S. Hill, K. Wittenbraker, C. Yu, X. The annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Antonio, TX (2011)
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Department & College Wide Services

  • Faculty Senate (Fall 2019 - Present)
  • Undergraduate Marketing Electives committee (Fall 2019 - Spring 2020)
  • Framing the Future of Undergraduate Education Summer Fellow (Summer 2019 - Summer 2019)