Professor Kirk Plangger's research investigates how digital technology impacts behaviour that informs how organisations can develop responsible marketing strategies. He has three main areas of specific research interest: consumer privacy, consumer engagement, and creative consumers. Kirk’s research into consumer privacy focuses on how consumer behaviour is affected by customer surveillance (e.g., information collection, big data storage systems, location-based ads, etc.) technologies both in online and offline environments. His research in engagement centres on engaging consumers through social media marketing strategies and also by using gamification techniques to change consumer behaviour or attitudes. Kirk is also interested in the consumer and management implications of consumers using or altering products in ways that the manufacturer or service-provider never intended.

Kirk’s research has been funded in the past by the British Academy, the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (UK EPSRC), Leverhulme Trust, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Kirk has published in journals such as the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Information Systems Research, Journal of Retailing, Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, Industrial Marketing Management, Information & Management, European Journal of Marketing, Psychology & Marketing,  and Business Horizons, among others. He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Advertising Research for Advertisng Technologies and Artifiical Intellignece, as well as holding editorial review board positions for the Journal of Advertisng, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Advertising Research, International Journal of Advertising, Business Horizons, Journal of Wine Research and the Marketing Education Review. He also acts as an ad-hoc reviewer for a number of academic and practitioner journals and conferences.

Professor Kirk Plangger holds a tenured Chair in Marketing in the Department of Marketing, and the current Associate Dean (Doctoral Studies) at King's Business School. He joined King’s in early September 2013. During his PhD, he studied marketing and consumer behaviour at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada) where he also has earned an MBA in general management. Kirk has a honours BA in economics from University of Western Ontario (London, Canada). He is currently teaching consumer behaviour on the MSc in International Marketing programmes, as well as being actively involved in Executive Education. 

Artifical Intelligence (AI) in Marketing and Advertising; Digital Technology in Marketing; False media (Deepfakes, GANs, Fake reviews); Consumer privacy; Consumer surveillance; Social Media Marketing Strategy; Brand Transparency; Social Media Influencers; Algorithmic Bias and Fairness in Marketing