Michael R. Solomon, Ph.D. is Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Consumer Research in the Haub School of Business at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. He also is Professor of Consumer Behaviour at the Manchester School of Business, The University of Manchester, U.K. Prior to joining the St. Joe's faculty in Fall 2006, he was the Human Sciences Professor of Consumer Behavior, at Auburn University and he served as Chairman of the Department of Mar¬keting in the School of Business at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ. Prof. Solomon began his academic career in the Graduate School of Business Administration at New York University, where he also served as Associate Director of NYU's Insti¬tute of Retail Management. He earned B.A. degrees in Psychology and Sociology magna cum laude at Brandeis University in 1977, and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1981. He was awarded the Fulbright/FLAD Chair in Market Globalization by The U.S. Fulbright Commission and the Government of Portugal.

Solomon goes beyond the discussion of why people buy things and explores how products, services, and consumption activities contribute to shape people’s social experiences.