Vassia Kontopoulou

BA, Athens University of Economics and Business; MBA, Athens University of Economics and Business; PhD, Athens University of Economics and Business

Vasiliki Kontopoulouis is an Assistant Professor at Deree-The American College of Greece. Her academic and research interests lie in the areas of consumer behavior, consumer psychology, evolutionary biology, social influence, and human motivation, as well as consumer decision making. Her area of expertise also includes status seeking, luxury spending, and digital advertising and social media. Dr Kontopoulou’s work integrates knowledge from evolutionary biology with diverse areas of psychology and marketing. The aim of her research is to provide insight into the underlying fundamental motives behind consumer choices that can guide the creation of successful marketing appeals. Currently, she writes an academic paper that focuses on explaining consumer preference for fake luxury items, drawing on the premises of evolutionary psychology. Drawing on deceptive signaling and the theory of sexual selection, this research emphasizes both the consumption of fake luxury products as well as the perception of such consumption by others.