Leigh McAlister's area of expertise is consumer behavior, marketing models and marketing strategy.
Her research focuses on consumers' reactions to marketing interventions and the strategic implications of those reactions. She has special interest in brand value and retail marketing.
McAlister's research, published in most of the major journals in her field, has been supported by Procter & Gamble, HEB Grocery Co., 3M, Motorola, Frito-Lay, Philip Morris, Pepsi, Miller, McLane Distributing, and the Marketing Science Institute. In 1997 she published Grocery Revolution, a book co-authored with Barbara Kahn of Wharton.
McAlister won the 2003 O'Dell Award for the most impactful paper published in Journal of Marketing Research, the 2005 Davidson Prize for the best paper in Journal of Retailing and she was a finalist for the 2007 MSI/H Paul Root Award for the Journal of Marketing Paper with the most impact on practice.
McAlister has served on the faculties of the University of Washington (1978-1981) and M.I.T. (1981-1986), where she won outstanding graduate school and institute-wide teaching awards. At UT since 1987, she has continued to win numerous teaching awards, research excellence awards and teaching innovation awards.
McAlister received a BA from the University of Oklahoma and her MS and Ph.D. from Stanford University.