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Dr Rohini Vijaygopal

Profile summary

  • Central Academic Staff
  • Senior Lecturer in Marketing
  • The Faculty of Business & Law
  • The Open University Business School
  • Department for Strategy & Marketing
  • rohini.vijaygopal

Professional biography

Dr. Rohini Vijaygopal gained her first degree in Pharmacy, an MBA in Marketing Management and a PhD in consumer behaviour & marketing strategy. She has worked across different sectors including the corporate world as well as higher education. Within the corporate world, she has worked in the pharmaceutical sector (including export and import of pharmaceuticals), advertising and branding (working on healthcare communications for companies such as Fulford Schering Plough, Boston Scientific and Johnson & Johnson), social marketing (empowerment of the poor with provision of business skills and links to industry). She has also been independently involved in training and consulting on various issues affecting consumers and marketing especially for family owned businesses. Within the education sector, she has been very active in both teaching as well as research & publications. On a personal front, Rohini enjoys practising yoga and mindfulness meditation.  

Research interests

Rohini received her PhD in marketing focusing on consumer acculturation, cross-cultural consumer behaviour and branding. Her PhD was supervised by Prof. Sally Dibb and Prof. Maureen Meadows; and examined by Prof. Vince Mitchell. Rohini gained a firm grounding in academic research skills during this period. She then moved on to researching customer loyalty and service operations in the UK retail sector. Subsequently, Rohini worked on the Interreg IV extension project and also used Higher Education Innovation Fund for developing marketing communication strategies for adoption of electric cars. This research led her to areas of social marketing, technology and behaviour change. She has now researched driverless cars and disabled people, pilotless planes and consumer attitudes as well as donor behaviour within the charitable sector. She continues to be fascinated by integrated research which can make a real difference to the lives of the customers, provide a better environment to live in, and overall, benefit the society over and above the positive economic impact for businesses.

In carrying out her research, Rohini embraces both qualitative and quantitative methods. She has used SPSS, focus groups, dyads, Implicit Association Test, AMOS, CATPAC, online gamification, STM, RFR amongst others. Particularly notable here is the funding she received for development of the online game. These have helped her hone her experience of collecting, analysing and interpreting interesting data and producing research outputs of very high standard. She has published peer reviewed journal articles, book chapter, newspaper articles as well as presented competitive (peer reviewed) research papers across many countries. More importantly, many of her research outputs have been published in very high standing academic journals such as European Journal of Marketing, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Production Planning & Control, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Advances in Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Analytics, amongst others. She has taken up roles of a reviewer for academic journals, a supervisor, an examiner as well as a conference track chair. Rohini is a member of Academy of Marketing. 

Teaching interests

Rohini has 22 years of teaching experience and has taught undergraduates, postgraduates as well as executive students across the UK, India and Continental Europe. She has experience of delivering face-to-face sessions within the traditional University sector and having been at the Open University (OU), also has extensive experience in delivering online sessions (both asynchronous and synchronous). She has taught mature students and practitioners (from organisations such as BskyB, KPMG, Buckingham Palace) while delivering Chartered Institute of Marketing courses as well as the OU courses. Having come into academia from the world of business, she is mindful of practise-based learning and encourages her students to apply classroom theory to practice such that they are proactive when they go into the working world. Some examples of the modules that Rohini teaches are introduction to business studies, retail management and marketing, international and cross-cultural marketing, honours unit (dissertation), introduction to statistics for business, research methods, advertising and branding, global marketing, project management in marketing (practice-based), principles of marketing, consumer behaviour, product management amongst others. She is well known for her curriculum development and motivational skills and is a member of the Higher Education Academy. At the Open University Business School, Rohini is part of the module team for B206 (Understanding Customers) and B324 (Marketing and Society). She is involved in the production of Y035. She is also a Digital Badging Steering Committee member within the OU.

 

Impact and engagement

Having been a practitioner for over a decade, Rohini continues to actively interact with the world of practice.

Rohini’s innovative work, presented as ‘Sense your wellbeing’ at The Open University Mental Health and Wellbeing conference received the Best Lightning Talk Award.

She engages internationally with external parties to progress work within the emerging field of contemplative pedagogy.

External collaborations

Rohini is a steering committee member of the Contemplative Pedagogies Network (CPN).

She is also a peer reviewer for a number of international journals. 

Publications

Initiation, marketing and branding of smart city projects: a study of decision processes (2023)
Vijaygopal, Rohini; Bennett, Roger and Savani, Sharmila
Journal of Marketing Management ((Early Access))

Willingness of people with severe visual impairments to accept new transportation assistive technologies (2023)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
Technology and Disability ((Early Access))

Air passenger attitudes towards pilotless aircraft (2021-12)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
Research in Transportation Business & Management, 41, Article 100656

Driverless Futures: Current Non-drivers’ Willingness to Travel in Driverless Vehicles (2021)
Kottasz, Rita; Bennett, Roger; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Gardasz, Bettina
Journal of Marketing Management, 37(15-16) (pp. 1656-1689)

Who gives to food banks? A study of influences affecting donations to UK food banks by individuals (2021)
Bennett, Roger; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Kottasz, Rita
Journal of Nonprofit & Public Sector Marketing ((Early Access))

Willingness of people who are blind to accept autonomous vehicles: An empirical investigation (2020-02)
Bennett, Roger; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Kottasz, Rita
Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 69 (pp. 13-27)

Attitudes towards autonomous vehicles among people with physical disabilities (2019-09-01)
Bennett, Roger; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Kottasz, Rita
Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 127 (pp. 1-17)

What if the company’s “Charity of the Year” deals with severe to moderate mental disability? A case study of fundraising problems and possibilities (2019-04-08)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
Journal of Social Marketing, 9(2) (pp. 161-179)

Willingness of people with mental health disabilities to travel in driverless vehicles (2019)
Bennett, R.; Vijaygopal, R. and Kottasz, R.
Journal of Transport & Health, 12 (pp. 1-12)

Towards a model of donor behaviour relating to mental disability charities (2019)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
Social Business, 9(3) (pp. 248-271)

An assessment of UK drivers' attitudes regarding the forthcoming ban on the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles (2018-07)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, 62 (pp. 330-344)

Consumer attitudes towards electric vehicles: effects of product user stereotype and self-image congruence (2018)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
European Journal of Marketing, 52(3/4) (pp. 499-527)

Impact of customer loyalty and service operations on customer behaviour and firm performance: empirical evidence from UK retail sector (2017)
Ramanathan, Usha; Subramanian, Nachiappan; Yu, Wantao and Vijaygopal, Rohini
Production Planning & Control, 28(6-8) (pp. 478-488)

The manifestation of culture in product purchase: A cross-cultural comparison (2014)
Lindridge, Andrew; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Dibb, Sally
Journal of Marketing Analytics, 2(4) (pp. 250-263)

Exploring the role of acculturation in brand choice: a new perspective for targeting Indians living in the UK (2012)
Vijaygopal, Rohini and Dibb, Sally
Journal of Targeting, Measurement and Analysis for Marketing, 20(1) (pp. 47-56)

Consumer Acculturation and Implications for Brand Preferences (2019-07)
Vijaygopal, Rohini
In: Information Resources Management Association, ed. Global Branding: Breakthroughs in Research and Practice (pp. 378-403)
Publisher : IGI Global

Marketing Smart City Initiatives to Smart City Residents (2022)
Vijaygopal, Rohini; Savani, Sharmila and Bennett, Roger
In : Academy of Marketing Conference 2022: Marketing: The Fabric of Life (5-7 Jul 2022, University of Huddersfield)

Developing a science fiction transportation product prototype for smart city residents with ambulatory disabilities (2022)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
In : Academy of Marketing Conference 2022: Marketing: The Fabric of Life (5-7 Jul 2022, University of Huddersfield)

Effectiveness of poverty porn for charity fundraising advertisements (2022)
Bennett, Roger; Kottasz, Rita; Vijaygopal, Rohini and G. Callus-Pennec, Yveline
In : Academy of Marketing Conference 2022: Marketing: The Fabric of Life (5-7 Jul 2022, University of Huddersfield)

Driverless Futures: Current Non-drivers’ Willingness to Travel in Driverless Vehicles (2022)
Kottasz, Rita; Bennett, Roger; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Gardasz, Bettina
In : Academy of Marketing Conference 2022: Marketing: The Fabric of Life (5-7 Jul 2022, University of Huddersfield)

Increasing the willingness of people with visual impairments to accept new transportation assistive technologies (2022)
Bennett, Roger; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Savani, Sharmila
In : 19th International Colloquium on Arts, Heritage, Nonprofit and Social Marketing (9 Sep 2022, Oxford Brookes University)

Poverty porn and charity donation behaviour: An empirical study (2022)
Bennett, Roger; Kottasz, Rita; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Gardasz, Bettina
In : ARNOVA’s 51st Annual Conference (17-19 Nov 2022, North Carolina)

Smart City Brand Creation and Implementation (2021-07)
Vijaygopal, Rohini; Bennett, Roger and Savani, Sharmila
In : Academy of Marketing Conference 2021: Reframing Marketing Priorities (5-7 Jul 2021, Online)

Who gives to food banks? A first look at food bank donation behaviour by individuals (2020)
Bennett, Roger; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Kottasz, Rita
In : Fifth European Social Marketing Conference (ESMC 2021): People, Planet, Systems and Solutions (20-22 Oct 2021, Thessaloniki Convention Bureau, Greece)

Driverless cars and the non-driving public: Developing marketing and public information campaigns to secure acceptance of driverless vehicles (2020)
Kottasz, Rita; Bennett, Roger; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Gardasz, Bettina
In : 25th International Conference on Corporate and Marketing Communications (CMC 2021) (14-16 Apr 2021, University of Granada (Online), Spain)

An approach to modelling charity donor behaviour concerning unpopular causes (2019)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
In : Academy of Marketing Conference (AM2019): When you tire of marketing you tire of life (2-4 Jul 2019, Regent University, London.)

Developing value propositions for marketing and public information campaigns to promote driverless vehicles to disabled people (2019)
Bennett, Roger; Vijaygopal, Rohini and Kottasz, Rita
In : 24th International Conference on Corporate and Marketing Communications (CMC 2019): Storytelling across platforms: Managing corporate and marketing communications from a storytelling perspective (29-30 Apr 2019, Ariel University, Israel.)

Driverless Cars and the Disabled: A Pilot Study and an Agenda for Social Marketing (2018)
Vijaygopal, Rohini; Kottasz, Rita and Bennett, Roger
In : 17th International Colloquium on Arts, Heritage, Nonprofit and Social Marketing (17 Sep 2018, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom)

Predicting Car Drivers’ Willingness to Accept the 2040 Ban on Petrol and Diesel Vehicles: A Random Utility Contingency Valuation Approach (2018)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
In : 47th EMAC Conference: People Make Marketing (29 May - 2 Jun 2018, Strathclyde University, Glasgow: Scotland.)

Using a Computer-Based Game to Improve Public Attitudes towards Electric Vehicles (2016)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
In : Second European Social Marketing Conference: Social Marketing as a Driver for Effective Social Action (21-22 Sep 2016, Aalto University, Espoo, Finland)

Measuring and Improving the Public Stereotype of Owners of Electric Vehicles (2016)
Bennett, Roger and Vijaygopal, Rohini
In : Academy of Marketing Conference (2016) : Radical Marketing (4-7 Jul 2016, Northumbria University, United Kingdom)

Effectiveness of Consumer Engagement through Gamification as a Social Marketing Strategy: A Study Related to the Adoption of Electric Vehicles (2016)
Vijaygopal, Rohini and Bennett, Roger
In : Academy of Marketing Conference (2016) : Radical Marketing (4-7 Jul 2016, Northumbria University, United Kingdom)

Identifying the most effective international marketing communication strategy by exploring consumer attitudes towards electric car adoption: a qualitative study (2015)
Vijaygopal, Rohini
In : Academy of Marketing Conference (2015) : The Magic in Marketing (7-9 Jul 2015, University of Limerick, Ireland)

Switching to zero-emission electric vehicles (EVs): Opportunities for innovative social marketing communications (2015)
Shaw, Stephen and Vijaygopal, Rohini
In : Social Marketing and Behaviour Change workshop: European Social Marketing Association (24 Apr 2015, Queen Mary University of London)

How acculturation affects British Indians' consumer behaviour across product and service types (2014)
Vijaygopal, Rohini; Dibb, Sally and Meadows, Maureen
In : Academy of Marketing Conference (2014) : Marketing Dimensions: People, Places and Spaces (7-10 Jul 2014, University of Bournemouth, United Kingdom)

Does acculturation affect brand preference? A study of British Indians (2013)
Vijaygopal, Rohini; Dibb, Sally and Meadows, Maureen
In : European Conference of the Association for Consumer Research (4-7 Jul 2013, Barcelona, Spain) (pp. 51-63)

Consumer acculturation and demographic factors: An empirical analysis of British Indians (2013)
Vijaygopal, Rohini
In : Academy of Marketing Conference (2013): Marketing Relevance (8-11 Jul 2013, University of South Wales, Cardiff)

Primacy of Acculturation Categories Over Demographic Variables As Differentiators of Brand Preference (2012)
Vijaygopal, Rohini; Dibb, Sally and Meadows, Maureen
In : Academy of Marketing Conference: Marketing Dimensions: People, Places and Spaces (7-10 Jul 2014, University of Bournemouth, United Kingdom) (p 1132)

Segmenting the British Indian market using Berry’s Taxonomy (2012)
Vijaygopal, Rohini; Dibb, Sally and Meadows, Maureen
In : Academy of Marketing Conference (2012): Marketing: Catching the technology wave (2-5 Jul 2012, University of Southampton, United Kingdom)

Acculturation and Brand Choice (2009)
Vijaygopal, Rohini
In : Consumer Culture Theory Conference (CCT 2009) (2009, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor: USA)

Exploring the role of acculturation on the way Indians living in the UK, approach the process of unravelling the reasons for brand choice (2009)
Vijaygopal, Rohini and Dibb, Sally
In : Putting Marketing in its Place (6-9 Jul 2009, Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom)

Acculturation and consumer behaviour: a study of British Indians (2010)
Vijaygopal, Rohini
PhD thesis The Open University

Acculturation and brand choice (2009)
Vijaygopal, Rohini
Postgraduate Research Poster Competition, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK.