Research Interests

• Social Marketing

• Public Policy

• Transformative Research

• Mass Media Campaigns and Media Effects

• Kathleen Kelly is a Professor of Marketing, Director of the Center for Business Ethics and Social Issues, and a research fellow at Colorado State University.  An expert on social marketing, Dr. Kelly’s work bridges the gap between business and social issues by demonstrating that commercial marketing techniques can be applied to the service of social causes.  She has received numerous grants to study the impact of counter advertising efforts designed to reduce substance use, violence, and other health and safety issues.  Her policy research examines the influence of tobacco and alcohol advertising on adolescent consumption as well as the appeal of products such as flavored and natural cigarettes.  Kathleen has taught a variety of graduate and undergraduate marketing courses – most recently she developed and offered a course on social marketing.

Selected Grants

• Principal Investigator: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, $99,904.  Public policy grant to research the Effects of Flavored and Natural Cigarette Claims on Adolescents' Perceptions and Behavioral Intentions, November 2005-January 2007.

• Co-Principal Investigator, PI of subcontract: National Institute on Drug Abuse, $3.5 million.   Community-based and In-school Media Prevention Programs.  September 2004 -August 2009.

• Principal Investigator: SAMHSA, $24,999.  Beyond Media Campaigns: Designing Effective Community-Based Social Marketing Programs to Prevent Substance Abuse in Rural and Ethnic Youth.  January 2005 - December 2005.

• Principal Investigator: National Institute on Drug Abuse, $1,243,814. Tobacco Media Prevention Study Among Rural Mexican-American and White American Youth, July 2000 - November 2004.

• Co-Principal Investigator: National Institute on Health, $869,438. Violence Prevention Among Rural Community Middle School Students, September 2000 - August 2004.

•  Co-Principal Investigator: National Institute on Drug Abuse, $2,435,263. Testing Community Readiness Theory and Media Prevention Campaigns (in conjunction with the Office of National Drug Control Policy's national media campaign), October 1998 - August 2004.

• Principal Investigator: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, $304,908. Public Policy grant to research the impact of proposed legislation to restrict tobacco and beer advertising, July 1997 - June 2000.

• Principal Investigator: The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, $586,000. Teen Communications Campaign and Institute for Adolescent Females, September 1995 - June 1999.

Selected Publications

• Kelly, Kathleen J., Linda R. Stanley, Maria Leonora G. Comello, and Gabriel R. Gonzalez (i2006). “Tobacco counteradvertisements aimed at bicultural Mexican-American youth: The impact of language and theme.” Journal of Health Communication, 11, 455-576.

• Kelly, K. J., Maria Leonora G. Comello, and Michael D. Slater (2006). Development of an aspirational campaign to prevent youth substance use: “Be Under Your Own Influence.” Social Marketing Quarterly, 21(1), 157-167.

• Slater, Michael D., Kathleen J. Kelly, and Rosemary Thackery (2006). Segmentation on a Shoe   string: Health Audience Segmentation in Limited-Budget and Local Social Marketing Interventions, Health Promotion Practice, 7:170-173.

• Slater, Michael D., Kathleen J. Kelly, Ruth W. Edwards, Barbara A. Plested, Pamela J. Thurman, Thomas J. Keefe, Frank R. Lawrence, and Kimberly L. Henry (2006), “Combining In-school and Participatory, Community-based Media Efforts: Reducing Marijuana and Alcohol Uptake Among Younger Adolescents,” Health Education Research, 21(1), 157-167.

• Slater, Michael, Ruth W. Edwards, Barbara A. Plested, Pamela J. Thurman, Kathleen J. Kelly, Maria Leonora G. Comello, and Thomas J. Keefe (2005), “Using Community Readiness Key Informant Assessments in a Randomized Group Prevention Trial: Impact of a Participatory Community Media Intervention,” Journal of Community Health, 30(1), 39-53.

-Publications Continued-
 

Teaching

• Primary teaching responsibilities have been in the graduate and graduate distance education classes.

• Graduate courses taught include: Marketing Systems, Integrated Marketing Strategy and Promotional Strategy.

• Undergraduate courses taught include: Social Marketing, Principles of Marketing, Marketing Communications, and Professional Selling.