Soo Yon Ryu Publishes Article in Journal of the Association for Consumer Research The assistant professor of business administration explores the relationship between experience and consumption.

By Lily Caldwell
October 13, 2025

Soo Yon Ryu, assistant professor of business administration at Washington and Lee University, recently published an article in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, the journal owned by the largest and most prestigious association for consumer behavior researchers.

Ryu’s paper, “The Materialization of Experiences: How Perceived Experience Depth Increases Consumers’ Preference for Unique Objects,” investigates the relationship between perceived experience depth and the type of experience-related objects consumers prefer to acquire. The paper posits that consumers are more likely to purchase unique (vs. typical) experience-related items when they have deeper (vs. more basic) experiences and that this effect can be explained by the conversational value of the object.

Ryu’s research takes a broad view of consumption by examining a concept applicable across many forms of experiences. Practical contributions include helping managers strategically design events to provide purchasing opportunities for corresponding experience-related objects and emphasizing the potential for items to be conversation starters.

Ryu is in her first year as a faculty member at W&L. She earned a dual bachelor’s degree in business administration and culture & design management from Yonsei University, a Master of Arts in art management from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in marketing from the University of Florida, where she was recognized with the Warrington College of Business Ph.D. Teaching Award and a Marketing Science Institute Research Grant.

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