Professor Katherine White joins 2024 Class of AACSB Influential Leaders

Earlier this month, the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB)—the world’s largest business education alliance—announced its 2024 Class of Influential Leaders, a group of 22 AACSB-accredited business school faculty demonstrating impact through their research. Included in the 2024 Class is UBC Sauder’s Dr. Katherine White.

Now in its ninth year, AACSB’s Influential Leaders member spotlight program highlights the value that business schools bring to business and society—whether through the alumni who have used their business education to improve the industries and communities they serve, or the faculty leading positive impact through their research.

In announcing the 2024 Class, AACSB noted that in Dr. White’s research on the positive social and environmental consequences of marketing, she conducts field experiments to measure real behaviors, such as residential recycling, charitable donations, and eco-friendly purchases. Such use of real-world data has been relatively rare in a field that has historically relied on laboratory and online studies. Her research is not only notable for its societal impact but also for its theoretical richness and academic contributions. AACSB specifically notes two of Dr. White’s most referenced papers: “It’s the Mind-Set that Matters: The Role of Construal Level and Message Framing in Influencing Consumer Efficacy and Conservation Behaviors,” and “How to SHIFT Consumer Behaviors to Be More Sustainable: A Literature Review and Guiding Framework.”