Staff profile

Mike joined the Department in 2001 after a successful career in FMCG marketing and as an entrepreneur.  He currently holds the post of Professor of Strategic Marketing, specialising in behavioural approaches to brand strategy consumer psychology and marketing innovation.

Mike’s research interests fall into two distinct streams of activity.  The first focuses on the broad area of cross-media branding, with particular emphasis on influencer marketing and content creation.  An expert on brand storytelling, he has recently published two books (with Sarah Xiao) exploring strategic narratives in both a general and disability-oriented marketing contexts.  Mike works with a broad spectrum of brands across the FMCG sector, but has a special interest in wellness and wellbeing.

The second stream of activity is oriented around the more unusual context of the Occult Economy, a sector generating around £200m each year in th UK alone.  Mike is particularly interested in the consumption and practice of magick, defined as the use of intention, symbolism and ritual to bring about a change in ourselves and/or the world around us.  Current projects here include an analysis of banefulness in witchcraft-related social media content and an exploration of the growing role practitioners of the craft play in everyday business contexts.

Mike contributes an award-winning and highly interactive style of teaching across the Department’s undergraduate and postgraduate portfolios, as well as executive education and external training provision.  He also holds the role of Director of Education, responsible for all of the Department's degrees and students.

 

• Behavioural Science Marketing
• Brand Storytelling Strategies
• Chaos Marketing
• Cross-media Brand Strategies
• Marketing Innovation
• The Occult Economy
• Witchcraft and "WitchTok"

Authored book

• Identity, Content Creation and the Sight-Loss Journey: Disability Narratives and Digital Storytelling
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. H. (2026). Identity, Content Creation and the Sight-Loss Journey: Disability Narratives and Digital Storytelling. Palgrave Macmillan.
• Primal Marketing: Evolutionary Secrets for High Impact Marketing Strategies
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. H. (2026). Primal Marketing: Evolutionary Secrets for High Impact Marketing Strategies. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003676737
• Primal Marketing: Evolutionary Secrets for Higher-Impact Marketing Strategies
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. H. (2026). Primal Marketing: Evolutionary Secrets for Higher-Impact Marketing Strategies. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003676737

Conference Paper

• Impulsivity and Impulse Buying: A Cross-National Examination.
  
  Xiao, S., Iyer, G., & Nicholson, M. (2013). Impulsivity and Impulse Buying: A Cross-National Examination [Conference paper]. Presented at EMAC 2013 Conference, ITU., Istanbul, Turkey.
• Social Marketing: Contributions from Evolutionary Psychology
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2009, June). Social Marketing: Contributions from Evolutionary Psychology [Conference paper]. Presented at International Symposium on Social Marketing and Behavioural Change, Durham University.
• Symposium: Old Wine in New Bottles? Social Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Analysis.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2008, September). Symposium: Old Wine in New Bottles? Social Marketing and Consumer Behaviour Analysis [Conference paper]. Presented at British Academy of Management Conference, Harrogate, UK.
• Evolutionary Psychology and the Behavioural Perspective Model
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007, September). Evolutionary Psychology and the Behavioural Perspective Model [Conference paper]. Presented at 1st International Symposium on Consumer Behaviour Analysis, Cardiff, UK.
• Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationships in a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Marketplace.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2007, July). Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationshipsin a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Marketplace [Conference paper]. Presented at 5th International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Consumer Channel Choice as an Operant Process.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007, July). Consumer Channel Choice as an Operant Process [Conference paper]. Presented at 5th International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Luxury for the Masses: An Exploratory Study on New Luxury Brands Consumption in China.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2007). Luxury for the Masses: An Exploratory Study on New Luxury Brands Consumption in China [Conference paper]. Presented at 3rd Annual Colloquium of the Academy of Marketing’s Brand, Corporate Identity and Reputation Special Interest Group., London, UK.
• Faking It! Consumer Behaviour towards Counterfeit Goods in China.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2004, July). Faking It! Consumer Behaviour towards Counterfeit Goods in China [Conference paper]. Presented at 2nd International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Toys for Boys and the Girl Game Jinx: Sex differences in computer gaming.
  
  Hindmarsh, S., & Nicholson, M. (2004). Toys for Boys and the Girl Game Jinx: Sex differences in computer gaming [Conference paper]. Presented at 2nd International Conference on Business, Economics, Management & Marketing., Athens, Greece.
• Multichannel Consumer Behaviour in the Retail Fashion Sector
  
  Nicholson, M., Clarke, I., & Blakemore, M. (2001, June). Multichannel Consumer Behaviour in the Retail Fashion Sector [Conference paper]. Presented at 11th International Conference on Research in the Distributive Trades., Tilburg, NL.

Journal Article

• Consumer Revenge Using the Internet and Social Media: An Examination of the Role of Service Failure Types and Cognitive Appraisal Processes
  
  Obeidat, Z., Xiao, S., Iyer, G., & Nicholson, M. (2017). Consumer Revenge Using the Internet and Social Media: An Examination of the Role of Service Failure Types and Cognitive Appraisal Processes. Psychology and Marketing, 34(4), 496-515. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21002
• Behavioral issues in price setting in business-to-business marketing: a framework for analysis
  
  Iyer, G., Xiao, S., Sharma, A., & Nicholson, M. (2015). Behavioral issues in price setting in business-to-business marketing: a framework for analysis. Industrial Marketing Management, 47, 6-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.02.001
• Mapping impulse buying: a behaviour analysis framework for services marketing and consumer research
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2011). Mapping impulse buying: a behaviour analysis framework for services marketing and consumer research. Service Industries Journal, 31(15), 2515-2528. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.531123
• Consumer behaviour analysis and social marketing practice.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2011). Consumer behaviour analysis and social marketing practice. Service Industries Journal, 31(15), 2529-2542. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.531124
• Consumer consideration of non-deceptive counterfeit goods: a contingency matrix approach.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2011). Consumer consideration of non-deceptive counterfeit goods: a contingency matrix approach. Service Industries Journal, 31(15), 2617-2631. https://doi.org/10.1080/02642069.2011.529608
• Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationships in a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Market.
  
  Xiao, S., & Nicholson, M. (2010). Trick or Treat? An Examination of Marketing Relationships in a Non-deceptive Counterfeit Market. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 30(3), 247-270.
• On the Evolutionary Bases of Consumer Reinforcement.
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2010). On the Evolutionary Bases of Consumer Reinforcement. Journal of Organizational Behavior Management, 30(2), 127-144. https://doi.org/10.1080/01608061003756356
• Understanding and profitably managing customer loyalty
  
  Gee, R., Coates, G., & Nicholson, M. (2008). Understanding and profitably managing customer loyalty. Marketing Intelligence and Planning, 26(4), 359-374. https://doi.org/10.1108/02634500810879278
• One brand, three ways to shop: Situational variables and multichannel consumer behaviour
  
  Nicholson, M., Clarke, I., & Blakemore, M. (2002). One brand, three ways to shop: Situational variables and multichannel consumer behaviour. International Review of Retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 12(2), 131-148. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593960210127691

Monograph

• Identity, Content Creation and the Sight Loss Journey: Disability Narratives and Digital Storytelling
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. H. (2026). Identity, Content Creation and the Sight Loss Journey: Disability Narratives and Digital Storytelling. Palgrave Macmillan.

Working Paper

• Darwin’s ghost : evolutionary psychology and consumer behaviour analysis
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007). Darwin’s ghost : evolutionary psychology and consumer behaviour analysis.
• Darwin's Ghost: Evolutionary Psychology and Consumer Behaviour Analysis
  
  Nicholson, M., & Xiao, S. (2007). Darwin’s Ghost: Evolutionary Psychology and Consumer Behaviour Analysis.