Summary
Thomas Burnham joined the faculty at University of Nevada, Reno in 2014. Prior to joining the University, Thomas taught at Santa Clara University, spent a decade growing a company that he co-founded that manufactured solar-powered, wirelessly-activated crosswalk warning light systems, worked in executive performance reporting for MCI Telecommunications and consulted with the management of an agricultural cooperative in rural Paraguay as a Peace Corps volunteer.
Thomas is actively engaged in the Reno entrepreneurship community, having worked for two local technology startups, served as the Metro Director for the CleanTech Open accelerator program, and served as a longstanding board member for the Nevada Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology (NCET). He enjoys coaching students developing business plans and helping judge business plan competitions including the Pack Pitch, the Sontag Competition, the Governor's Cup, and Nevada FBLA competitions.
Academic and Research Interests
Thomas' academic research focuses on customer loyalty and customer feedback. His dissertation resulted in a much-cited paper offering a typology of switching costs that lead consumers to exhibit loyal behavior with services despite their level of satisfaction with the service provider. His recent research has delved into the use and meaning of the ubiquitous survey question "How likely are you to recommend X to a friend or colleague?" (the ‘Net Promoter Score' customer feedback metric). He is exploring the topic of customer feedback broadly: Why and when consumers provide feedback to firms, how firms learn from customer feedback, and what types of feedback are used by what types of firms for what purposes. He is particularly interested in firm use of unstructured, unsolicited customer feedback such as suggestions, requests and complaints.
Courses Taught at The University of Nevada, Reno
- MKT 210 - Principles of Marketing
- MKT 492 - Customer Loyalty
Publications
- Fresnada, Jorge, Thomas A. Burnham and Chelsey Hill, (2021 forthcoming) “STM Segmentation: A Method Combining Latent Content and Customer Context,” Journal of Marketing Management
- Mukherjee, Ashesh, Thomas A. Burnham, and Dan King, (2021 forthcoming) “Anticipated Firm Interaction Can Bias Expressed Customer Satisfaction: The Role of Conflict Avoidance,” Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services
- Burnham, Thomas A., Garret Ridinger, Anne Carpenter and Laee Choi, (2021 forthcoming) “Consumer Suggestion Sharing: Helpful, Pragmatic and Conditional,” European Journal of Marketing
- Packard, Mark, and Thomas A. Burnham, (2021) “Do We Understand Each Other? Toward a Simulated Empathy Theory for Entrepreneurship,” Journal of Business Venturing, Vol. 36 (1)
- Burnham, Thomas A., (2021 forthcoming) “An Exploratory Characterization of Consumer Suggestion Sharing: Theoretical and Empirical Perspectives," Journal of Consumer Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior
- Mukherjee, Ashesh, Seung Yun Lee, and Thomas A. Burnham, (2020) “The Effect of Others’ Participation on Charitable Behavior: Moderating Role of Recipient Resource Scarcity,” Journal of Business Research, 120, 213-228.
- Choi, Laee and Thomas A. Burnham (2020), "Brand Reputation and Customer Voluntary Sharing Behavior: The Intervening Roles of Self-Expressive Brand Perceptions and Status Seeking," Journal of Product & Brand Management
- Burnham, Thomas A. (2020), “I’ve Got an Idea! Exploring the Antecedents of Suggestion Sharing in Consumer Services,” Journal of Services Marketing, 34 (4), 443-457.
- Burnham, Thomas A., and R. Bret Leary (2018), “Word of Mouth Opportunity: Why Recommendation Likelihood Overestimates Positive Word of Mouth,” Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 26 (4), 368-389
- Burnham, Thomas A., Jean Jeon and Hongchao Zeng (2018), “Illegal Corporate Bribery: The Pressure to ‘Make-Do’ and Achieve Goals,” Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 26 (3), 246-259
- Burnham, Thomas A., and Jeff Wong (2018), “Factors Influencing Successful Net Promoter Score Adoption by a Nonprofit Organization: A Case Study of the Boy Scouts of America,” International Review on Public and Nonprofit Marketing, 15 (4), 475-495
- Burnham, Thomas A., and Igor Makienko (2018), “Factors Affecting Exam Completion Speed, Exam Performance and Non-Exam Performance,” Journal of Marketing Education, 40 (2), 140-151
- Wieland, Alice, and Thomas A. Burnham (2016), “Boosting Performance in Evaluative Tasks: Activating Goals vs. Self-Affirming,” Psychological Reports, 118 (1), 41-56
- Burnham, Thomas A., Judy K. Frels and Vijay Mahajan (2003), “Consumer Switching Costs: A Typology, Antecedents, and Consequences,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 31 (2), 109-126
- ** Received the JAMS-Sheth best article award and has been cited over 2,400 times
- Baker, Gregory A, and Thomas A. Burnham (2001), “Consumer Response to Genetically Modified Foods: Market Segment Analysis and Implications for Producers and Policy Makers,” Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Vol. 26 (2), 387-403
- Baker, Gregory A, and Thomas A. Burnham (2001), “The Market for Genetically Modified Foods: Consumer Characteristics and Policy Implications,” International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, Vol. 4 (4), 351-360
Personal
Thomas is married and has two children attending schools in Reno. He loves living in Reno with its easy access to hiking, camping, and especially mountain biking. He speaks fluent, if rusty, Spanish and a smattering of Guarani. He holds a private pilot's license and a class C California contractor's license.
Education
- Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, Marketing Strategy, 1998
- B.A., Rice University, Managerial Studies, 1988
Professional certifications
- Sheth "Best Article of the Year" in the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science
- Inducted into Business Honor Society Delta Sigma Pi