Katherine Lafreniere, University of Alberta

Research

word of mouth management responses online reviews consumer behaviour advertising communications marginalized groups cross culture

Latest funding

Marketing for businesses from marginalized groups: Breaking barriers for Indigenous-owned businesses
SSHRC · 2025 · Principal investigator
$75,917
Thanks, but no thanks: How firms should respond to positive word of mouth
SSHRC · 2023 · Principal investigator
$61,876

All 2 grants and awards

Marketing for businesses from marginalized groups: Breaking barriers for Indigenous-owned businesses

Principal investigatorSSHRC2025Insight Grants

Principal investigators: Lafreniere, Katherine C.

Keywords: consumer behaviour; advertising; communications; marginalized groups; cross culture; Indigenous business

$75,917

Thanks, but no thanks: How firms should respond to positive word of mouth

Principal investigatorSSHRC2023Insight Development Grant

Principal investigators: Lafreniere, Katherine

Keywords: word of mouth; management responses; online reviews

$61,876

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Mention their SSHRC grant from 2025

Subject: Prospective PhD student: word of mouth Dear Professor Lafreniere, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. Your research on word of mouth connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your SSHRC-funded project "Marketing for businesses from marginalized groups: Breaking barriers for Indigenous-owned businesses" (2025), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]