Danny Zane combines marketing, psychology research

Nearly everyone can recall a time when they stood in line behind another customer at a grocery store and watched as the cashier rang up seemingly random or unnecessary items. One might find themselves wondering why the customer would choose to spend their money on those particular items. 

Danny Zane, a marketing professor at Lehigh, has always been fascinated by consumer purchases. 

He studies what people spend their money on and why they do so. He questions why people buy seemingly unnecessary items or items in bulk. This has helped him build a foundation for his research, curriculum and passion.

Zane graduated from The College of New Jersey with a degree in marketing, but his main interests lie within human behavior. He said he read many psychology books in college, and when he took his first consumer behavior class he began to envision a career combining his passions for psychology, marketing and consumption. 

He now considers himself a consumer psychologist, and said being a professor allows him to pursue this interest in a meaningful way. 

“I have learned that I sort of live what I teach,” Zane said.

He said he constantly finds himself analyzing what drives people’s purchasing decisions. 

He also analyzes his own consumption choices, which he said he considers a blessing and a curse.

Zane said he likes to believe his research has allowed him to become a smarter shopper, though he sometimes wishes he could make purchases without overthinking. 

He said he tries to emphasize this awareness in his consumer behavior and principles of marketing classes. He tells students they should always flip the script — thinking from a manager’s perspective of what good marketing looks like and remembering they’re also consumers.

“If we can understand what marketers are doing, we can better navigate the marketplace and make the choices that we really want to make and hopefully become savvier shoppers ourselves,” Zane said. 

Jack Filius, ‘26, is currently taking Zane’s consumer behavior course. He said Zane’s passion for the subject matter and teaching itself sets him apart from other professors. 

Even on slow days when students seem tired, Filius said Zane always brings positive energy to the classroom.

Zane integrates participatory activities in his lectures, and Filius said his energy and enthusiasm for the subject matter is often contagious. 

“I think that he’s able to sort of lift everybody up with his teaching style,” Filius said. 

Carly Faust, ‘25, is also a current student of Zane’s. She said she thinks much of his success comes from how he interacts with students and the special ways he keeps them engaged. 

“He makes himself very available for the students if they have any questions, and he’s very approachable,” Faust said.

She said his teaching style is also successful because he doesn’t make classes feel too serious.

For instance, she said there was one class where an activity led to Zane doing a handstand at the front of the room. 

“He’s definitely good at keeping everyone’s attention,” Faust said.

Filius said he feels energized and excited to learn about consumer behavior in Zane’s class, and he’s been able to apply things he’s learned in class. 

On a recent trip to New York, he said he caught himself looking at different advertisements and thinking about the concepts he’s learned in Zane’s class. 

“I think that the notes and ideas that I take out of that classroom — I’ll definitely be applying those in the next weeks, months, years and, honestly, the rest of my life,” Filius said.

Zane said being a professor is a mutual learning experience. Just as marketers build relationships with customers and create feedback loops, he said teaching allows him to form meaningful connections with students to help him grow as a professor.

“With how fast the world’s moving, it’s nearly impossible for one person like myself to keep up with what’s happening in the marketplace and with marketing,” Zane said. “I rely on my students to also teach me about what they see happening. It’s really cool to have that sort of experience that goes both ways.”

Zane has won several awards for his research, including a Dissertation Proposal Award, which he said was especially meaningful because it was judged in part by industry professionals. However, he  said his goal within his work is to ensure the research can translate into practice. 

“It hopefully signals that my research is having some impact, not just within the academic space, but also into the marketplace and consumers’ lives, which is really a huge reason I do what I do,” Zane said.