Meet The Team
All members of the ACRS team have something in common; they are passionate about retail and shopper behaviour research.
We invite you to contact any member of the ACRS team to discuss your research needs.
Academic Director
Tracey is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing and the Academic Director of the ACRS. Her research interests are focused in two areas. The first is in services marketing, including service quality and satisfaction, the economic and social outcomes of service consumption, relationship development, and co-creation in service contexts. A second area of interest is multi-media advertising effectiveness and forecasting. Tracey has a particular interest in health care marketing having worked as a consultant and project manager within the healthcare field and has commercial experience in advertising and market research.
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Research Director
Dr Sean Sands PhD (Monash), BBus (Hons), BA (Psyc), QPMR
Sean is Research Director at the ACRS, holding QPMR accreditation with the Australian Market and Social Research Society (AMSRS). His commercial research experience spans consumer and business based issues which he has conducted globally. His research expertise covers qualitative and quantitative methodologies, with a particular interest in advanced methodologies to understand consumer behaviour and aid business decision making. Through methods such as discrete choice modelling, experiment-based research, and latent class analysis, Sean has been involved in new product development, pricing research and market segmentation studies. His PhD looked at experiential retailing and investigated how consumers respond to special events within the retail setting. He has presented retail research in Australia and internationally, is published in several retail journals and recently completed a book on consumer resistance in retail. Sean's teaching interests are in retail, including environmental sustainability which he has taught as a visiting professor at Escuela de Alta Direccin y Administracin (EADA) in Barcelona. EADA is ranked among the 27 best business schools in Europe and in the top 84 worldwide (Financial Times 2011).
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Contact Sean on +61 9903 2753
Senior Research Consultants
Carla Ferraro BBus Marketing (Honours), BA (Psychology) Monash University, Dip. (Market Research) QPMR
Carla is a Senior Research Consultant at the ACRS with experience in commercial, consumer and communications research. Her previous role at Starcom Media included the coordination of the primary research product for a variety of clients. At the ACRS, Carla is responsible for managing and coordinating all facets of both primary and secondary research projects, with particular expertise in qualitative methods.. Carla's teaching interests are in retail and consumer, including environmental sustainability which she has taught as a visiting professor at Escuela de Alta Direccin y Administracin (EADA) in Barcelona. EADA is ranked among the 27 best business schools in Europe and in the top 84 worldwide (Financial Times 2011). Her PhD has a focus on the impact of store refurbishments on retail sales and staff engagement.
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Contact Carla on +61 3 9903 2734
Research Consultants
Selma Mehmedovic BBus(Marketing), BBus(Management), BBus (Marketing Honours), Monash University
Selma Mehmedovic is a Research Consultant at the ACRS and has been a member of the team since January 2009. Selma completed her Bachelor of Business degrees at Monash University and has an Honours degree in marketing, with a focus on attracting and retaining staff in a retail environment. She has over five years of retail experience, where she developed an understanding of various practices and issues within the Australian retail landscape, as well as marketing experience in a not-for-profit organisation. At the ACRS, Selma is involved in researching and writing ACRS publications and reports, conducting qualitative interviews and focus groups and generating strategic insights from research results. Selma also manages the Retail Thought Leadership project, an annual project driven by industry that is now in its fourth year.
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Contact Selma on +61 3 9903 1124
Jason Pallant BA (Psyc)/BCom (Marketing)
Jason is a Research Consultant at the ACRS, working across both quantitative and qualitative projects. Jason graduated from a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Commerce degree from Monash University with Honours in Marketing, and has previously worked within the Consulting team at Forethought Research. Jason has a strong interest in statistical analysis, with a particular focus on the psychology behind consumer behaviour. At the ACRS, Jason is particularly responsible for quantitative tracking studies, providing clients the ability to track changes in attitudes, perceptions and behaviours over time or as the result of communication efforts. Jason also manages the annual Multichannel syndicated research stream, in addition to working across customised commercial research for a variety of clients. Jason has presented across Australia on a number of topics, with a particular interest in multichannel and social media, as well as attracting and retaining retail staff.
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Contact Jason on +61 3 9903 2455
Erika Pacini BBus Marketing (RMIT)
Erika Pacini is a Research Consultant at the ACRS and joined the team in September, 2011. Erika graduated in 2010 with a Bachelor of Business Marketing from RMIT University and in 2011 travelled to New York where she interned on Wall Street working for a renowned marketing firm on an experiential marketing campaign for Coca-Cola. Erika has over 6 years of retail experience and also consults for the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores. At the ACRS, Erika is predominately focused on ACRS secondary research reports and publications, as well as coordinating marketing and communications.
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Contact Erika on +61 3 9903 2869
