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Olson joined the Marketing Department at the Kelley School of Business in July 2017. She earned her Ph.D. in Marketing from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan. Olson’s research focuses on consumer behavior within interpersonal contexts, with specific interests in (1) consumer financial decision making and (2) social cognition and inferential processes. Her research has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research, International Journal of Research in Marketing, and the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. Her work has received widespread coverage in various outlets including the New York Times, PBS/NPR, Bloomberg Radio, Boston Globe, Forbes, MSN Money, and Yahoo! Finance. Olson has taught undergraduate courses on consumer behavior and marketing management, as well as a Ph.D. seminar on consumer financial decision making.
Consumption in Interpersonal Contexts, Consumer Financial Decision Making, Marketplace Morality, Social Influence
Academic Degrees
Ph.D., Marketing, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, 2015
M.A., Social Psychology, Teachers College, Ball State University, 2009
B.S., Psychology and Human Development (Double Major), University of Wisconsin – Green Bay, 2007
Professional Experience
Assistant Professor of Marketing, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN (2017 - present)
Assistant Professor of Marketing, KU School of Business, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (2015 - 2017)
Selected Publications
Olson, J., Rick, S., Small, D., and Finkel, E. (2023). Common Cents: Bank Account Structure and Couples’ Relationship Dynamics. Journal of Consumer Research,50(4), 704–721.
Abstract
When a romantic relationship becomes serious, partners often confront a foundational decision about how to organize their personal finances: pool money together or keep things separate? In a six-wave longitudinal experiment, we investigated whether randomly assigning engaged or newlywed couples to merge their money in a joint bank account increases relationship quality over time. Whereas couples assigned to keep their money in separate accounts or to a no-intervention condition exhibited the normative decline in relationship quality across the first 2 years of marriage, couples assigned to merge money in a joint account sustained strong relationship quality throughout. The effect of bank account structure on relationship quality is multiply determined. We examine—and find support for—three potential mechanisms using both experimental and correlational methods: merging finances (1) improves how partners feel about how they handle money, (2) promotes financial goal alignment, and (3) sustains communal norm adherence (e.g., responding to each other’s needs without expectations of reciprocity). While prior research has documented a correlation between financial interdependence and relationship quality, our research offers the first experimental evidence that increasing financial interdependence helps newlyweds preserve stronger relationship quality throughout the newlywed period and potentially beyond.
Olson, J. and Rick, S. (2023). Subjective Knowledge Differences within Couples Predict Influence Over Shared Financial Decisions. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 8(4), 378–389.
Olson, J., McFerran, B., Morales, A., and Dahl, D. (2021). How Income Shapes Moral Judgments of Prosocial Behavior. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38(1), 120-135.
Garbinsky, E., Gladstone, J., Nikolova, H., and Olson, J. (2020). Love, Lies, and Money: Financial Infidelity within Romantic Relationships. Journal of Consumer Research, 47(1), 1-24 (Authors contributed equally to this manuscript and are listed in alphabetical order).
Mourey, J., Olson, J., and Yoon, C. (2017). Products as Pals: Engaging with Anthropomorphic Products Mitigates the Effects of Social Exclusion. Journal of Consumer Research,44(2), 414-431.
Olson, J., McFerran, B., Morales, A., and Dahl, D. (2016). Wealth and Welfare: Divergent Moral Reactions to Ethical Consumer Choices. Journal of Consumer Research, 42(6), 879-896.
