Pomerance’s Research on Mental Health Barriers Featured in MSI Working Paper Series

Justin Pomerance, assistant professor of marketing, recently had his research accepted into the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Working Paper Series — a competitive outlet highlighting significant advances in marketing scholarship.

MSI selects papers that address high-priority topics and represent major contributions to the field, helping bridge cutting-edge academic research and practical business applications.

Pomerance’s paper, “A Qualitative Analysis of Consumer Barriers to Mental Health Consumption,” challenges long-held assumptions about why Americans avoid mental health support. While stigma has dominated academic attention for decades, his interviews with 24 consumers suggest that stigma rarely stops people outright. Instead, they encounter more immediate barriers — such as difficulty finding therapists, uncertainty about where to begin, skepticism about treatment effectiveness, and structural obstacles like cost and time.

The study also revealed a striking disconnect between what consumers value and how they act. Participants overwhelmingly described psychological resilience as central to mental health, yet their behaviors focused mostly on managing current emotions rather than building long-term resilience. This insight points to an underexplored opportunity for both researchers and practitioners.

Pomerance plans to continue refining the research in preparation for submission to a top marketing journal.