Biography

Robert J. Morais has experience as a marketing researcher, advertising executive, business owner, and business anthropologist. He began his career at Grey Advertising and, after 25 years with advertising agencies, in 2006 he became a Principal at Weinman Schnee Morais, a marketing research firm. He has worked with Procter & Gamble, GlaxoSmithKline, WD-40, Coca-Cola, Post Foods, Danone, StarKist, Johnson & Johnson, Hain Celestial, Benjamin Moore, Safeway, Sabra, Pinnacle Foods, Sunny Delight, Dentsply Sirona, Prestige Brands, Wyeth (now Pfizer), Fairmont, Raffles, and Swissôtel, Hills Pet Nutrition, and Boehringer Ingelheim, among other corporations. Morais holds a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Pittsburgh, a certificate from NYU's Stern Business School, and was a Fulbright Scholar, National Science Foundation Grantee, and Mellon Fellow.

His books include: Ethics in the Anthropology of Business: Explorations in Theory, Practice and Pedagogy (co-editor), Advertising and Anthropology: Ethnographic Practice and Cultural Perspectives (co-author), Refocusing Focus Groups: A Practical Guide (author), Social Relations in a Philippine Town (author), and The Language of Branding: Theory, Strategies, and Tactics (co-author; forthcoming). Morais is a Fellow of The Society for Applied Anthropology, on the Advisory Board of the International Journal of Business Anthropology, and a member of the Mentoring Committee of the National Association for the Practice of Anthropology. He has been a guest speaker at numerous universities and conferences.