John Costello
- Biography
- Background
- Publications
- Awards
John Costello is the John W. Berry Sr. Associate Professor of Marketing at The Mendoza College of Business. Dr. Costello's research focuses on consumer behavior. Within this domain, his work explores (1) the inferences consumers make about organizations and marketing tactics, and how these inferences affect their consumption behaviors, and (2) issues central to consumer and societal well-being (e.g., prosocial behavior, health decisions).
Dr. Costello's research has appeared in leading journals, including the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Marketing. His research has also been featured in the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fast Company, Adweek, Marketing Daily, and Stanford Social Innovation Review, among others. Dr. Costello serves as an Associate Editor at the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Public Policy & Marketing.
Dr. Costello received the Mendoza Mission Research Award in 2023 and the James Dincolo Outstanding Research Award in 2024. He was selected as a 2025 Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Young Scholar, an honor recognizing the most promising early-career researchers worldwide in the field of marketing. His research has been recognized as a finalist for the Journal of Marketing’s Shelby D. Hunt/Harold H. Maynard Award (2020) and the Journal of Marketing Research's Paul E. Green/Vithala R. Rao Award (2025). As a doctoral student, he received the Society of Consumer Psychology’s Dissertation Award and the Rising Star Award from the AMA’s Consumer Behavior Special Interest Group.
Dr. Costello teaches Building Great Brands at the undergraduate level and Brand Strategy at the MBA level. He won the 2025 Outstanding Undergraduate Marketing Professor Award (voted on by undergraduate students) and the 2023 James Dincolo Outstanding Teaching Award for a Tenured or Tenure-Track Professor. He received his PhD in marketing from The Ohio State University’s Fisher College of Business and holds an MBA, a BSBA, and a BS in Business Honors from Villanova University. Prior to his graduate studies, Dr. Costello worked in the merchandise planning/allocation groups for Saks 5th Avenue and American Eagle Outfitters.