Hayley's research focuses on the social and cultural aspects of consumption. She is particularly interested in influencers and celebrity culture as well as risky or deviant consumption contexts. Her research has looked at young people's alcohol consumption, the production and consumption of celebrities and celebrity brands, the popularity and appeal of YouTube celebrities, consumer responses to influencers' advertising content, consumers' parasocial relationships with social media influencers, and the fan communities that surround social media stars. 

Her research has appeared in international peer-reviewed journals such as the Journal of Consumer Research, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Marketing Theory and Journal of Marketing Management.

Hayley's research and expertise on influencers has featured in media outlets such as The Guardian ('The social media style icons every advertiser wants a piece of' and 'Why angry 'anti-fans turn on the influencers they once loved'), The Observer ('How Beckham rift shed light on the growing craze for forensic fandom') Business Insider ('How these 4 Love Island UK stars used their moment in the limelight to really suceeed as influencers'), and The Daily Express ('Influencers keep taking photos on my doorstep'). 

I am interested in supervising PhD students in the broad area of Consumer Culture Theory (CCT), and in particular topics related to Celebrity Culture and Influencer Marketing.

Winner of Lancaster University's 'Pilkington Teaching Award 2023' and winner of the 'Early Career Teacher of the Year Award 2017' at the Lancaster University Management School's Dean Awards.

Current teaching includes:

Undergraduate Teaching

MKTG232 Advertising (Module Leader)

MKTG331 Research & Consultancy

Postgraduate Teaching

MKTG505 Marketing Communications (Module Leader)

I was the Programme Director for the MSc Marketing for 3 years from September 2018 to August 2021.

Charlotte John (2025) "Esports and the spatial legitimation of a market"

Anuja Pradhan (2020) "‘Strategies from below’: Middle-class British Indian consumers’ navigations of ethnic identification and intergenerational cultural transmission."

Virginia Mwangi (2018) "Social representations of marketplace immorality: The case of the Kenyan illicit alcohol market."