Cultivating Connections

Submission Deadline: August 15, 2025

This year’s conference theme is “Cultivating Connections: Building a Flourishing Community Through Kindness, Compassion, and Respect.” 

This year’s theme—Cultivating Connections—is a call to action and a celebration of what’s possible when we prioritize kindness, lead with compassion, and treat each other with respect. A central goal of this year’s gathering is to build a thriving community. We aim to support scholars, across all career stages, as they create meaningful connections, foster friendships, and collaborate with others. 

Cultivating Connections has the potential to shape the future of consumer psychology by encouraging more constructive and empathetic feedback in professional interactions (e.g., review, talks, mentoring), by strengthening networks that support career development, and by inspiring research that serves as a force for good in both the marketplace and society.

This conference theme is participatory and reaches beyond scholarly presentations to introduce programming to bring scholars together through inclusive engagement. One way we’ll do this is through the introduction of “Cultivating Connections” sessions. These sessions will consist of activities and events that are geared towards connection by having people engage in a more holistic and meaningful way. More information about these sessions will be provided later this summer.

We welcome all submissions, regardless of their direct fit with the conference theme, across various formats, including competitive papers, special sessions, roundtables, and working papers. Outstanding contributions will be recognized with awards for Best Overall Competitive Paper, Best Overall Special Session, Best Overall Working Paper, and Best Paper exemplifying the Conference Theme.