Research & Outreach
Our Research
Department of Retailing and Tourism Management faculty have a variety of research interests. Through their hard work and credibility, their research has been published in a variety of peer-reviewed journals, books, abstracts and more.
- Hospitality and event management
- Consumer behavior in service settings
- Consumer engagement strategies, loyalty programs, drivers of attendee loyalty to events and impacts of events on host communities
- Tourism planning for the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area in Central, Illinois
- Aspiring Innkeeper's Guide for the Bed & Breakfast Association of Kentucky
- Analysis of paddle trail demand in North Carolina
- Emerging trends in tourism industry business sectors throughout the United States
- Festival and event visitor research
- Tax implications on restaurant demand
- Tourism policy in Antarctica
- Poverty alleviation in developing countries through sustainable tourism
- Small and medium hospitality and tourism enterprise economic development in developing countries
- Tourism issues in Kentucky
- Curriculum and didactic materials development in hospitality and tourism at both the university and vocational and tertiary levels
- Cross-cultural consumer decision-making
- Soft skills development
- Women in leadership
- Rural retail development
- Corporate social responsibility and socially responsible consumption
- Consumer behaviors in new retail formats
- International retailing and retailing for ethnic consumers
- Sustainable development/sustainability in the retail industry
- Shopping behavior of specialty markets
- Consumer decision-making
- Laundry fundamentals of consumer and institutional textiles
- Quality control evaluation of apparel and textiles
- Protective clothing
- Immigrant women's dress: Identity and acculturation
- Relationship between social, cultural and personal identity and dress
- Relationship between emotional and physical disability and appearance
- Feminist theory and meanings of dress
- Dress and gender
- Omnichannel retailing strategy
- Sustainable fashion
- Digital innovations in fashion retailing
Betty D. Eastin Historic Costume Collection
The Betty D. Eastin Historic Costume Collection is an educational, scholarly and artistic resource for the University of Kentucky Department of Retailing and Tourism Management.
Explore the CollectionTextile Testing Lab
The lab assists the textile and apparel industry through the development of high-quality products, evaluation and/or development of specifications for an existing product, and/or evaluation of the end-use performance of a product.
Explore the LabFaculty Awards & Distinctions
RayeCarol Cavender, Ph.D.
- Martin-Gatton CAFE Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Accessibility (DEI&A) Award Nominee, 2023
- International Marketing Advisory Board, Woxsen University, Hyderabad, India, since 2022
Elizabeth Easter, Ph.D.
- Editor’s Choice Best Paper Award, Fire Technology Journal, McQuerry, M. & Easter, E. Wildland firefighting personal protective clothing cleaning practices in the United States, 2022
- Patricia Brantley Todd Awards of Excellence in Human Environmental Sciences Research, 2010
Yeonjung Kang, Ph.D.
- Dissertation Research Support Fellowship, University of Massachusetts, 2022
- ICHRIE Conference Funding Scholarship, NENA Board, 2022
Vanessa Jackson, Ph.D.
- Editor: International Textiles and Apparel Association Newsletter, 2011-2014
- Editorial Board: Clothing and Textile Research Journal
Min-Young Lee, Ph.D.
- Patricia Brantley Todd Award of Excellence in Research, University of Kentucky, 2011
- Best Research Paper, Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles Fall Conference, Seoul, Korea, 2009
Tracy Lu, Ph.D.
- Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Hospitality and Event Management
- Best Paper Award, The 40th Annual Conference of the International Society of Travel & Tourism Educators (ISTTE), 2021
Muzhen Li, Ph.D.
- Clothing and Textiles Research Journal Top Altimetric Score Paper Award, 2021
- Paper of Distinction, Textile and Apparel Industries Track, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference, 2020
Scott Meuret, M.Ed.
- University of Kentucky Ken Freedman Outstanding Faculty Advisor Nominee, 2020
- University of Kentucky Teachers Who Made a Difference Award, 2019
Jason Swanson, Ph.D.
- Early Career Outstanding Teacher Award from the College of Agriculture, Food and Environment Student Council, 2014
- Named to the inaugural class of Forty for the Future, a national program recognizing tourism’s leading talent under the age of 40, 2012
Scarlett Wesley, Ph.D.
- Ken Freedman Outstanding Advisor Award Nominee, 2018
- Teachers Who Make a Difference Award, 19th Annual Program, College of Education, 2017
