Rate My Professor Derek Ezell

Derek Ezell serves as Assistant Professor of Marketing in the Department of Management, Marketing, and Information Systems within the College of Business and Global Analytics at the University of Tennessee at Martin, where he has been on the faculty since 2020. He earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Mississippi in 2019, with a dissertation titled 'A Typology and Examination of Voluntary Simplicity.' Prior to this, he received an M.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 2012 and a B.S. from the same institution. Ezell's academic career also includes a position as Lecturer of Marketing at Lander University before joining UT Martin.

Ezell's research focuses on consumer behavior, particularly voluntary simplicity, sustainable consumption practices, and the role of institutional theory in conspicuous non-consumption. His seminal work, 'Challenging the Good Life: An Institutional Theoretic Perspective on Conspicuous Non-Consumption,' published in the Journal of Business Ethics in 2023, investigates the transformational experiences of tiny house dwellers and has received national recognition, including features in Ole Miss news and Our Tennessee magazine. Reflecting his personal commitment to sustainability, Ezell and his family lived in a tiny house for over four years. Additional key publications include 'The Return Journey: A Multivariate Analysis of Covid-19 Related Academic Pitfalls in Post-Secondary Business Education' in the Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice (2024), co-authored with Patrick Bishop and Sean Walker, which analyzes post-pandemic challenges in business education. Ezell contributes to university service through involvement in assessment teams, the ELLI Conference as a presenter on innovative teaching, advanced business communication projects, and faculty investiture ceremonies. His scholarship bridges marketing theory with practical implications for sustainability and higher education adaptation.