Rate My Professor Karen Hyllegard

Karen Hyllegard is Professor and Department Head in the Department of Design and Merchandising at Colorado State University. She earned her Ph.D. in textile marketing from the University of Maryland in 1998 and joined the Colorado State University faculty that same year. Hyllegard was promoted to full professor in 2016 after serving as program coordinator for the Apparel and Merchandising Program. She assumed the role of department head in 2018, transitioning into leadership alongside her predecessor through July of that year. Additionally, she has contributed to university governance as a member of the Faculty Council Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics since 2007. Hyllegard co-directs the Fashion FUNdamentals program, an initiative that integrates fashion design with STEM education to build self-efficacy, knowledge, and interest in math and science among middle school girls. Her teaching portfolio includes courses on apparel merchandising, advertising and promotion, and retail store design.

Hyllegard's research examines advertising and promotion strategies, international marketing and retailing, consumers' perceptions and use of technologies such as the internet and social media for product purchases, and socially responsible business practices in the apparel sector. Her work addresses sustainable building practices in retail environments, eco-friendly faux leathers, fair labor messaging, cause-related promotions, and prosocial marketing appeals targeting generational cohorts like Gen Y and millennials. Key publications include 'Market selection for international expansion: Assessing opportunities in emerging markets' (Sakarya, Eckman, & Hyllegard, 2007, International Marketing Review), 'Marketing eco-fashion: The influence of brand name and message explicitness' (Yan, Hyllegard, & Blaesi, 2012, Journal of Marketing Communications), 'The influence of gender, social cause, charitable support, and message appeal on Gen Y's responses to cause-related marketing' (Hyllegard, Yan, Ogle, & Attmann, 2010, Journal of Marketing Management), 'Socially responsible labeling: The impact of hang tags on consumers' attitudes and patronage intentions toward an apparel brand' (Hyllegard, Yan, Ogle, & Lee, 2012, Clothing and Textiles Research Journal), and 'Predicting patronage behaviors in a sustainable retail environment: adding retail characteristics and consumer lifestyle orientation to the belief-attitude-behavior intention model' (Ogle, Hyllegard, & Dunbar, 2004, Environment and Behavior). Her scholarship has accumulated over 2,100 citations. In 2019, Hyllegard and collaborators received the Paper of Distinction Award for research on authentic style-fashion-dress negotiations.