Rate My Professor Vassilis Dalakas

Vassilis Dalakas served as Professor of Marketing in the College of Business Administration at California State University, San Marcos from 2008 until his retirement in 2025. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Hanover College, a Master’s degree in European Studies from Indiana University, and a Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Oregon. Prior to joining CSUSM, Dalakas taught for four years at Northern Kentucky University, where he served as faculty director for the Mayerson Student Philanthropy Project and received the Sandy Easton Award for Outstanding Teaching from the College of Business in 2008, and for five years at Berry College. He has been a visiting faculty member at the San Diego State University Sports MBA program, the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and universities in France and Denmark. He participated in the Advertising Educational Foundation Visiting Professor Program with McCann Erickson in New York City in 2010. Currently, he holds the position of Associate Dean of Graduate and Professional Studies and Professor of Marketing at Point Loma Nazarene University. At CSUSM, he taught courses including Consumer Behavior and Sports Marketing & Sponsorship.

Dalakas specializes in consumer psychology and consumer behavior, with research interests encompassing fan identification, sponsorship, consumer animosity, schadenfreude, social identity, and rivalries, particularly in sports marketing. His publications appear in leading journals such as Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Business Research, Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Sport Behavior, Sport Marketing Quarterly, and Journal of Services Marketing. Notable works include “A Qualitative Inquiry on Schadenfreude by Sport Fans” (Journal of Sport Behavior, 2015), “Fan Identification, Schadenfreude toward Hated Rivals, and the Mediating Effects of IWIN” (Journal of Services Marketing, 2012), “Consumer Psychology of Sport: More than Just a Game” (chapter in Handbook of Consumer Psychology, 2008), and co-authorship of the textbook Sports Marketing (Routledge, 3rd edition, 2024). His scholarship has garnered over 2,200 citations. Dalakas has earned prestigious teaching awards, including the Outstanding Marketing Teacher Award from the Academy of Marketing Science (2011), Master Teacher Award from the Marketing Management Association (2021), Outstanding Faculty of the Year from San Diego State University Sports MBA (2024 and 2022), and Outstanding Educator Award for Innovative and Creative Teaching from the Academy of Educational Leadership (2007). He served on the editorial review boards of Sport Marketing Quarterly and Journal of Sport Management and as an officer for the American Marketing Association SIG on Sports Marketing. His research has been featured in ESPN.com, USA Today, The Guardian, and other media outlets.