Dr. Lucas Carden is a survey research expert with over a decade of experience designing and evaluating consumer surveys in litigation, corporate market research, and academic contexts. Dr. Carden has been retained as a survey expert in multiple litigation matters before U.S. District Courts. He holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Southern California and has experience conducting survey research examining consumer behavior and perception for Fortune 500 companies and top law firms.
Current:
- Founder and Managing Partner
FocusMark LLC
Dr. Carden serves as a survey expert for litigation matters involving trademark and deceptive advertising disputes. He conducts and evaluates consumer surveys for matters involving likelihood of confusion, secondary meaning, genericness, and fame, as well as surveys assessing consumer perceptions of allegedly deceptive advertising and marketing claims.
Appointments:
-
Vice President, Litigation Surveys and Consumer Science
IMS Legal Strategies/MMR Strategy Group
Dr. Carden conducted consumer survey research for litigation matters involving intellectual property and advertising disputes, and supported survey experts in survey design, execution, and evaluation.
- Survey Scientist and Consumer Researcher
Catalyst Behavioral Sciences
Dr. Carden designed and executed consumer research projects for Fortune 500 companies (e.g., Proctor & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Intel) to address brand positioning, segmentation, new product development, and pricing optimization challenges using methods from cognitive and behavioral science.
Dr. Carden supported expert witness, Dr. David Neal, in conducting consumer behavior and perception research for trademark infringement and deceptive advertising disputes. Lucas was the lead research assistant for a chapter in a leading treatise in the field, see David T. Neal, “Psychological Considerations in Designing Trademark and False Advertising Survey Questionnaires” in Trademark and Deceptive Advertising Surveys: Law, Science, and Design, 273-290 (Shari S. Diamond & Jerre B. Swann, eds. 2022).
- Visiting Assistant Professor, Psychology
Occidental College - Invited Visiting Researcher
INSEAD Marketing Department, Fontainebleau, FR Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab, Paris, FR
Education:
- Postdoctoral Scholar and Researcher Associate
Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California - Ph.D., Psychology
University of Southern California
Concentration: Social and Consumer Psychology
Lucas was mentored by leading scientists on consumer judgment and decision making and survey measurement (see Dr. Norbert Schwarz Google Scholar) and habit formation and change (see Dr. Wendy Wood Google Scholar). See Dr. Schwarz’s research referenced in Shari Diamond’s Reference Guide on Survey Research in the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence: Third). - M.S., Human Behavior
University of Southern California
(Now known as M.S., Applied Psychology)
- B.A., Psychology (Minor: Philosophy)
University of Kentucky
Men’s Soccer Scholarship Athlete
Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications:
-
Carden, L., &
Wood, W. (2018). Habit formation and change. Current Opinion in Behavioral
Sciences.
This review highlights emerging findings and new directions in research on habit formation and change. This research is cited by, e.g., Dr. Angela Duckworth (U. of Pennsylvania), Dr. David Laibson (Harvard), Dr. James Gross (Stanford), Dr. Katherine Milkman (Wharton).
- Carden, L., Wood, W., Neal, D. T., & Pascoe, A. (2017). Incentives activate a control mind-set: good for deliberate behaviors, bad for habit performance. Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, 2(3), 279-290. This research shows that incentives have different effects on purchase choices depending on whether consumer actions have been learned using conscious rules versus in a more habitual way. Implications for understanding brand attidunal vs habit loyalty, new product adoption, and segmenting based on habitual consumers is discussed.
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