Dr Mandi Jamalian

I joined the University of Leicester in 2015 as a Graduate Teaching Assistant while undertaking my doctoral research full-time at the School of Management (now College of Business). I am currently Deputy Head of School of Marketing and Strategy, providing school-wide leadership with responsibility for workload and resource planning, staffing strategy, and strategic decision-making. I am a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, reflecting my ongoing engagement with teaching and learning and my commitment to supporting colleagues in their professional development alongside students. Over the years, I have gained extensive experience in academic leadership, programme management, curriculum design, and supporting colleagues and students in delivering high-quality marketing education.

In 2024-25, with the establishment of the new College of Business, I served as Director of Education for the School of Marketing and Strategy. In this role, I led the School’s education portfolio, supporting the delivery of the School and College vision for inclusive, innovative, and high-quality business education. I worked with Programme Leads and colleagues to enhance curriculum design, assessment, and the student learning experience across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes (both campus-based and distance learning). I also led the development and implementation of education strategy aligned with institutional priorities, overseeing ongoing quality assurance, portfolio delivery, and the development of new programmes and initiatives that supported the strategic direction of the School and College.

Before that, I was Programme Lead for the BA Marketing (2022–2024), responsible for the overall academic quality of the programme, including curriculum review, enhancing the student experience, supporting colleagues, and ensuring the programme met both university and external expectations. 

My main research interests focus on consumer experience and behaviour, with particular emphasis on tourism, leisure, and cultural consumption. I specialise in qualitative and ethnographic research methods to explore how individuals engage with places and experiences.

In my PhD thesis, titled “A More-Than-Representational Understanding of Dark Tourism Places,” I examined how places associated with death are produced, consumed, and reconstructed through embodied practices. This work contributes to the growing literature on dark tourism and deepens our understanding of how people interact with and make meaning from such complex sites.

Currently, I am engaged in several research projects related to the business of dark tourism and the management of difficult heritage sites, exploring the challenges and opportunities these unique places present.

Papadopoulos, O., Lopez-Andreu, M., & Jamalian, M. (2021). Violation and lack of awareness of employment rights in the United Kingdom's hotel industry: Isolation, fragmentation and barriers to labour enforcement. Industrial Relations Journal, 1- 16. View abstract

Jamalian, M., Kavaratzis, M., & Saren, M. (2020). A happy experience of a dark place: Consuming and performing the Jallianwala Bagh. Tourism Management, 81, 104168. View abstract

Lopez Andreu, M., Papadopolous, O., & Jamalian, M. (2019). How has the UK hotels sector been affected by the fissuring of the worker-employer relationship in the last 10 years? Director of Labour Market Enforcement: London. Pp. 1-58. View

Paper presentations

Jamalian, M., Kavaratzis, M. and Saren, M. (2019) Tourist Photography: The experience of visitors at the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre Memorial, paper presented at the Travel and Tourism Association Europe 2019 Conference, 7-10 April, Bournemouth, UK.

Jamalian, M., Kavaratzis, M. and Saren, M. (2019) A place for remembrance, rest and selfies, paper presented at the 6th Corfu Place Marketing and Branding Symposium, 6-10 May, Corfu, Greece.

Artwork presentations

IPBA Art Gallery (2019). It's a dark but a happy place. University of Thessaly, Volos, Greece View 

Images of Research competition (2018). In Search for Inner Peace. University of Leicester. [Katherine May People's Choice Award Winner] View 

I am currently supervising doctoral research on topics including:

• The role of sustainability factors in shaping positive place brand image
• Online consumption practices and behaviours of Generation Z in the post-pandemic context
• The potential of virtual travel experiences to foster pro-environmental behaviours
• The influence of social media interactions on consumer motivation toward green consumption
• The impact of digital business models on the performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)  
• Consumption practices in hyperreality

I have supervised two PhD students to successful completion and welcome inquiries from prospective research students interested in the following areas:

• Consumer experience and behaviour in contemporary contexts
• Online and digital consumption practices (including social media, virtual experiences)    
• Tourism, leisure, and cultural consumption
• Place and destination marketing, including sustainability and place branding
• Services marketing and service experiences
• Pro-environmental behaviours and sustainability  
• Ethnographic and qualitative approaches to studying consumer experience

My teaching and research interests focus on services marketing, with a particular emphasis on understanding and improving customer and service experiences in contemporary contexts. I contribute to teaching across both undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and supervise students on dissertations and research projects. 

Academic Leadership: 

• Deputy Head, School of Marketing and Strategy (2025-) 
• Director of Education, Marketing & strategy (2024-2025) 
• BA Marketing Undergraduate Programme Lead  (2022-2024) 
• Academic Stream Tutor for BA Marketing Year 3 (2020-2022)  

Image of Research (2018): ‘In search for inner peace’ - Katherine May People's Choice Winner

Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA)