Research on the link between distress caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and  an increase in addictive behaviours led by marketing and consumer studies professor Dr. Sunghwan Yi has gained national coverage with an article by CTVNews.  

In the article, Yi explained the research and its implications, saying that “engaging in addictive behaviour is an easy way out of distress since this doesn’t require a lot of preparation or effort”.  

Yi’s research has also gained local coverage in the Kitchener-Waterloo region. In an article by CBC Kitchener-Waterloo, he spoke about how building constructive behaviours to escape distress may be difficult for some and that coping mechanisms can easily become addictions that are hard to break.  

In coverage by CTV News Kitchener, Yi’s research was connected to a call by the Kitchener-Waterloo chapter of Alcoholics Anonymous for more support for addictions. 

Yi is a professor in the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Economics. His research interests include automatic determinants of addictive, impulsive and compulsive consumer behaviour; factors conducive to successful self-regulation and barriers in the context of impulsive consumption; and coping and enhancement motives.