Richmond Spiders are a special breed of student-athlete. They excel on the field and in the classroom. And their academic pursuits often find them working side-by-side with faculty on compelling research.

Spider quarterback Kyle Lauletta is a perfect example. Not only did the senior spend this summer training at Robins Stadium, he also lead a research project for marketing faculty in the Robins School.

Lauletta, a double major in business administration and leadership studies, took assistant professor Jeff Carlson’s marketing and research analysis course last spring, which led Carlson to recruit him for a research project with him and Bill Bergman, a lecturer in marketing. The two professors were exploring consumer perception of jewelry for an outside client. It’s the type of applied research that is a triple win for faculty, students, and the companies who seek their expertise.

“It was an interesting cross section between a teachable experience for a student, a benefit for a client trying to learn more about their product, and an academic value from a scholarly perspective,” Bergman said.

The bulk of their research involved consumer interviews, which Lauletta conducted in the Robins School’s behavioral research lab. He then sent out quantitative surveys to participants, and ultimately presented the findings to the client 

“The project and research were really beneficial for me and connected my studies in both the business and leadership fields,” Lauletta said. “It felt like I was part of a professional marketing research team. I work better in high pressure situations, and they did a great job welcoming me and bringing me along and teaching me.”

As for the faculty? Both Bergman and Carlson were pretty impressed with the results, saying the project is strong enough to be published in an academic journal.

“He was calm, cool, collected, and very professional throughout the whole project,” Bergman said. “It was really remarkable. We’ve worked with some great students, but this was pretty special to watch.”

Great work, Kyle! We’re looking forward to watching your continued success as the football season kicks off. Go, Spiders!Read more about Lauletta's summer research.