Richard W. Pollay teaches Advertising and Marketing Management dealing with corporate decisions on marketing and consumer research, advertising strategy and implementation.

His research on the social and cultural effects of advertising has appeared in peer-reviewed publications, such as:

• Advances in Consumer Research
• American Academy of Advertising
• Current Issues and Research in Advertising
• European Journal of Marketing
• International Journal of Advertising
• Journal of Advertising History
• Journal of Consumer Research
• Journal of Marketing
• Journal of Marketing Theory & Practice
• Journal of Social Issues.

Curator of the History of Advertising Archives at UBC, he has produced the reference book of the field, Information Sources for the History of Advertising (Greenwood Press) and many scholarly articles on historical topics.   This led to consulting with the American Advertising Museum, the Smithsonian Institution, the Library of Congress, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Center for the Study of Commercialism.

His recent research on cigarette advertising has covered topics like the targeting of children, the use of public relations, ethnic targeting, self-regulation, motivation research, media choices and managerial strategies and tactics.    The History of Advertising Archives, which he curates, is the largest collection of cigarette ads, and documentation there constitutions the Tobacco Industry Promotion Series.  This work has led to many publications and serving as an expert witness in court, testifying on the character, functions and management of cigarette advertising, public relations and consumer expectations in the cases of Cipollone v. Liggett et al. (NJ, 1988); RJR-Macdonald v. AG Canada (Montreal, 1989), Horton v. American Tobacco (MI, 1990), Wilkes v. American Tobacco (MI 1993), Conor v. RJ Reynolds et al (FL 1997), etc.   He consults for the US Surgeon General's Office on Smoking and Health, the National Cancer Institute and other health organizations.