Maurice Patterson's research and teaching interests are firmly located within Consumer Culture Theory. Much of Maurice's work is positioned at the intersection between consumption, embodiment and identity. In particular, he is concerned with how naturalised ideas about gender become written on the skin, and with how consumption is both implicated in this process and may be used to offer a critique of it. Maurice has also contributed work within the field of branding. Here, his energies have centred on theoretical and practical explorations of brand community and brand image. Primarily, this research engages with processes of consumer affiliation though it also opens up a space for discussions of the display of taste and distinction through consumption. Maurice is also known for his research on advertising. His work in this field has contributed to the understanding of how masculinities and femininities are represented in advertising and to how gender ideologies are negotiated by advertising audiences.

Before returning to Ireland in 2002, Maurice spent a decade engaged in scholarly pursuits in a number of academic institutions across the UK including Nottingham University, Nottingham Trent University and the University of Glamorgan. He has co-written two textbooks in the field of direct and relationship marketing, and his publications have appeared in Consumption, Markets and Culture, the European Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Management, Marketing Theory, and a variety of other scholarly outlets. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Consumer Behaviour.