Work-in-Progress

Online Learning

Fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic, universities are increasingly adopting online course delivery as a viable alternative to traditional face-to-face formats.

While the practical benefits are well-documented, there is limited understanding of the potential impacts on people's psychological well-being and overall success. My co-authors and I use both field studies and lab experiments to investigate these effects.

Project 1: Online Courses And Personality (under review)

It is commonly believed that personality traits influence the preference for online learning. But, could the influence also flow in the opposite direction? In a randomized field experiment with business school students, we explore how the mode of course delivery—online versus in-person—affects students' personality. We then examine how this shift in personality subsequently impacts students' interest in pursuing potentially lucrative career paths.

Project 2: Online Courses and Objective Success (Passed 1st round review, Revising to Resubmit)

While online courses are celebrated for expanding educational access, do they benefit all students equally? Our randomized field experiment demonstrates that students with deficiencies in self-regulated learning (SRL) face detrimental outcomes in their academic performance when enrolled in online courses, unlike their counterparts in in-person settings. This suggests that a shift toward online education may disproportionately disadvantage students who require the most support.

Project 3: Video Effects and Online Learning (data analysis in progress)

Online learning has surged over the past decade, with consumers turning to massive open online courses (MOOCs) and short-form tutorials on platforms like TikTok and YouTube. But could the effectiveness of these learning opportunities vary based on the video effects that now dominate digital content? This project investigates these questions through multiple field studies, analyzing over 100,000 tutorial videos, and through lab experiments designed to establish causal links.

AI & Robotics

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics promise to reshape consumption experiences.

Through multiple government-funded projects, my co-authors and I are exploring how these new technologies are affecting consumer behavior and well-being.

Project 1: When do Consumers Accept Robots?

Companies are increasingly considering relying on robots to fill roles that are difficult to staff. However, could consumers perceive these uses of robots as unacceptable? If so, under what conditions is this more—or less—likely to occur? This project seeks to address these questions through a series of pre-registered experiments.

Project 2: Robotics and Food Consumption

In a previous project, recently accepted in Appetite, my co-authors and I found that consumers struggle to accept robots in restaurants, perceiving their presence as stripping the food of the 'love' along with feelings of disgust tied to the replacement of human labor. This project aims to follow-up on these findings and explore why certain types of restaurants may evoke less rejection.

Project 3: Ethicality of using Artificial Intelligence

The use of AI is rapidly increasing, but its acceptability and moral implications in the workplace remain subjects of ongoing debate. This project aims to explore whether, and under what conditions, consumers perceive the use of AI in work-related tasks as ethically questionable.