Luca Cian

Education: M.S., University of Trieste (Italy); Ph.D., University of Verona (Italy); Visiting Ph.D., University of Michigan; Postdoc, University of Michigan

Luca Cian is a full professor at the Darden School of Business, where he holds the Killgallon Ohio Art Chair and serves as the Marketing Area Coordinator (Department Chair).
 
Luca is also an Artificial Intelligence expert for the Science Advice and Guidance for Emergencies (U.S. Department of Homeland Security), holds a visiting appointment as senior scholar at Columbia Business School, and serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of Marketing Research.

When he lived in Italy, the Italian Association of Psychology awarded his doctoral dissertation "Best Dissertation" in his division. The Council of Italian University Rectors, the Italian National Research Council, and the Italian Minister of Youth recognized him as one of the best young researchers in Italy. Luca was at the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business from 2010 to 2015 and has been at the University of Virginia, Darden School of Business since then.
 
His research area is consumer behavior, with a focus on psychological response to artificial intelligence, visual persuasion, and social identity. He also does biofeedback research, mostly using eye-tracking technology. His most recent research honors include:
SPSP Cialdini Prize for Outstanding Contributions to Field Research in Social Psychology (2025), 2024 BSPA (Behavioral Science and Policy Association) Publication Award for Innovation in Behavioral Policy, top 5 most cited articles in 2022 and 2023 in the Journal of Marketing and the Journal of Marketing Research, Winner of the Research in Practice Award (American Marketing Association CB SIG 2021); top 10% of authors on SSRN by all-time downloads (2018-2022); nominated for the Journal of Consumer Research "Best Paper Award" (2018); top 11 most impactful articles in the leading marketing journals selected by the Marketing Science Institute (November 2015 issue); and top 10 most downloaded articles of Journal of Consumer Psychology (September-December 2014). Luca has published in the top marketing academic journals, including Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Marketing, Nature Communications, PNAS, and Journal of Consumer Research.

With respect to teaching, Luca has taught "Marketing," "Consumer Behavior," and "Artificial Intelligence: Psychological Insights" for MBAs and EMBAs at Darden. Luca's teaching has been awarded by Poets & Quants when he was named one of the "40 Most Outstanding Business Professors Under 40, a Global Recognition" in 2019. The Darden Classes of 2017, 2021, and 2023 voted him as Faculty Marshal (one of the highest recognitions of the school). He is often in the top 10% of the teaching evaluations of the school. 
 
Luca routinely connects with companies and managers. His research has been used by international marketing research companies (e.g., IPSOS) and several institutions (e.g., the New Zealand Tourism Industry Association, the Alaska Research Development and Technology Transfer). Luca has also worked with international corporations (e.g., Electrolux), medium-size businesses (e.g., Timavo Ship Supply), and start-ups (e.g., Tropicaux).
 
Popular accounts of his work have appeared in The New York Times, USA Today, VOX, PBS, The Washington Post, NPR, and others.