Eric VanEpps, PhD

Eric VanEpps is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Vanderbilt University. His research focuses on consumer behavior and judgment and decision making, applying lessons from behavioral economics and social psychology to characterize consumers’ choices. Dr. VanEpps is especially interested in how we manage the impressions we make on others through the questions we ask and the way we talk about ourselves. In addition, Dr. VanEpps studies interventions that promote healthier consumer decisions and ways that firms might better communicate to help consumers make more informed decisions.

Dr. VanEpps received his PhD in Behavioral Decision Research from Carnegie Mellon University, and was a professor at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business for six years before joining the Vanderbilt faculty. His research is published in top journals such as the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Psychological Bulletin, and his work has been covered by outlets such as Harvard Business Review, Time, Forbes, and the Freakonomics podcast.