Monic Sun
Associate Professor, Marketing
Monic Sun studies counter-intuitive market phenomena. Her research suggests that acknowledging that people have different and sophisticated tastes could often deepen our understanding of a puzzle in the market (e.g., a high variance of online ratings may contribute to product sales; people may not follow what their “friends” do on social media; geo-targeting may alleviate price wars; people can derive happiness from both materials and experiences). She also finds that enthusiasm for new technologies and public policies often needs to be treated with caution (e.g., mandatory disclosure of product information may lead to higher prices; sharing ad-revenue with bloggers may push content towards mainstream topics; smart technologies may lead firms to price more aggressively; recycling may lead to wasteful consumption).
Monic uses game theory, causal inferences and experimentation in her research and welcomes interdisciplinary collaboration. Currently she is curious about the essential differences, if any, between artificial and human intelligence. Her work has been published in top marketing journals and mentioned by popular media outlets such as the BBC, Forbes and NPR. She currently serves on the editorial review board of Marketing Science. Monic holds a B.A. from Peking University and a Ph.D. from Boston University, both in economics.
Education
PhD, Boston University, 2008
MA, Boston University, 2006
BA, Peking University, 2003
Publications
Tony, K., Sun, M., Jiang, B. (2024). “Peer-to-Peer Markets with Bilateral Ratings”, Marketing Science, 43 (5), 1081-1101
Weingarten, E., Duke, K., Liu, W., Hamilton, R., Amir, O., Appel, G., Cerf, M., Goodman, J., Morales, A., O’Brien, E., Quoidbach, J., Sun, M. (2023). “What Makes People Happy? Decoupling the Experiential-Material Continuum”, Journal of Consumer Psychology
Sun, M., Tyagi, R. (2020). “Product Fit Uncertainty and Information Provision in a Distribution Channel”, Production and Operations Management, 29 (10), 2381-2402
Sun, M., Zhang, X., Zhu, F. (2019). “U-Shaped Conformity in Online Social Networks”, Marketing Science, 38 (3), 461-480
Chen, Y., Li, X., Sun, M. (2017). “Competitive Mobile Geo Targeting”, Marketing Science, 36 (5), 666-682
Sun, M., Trudel, R. (2017). “The Effect of Recycling Versus Trashing on Consumption: Theory and Experimental Evidence”, Journal of Marketing Research, 54 (2), 293-305
Branco, F., Sun, M., Villas-Boas, J. (2016). “Too Much Information? Information Provision and Search Costs”, Marketing Science, 35 (4), 605-618
Sun, M., Zhu, F. (2013). “Ad Revenue and Content Commercialization: Evidence from Blogs”, Management Science, 59 (10), 2314-2331
Branco, F., Sun, M., Villas-Boas, J. (2012). “Optimal Search for Product Information”, Management Science, 58 (11), 2037-2056
Liu, T., Sun, M. (2012). “Informal Payments in Developing Countries’ Public Health Sectors”, Pacific Economic Review, 17 (4), 514-524
Thomadsen, R., Zeithammer, R., Iyer, G., Mayzlin, D., Orhun, Y., Pazgal, A., Purohit, D., Rao, R., Riordan, M., Shin, J., Sun, M., Villas-Boas, M. (2012). “A Reflection on Analytical Work in Marketing: Three Points of Consensus”, Marketing Letters, 23 (2), 381-389
Sun, M. (2012). “How Does the Variance of Product Ratings Matter?”, Management Science, 58 (4), 696-707
Sun, M. (2011). “Disclosing Multiple Product Attributes”, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 20 (1), 195-224