Gideon Nave
Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz Associate Professor of Marketing at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. My work lies at the intersection of neuroscience, technology, and consumer behavior.
Education & Career
I'm a professor of marketing at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where I study how people think, decide, and behave — and how technology is changing all of that. I got my PhD from Caltech, where I focused on decision neuroscience, and before that I trained as an electrical engineer. That mix of backgrounds shapes how I approach research: I like to build on rigorous methods from multiple fields to ask questions that actually matter.
A big part of my work right now is about AI and its effects on human psychology. How does relying on AI tools change the way we think? Does it make us more creative, or does it quietly narrow our thinking? When AI makes better predictions about us than we make about ourselves, what does that mean for personal autonomy and privacy? These are questions I find genuinely important, and increasingly urgent.
I also study the biological side of behavior, using tools like brain imaging, genetics, and hormonal measures to understand where preferences and decisions come from. And I care a lot about whether findings in psychology and marketing actually replicate, so some of my work focuses on improving how science is done.
I have received the APS Rising Star Award (2020) and the ACR Early Career Award. In 2021, I was named one of Poets & Quants' Best 40-Under-40 Professors.
I am affiliated with the Wharton Neuroscience Initiative, the Wharton Human-AI Research (WHOAR), and Wharton Behavioral Change for Good (BCFG).
Research Areas
Consumer Neuroscience
Investigating the biological and neural underpinnings of consumer behavior—from hormonal influences on brand preference to genetic correlates of decision-making. Using neuroimaging, genotyping, and hormonal assays to quantify the building blocks of preferences and cognition.
Psychology of Technology
Exploring how digital footprints, AI, and emerging technologies shape consumer autonomy and privacy. Studying how businesses can leverage these technologies to deliver the right products and messages to the right people, at the right time, while evaluating the ethical challenges they raise.
Meta-Science
Evaluating the replicability and robustness of scientific findings in behavioral research. Developing new methodologies for more rigorous and transparent research practices to advance the credibility of psychological and marketing science.
Presenting on Cognitive Surrender — the phenomenon where people adopt AI-generated answers as their own without verification.
Contact Information
Position
Carlos and Rosa de la Cruz Associate Professor of Marketing
Office
#749 Huntsman Hall
The Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania
3730 Walnut Street, JMHH 700
Philadelphia, PA 19104
gnave at wharton.upenn.edu