Assistant Professor
Marketing
About
Celia Gaertig studies the psychology of consumer behavior and decision making. Much of her work focuses on understanding how consumers make judgments and decisions in situations that involve uncertainty.
Many of our most common and important decisions, from home purchases to investment decisions, involve uncertainty. Gaertig’s work challenges long-held beliefs about how uncertainty affects consumers’ judgments. In one line of investigation, Gaertig explores preferences for advice. There is a widespread belief that advisees prefer advisors who offer certainty, even for events that are inherently uncertain. In contrast, her research shows that consumers do not dislike, and sometimes prefer, uncertain advice. In related work, Gaertig shows why consumers may prefer an uncertain price promotion, such as a 10% chance to get a product for free, to an equivalent sure discount, and delineates the circumstances under which such uncertain promotions are effective.
Her research has been published in Psychological Science, Management Science, PNAS, and the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
Gaertig earned a PhD from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. She also completed a BSc in Psychology (University of Freiburg) and a BA in Business (DHBW Karlsruhe), both in Germany.
Expertise and Research Interests
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Consumer Behavior
- Decision Making Under Uncertainty
- Robert Mislavsky, Celia Gaertig. Combining Probability Forecasts: 60% and 60% Is 60%, but Likely and Likely Is Very Likely. Management Science.
2022 - Celia Gaertig, Joseph P. Simmons. The Psychology of Second Guesses: Implications for the Wisdom of the Inner Crowd. Management Science.
2022 - Samantha Kassirer, Emma E. Levine, Celia Gaertig. Decisional Autonomy Undermines Advisees’ Judgments of Experts In Medicine And In Life. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
2020 - Joshua Lewis, Celia Gaertig, Joseph P. Simmons. Extremeness Aversion Is a Cause of Anchoring. Psychological Science.
2019 - Celia Gaertig, Alixandra Barasch, Emma E. Levine, Maurice E. Schweitzer. When Does Anger Boost Status?. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.
2019 - Celia Gaertig, Joseph P. Simmons. Do People Inherently Dislike Uncertain Advice?. Psychological Science.
2018
- Why (and When) Are Uncertain Price Promotions More Effective Than Equivalent Sure Discounts?
Celia Gaertig, Joseph P. Simmons - Should Advisors Provide Confidence Intervals Around Their Estimates?
Celia Gaertig, Joseph P. Simmons - How Should Time Estimates Be Structured to Increase Consumer Satisfaction?
Hu, B., Gaertig, C., & Dietvorst, B. J. - Premature Predictions: Forecasters Get Less Credit for Predictions Made Too Early.
Mislavsky, R. & Gaertig, C.
At Haas since 2021
2021 – present, Assistant Professor, Marketing Group, Haas School of Business
2019 – 2021, Assistant Professor of Marketing, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago
- Ad hoc Reviewer: Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Journal of Marketing Research, Judgment and Decision Making, Management Science, Organizational Behavioral and Human Decision Processes, Social Psychological and Personality Science
- Conference Reviewer: Behavioral Decision Research and Management (BDRM), Society for Judgment and Decision Making (SJDM), Society of Consumer Psychology (SCP)
Runner Up, Hillel Einhorn New Investigator Award, Society for Judgment and Decision Making
2020
Winkelman Fellowship Grant, The Wharton School
2016 – 2019
Wharton Risk Center Russell Ackoff Doctoral Student Fellowship Award
2015 – 2019
Paul R. Kleindorfer Scholar Award
2017
Marjorie Weiler Prize for Excellence in Writing
2015
- Decision Making, MBA, Spring 2022