Hi! I’m Xiaocheng, a PhD student in Marketing at the McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin. My research interests are broadly in quantitative marketing, with a particular interest in understanding how consumers and firms make decisions in increasingly data-rich and digital environments.

I’m especially interested in questions related to consumer behavior, digital platforms, advertising, and the ways new technologies reshape market interactions. More broadly, I enjoy using empirical and quantitative methods to study questions that are both economically meaningful and relevant to how businesses and consumers behave in the real world. My research interests are still evolving as I begin my PhD journey, and I’m excited to explore new questions along the way.

Before joining McCombs, I earned my M.S. in Marketing from Johns Hopkins University and my B.A. in Economics from the University of California, San Diego. Outside of research, I enjoy baking, playing music, working out, and occasionally convincing myself that debugging code counts as a personality trait.

Research Interests

• AI & Human Interaction
• Digital Platforms
• Advertising
• Consumer & Firm Behavior

Education

PhD in Marketing, 2026–Present McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin

M.S. in Marketing, 2022 Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins University

B.A. in Economics, 2021 University of California, San Diego