Monic Sun

Background

About Monic Sun

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). She is currently curious about the advantages and disadvantages of human intelligence when compared with machine intelligence and how a lack of an understanding of the differences between the two may create problems in the marketplace. 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.