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Assistant Professor of Marketing

Professor Simmons’ research focuses on identifying the basic processes underlying people’s judgments, decisions, and preferences. In this interest, he has investigated a number of topics, including how sports gamblers decide which team to bet on, why different methods of preference elicitation often diverge, how information about cardinal direction can affect pricing expectations and consumer decisions, and how belief in a "true self" can affect consumers’ willingness to take pills to enhance their social, emotional, and cognitive abilities.

Selected Publications 
"Branding Alters Attitude Functions and Reduces the Advantage of Function-Matching Persuasive Appeals" (with R. A. LeBoeuf), Journal of Marketing Research, forthcoming.

"On Southbound Ease and Northbound Fees: Literal Consequences of the Metaphoric Link between Vertical Position and Cardinal Direction" (with L. D. Nelson), Journal of Marketing Research, forthcoming.

"Preferences for Psychological Enhancements: The Reluctance to Enhance Fundamental Traits" (with J. Riis and G.P. Goodwin), Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 35, 495-508, 2008

"Moniker Maladies: When Names Sabotage Success" (with L.D. Nelson), Psychological Science, Vol. 18, 1106-1112, 2007

"Intuitive Confidence: Choosing Between Intuitive and Nonintuitive Alternatives" (with L.D. Nelson), Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Vol. 135, 409-428, 2006

"Pay Attention! Attention to the Primes Increases Attitude Assessment Accuracy" (with D.A. Prentice), Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 42, 784-791, 2006

"Believe It or Not: On the Possibility of Belief Suspension" (with U. Hasson and A. Todorov), Psychological Science, Vol. 16, 566-571, 2005

"Distinguishing the Cognitive and Behavioral Consequences of Attitude Importance and Certainty: A Test of the Common-Factor Model of Attitude Strength" (with P.S. Visser and J.A. Krosnick), Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 39, 118-141, 2003

Working Papers
"How Consumers Choose Between Equated Alternatives" (with L.D. Nelson)

"The Effect of Accuracy Motivation on Anchoring and Adjustment: Do People Adjust from Provided Anchors?" (with R. A. LeBoeuf and L. D. Nelson)

"From Loss Aversion to Loss Acceptance: Contexts Effects on Loss Aversion in Risky Choice" (with N. Novemsky)

Education
PhD Princeton University, 2004
MA Princeton University, 2001