Daniel R
- Research Program Mentor
PhD candidate at Columbia University
Expertise
Judgement and Decision Making, Consumer Psychology, Prosocial Behavior, Product Development, User Experience, Human Centered Product Design, Health, Consumer Wellness
Bio
Hi there, I just completed a PhD in consumer behavior within the Marketing Department at Columbia Business School. My research focuses on how people make decisions about their health and wellness. I've published articles and presented research in top academic conferences and journals. Some of my favorite projects look at how people think about the body (as a machine or as a temple), or think about the differences between "health" and "wellness," which guides behavior. I've always been fascinated with how things work. Before my PhD I studied product development and engineering at Northwestern University and worked in consumer products as a mechanical engineer and program manager for 5 years at Ford, Lucid Motors, and a few startups. I enjoyed contributing to innovative projects building wearable motion chargers, carbon nanotube seat heaters, and autonomous vehicle interiors and received multiple patents for my designs.Project ideas
Why does it seem like everyone wears our school colors on Mondays after a football win?
In this project you will learn how to conduct research into your proposed subject of interest. You will start with fact finding: literature reviews and preliminary data gathering. You will learn about different research methods and ways to test out your hypothesis. We will follow that up with conducting basic analyses to prove or disprove your hypothesis.
What are the most important features to customers when buying a car?
This project will take you through the steps to evaluate the car buying experience and formulate a hierarchy of car purchasing priorities. You will start with fact finding: literature reviews and preliminary data gathering. You will learn about different research methods applicable to your question of interest and basic data analyses to provide insight and conclusions.
What makes people happy and/or healthy?
Why do some people meditate but others don't? Exercise? Floss? How do consumer preferences, goals, and motivations dictate their product and activity choices and how do they define what it means to be "healthy"? We can use a mix of qualitative and experimental methods to better understand the answers to these types of questions.