Dr. Gaia Rancati
Assistant Professor of Marketing and Neuromarketing

Office Hours by appointment:
Tuesday and Thursday 1 pm - 3 pm (in - person)
Tuesday 5.30 pm – 7 pm (online)
Departments / Programs
Degree Information
- PHD, Universita IULM (2018)
- MA, Universita IULM (2009)
- BA, Universita IULM (2009)
Areas of Expertise
Neuromarketing, Artificial Intelligence, Retail, Service Marketing
Biography
I am is an assistant professor of marketing and neuromarketing at Middle Tennessee State University in the United States and a visiting assistant professor at IULM in Italy.
During my doctoral studies, I worked in the Center of Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University, focusing on psychophysiology in retailing.
My research interests focus on neuromarketing, retailing, services marketing, and artificial intelligence. In particular, my work in neuromarketing inclu...
Read More »I am is an assistant professor of marketing and neuromarketing at Middle Tennessee State University in the United States and a visiting assistant professor at IULM in Italy.
During my doctoral studies, I worked in the Center of Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University, focusing on psychophysiology in retailing.
My research interests focus on neuromarketing, retailing, services marketing, and artificial intelligence. In particular, my work in neuromarketing includes human-robot interactions, retailing and augmented reality.
Before turning to Academia, I worked for several years as a retail manager in the luxury fashion industry and currently consults with companies on retail and the sales process.
Publications
Manuscripts Published:
Rancati, G., Maggioni, I. (2022) Neurophysiological Responses to Robot-Human Interactions in Retail Stores. Journal of Services Marketing.
Rancati, G., Mauri, M., Gaggioli, A., Riva, G. (2021) The Application of Implicit Association Test techniques and Facial Expression Analyses in the Comparative Evaluation of Website User Experience. Frontier...
Read More »Manuscripts Published:
Rancati, G., Maggioni, I. (2022) Neurophysiological Responses to Robot-Human Interactions in Retail Stores. Journal of Services Marketing.
Rancati, G., Mauri, M., Gaggioli, A., Riva, G. (2021) The Application of Implicit Association Test techniques and Facial Expression Analyses in the Comparative Evaluation of Website User Experience. Frontiers in Psychology, special issue in Neuromarketing and Neuromanagement.
Rancati, G., Maggioni, I. (2020). Human Versus Robot Sales Assistants: The Impact of Immersion and Dwell Time. Insights 32- Neuromarketing and Business Association, Special Retail Issue.
Published Chapter in a Book:
Rancati G., Human + Robot: the ideal integration for the future of retail. Chapter in the Book Retailoring, Franco Angeli Publishing
Rancati, G., Tyagy, N., Firdous, A. (2021) The Relevance of Intelligent Automation in Contemporary Business Context. Chapter in the Book Contemporary Business Trends: Pre- and Post-Covid Scenario, Bloomsbury Publishing.
Presentations
2023: AMA Winter Conference
Paper: Agency or Presence: Customer Emotions towards Robots in Service Encounters'
Paper: Keep to the Task! The Role of Service Type in Service Chat Encounter
2022: ANZMAC 2022 _Reinvent and Reimagine
Paper: Genders Stereotyping and Cognitive Biases in Digital Vocie Assistant Shopping
2022: Neuromarketing World Forum
Paper: Biases in Using Digital Voi...
Read More »2023: AMA Winter Conference
Paper: Agency or Presence: Customer Emotions towards Robots in Service Encounters'
Paper: Keep to the Task! The Role of Service Type in Service Chat Encounter
2022: ANZMAC 2022 _Reinvent and Reimagine
Paper: Genders Stereotyping and Cognitive Biases in Digital Vocie Assistant Shopping
2022: Neuromarketing World Forum
Paper: Biases in Using Digital Voice Assistants
2022: Frontiers in Service Conference
Paper: The Effect of the Digital Voice Assistants Gender and Cognitive Bias on Customer Behavior in Online Shopping
2022: 21st International Business Congress
Keynote speaker on Human-Robot Interactions in Retail and Online Paper: Super Bowl commercials’ effectiveness in creating a diverse and inclusive brand image: A neuromarketing approach
2022: 51st Annual Meeting of the Society for Computation in Psychology
Paper: Implicit Association Test Techniques and Facial Expression Analyses in the Comparative Evaluation of Website User Experience
2022: AMA Winter Academic Conference
Paper: The Voices We Hear - Gender and Voice in Technology Acceptance of Digital Voice Assistants'
2021: The 7Th Naples Forum on Service
Paper: The Effect of Sales Assistant-Customer Interaction on Immersion inside Retail Stores
2021: 2021 Virtual Annual Conference – Celebrating 50th Anniversary AMS
Paper: The Effect of Robot-Human Interaction on Immersion and Store Visit Duration
2021: International Conference on Contemporary Business Trends – NIT Srinagar
Paper: Robot-human Interactions in Retail Stores: a Neuromarketing Perspective Honorable Mention from the Chair
2020: 14th International Conference - Convergence 2020 – IFIM Business School
Paper: Robot-human interactions in retail stores: a neuromarketing perspective
2019: World Retail Congress 2019
Paper: Living with a robot: lessons in neuroscience, retail, sales, and the future of AI
Awards
2021: International Conference on Contemporary Business Trends – NIT Srinagar
Honorable Mention from the Chair
Title: Robot-Human Interactions in Retail Stores: a Neuromarketing Perspective
2020: 14th International Conference - Convergence 2020 – Jagdish Sheth School of Management
Best Paper Award
Title: Robot-human interactions in retail stores: a neuromarketing perspective 2019
2019: World Women Economic Forum - New Delhi - India
Award as Woman of Excellence for the Research on Customer Experience and Retail
Research / Scholarly Activity
Neuromarketing Lab @MTSU
Courses
Principles of Marketing
Retailing and E-Commerce