Emanuel de Bellis

Emanuel de Bellis is Associate Professor of Empirical Research Methods and Director of the Institute of Behavioral Science and Technology (IBT). Before joining the University of St.Gallen in 2021, he was an Assistant Professor at HEC Lausanne and spent visits at Columbia Business School and the University of British Columbia. He holds a PhD in Management and a Master in Cognitive and Decision Sciences.

As a behavioral scientist, Emanuel de Bellis examines the underlying mechanisms that drive our behavior, combined with his interest in current technological and societal developments. In a series of research projects, he seeks to improve the understanding of how consumers perceive and use new technologies, including barriers to their consumer adoption. His findings show, for example, that the relationship between humans and technology is changing fundamentally, as shown by the humanization of autonomous products, and that these products need to be designed in a way which provides meaning to consumers. In addition, he is an expert on mass customization and personalization and a thought leader in crypto-marketing and NFTs.

His research has been published in top-tier marketing journals, such as the Journal of Marketing, the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and the International Journal of Research in Marketing. It has been awarded with the Rigour & Relevance Research Award and has been featured in both international and Swiss media outlets (e.g., Forbes, Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Neue Zürcher Zeitung). In 2021, he released The Machine Age of Customer Insight, a book on the transformation of customer insights and the growing impact of machine learning.

Emanuel de Bellis is at the forefront of the University’s method training. He teaches method courses at Bachelor, Master, PhD, and executive level, such as the Methods: Empirical Social Research lecture which is mandatory for every business student in the Bachelor program. In addition, he leads the University’s Data and Method Consulting team and is Academic Co-Director of the Global School in Empirical Research Methods, the University’s Academic Plagiarism Adivsor, and the University’s representative at the Federal Commission for Scholarships for Foreign Students.