Knowledge creation with a transformative impact on business

As a Carnegie R1 research institution and a member of Association of American Universities (AAU), the University of Iowa is among the world’s leading research universities. The Tippie College of Business is part of this rich research ecosystem, with a proud legacy of thought leadership and research that transforms practice.

From  Erik Lie, named a Time 100: Most Influential People in the World  for his ground-breaking research on options backdating, to Ann Campbell, an international thought leader in transportation logistics, to Greg Stewart, an authority on team design and characteristics that impact performance—Tippie faculty are making research discoveries with both academic and practical applications across its academic departments.

Areas of research expertise

The strength of our faculty research lies in the wide range of topics we explore and the depth and applicability of our findings. Discover our areas of interest and where we’re making our mark on the global business landscape.

Industry specializations:

Additional areas of focus:

Featured research initiatives

Tippie is home to groups of researchers whose interests are aligned around some of the most salient issues of our time, including healthcare, women in business, futures markets, social responsibility, and sustainability.

Social Impact Initiative

A group of Tippie researchers organized around the broad topic of social responsibility and sustainability, and connecting their work to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Behavioral Research Seminar

The behavioral research seminar is a low-pressure, friendly setting for Tippie researchers to share ideas and seek suggestions. The seminar meets over the lunch hour on a biweekly or monthly basis.

Research labs

Tippie provides facilities for faculty to collaborate on research initiatives, conduct experiments, and use advanced technology to further their findings.

Tippie behavioral research facilities

Researchers across the Tippie College of Business conduct human behavior research in areas of marketing, experimental economics, teamwork, and decision science. Tippie's behavioral research facilities include a large 30-person room with flexible arrangement options, a subject welcome area and three small group rooms. Researchers conduct experiments using Tobii X2-60 and Mirametrix s2 eye tracker technology, Oculus Rift virtual reality, as well as computer and paper-based studies. Get in touch with the lab to learn more.

Behavioral Lab

Artificial Intelligence Lab

Through a partnership with the Iowa Initiative for Artificial Intelligence, Tippie maintains an AI Lab, currently housed in room S220 PBB. The lab contains four high-performance workstations configured to enable development of deep learning AI solutions, and to be compatible with the university's High Performance Computing cluster. The lab is open to students from all departments. 

Learn more about IIAI

Jing Wang

How loneliness affects consumer responses to marketing campaigns

For almost a decade, Wang has studied how loneliness affects consumer responses to marketing information. Her research began with a study that looked at how lonely people respond to public “endorsements,” like Yelp or TripAdvisor. She found that as long as the endorsement was not indicative of poor quality, lonely people would prefer the minority endorsement (for example, 20 percent of previous customers liked the hotel décor) in private consumption situations because they identify with being a minority.

“If a lonely person buys a movie to watch alone or a product to use privately, he or she chooses the minority endorsement,” Wang says. “But if a lonely person buys something to use publicly, he or she chooses the majority endorsement. Loners know they belong to the minority. When the consumption is public, they know they’re being judged by others so they switch to the product endorsed by the majority.”

Alice Wang, Marketing Professor
Read Alice's story