Manoj K. Thomas

Biography

Manoj Thomas is the Sabanci Professor of Marketing & Management and Associate Dean of NYC Initiatives. He oversees Cornell’s business programs in New York City, including the Johnson Cornell Tech MBA program and Cornell Executive MBA programs.

A behavioral scientist and leading expert in behavioral pricing, Thomas studies how human psychology and marketing actions shape perceived economic value. His research demonstrates that economic value is a subjective perception rather than an objective fact. Changing the left-digit of prices ($9.99 vs. $10.00) or reframing “12 ounces” as “12 snack bags” can alter consumers’ purchase decisions, often without their awareness. Thomas’s work offers foundational insights into how heuristics and biases in judgments influence consumer perception of economic value. His current research projects span behavioral pricing, numerical cognition, consumer morality, and consumer-AI interactions.

Thomas currently serves as co-editor of the Journal of Marketing Research. He has received the Apple Award and the Stephen Russell Family Teaching Award for excellence in teaching.

Education

PhD Stern School of Business, New York University, 2006
MBA Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, 1994
BEng Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, 1992

Research

• Sirwani, Deepak; Kumar, Srishti; Thomas, Manoj. "Overestimating Stars, Underestimating Numbers: The Hidden Impact of Rating Formats"Journal of Marketing Research. 62.5 (2025): 937-957
• Goenka, Shreyans; Sankar, Sen; Thomas, Manoj. "Moral Motives in Consumption"Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. 10.1 (2025): 1-10
• Goenka, Shreyans; Thomas, Manoj. "Moral foundations theory and consumer behavior"Journal of Consumer Psychology. 34.3 (2024): 383-547
• Thomas, Manoj; Ma, Yu; Gauri, Dinesh. "Food Craving Increases Unhealthy Food Purchases: A Study of SNAP Households"Journal of Marketing Research. 61.1 (2024): 49-69
• Thomas, Manoj. "Heuristic price theory: A model of pluralistic price evaluations"Consumer Psychology Review. 6.1 (2023): 75-91
• Monnier, Arnaud; Thomas, Manoj. "Experiential and Analytical Price Evaluations: How Experiential Product Description Affects Prices"Journal of Consumer Research. 49.4 (2022): 574-594
• Goenka, Shreyans; Thomas, Manoj. "Are Conservatives Less Likely Than Liberals to Accept Welfare? The Psychology of Welfare Politics"Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. 7.3 (2022): 305-315
• Kyung, Ellie; Thomas, Manoj; Krishna, Aradhna. "How Political Identity Influences COVID-19 Risk Perception: A Model of Identity-Based Risk Perception"Journal of the Association for Consumer Research. 7.3 (2022): 316-324
• Goenka, Shreyans; Thomas, Manoj. "The Malleable Morality of Conspicuous Consumption"Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 118.3 (2020): 562-583
• Sokolova, Tatiana; Seenivasan, Satheesh; Thomas, Manoj. "The Left-Digit Bias: When and Why Are Consumers Penny Wise and Pound Foolish"Journal of Marketing Research. 57.4 (2020): 771-788

Awards

• Outstanding Reviewer Award (2016) Journal of Consumer Research
• Stephen Russell Teaching Award (based on vote by students who graduated 5 years ago) (2016) Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University
• Apple Award for Excellence in Teaching (based on vote by graduating MBA class) (2010)