Faculty Directory
Luca Cian headshot
LC

Luca Cian

Associate Professor
Unit: Darden School of Business
Department: Darden Graduate School of Business
Office location and address
FOB 283
20 Duffy Blvd
Charlottesville, Virginia 22903
Education
M.S., University of Trieste (Italy)
Ph.D., University of Verona (Italy)
Postdoc, University of Michigan
Biography

Assistant Professor Luca Cian teaches the first-year marketing core course and the second-year "Consumer Behavior" elective course in the MBA program at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. His research area is consumer behavior, with a focus on sensory marketing and social cognition. He has published in the top marketing academic journals, including Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, and Journal of Consumer Research. Popular accounts of his work have appeared on  NPR  and in theHuffington Post, New York Magazine, Fast Company, USA Today, the Atlantic, theWashington Post, and others.

In 2007, Luca earned his MS - summa cum laude with highest distinction - at the University of Trieste, with a perfect GPA score. There, he was named best faculty graduate. In 2011, Luca received his PhD in psychology from the University of Verona. The Italian Association of Psychology awarded his doctoral dissertation "Best Dissertation" in his division. The same year, the Council of Italian University Rectors, the Italian National Research Council, and the Italian Minister of Youth recognized him as one of the best young researchers in Italy. After receiving his doctorate, Luca went for three years at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, as a postdoctoral fellow, working with Professor Aradhna Krishna. During that time, he joined Professor Aradhna Krishna's Sensory Marketing Lab and Professor Norbert Schwarz's Social Cognition Lab.

Prior to teaching at Darden, Luca taught undergraduate and graduate courses at the University of Trieste and the University of Michigan. He also worked as a marketing consultant.

Luca's teaching honors at Darden include: Voted Faculty Marshal by the Darden Class of 2017 and Top 10% Teaching Evaluations of the School (2016).

His most recent research honors include: Top 10% of Authors on SSRN (by total new downloads within the last 12 months); Top 11 Most Impactful Articles in the leading marketing journals, selected by the Marketing Science Institute (November 2015); and Top 10 Most Downloaded Articles of Journal of Consumer Psychology (September-December 2014).

Recent courses as listed in the Student Information System (SIS) Course Catalog:
GBUS 7291: Marketing
Credits: 2
This course provides students with an introduction to consumer behavior and marketing analytics. Its goal is to expose students to difficult marketing issues that both U.S. and foreign companies face.
GBUS 7292: Marketing Part II
Credits: 1
This course provides students with an introduction to consumer behavior and marketing analytics. Its goal is to expose students to difficult marketing issues that both U.S. and foreign companies face. Prerequisite: GBUS 7291
GBUS 8304: Consumer Behavior
Credits: 2
Because business success begins with understanding what consumers want and need and ends with consumer satisfaction, a clear understanding of consumer psychology is essential to successful marketing. This course examines the basic concepts of consumer psychology and the application of those important concepts to marketing decisions. The goal of this course is to introduce students to these important concepts and, unlike the course in consumer marketing, focus on the factors that drive the consumer decision-making processes in order for students to understand how marketing strategies and tactics can affect those processes. Topics covered include the formation of attitudes, the role of self-image in consumer behavior, understanding emotions and how they affect decision making, memory formation, and certain biases that emerge and influence strategies and the mechanisms by which they work. The course is built on a lecture and discussion format.
GBUS 8522: Luxury and Exports - Italy
Credits: 2
This course students will be exposed to Italy as a global hub for successful luxury export products across a range of sections (fashion, automotive, food, etc) and explore how and why Italian firms and brands compete globally. Understand the history and culture underlying the Italian business context and unique aspects of Italy as a country and Southern Europe as a region for business today and in the future.
GBUS 8530: Global Immersion
Credits: 2
This Darden Worldwide Course aims to develop a deeper understanding of a particular global business environment, what it takes to successfully enter and understand new business contexts, and how to develop a mindset as a leader across different cultures and institutions. The course accomplishes this by immersing students on-site in a new context to study these issues through engagement with local executives, global and local companies and organizations, meeting with government and community leaders, exploring activities of cultural and historical significance, and meeting with peers.
GBUS 8999: Darden Independent Study
Credits: 2–3
A Darden Independent Study elective includes either case development or a research project to be conducted by an individual student under the direction of a faculty member. Students should secure the agreement of a resident faculty member to supervise their independent study and assign the final grade that is to be based to a significant degree on written evidence of the individual student's accomplishment.