Research in the digital domain: Evolution, and data source for explaining individual behavior
Publications and Working Papers:
Publications
Liat Hadar, Yael Steinhart, Gil Appel, and Yaniv Shani (2026), “The Shopping Cart as a Killjoy: Product Self-Expressiveness Increases Cart Abandonment,” accepted at Journal of Consumer Research.
Yidan Yin, Gil Appel, and Cheryl Wakslak (2025), “Nice to Meet You.(!) Gender and Exclamation Point Usage,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 121, 104812.
- Selected media coverage: Financial Times; Fast Company; BBC; The Week; The Standard;
Nautilus; Other media coverage
Stephanie M. Tully, Chiara Longoni, and Gil Appel (2025), “Knowledge of Artificial Intelligence Predicts Lower AI Receptivity,” The Journal of Marketing, 89(5), 1-20.
- Lead article. - Finalist, AMA AI SIG 2026 best paper award.
- Also available as part of MSI’s working paper series (2024) [24-132] - http://bit.ly/3VtCJZs.
- Selected media coverage: The Wall Street Journal; WIRED; Fastcompany, Medium; The Horizon Tracker; Pivot to AI; Moneyweb News; Yahoo! Finance; The Next Web; The Conversation France; The Conversation U.K.; Nipponese News (Japan); Mandarinian News (China); Levante (Spain); La Opinión (Spain); El Periodico Mediterraneo (Spain); Science et Vie (France); Popmech (Russia); Liberal (Greece); Eoswetenschap (Belgium / the Netherlands); Blikk (Hungary); Olhar digital (Brazil); AITNews (Africa Independent Television); Other media coverage
- Selected impact on policy: MIT AI Risk Repository, United Nations Development Programme; Marginal Revolution; Ente Nazionale per l’Intelligenza Artificiale; AI for Education; Center for AI Policy
- Selected impact on practice: The Advertising Research Foundation; IBM; Neurons; Nuance Behavior; TeacherServer AI Tools; Critical Inkling; Kennedys Consulting; Meltwater Consulting; 3 Standard Deviations; The Math Ain’t Mathing™; CDOTrends; K–12 EdTec; The Peer Review
Giulia Maimone, Gil Appel, Craig R. M. McKenzie, and Ayelet Gneezy (2025), “Sexual Misconduct, Scientific Fraud, and Citation Penalties,” PLOS One, 20(3): e0317736.
- Also featured in Science (2025) - https://bit.ly/3QLCGpy
- Also featured in Nature (2025) - https://go.nature.com/3Xu2zxQ
Nikhil Malik, Max Yanhao Wei, Gil Appel, and Lan Luo (2023), “Blockchain Technology for Creative Industry: Current State and Research Opportunities,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 40(1), 38-48 - https://bit.ly/3OShPh1
Evan Weingarten, Kristen Duke, Wendy Liu, Rebecca W. Hamilton, On Amir, Gil Appel, Moran Cerf, Joseph K. Goodman, Andrea C. Morales, Ed O’Brien, Jordi Quoidbach, Monic Sun (2023), “What Makes People Happy? Decoupling the Experiential-Material Continuum,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 33(1), 97-106 - bit.ly/3vWbA5K
Gil Appel, and Eitan Muller (2021), “Adoption Patterns over Time: A Replication,” Marketing Letters, 32, 499-511.
- Also featured in Development Corporate (2021) - https://bit.ly/3AVFExw
Adoption Patterns over Time: A Replication.pdf
Priyanka Joshi, Cheryl Wakslak, Gil Appel, and Laura Huang (2020), “Gender Differences in Communicative Abstraction,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(3), 417-435.
- Also featured in Psychology Today (2019) - https://bit.ly/34rCiCr
- Also featured in Forbes (2019) - https://bit.ly/34wRZZ2
Gender Differences in Communicative Abstraction.pdf
Yaniv Shani, Gil Appel, Shai Danziger, and Ron Shachar (2020), “When and Why Consumers “Accidently” Endanger Their Products,” Management Science, 66 (12), 5757-5782.
- Also featured in The Wall Street Journal (2020) - https://on.wsj.com/3dPFYDO
When and Why Consumers “Accidently” Endanger Their Products.pdf
Gil Appel, Barak Libai, Eitan Muller, and Ron Shachar (2020), “On the Monetization of Mobile Apps,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 37(1), 93-107.
- Winner, 2020 IJRM Best Article Award
On the Monetization of Mobile Apps.pdf
Gil Appel, Lauren Grewal, Rhonda Hadi, and Andrew Stephen (2020), “The Future of Social Media in Marketing,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48, 79-95.
- Finalist for the 2020 JAMS Sheth Foundation Best Paper Award
The Future of Social Media in Marketing.pdf
Gil Appel, Barak Libai, and Eitan Muller (2018), “On the Monetary Impact of Fashion Design Piracy,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 35(4), 591-610.
- Also available as part of MSI’s working paper series (2013) [13-108]
- Finalist for the 2018 IJRM Best Article Award
On the Monetary Impact of Fashion Design Piracy.pdf
Working Papers
Gil Appel, Barak Libai, and Eitan Muller, “Why EVs, AVs, and GenAI Still Diffuse Slowly in a Digital Age: Expectations of Fast Diffusion Meet Reality,” working paper, in preparation for submission to Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
Tanya Rubinstein, Elinor Amit, Cheryl Wakslak, and Gil Appel, “Unveiling the Social Dimension of Complexity: Complexity as a Gender Cue in Consumer Behavior,” working paper.
Gil Appel, Barak Libai, and Eitan Muller, “The Role of Popularity in New Product Growth: Evidence from Digital Product Markets,” working paper.
- Also available as part of MSI’s working paper series (2015) [15-100] and MSI Insights (2015-2)
Managerial Publications & Popular Press
Cheryl Wakslak, Yidan (Dani) Yin, and Gil Appel (2025), “Don’t Overthink Your Use of Exclamation Points!” Harvard Business Review, available at http://bit.ly/46If5xL.
Chiara Longoni, Gil Appel, and Stephanie M. Tully (2025), “Why Understanding AI Doesn’t Necessarily Lead People to Embrace It,” Harvard Business Review, available at http://bit.ly/4kCjHdD.
Gil Appel, Juliana Neelbauer, and David A. Schweidel (2023), “Generative AI Has an Intellectual Property Problem,” Harvard Business Review, available at http://bit.ly/451TnCc.
- Also included in Generative AI: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review (HBR Insights Series) - https://store.hbr.org/product/generative-ai-the-insights-you-need-from-harvard-business-review/10697
Priyanka Joshi, Cheryl Wakslak, Laura Huang, and Gil Appel (2021), “Gender Differences in Communicative Abstraction and their Organizational Implications,” Rutgers Business Review, 6(2), 145-153.
Publications and Working Papers:
Publications
Liat Hadar, Yael Steinhart, Gil Appel, and Yaniv Shani (2026), “The Shopping Cart as a Killjoy: Product Self-Expressiveness Increases Cart Abandonment,” accepted at Journal of Consumer Research.
Yidan Yin, Gil Appel, and Cheryl Wakslak (2025), “Nice to Meet You.(!) Gender and Exclamation Point Usage,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 121, 104812.
- Selected media coverage: Financial Times; Fast Company; BBC; The Week; The Standard;
Nautilus; Other media coverage
Stephanie M. Tully, Chiara Longoni, and Gil Appel (2025), “Knowledge of Artificial Intelligence Predicts Lower AI Receptivity,” The Journal of Marketing, 89(5), 1-20.
- Lead article. - Finalist, AMA AI SIG 2026 best paper award.
- Also available as part of MSI’s working paper series (2024) [24-132] - http://bit.ly/3VtCJZs.
- Selected media coverage: The Wall Street Journal; WIRED; Fastcompany, Medium; The Horizon Tracker; Pivot to AI; Moneyweb News; Yahoo! Finance; The Next Web; The Conversation France; The Conversation U.K.; Nipponese News (Japan); Mandarinian News (China); Levante (Spain); La Opinión (Spain); El Periodico Mediterraneo (Spain); Science et Vie (France); Popmech (Russia); Liberal (Greece); Eoswetenschap (Belgium / the Netherlands); Blikk (Hungary); Olhar digital (Brazil); AITNews (Africa Independent Television); Other media coverage
- Selected impact on policy: MIT AI Risk Repository, United Nations Development Programme; Marginal Revolution; Ente Nazionale per l’Intelligenza Artificiale; AI for Education; Center for AI Policy
- Selected impact on practice: The Advertising Research Foundation; IBM; Neurons; Nuance Behavior; TeacherServer AI Tools; Critical Inkling; Kennedys Consulting; Meltwater Consulting; 3 Standard Deviations; The Math Ain’t Mathing™; CDOTrends; K–12 EdTec; The Peer Review
Giulia Maimone, Gil Appel, Craig R. M. McKenzie, and Ayelet Gneezy (2025), “Sexual Misconduct, Scientific Fraud, and Citation Penalties,” PLOS One, 20(3): e0317736.
- Also featured in Science (2025) - https://bit.ly/3QLCGpy
- Also featured in Nature (2025) - https://go.nature.com/3Xu2zxQ
Nikhil Malik, Max Yanhao Wei, Gil Appel, and Lan Luo (2023), “Blockchain Technology for Creative Industry: Current State and Research Opportunities,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 40(1), 38-48 - https://bit.ly/3OShPh1
Evan Weingarten, Kristen Duke, Wendy Liu, Rebecca W. Hamilton, On Amir, Gil Appel, Moran Cerf, Joseph K. Goodman, Andrea C. Morales, Ed O’Brien, Jordi Quoidbach, Monic Sun (2023), “What Makes People Happy? Decoupling the Experiential-Material Continuum,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 33(1), 97-106 - bit.ly/3vWbA5K
Gil Appel, and Eitan Muller (2021), “Adoption Patterns over Time: A Replication,” Marketing Letters, 32, 499-511.
- Also featured in Development Corporate (2021) - https://bit.ly/3AVFExw
Adoption Patterns over Time: A Replication.pdf
Priyanka Joshi, Cheryl Wakslak, Gil Appel, and Laura Huang (2020), “Gender Differences in Communicative Abstraction,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118(3), 417-435.
- Also featured in Psychology Today (2019) - https://bit.ly/34rCiCr
- Also featured in Forbes (2019) - https://bit.ly/34wRZZ2
Gender Differences in Communicative Abstraction.pdf
Yaniv Shani, Gil Appel, Shai Danziger, and Ron Shachar (2020), “When and Why Consumers “Accidently” Endanger Their Products,” Management Science, 66 (12), 5757-5782.
- Also featured in The Wall Street Journal (2020) - https://on.wsj.com/3dPFYDO
When and Why Consumers “Accidently” Endanger Their Products.pdf
Gil Appel, Barak Libai, Eitan Muller, and Ron Shachar (2020), “On the Monetization of Mobile Apps,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 37(1), 93-107.
- Winner, 2020 IJRM Best Article Award
On the Monetization of Mobile Apps.pdf
Gil Appel, Lauren Grewal, Rhonda Hadi, and Andrew Stephen (2020), “The Future of Social Media in Marketing,” Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48, 79-95.
- Finalist for the 2020 JAMS Sheth Foundation Best Paper Award
The Future of Social Media in Marketing.pdf
Gil Appel, Barak Libai, and Eitan Muller (2018), “On the Monetary Impact of Fashion Design Piracy,” International Journal of Research in Marketing, 35(4), 591-610.
- Also available as part of MSI’s working paper series (2013) [13-108]
- Finalist for the 2018 IJRM Best Article Award
On the Monetary Impact of Fashion Design Piracy.pdf
Working Papers
Gil Appel, Barak Libai, and Eitan Muller, “Why EVs, AVs, and GenAI Still Diffuse Slowly in a Digital Age: Expectations of Fast Diffusion Meet Reality,” working paper, in preparation for submission to Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science.
Tanya Rubinstein, Elinor Amit, Cheryl Wakslak, and Gil Appel, “Unveiling the Social Dimension of Complexity: Complexity as a Gender Cue in Consumer Behavior,” working paper.
Gil Appel, Barak Libai, and Eitan Muller, “The Role of Popularity in New Product Growth: Evidence from Digital Product Markets,” working paper.
- Also available as part of MSI’s working paper series (2015) [15-100] and MSI Insights (2015-2)
Managerial Publications & Popular Press
Cheryl Wakslak, Yidan (Dani) Yin, and Gil Appel (2025), “Don’t Overthink Your Use of Exclamation Points!” Harvard Business Review, available at http://bit.ly/46If5xL.
Chiara Longoni, Gil Appel, and Stephanie M. Tully (2025), “Why Understanding AI Doesn’t Necessarily Lead People to Embrace It,” Harvard Business Review, available at http://bit.ly/4kCjHdD.
Gil Appel, Juliana Neelbauer, and David A. Schweidel (2023), “Generative AI Has an Intellectual Property Problem,” Harvard Business Review, available at http://bit.ly/451TnCc.
- Also included in Generative AI: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review (HBR Insights Series) - https://store.hbr.org/product/generative-ai-the-insights-you-need-from-harvard-business-review/10697
Priyanka Joshi, Cheryl Wakslak, Laura Huang, and Gil Appel (2021), “Gender Differences in Communicative Abstraction and their Organizational Implications,” Rutgers Business Review, 6(2), 145-153.