Ruxandra Monica Luca is an Assistant Professor of Marketing and a member of Tech3Lab, a specialized user experience laboratory, at HEC Montréal, Canada. Ruxandra is also an IVADO (Institut de Valorisation des Données) researcher. She holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from Imperial College London, United Kingdom, an M.A. in Psychology from the University of Toronto, Canada, and an HB.Sc. in Human Biology and Psychology from the same institution. Her research draws from psychology and neuroscience to examine the cognitive mechanisms underlying decision-making and consumer behavior. Using experimental designs and psychophysiological measures, she conducts research projects on online visual attention, dark patterns, AI-driven recommender systems, and chatbot interactions. Her work has been supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada and published in academic journals such as Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Business Ethics Quarterly, Applied Psychology: An International Review, and Behavioural Brain Research, among others.

Silvia Zaharia is Professor of Marketing and E-Commerce at Hochschule Niederrhein – University of Applied Sciences, where she serves as Managing Director of the eWeb Research Center and Academic Director of the Master’s program in E-Commerce (M.Sc.). Her research focuses on consumer behavior in the context of emerging digital technologies, with particular emphasis on E-Commerce and Omni-Channel Retailing. A central strand of her work examines the adoption and impact of AI-based systems and agents, virtual influencers, conversational commerce, immersive AR/XR applications, and smart retail technologies on consumer decision-making and user experience. Her research findings have been published in renowned journals and anthologies, including the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, as well as at leading international conferences such as the Academy of Marketing Science (AMS), the International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (HCII), and the AHFE Conference. In addition to her academic work, she is a frequent speaker at international scientific conferences and expert panels addressing topics related to artificial intelligence, immersive technologies, and the digital transformation of retail.

Giampaolo Viglia is a Professor of Marketing at the Faculty of Business and Law, University of Portsmouth. He is also the Research Lead for the Marketing Subject Group, the Editor-in-Chief of Psychology & Marketing and one of the Associate Editors of Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Business Research, Service Industries Journal, and Tourism Review. His research interests revolve around consumer decision-making, pricing, services, including tourism and hospitality marketing. He has published, reviewed and guest-edited for top journals in his field, such as the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, the Journal of Retailing, the International Journal of Research in Marketing, the Journal of Product Innovation Management and the Journal of Service Research. He now sits on the Editorial Boards of Tourism Management, Journal of Service Research, Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Advertising Research, International Journal of Hospitality Management, and Journal of Services Marketing.

Cristina Nistor is a Clinical Associate Professor of Marketing at Chapman University’s Argyros College of Business and Economics. She holds a PhD from MIT Sloan and BA/MA in Mathematics and BA Economics from Bryn Mawr College. Her research uses game theory models and empirical analysis to examine social media influencers, networks, and relationships among firms. She has published in journals including Marketing Science, Management Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Global Marketing, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Journal of Business Research and Journal of Business Strategy. She is a winner of the Clayton Dissertation Proposal Competition and the Industry Studies Association Giarratani Rising Star Award. She is currently an associate editor for the Journal of Global Marketing.