Raluca Ursu

Raluca Ursu is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Leonard N. Stern School of Business, New York University, where she joined in 2016. Her research focuses on consumer search and information acquisition in online markets, utilizing structural estimation methods and large datasets to understand consumer decision-making under information overload.

• Ph.D., Economics, University of Chicago
• M.A., Economics, University of Chicago
• B.A., Economics and Mathematics, Mount Holyoke College

Her research interests include consumer search, online markets, information acquisition, and behavioral economics. She investigates how consumers navigate vast product options under time and cognitive constraints, examining the impact of ranking algorithms, search fatigue, advertising, and product discovery. Her work combines rigorous economic theory with empirical analysis of real-world data such as online browsing, eye-tracking, and in-store sales.

Professor Ursu’s recent publications reveal a strong trend in modeling sequential search behavior, consideration set formation, and the influence of digital interfaces on consumer decisions. Her articles span top journals like Marketing Science, Management Science, and Journal of Marketing Research, frequently employing structural econometric models and experimental designs.

• Frank M. Bass Outstanding Dissertation Award, 2018
• Don Morrison Long Term Impact Award, Marketing Science, 2025
• Finalist, John D.C. Little Best Paper Award, 2018
• Finalist, Don Morrison Long Term Impact Award, Marketing Science, 2024
• Finalist, Paul E. Green Best Paper Award, 2024

She has advised and collaborated on multiple research projects with colleagues and Ph.D. students, contributing to working papers on product location, search revisits, and voluntary labeling. She organized the 11th Workshop on Consumer Search and Switching Costs at NYU Stern in 2022 and co-leads the Virtual Quant Marketing Seminar (VQMS), fostering academic collaboration in quantitative marketing.