Hristina Nikolova

Boston College

Dr. Hristina Nikolova is the Diane Harkins Coughlin and Christopher J. Coughlin Sesquicentennial Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Carroll School of Management, Boston College.

Dr. Nikolova’s research focuses on two research streams: (1) the influence of dyadic decision-making contexts (e.g., decisions made jointly by two partners, such as choosing a restaurant/movie, buying a home, or making long-term retirement choices together) on consumer behavior (my primary area of research expertise and interest); and (2) data-driven consumer welfare interventions. In the first research stream, Dr. Nikolova was the among the first consumer researchers to develop theories to explain consumer behavior in dyadic decision-making contexts, specifically focusing on two sub-areas: (a) understanding how consumers make dyadic decisions (where two partners provide input, reach one decision, and both experience the decision outcomes) and how such dyadic decisions differ from individually-made decisions; (b) examining the interplay of dyadic and individual decisions as consumers move in and out of decision-making dyads. Within her second research stream, Dr. Nikolova uses advanced analytical skills to examine data-driven interventions for improving consumer well-being, focusing on both: (a) large-scale practitioner interventions and b) consumer decision strategies.

Dr. Nikolova’s pioneering research on dyadic decision-making has won multiple research awards, such as the Franco Nicosia ACR Competitive Paper Award (2019), John A. Howard/American Marketing Association Doctoral Dissertation Award (2014), American Marketing Association CBSIG Rising Star Award (2014), Association for Consumer Research/Sheth Foundation Dissertation Award (2012), Society for Marketing Advances Dissertation Proposal Runner-Up Award (2012), the Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Highly Commended Award (2012), and the Academy of Marketing Science Mary Kay Dissertation Competition Honorable Mention (2013). In addition, her research contributions were recognized by the prestigious Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar award (2019).

Dr. Nikolova’s research has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Retailing, and Psychology & Marketing, and featured in Time, Forbes, The Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe, The Huffington Post, New York Magazine, ABC News, Expert Beacon, Shape, and Allure among others