Hello! I'm Ali Mortazavi, a Ph.D. candidate in Marketing at Old Dominion University's Strome College of Business.

Aren’t we humans just amazing? And aren’t those intelligent agents we interact with daily—like chatbots—just fascinating?

I’m deeply intrigued by human cognition, the way we think, and how we behave in marketplaces. Equally, I see conversational agents as one of the most exciting innovations emerging from advancements in AI and technology.

After earning my MBA from the University of Tehran, I spent five years in the advertising and marketing industry. Later, I transitioned to academia and joined the Marketing PhD program at Old Dominion University.

I’m a consumer behavior researcher with a passion for exploring human-computer interaction, particularly customer-chatbot interactions in service contexts. Using a mix of experimental and quantitative methods, I investigate how we can enhance the effectiveness and impact of chatbot-based service experiences, and how communication cues within those interactions shape consumers' behavior, judgment, and decisions. My research toolkit includes R coding, online and lab experiments, and working with secondary data to answer timely, real-world questions. I enjoy using data, statistics, and other analytical (and perhaps innovative) tools to find answers to questions that are both practical and academically meaningful.

I’m currently working on my dissertation under the guidance of Dr. Veronica L. Thomas. At ODU, I teach courses such as Web Analytics, Marketing Research, and Marketing Principles, while also serving as a graduate research assistant. Beyond research and teaching, I serve as Vice Chair of Scholarly Insights for AMA DocSIG.

I created this website to broaden my academic and professional network—so feel free to reach out. I’d love to hear from you!