Donald R. Gaffney
Senior Researcher at Owen Graduate School of Management
About
I'm a Senior Researcher at Vanderbilt's Owen School and the author of epistemic inference theory.
Experiences
- Senior Researcher at Vanderbilt University - Owen Graduate School of ManagementStudying why consumers resist AI in conversation
At Owen I study how consumers make inferences, lately how conversational norms shape AI aversion.
- Epistemic inference theoryTurned my dissertation into a theory of uncertainty
Missing knowledge leads people to draw inferences. Randomness makes those inferences less useful.
- ResearchFound people who wait a week feel surer but know less
In three experiments, people who delayed deciding forgot what they'd learned yet felt more confident.
- Consumer Marketing Insights (CMI) Lab Director at University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of BusinessStudied whether death reminders make people obey signs
As COVID death counts rose, we tested how mortality salience shapes how people judge handwashing signs.
- Ph.D., M.Sc., and B.B.A. in Marketing at University of CincinnatiEarned three degrees at one school, ending in a PhD
A BBA, a master's, then a PhD on the duality of subjective uncertainty, chaired by Frank Kardes.
- TEDxUCincinnatiGrew up watching TED, then gave a talk on missing info
My mentor Frank Kardes and I spoke at TEDxUCincinnati. The theme, 'off the record', fit my research perfectly.