Jake Teeny received a B.S. in both Psychology and Philosophy from Santa Clara University, before attaining his M.A. and Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Ohio State University. Presently, an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, he broadly researches the science of social influence, providing answers to questions like:
- What makes a personal message, advertisement, or recommendation more persuasive?
- What leads people to spread word of mouth about an idea, product, politician, or otherwise?
- How can AI be used to personalize content and increase people’s interest in the topic?
In researching these (and multiple other) topics, he has published empirical studies both in top-tier psychology and marketing journals, and he has provided widely-cited theoretical frameworks in academic chapters on the study of social influence.
Beyond this work, Jake also spreads the findings of behavioral research to a broader audience through his longtime blog, everyday psych. On it, he shows how to apply cutting-edge psychological and consumer research to enhancing everyday life. He further teaches this content to MBA students, executives, and corporate audiences with popular talks on persuasion, storytelling, and emotional intelligence.
In addition to his scientific work, Jake also regularly writes and publishes creative fiction. With dozens of short stories and screenplays published in various literary magazines (like The Saturday Evening Post) and nationally renowned writing competitions (like Short Story America), Jake continues to actively transform the daydreams in his head into entertaining stories that comprise a wide variety of genres and forms.