Venkatesh Shankar: The ‘Accidental Academic’

Coxtoday   Visual content shapes online decisions, but its impact is hard to measure. New research from SMU Cox Marketing Professor Gijs Overgoor and coauthors examines how AI and neuroscience can reveal how consumers respond to advertising images and what drives click-through behavior.

Coxtoday   SMU Cox Marketing Professor Gijs Overgoor and coauthors study large-language models (LLMs) to see how capable they are in identifying performance for video ad creative. While AI models—with LLMs the visible workhorses of AI—show promise for scaling advertising research, fine-tuning with domain-specific training data is essential.

Coxtoday   Resale clothing platforms like ThredUp, The RealReal, and Vestiaire have transformed how consumers think about secondhand clothing. The resale fashion market is booming, even outpacing traditional retail fivefold in 2024. In new research, information technology professor Sreekumar Bhaskaran of SMU Cox and coauthor Stephen Gilbert sort through the economics and social benefit of resale channels. Industry claims by some firms about sustainability benefits of resale channels are mixed, according to the findings.

Coxtoday   No stranger to overcoming challenges, Angelika Leskovskaya recently reached new heights—literally—as just one of four women out of 17 climbers to take on the ZERO Peaks Challenge 2025.

Coxtoday   ITOM professors Amit Basu and Sree Bhaskaran collaborated with co-author to highlight evolution of online dating platforms and match tactics.

Coxtoday   In collaboration with co-authors, Kumar Venkataraman shares research on the efficacy retail investors can still have against institutional traders.

Coxtoday   The 10th dean of SMU Cox describes what drew him to the role as well as his vision for the next steps in the Cox School’s journey.

Coxtoday   In his final commencement speech as head of the Cox School, he challenges graduates to use their positions and companies for good.

Coxtoday   At the end of his transformative eight-year tenure, the outgoing dean and his colleagues reflect upon how he launched a “new era” for SMU Cox.

Coxtoday   When it came time to make a college decision, these children of Cox School faculty and staff didn’t have to search too far to find a world-class education.