Sweta Thota

Sweta Chaturvedi Thota’s work is motivated by the ever-increasing complexity of, and the need to understand, consumers’ psychological and emotional responses to various issues such as pricing, consumer search, and advertising effects. Her research has appeared in several leading national and international journals, including Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Advertising, International Journal of Advertising, and Journal of Consumer Marketing.

Professor Thota motivates students to approach marketing in original and inspired experiential ways. Her students explore questions in behavioral marketing and decision processes that consumers employ in constructing attitudes and choices. Her classes provide students with the knowledge and skills needed to excel in today’s competitive work environment and life. Professor Thota’s classes incorporate experiential and hands-on teaching where students conduct behavioral experiments, master ethnographic research method techniques, decipher behavioral consumer codes, and learn to master the SPSS software.

Prior to teaching, Thota worked for ICICI Bank (New Delhi), Herald Publications (Bombay), and Real Value Marketing Services (New Delhi).

• Relative Thinking
• Brandjacking
• Banner Ads
• Consumer Irritation

• Computational Biases in Behavioral Decision-Making
• Advertising and Branding
• Mobile Ethnographic Research Method

• Chair, Faculty Governance Council
• Editorial Review Board, Journal of Consumer Marketing
• Chair, Marketing Made Real Talk Series
• Invited Panelist, ‘Individual and Societal Choices during COVID’: Host: Nonprofit Organization, Beyond Holistic, April 2020

• Louisiana State University, Ph.D. in Marketing, 2004
• FORE School of Management, New Delhi (India), MBA (Marketing Specialization), 1997
• Dayalbagh University, Agra (India), B.S. Chemistry Hons. & Major in Zoology, 1994

• Professor of Marketing, University of San Francisco
• Associate Professor of Marketing, University of San Francisco
• Assistant Professor of Marketing, University of San Francisco
• Assistant Professor of Marketing, James Madison University
• Assistant Manager, ICICI Bank, New Delhi, India

• 2018-2019 Sabbatical Support Award, University of San Francisco

• 2010 Outstanding Research Award, School of Business and Professional Studies

• Best Student Paper Award, Single-Authored Paper in Consumer Behavior Track, Society for Marketing Advances 2002 Conference

• Thota, Sweta Chaturvedi (2020), “What is Brandjacking? Origin, Conceptualization, and Effects of Perceived Dimensions of Truth, Mockery and Offensiveness,” International Journal of Advertising, (Volume and Issue are still to be announced). 

• Thota, Sweta Chaturvedi and Ricardo Villarreal (2020), “The Effect of Disparaging Humor and Offensiveness in Hijacked Advertising,” Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume, 37, Issue 4, pp. 433-443.

• Blozis, Shelley A., Ricardo Villarreal, Sweta Chaturvedi Thota, and Nicholas Imparato (2019), “Using a two-part mixed-effects model for understanding daily, individual-level media behavior,” Journal of Marketing Analytics, Volume 7, pp. 234–250. 

• Thota, Sweta Chaturvedi and Ritwik Kinra (2019), "Internet and prevalence of relative thinking", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Volume 36, Issue 5, pp. 600-609.