About
Hello! My name is Itai Linzen and I am a marketing PhD, graduated from Tel Aviv University's Coller School of Management. My research focuses on consumers' disposal decisions: examining how and why people decide when to dispose of their possessions, and more specifically, why consumers often struggle to part with unused items. In addition to my primary research, I also conduct studies on other topics such as AI and consumer interactions, branding, and marketing communications.
Education
Ph.D., Marketing, Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University
Advisors: Prof. Yael Steinhart (Tel Aviv University) & Prof. Ziv Carmon (INSEAD)
M.A., Tel Aviv University – Philosophy (Summa Cum Laude)
M.A., Tel Aviv University – Cognitive Psychology
B.A., Tel Aviv University – Psychology & Philosophy
Papers
Carmon Z., Linzen I., Steinhart Y., & Sela, A. (2026). Suppressed Inquiry: The Hidden Cost of Satisfaction-Optimized AI. Current Opinion in Psychology in press https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2026.102453
Kononov, N., & Linzen, I. (2026). Consumer attitudes toward brand supportive communication during geopolitical crises. Journal of Business Research, 203, 115798. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115798
Linzen, I., Steinhart, Y., & Carmon, Z. Disposal Friction: A Conceptual Review and Research Agenda for Understanding Why Consumers Retain Underutilized Possessions conditionally accepted at Foundations & Trends in Marketing
Multiple Authors. Marketing Trees: A Field Experiment in India conditionally accepted as a registered report at Journal of Consumer Research
Working Papers and Papers Under Review
Linzen, I., Steinhart, Y., & Carmon, Z. “Consumers Prefer to Shield their Identity When Disposing of High-Attachment Possession” 3rd round, International Journal of Research in Marketing
Linzen I., Steinhart Y., Sela, A., & Carmon Z. “AI Linguistic Style Affects Consumers’ Self-perceptions” under review at the Journal of Consumer Psychology
Tomaino, G., Cooke, A. D. J., & Linzen, I. “Automatons as Allies: The Value of AI Confederates” being prepared for the Journal of Consumer Research
De Freitas, J. & Linzen, I. “’Addiction’ Is An Incomplete Framework For Understanding Conversational AI Dependency” working paper
Professional & Academic Positions
Behavioral Lab Manager, Coller School of Management, Tel Aviv University
Visiting PhD at Boston University – 2025 Fall semester (Q1)
TA (In-class teaching): Behavioral Research Methods in Management (M.Sc. Course)
Research Fellow at TAD Center for AI and Data Science
Conference Presentations
Itai Linzen, Ziv Carmon, Aner Sela, & Yael Steinhart. "The Unexpected Mirror: How AI Communication Style Reflects Back on Consumer Psychology."
- Association for Consumer Research, Chicago (2026) (working paper)
- Marketing in Israel (February 2026)
- AI and the Future of Collaborative Innovation workshop at NYU (September 2025)
Geoff Tomaino, Alan Cook, Itai Linzen. “Automatons as Allies: The Value of AI Confederates” Association for Consumer Research, Chicago (2026).
Aaron Petrasch & Itai Linzen. “How AI Changes the Way We Study Ourselves: New Experimental Methods Enabled by AI.” AI-Humanity-Society: 2nd LMU-TAU Workshop for Early-Career Researchers, Munich (2025).
Natalia Kononov & Itai Linzen. “Global Brands in Local Crises”
- Society for Consumer Psychology, Las Vegas (2025)
- Association for Consumer Research, Paris (2024)
- SCP Boutique Conference: Consumer Psychology of Brands, Leeds (2024)
- Marketing in Israel (2024)
Itai Linzen, Yael Steinhart, & Ziv Carmon. “Consumers Prefer to Shield their Identity When Disposing of High-Attachment Possessions.“ Association for Consumer Research, Paris (2024).
Itai Linzen, Yael Steinhart, & Ziv Carmon. “Consumers Prefer to Donate Possessions Close to their Heart to Distant Others“
- Society for Consumer Psychology, San Juan (2023)
- Association for Consumer Research, Denver (2022)
- Marketing in Israel (2022)
Itai Linzen, Yael Steinhart, & Ziv Carmon. “AI Can Help Counter Perceived Threats”
- Society for Consumer Psychology, online conference (2022)
- Association for Consumer Research, online conference (2021)
- Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Business Analytics, online conference (2021)
Itai Linzen & Dominique Lamy. “Attentional Engagement Requires Conscious Perception.” Israeli Society for Cognitive Psychology (2018)
Invited Talks
Reichman University (Marketing Unit)
Ben-Gurion University (Marketing Unit)