Unnati Narang, assistant professor of business administration at Gies College of Business, has been named a 2025 Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Young Scholar. She joins a group of 38 early-career faculty selected for their contributions to the study of marketing.
"I am fortunate to receive this honor. It opens new opportunities for me to collectively define and shape the future of marketing academia and practice with other scholars," said Narang. "Being a part of the MSI Young Scholar group feels very special. The 2025 cohort has so many wonderful scholars I know, respect, and admire. I am looking forward to spending time with them this summer during our four-day conference."
The MSI Young Scholars program is a biennial award recognizing exemplary early-career researchers whose work shows potential to influence the field and brings them together to engage with emerging questions in marketing. The program prioritizes global cross-disciplinary collaboration and research with connections to industry practice. Selections are made based on research excellence, field leadership, and scholarly impact.
“Unnati joins a selected group of marketing scholars that are chosen every other year because of their potential to lead the field in the years to come,” said Carlos Torelli, head of the Department of Business Administration and Anthony J. Petullo Professor of Business Administration. “She is also the fourth MSI Young Scholar among our active marketing faculty. Unnati is already a respected leader in the marketing strategy space, and we are certain that she will continue to be at the forefront of marketing practice and theory.”
Narang's research examines how new technologies shape consumer behavior and firm strategy, with a focus on mobile marketing, digital platforms, and artificial intelligence. Her scholarship outlines how digital interactions shape our offline world, from the impact of retail apps on in-store shopping to how new mobility technologies like electric scooters are shifting consumer movement and safety.
Narang utilizes a range of academic approaches – like causal modeling, econometrics, and machine learning – to find answers to those questions. Her research has appeared in prestigious outlets such as Marketing Science, the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Marketing.
Launched in 2001, the MSI Young Scholars program connects academic researchers with member organizations to address challenges in marketing and help shape future research priorities. The program celebrates researchers working on related projects and provides a space for pursuing those projects together. For Narang, the selection means a shift in her perspective.
"It's taken me from thinking about my own scholarship to thinking more collectively with this group of scholars," said Narang. "I'm especially thrilled to join my colleagues in consumer behavior who have previously held this honor."
Narang joins a growing tradition of MSI Young Scholars at Gies Business. Assistant Professor Maria Rodas and Associate Professor Rosanna Smith were named MSI Young Scholars in the 2023 cohort. Ravi Mehta, associate dean of graduate programs and Walter H. Stellner Professor of Marketing, was selected as a Young Scholar in 2017.
Narang's selection adds to a series of recent recognitions, including the 2026 AMA TechSIG Young Scholar Award. She was named one of the Central Illinois Business Forty Under 40 in 2025, and Poets&Quants selected her as one of the Best Undergraduate Business School Professors in 2023. She will join the MSI Young Scholars cohort for a conference at Meta's Hudson Yards campus in New York City this summer.
Read more:
- Listen to an interview about Narang’s research on e-scooter mobility and safety on Research Reverb
- Read Narang’s findings about what happens when a retailer’s mobile app fails
- Explore Narang’s research about how geo-tracking data shapes store visit predictions