Research
I study how marketplace decisions are made — and why people and institutions behave the way they do.
Marketplace actors — firms, customers, and policymakers — act on models of behavior while operating within situations shaped by constraints and trade-offs. When these are in sync, all stakeholders benefit. When they diverge, decisions drift and opportunities are missed.

I study how this alignment and misalignment arises, how it shapes decisions such as adoption, continuation, and cessation of relationships, and how it can be improved across commercial and clinical contexts.

To examine these questions, I draw on experimental design, discrete choice experiments, and longitudinal approaches such as time-to-event analyses, often in collaboration with researchers and practitioners across disciplines.
Parthasarathy
Krishnamurthy
Larry J. Sachnowitz Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship
C. T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston
Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Texas Health Houston
2,481
Citations
22
h-index
29
i10-index
Larry J. Sachnowitz Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, C. T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston
Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Texas Health Houston
Email: partha@uh.edu
Office: 385 Melcher Hall, 4250 Martin Luther King Blvd, Houston, TX 77204
Google Scholar: View Profile
LinkedIn: professorpartha
01

Research

My research focuses on decisions that matter — where outcomes have real consequences and unfold over time. Rather than treating preferences as fixed, I study how decisions emerge from situations: constraints, trade-offs, and evolving contexts. This perspective connects work in behavioral decision science, health, and customer analytics, unified by a focus on alignment in exchange.

I
Judgment, Framing & Decisions in Context
How framing and context shape decisions within real situations. This stream examines attribute and goal framing, counterfactual thinking, miswanting, and self-referencing, with a focus on how models of behavior interact with lived contexts.
II
Health Decisions & Behavior in High-Stakes Settings
Decisions in clinical and public health contexts where outcomes matter. This work examines vaccine hesitancy, screening preferences, diagnostic reasoning, and treatment engagement — focusing on how individuals navigate constraints, trade-offs, and uncertainty within real-world health situations.
III
Relationship Dynamics: Adoption, Continuation & Cessation
How relationships evolve over time — from initiation to persistence to discontinuation. Using longitudinal perspectives, this stream examines when and why relationships stabilize or break down, and how misalignment shapes trajectories across both commercial and clinical domains.

Methods: Experimental design, discrete choice experiments, and longitudinal analyses (including time-to-event approaches).

02

Selected Publications

Recent work focuses on high-stakes decisions in health and institutional contexts, including vaccine hesitancy, pain management, and treatment adherence.

Featured
2026
COVID-19 Vaccine Framing and Acceptance Among Adults Who Are Vaccine Hesitant New
Krishnamurthy P, Hu Y. JAMA Network Open. 2026;9(3):e264114. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.4114  ·  Newly published in JAMA Network Open.
2001
Attribute Framing and Goal Framing Effects in Health Decisions
Krishnamurthy P, Carter P, Blair E. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. 85(2), 382–399. 338 citations
1999
Retrospection Versus Anticipation: The Role of the Ad Under Retrospective and Anticipatory Self-Referencing
Krishnamurthy P, Sujan M. Journal of Consumer Research. 26(1), 55–69. 234 citations
2010
Resisting That Triple-Chocolate Cake: Mental Budgets and Self-Control
Krishnamurthy P, Prokopec S. Journal of Consumer Research. 37(1), 68–79. 133 citations
2008
That's What I Thought I Wanted? Miswanting and Regret for a Standard Good in a Mass-Customized World
Syam N, Krishnamurthy P, Hess JD. Marketing Science. 27(3), 379–397. 133 citations
2002
Counterfactual Thinking and Advertising Responses
Krishnamurthy P, Sivaraman A. Journal of Consumer Research. 28(4), 650–658. 122 citations
Health Decision Making & Behavior Change
2023
Drivers of Vaccine Hesitancy Among Vulnerable Populations in India: A Cross-Sectional Multi-State Study
Krishnamurthy P, Mulvey MS, Gowda K, et al. Frontiers in Public Health. 11, 1177634.
2021
Efficacy of a Single-Session "Empowered Relief" Zoom-Delivered Group Intervention for Chronic Pain
Ziadni MS, Gonzalez-Castro S, Anderson S, Krishnamurthy P, Darnall BD. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 23(9), e29672. 67 citations
2016
Assessing the Impact of Peer Educator Outreach on the Likelihood and Acceleration of Clinic Utilization Among Sex Workers
Krishnamurthy P, Hui SK, Shivkumar N, et al. PLoS ONE. 11(7), e0159656. 20 citations
2015
Survival Modeling of Discontinuation from Psychotherapy: A Consumer Decision-Making Perspective
Krishnamurthy P, Khare A, Klenck SC, Norton PJ. Journal of Clinical Psychology. 71(3), 199–207.
2008
Preferences for Colorectal Cancer Screening Among Racially/Ethnically Diverse Primary Care Patients
Hawley ST, Volk RJ, Krishnamurthy P, et al. Medical Care. 46(9), S10–S16. 180 citations
Pain, Technology & Intervention
2021
An 8-Week Self-Administered At-Home Behavioral Skills-Based Virtual Reality Program for Chronic Low Back Pain
Garcia LM, Birckhead BJ, Krishnamurthy P, et al. Journal of Medical Internet Research. 23(2), e26292. 259 citations
2020
Self-Administered Skills-Based Virtual Reality Intervention for Chronic Pain: Randomized Controlled Pilot Study
Darnall BD, Krishnamurthy P, Tsuei J, Minor JD. JMIR Formative Research. 4(7), e17293. 178 citations
2019
"My Surgical Success": Effect of a Digital Behavioral Pain Medicine Intervention on Time to Opioid Cessation After Breast Cancer Surgery
Darnall BD, Ziadni MS, Krishnamurthy P, et al. Pain Medicine. 20(11), 2228–2237. 98 citations
Consumer Behavior & Marketing
2022
The Impact of the Information Revolution on the Classical Sales Model
Pourmasoudi M, Ahearne M, Hall Z, Krishnamurthy P. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. 42(2), 193–208.
2020
Not All Missed Opportunities Cast the Same Shadow: Voluntary Inaction Reduces the "Sting" of Missed Sales Promotions
Ford W, Andrews D, Sivaraman A, Krishnamurthy P. Journal of Consumer Behaviour. 19(1), 57–67.
2008
Attribute Conflict in Consumer Decision Making: The Role of Task Compatibility
Nagpal A, Krishnamurthy P. Journal of Consumer Research. 34(5), 696–705.

Full publication list available on Google Scholar.

03

Teaching

My teaching spans behavioral science, marketing, and decision making — across MBA, Executive MBA, undergraduate, and doctoral programs. I am particularly interested in helping students develop frameworks for understanding human behavior in contexts that matter.

Graduate & Executive
  • Decision-Making and Well-Being
  • Marketing Core (MBA & Executive MBA)
  • Decision-Making and Risk (MBA)
Doctoral & Undergraduate
  • PhD Seminar in Consumer Behavior
  • PhD Seminar in Decision-Making
  • Consumer Behavior (Undergraduate)
04

Contact

Larry J. Sachnowitz Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship, C. T. Bauer College of Business, University of Houston
Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Texas Health Houston
Email: partha@uh.edu
Office: 385 Melcher Hall, 4250 Martin Luther King Blvd, Houston, TX 77204
Google Scholar: View Profile
LinkedIn: professorpartha