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Banner - Third Federal Trade Commission Conference on Marketing and Public Policy
Thursday, March 19, 2026 - Friday, March 20, 2026

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Event Description

The Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Economics will host the Third Federal Trade Commission Conference on Marketing and Public Policy on March 19-20, 2026 in Washington, D.C. This event will bring together scholars and policymakers interested in issues at the intersection of marketing, information economics, and public policy.

As America’s primary consumer protection law enforcement agency, the FTC has benefited from the insights of the economics and marketing literature in its long history of case and policy work. Following the success of the first and second marketing and public policy conferences hosted by the FTC in 2016 and 2024, this conference aims to deepen the intellectual dialogue between FTC policymakers and scholars in quantitative marketing, information economics, and consumer behavior research. It will serve as a vehicle for scholars to learn about the FTC’s work in competition and consumer protection, promote high impact research in consumer protection and related public policies, and introduce FTC policymakers to cutting-edge research.

The conference will feature research paper sessions as well as a panel discussion including both policymakers and academic experts.

Scientific Committee

  • K. Sudhir, Professor of Marketing, Yale School of Management
  • Ginger Jin, Professor of Economics, University of Maryland, Department of Economics
  • Yeşim Orhun, Professor of Marketing, University of Michigan Ross School of Business
  • Devesh Raval, Deputy Director, Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Economics
  • Nellie Lew, Assistant Director, Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Economics

Organizer: Katherine Chang (marketingconf@ftc.gov)

Local Steering Committee

  • Andrew Ching, Professor of Marketing and Economics, Johns Hopkins University, Carey Business School
  • James Cooper, Professor of Law, George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School
  • John Mayo, Professor and Elsa Carlson McDonough Chair in Business Administration, Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business.

Sponsors

  • Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Economics
  • Digital Business Development Initiative, Carey Business School, Johns Hopkins University
  • The Law & Economics Center's Program on Economics and Privacy at the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason University
  • Center for Business and Public Policy, Georgetown University

Registration

This 1.5-day conference will be held on March 19-20, 2026 on the 5th Floor of Constitution Center, 400 7th Street, SW, Washington, D.C. 20024. After the conference on March 19, there will be an evening reception with food and drinks at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center (555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C.).

Pre-registration for this conference is necessary. To pre-register, please fill out the registration form with your name, email, and affiliation. Attendees must register for the evening conference reception by March 8, 2026. If space permits, we may allow a very limited number of onsite registrations beginning at 11:30 am on March 19.

We will use your email address to contact you with information about the conference and will share your name and email address with the conference co-sponsors. The FTC Act and other laws we administer permit the collection of your pre-registration contact information and the comments you file to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. For additional information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see the Commission’s system for mailing lists. For more details, please see the FTC Privacy Policy.

Attending the Conference

The conference is free and open to the public. Please arrive early with enough time to go through security. The security processing will include a metal detector and X-ray screening of all hand carried items. You must have a valid government issued photo ID (government badge, license, passport, etc.). The conference will follow the AEA’s code of professional conduct. All presenters must follow AEA disclosure guidelines.
 

  • Agenda

    Thursday, March 19

    11:30 AM

    Registration and Lunch (provided)
    12:30 PM

    Welcome and Introduction

    K. Sudhir (Yale School of Management)
    12:45 PM

    Information Disclosure and AI

    Introduction: Shiva Koohi (Federal Trade Commission)

    Ads that Talk Back: Implications and Perceptions of Injecting Personalized Advertising into LLM Chatbots

    Brian Jay Tang (University of Michigan), Kaiwen Sun (Indiana University Bloomington), Noah T. Curran (University of Michigan), Florian Schaub (University of Michigan), Kang G. Shin (University of Michigan)

    When AI Disclosure Backfires: The Economic Consequences of Labeling AI-Generated Review Summaries

    Angela Aerry Choi (Korea University), Anindya Ghose (New York University), Heeseung Andrew Lee (University of Texas at Dallas), Wonseok Oh (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)

    Soft Deception by Design: Algorithmic Positivity Bias in AI-Generated Consumer Review Summaries

    Joanna Quan (Virginia Tech), Wenqi Shen (Virginia Tech)

    Discussant: David Holtz (Columbia Business School)
    2:10 PM

    Break
    2:30 PM

    Price Transparency: Fees

    Introduction: David Ovadia (Federal Trade Commission)

    The impact of surcharges on consumers: the role of consideration set formation

    Abdullah Althenayyan (Columbia Business School), Vicki Morwitz (Columbia Business School)

    Cleanin’ It Up: Unshrouding Hidden Fees on a Peer-to-Peer Platform

    Kevin D. Tran (University of Bristol), Leonardo Madio (University of Padua), Michelangelo Rossi (HEC Paris), Mark J. Tremblay (University of Nevada, Las Vegas)

    Discussant: Tanjim Hossain (University of Toronto)
    3:35 PM

    Break
    3:55 PM

    FTC Policy on Consumer Protection

    Consumer Awareness in the Digital Age

    Devesh Raval (Federal Trade Commission)

    User Interaction with Digital Platforms: A Consumer Protection Perspective

    Nellie Lew (Federal Trade Commission)
    4:50 PM

    Closing: Day 1

    Ginger Jin (University of Maryland)
    5:30 PM

    Reception at the John Hopkins University Bloomberg Center

    555 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C.

    Friday, March 20

    8:00 AM

    Registration and Breakfast (provided)
    9:00 AM

    Consumer Search

    Introduction: Leon Guzman (Federal Trade Commission)

    Leaving Money on the Dashboard: Price Dispersion and Search Frictions on Uber and Lyft

    Jeffrey Fossett (Johns Hopkins University), Michael Luca (Johns Hopkins University), Yejia Xu (Theia Insights)

    The Impact of LLM Adoption on Online User Behavior

    Nicolas Padilla (London Business School), H. Tai Lam (Anderson School of Management, UCLA), Anja Lambrecht (London Business School), Brett Hollenbeck (Anderson School of Management, UCLA)

    Understanding Data Collection, Brokerage, and Spam in the Lead Marketing Ecosystem

    Yash Vekaria (UC Davis), Nurullah Demir (Stanford University), Konrad Kollnig (Maastricht University), Zubair Shafiq (UC Davis)

    Discussant: Leon Mulsoff (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania)
    10:25 AM

    Break
    10:45 AM

    FTC Research on Consumer Protection

    Introduction: Eric Spurlino (Federal Trade Commission)

    Why Do Brands Matter? Evidence from Supermarket Rebannering

    Xiao Dong (Federal Trade Commission), Paul Koh (Yonsei University), Devesh Raval (Federal Trade Commission), Brett Wendling (Federal Trade Commission)

    Influencer Endorsements and Sales

    William Violette (Federal Trade Commission)

    Delete to Compete: The Effects of Suppressing Negative Product Reviews

    Patrick McAlvanah (Federal Trade Commission)
    11:45

    Lunch (provided)
    1:00 PM

    Information Disclosure and Gaming

    Introduction: Ben Casner (Federal Trade Commission)

    Organic Content, Embargoes, and Quality Obfuscation: Evidence from the Gaming Industry

    Qi Yu (Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University), Zhe Lin (International Business School Suzhou, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University)

    Signaling in Paid Product Placements: Theory and Evidence from Sponsorship Disclosure on Twitch

    Ivan Li (Jindal School of Management, University of Texas)

    Discussant: Avi Goldfarb (Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto)
    2:05 PM

    Break
    2:25 PM

    Detectability and Disclosure in Consumer Markets

    Introduction: Janis Pappalardo (CFPB, invited)

    Product Reformulation: A Suitable Substitute?

    Youngeun Lee (Carroll School of Management, Boston College), Anna Tuchman (Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University), Caroline Wang (Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University)

    Introduction: David Givens (Federal Trade Commission)

    Earnings Claims and Disclaimers in Multi-Level Marketing: Testing the Impact of Self-Regulatory Guidance

    Stacie A. Bosley (Hamline University), Kiana Kotasek (Hamline University), Sarah Greenman (Hamline University), Samantha Snyder (Hamline University)
    3:25 PM

    Break
    3:45 PM

    Privacy

    Introduction: James Thomas (Federal Trade Commission)

    In Privacy We Trust: The Effect of Privacy Regulations on Data Sharing Behavior

    Ozge Demirci (Imperial College London Business School), Eva Ascarza (Harvard Business School), Ayelet Israeli (Harvard Business School)

    Did Apple's App Tracking Transparency Framework Harm the App Ecosystem?

    Cristobal Cheyre (Cornell University), Benjamin T. Leyden (Cornell University), Sagar Baviskar (Carnegie Mellon University), Alessandro Acquisti (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)

    Consumer Value of Privacy: Evidence from an Online Retailer

    Mimansa Bairathi (UCL School of Management), Ankit Sisodia (Purdue University), Mayur Choudhary (Indiana University)

    Discussant: Malika Korgenbekova (University of Chicago Booth School of Business)

     
    5:10 PM

    Closing: Day 2

    Yeşim Orhun (University of Michigan Ross School of Business)

FTC Privacy Policy

Under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) or other laws, we may be required to disclose to outside organizations the information you provide when you pre-register for events that require registration. The Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments, whether filed in paper or electronic form, and as a matter of discretion, we make every effort to remove home contact information for individuals from the public comments before posting them on the FTC website.

The FTC Act and other laws we administer permit the collection of your pre-registration contact information and the comments you file to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. For additional information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, see the Commission’s Privacy Act system for public records and comprehensive privacy policy.

This event will be open to the public and may be photographed, videotaped, webcast, or otherwise recorded.  By participating in this event, you are agreeing that your image — and anything you say or submit — may be posted indefinitely at ftc.gov or on one of the Commission's publicly available social media sites.

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