A New Behavioral Lab at SMU Cox Expands Research Potential

Until fall 2024, the behavioral lab at SMU Cox was housed in a preexisting area in the Fincher Building. The creation of the David B. Miller Business Quadrangle, the Cox School’s new home, offered the opportunity to upgrade the lab’s capabilities, facilities and output.

Now fully operational, the new-and-improved Cox behavioral lab includes a reception area, a 30-station computer room, and flexible breakout spaces for focus groups and interviews—a dedicated space where faculty, students and the broader academic community can explore the ways behavior and business intersect. The state-of-the-art facility exceeds the specifications of labs in the nation’s top 20 business schools, giving researchers a place to enhance their understanding of consumer, investor, and managerial decision-making, leadership dynamics, group interactions and more.

The new-and-improved Cox behavioral lab includes a reception area, a 30-station computer room and flexible breakout spaces.

Transforming business education through research

Faculty research brings business schools a greater sense of prestige and an elevated reputation, according to SMU Cox Associate Professor of Marketing Mili Mormann. Behavioral labs are the conduit for advancing knowledge from that research in business schools. They provide faculty with the means to conduct primary research that is not only published in top academic journals but also appears in media outlets like The Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review.

At SMU Cox, the new lab bridges the gap between theory and practice, giving students firsthand exposure to experimental research methods conducted by faculty. It’s not just a research tool; it’s a transformative space for teaching and learning.

From survey design to focus groups, students observe and learn techniques that will serve them in industries ranging from marketing to organizational management. Mormann says this kind of research affects business school rankings and student applications, ensuring the Cox School continues to attract top talent.

Faculty members incorporate lab learnings into their courses, enriching classroom discussions with real-world findings. For students, participating in lab studies demystifies the research process and inspires them to think critically about how to apply behavioral insights to business challenges.

According to Mormann, students often discuss the purpose and results of experiments they participate in, fostering a deeper appreciation for research methodologies. This hands-on experience is valuable for pursuing careers in any industry. “Students get to see from both the researcher and participant side what conducting research looks like,” Mormann says.

For faculty looking to understand how people and teams operate in business contexts, behavioral research provides invaluable insights that can inform academics. SMU Cox Professor of Practice Yurianna Kimmons, the Management, Strategy and Entrepreneurship faculty member who serves as the director of the Cox Behavioral Lab, says most of the research projects conducted in the lab so far have been survey studies in which researchers randomly assign a manipulation of one variable to test their outcome variable.

The lab bridges the gap between theory and practice, giving students firsthand exposure to experimental research methods conducted by faculty.

“I’ve done research in the lab where participants read a story where the characteristics of an employee’s idea, such as framing, are changed, and I measure participants’ evaluations of the idea,” Kimmons says. Lab studies typically take 15 to 30 minutes, but researchers can run multiple-part and team-based studies, which usually take longer.

From understanding consumer preferences to analyzing team dynamics, behavioral studies help business school faculty gather insights that both deepen academic knowledge and equip students and professionals to make data-driven decisions in real-world scenarios. One recent study performed in the lab examined the best ways to train new employees, while another looked at which factors most influence decision-making.

“Regardless of the area, we aim to understand how and why people react to the information we communicate to them and how this influences their judgments, decision-making, product choice, group interactions, leadership and so on,” Mormann says. 

A new level of research excellence

The lab’s modern design allows faculty to conduct a wide range of experiments, from quick 30-minute surveys to complex multisession studies.

Balancing flexibility with functionality, the lab also features modular workstations that can be adapted for various research needs and breakout rooms that facilitate effective participant briefings and debriefings. These design elements ensure the lab can accommodate everything from traditional survey experiments to more complicated behavioral studies.

“Many business schools have labs, but the behavioral lab at the Cox School has a greater capacity to collect data than most in terms of the technology, equipment and space,” says Kimmons.

While the lab has been used primarily by Marketing and Management faculty, any department at the Cox School can participate in data collection. Faculty members rely on the lab to collect primary data from students and occasionally local community participants, rather than using secondary panel data or aggregated financial data from databases, enabling them to create actionable insights.

Students recently conducted a comparative study of fast-food items to help them understand the nuances of data collection.

“The main goal for [Marketing and Management] faculty using the lab is to conduct research and expose students to the art of research,” Kimmons says.

For example, Adjunct Professor of Marketing Brenda Demith’s marketing research class recently used the behavioral lab for focus groups, including a blind taste test for Dr Pepper and a comparative study of fast-food chicken items for Chick-fil-A. This hands-on research helped Demith’s students learn the art of data collection. “They were a huge success, and the students had a blast,” Demith says.

Although the lab isn’t related to a specific curriculum, participating in the lab is part of a core management class that helps students understand how research is conducted.

The future of behavioral research at SMU Cox

Looking to the future, the new lab will equip students and faculty to push the boundaries of what’s possible in behavioral research. For business students, these experiences will translate into skills that can be applied to real-world challenges, whether in deciphering customer behavior, optimizing team performance or developing effective leadership strategies.

It’s a valuable experience for anyone who might collect data on their employees or customers, Kimmons says. “Proper survey design is an invaluable skill that can be applied to many industries and leaders. It also can pique [students’] interest in research and be a valuable experience for anyone applying to graduate school programs."