Sarah L. Wiener

Research

I study pricing decisions and organizational choices in firms, with a focus on how incentives and human capital shape outcomes. My work draws on quantitative marketing, industrial organization, and choice models, with substantive interests in pricing strategy, B2B markets, and franchising.

Working papers

• Franchise Ownership and Human Capital. Draft in progress.
• Rating List Effects. Data collection in progress.
• B2B Deal Pricing. Model in progress.

Teaching

• Introduction to Marketing — Assistant Instructor, UT Austin, Spring 2026
• Sales Management (MBA) — TA for Prof. Doug Chung, Spring 2025
• Marketing Analytics II — TA for Prof. Vijay Mahajan, Fall 2023 & Fall 2024
• Data Analytics and Dynamic Pricing (MBA) — TA for Prof. Jason Duan, Spring 2024
• Calculus I/II & Introduction to Statistics — Learning Assistant, Penn State, 2016–2017

About

I'm a doctoral graduate fellow at McCombs, where I'm also completing concurrent master's degrees in marketing (2025) and economics (2027). I hold B.S. degrees in statistics and marketing from Penn State (2019).

Before grad school, I spent a few years in tech working in pricing, competitive marketing, and go-to-market strategy. At Klarna, I worked with brands like Nike and Adidas on sales analytics. Before that, I was at Intel negotiating deals and managing competitor positioning, where I also helped lead the company's $50M pandemic response fund for telehealth and online learning and its Olympics sponsorship deal flow.

Outside of research, you'll find me with Austin's run clubs, at Alamo Drafthouse, or mentoring Penn State students through the Smeal Alumni Mentor program.