Alison Jing Xu

Education

Ph.D. 2010
University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign B.A. 2003
Beijing Foreign Studies University, China

Expertise

• Judgment and DecisionMaking Processes
• Behavioral Mindsets
• Generalized Motivation
• Sensory Experience and Decision Making
• Risk Perceptions
• Persuasion

Alison Jing Xu holds a PHD in Marketing from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Her research takes the consumer psychology approach to examine how mind-sets, decision processes, retail environments, human sensory inputs, and technology advancements influence consumer and manager decision making. Her research articles have been published in leading academic journals including the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal of Consumer Research, Academy of Management Journal, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Management Science, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Psychological Science, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, and Advances in Experimental Social Psychology. Her research won “The Franco Nicosia Association of Consumer Research Best Competitive Paper Award” in 2008. She was named “2015 Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar” and won the “Society for Consumer Psychology Early Career Award” in 2018. She also won the Outstanding Faculty Teaching Award at Carlson in 2021.

Selected Works

Jinjie Chen, Alison Jing Xu, Maria Rodas, and Xuefeng Liu (2022), “Order Matters: Rating Service Professionals Reduces Tipping,” conditionally accepted, Journal of Marketing.

Cai, Fengyan, Yang Zhiyong, Robert S. Wyer, Jr., and Alison Jing Xu (2017), “The Interactive Effects of Bitter Flavor and Mood on the Decision to Spend or Save Money,” Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 70, 4858.

Xu, Alison Jing and Dolores Albarracín (2016), “Constrained Physical Space Constrains Hedonism,” Journal of Association for Consumer Research, 1(4), 557568.

Xu, Alison Jing, Norbert Schwarz, and Robert S. Wyer (2015), “Hunger Promotes Acquisition of Nonfood Objects,” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 112 (9), 26882692.

Xu, Alison Jing and Aparna A. Labroo (2014), “Incandescent Affect: Turning on the Hot Emotional System with Bright Light,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 24 (2), 207–216.

Uskul, Ayse K., Daphna Oyserman, Norbert Schwarz, Spike W. Lee, and Alison Jing Xu (2013), “How Successful You Have Been in Life Depends on the Response Scale Used: The Role of Cultural Mindsets in Pragmatic Inferences Drawn From Question Format,” Social Cognition, 31 (2), 222236.

Xu, Alison Jing and Robert S. Wyer (2012), “The Role of Bolstering and Counterarguing Mindsets in Persuasion,” Journal of Consumer Research, 38 (February), 920932.

Xu, Alison Jing, Rami Zwick, and Norbert Schwarz (2012), “Washing Away Your (Good or Bad) Luck: Physical Cleansing Affect Risk Taking Behavior,” Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141 (1), 2630.

Wyer, Robert S., Alison Jing Xu, and Hao Shen (2012), “The Effects of Past Behavior on Future GoalDirected Activity,” Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, in James M. Olson and Mark P. Zanna (ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 46, Burlington: Academic Press, 2012, 237283.

Xu, Alison Jing and Robert S. Wyer (2010), “Puffery in Advertisements: The Effects of Media Context, Communication Norms, and Consumer Knowledge,” Journal of Consumer Research, 37 (August), 329343.

Muthukrishnan, A.V., Luc Wathieu, and Alison Jing Xu (2009), “Ambiguity Aversion and the Power of Established Brand,” Management Science, 55 (December), 19331941.

Xu, Alison Jing and Robert S. Wyer (2008), “The Comparative Mindset: From Animal Comparisons to Increased Purchase Intentions,” Psychological Science, 19 (September), 859864.

Xu, Alison Jing and Robert S. Wyer (2007), “The Effect of Mindsets on Consumer Decision Strategies,” Journal of Consumer Research, 34 (December), 556566.

Xu, Alison Jing and Norbert Schwarz (2018), “How One Thing Leads to Another: Spillover Effects of Behavioral Mindsets”, Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(1), 5155.

Current Activities

Current Research

"Generosity without Borders: The Interactive Effect of Spatial Distance and Donation Goals on Charitable Giving", with Maria Rodas, Carlos Torelli, working paper.

Honors and Awards

• Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar, 2015
• Finalist, JCP Park Outstanding Contributor Award, 2013
• ShethSudman Award for Excellence in Research, UIUC, 2009
• Richard D. and Anne Marie Irwin Fellowship, UIUC, 20092010
• Haring Symposium Representative (Presenter), Indiana University, March 2009
• John M. Jones Fellowship, UIUC, 20082010
• Winner, The Franco Nicosia ACR Best Competitive Paper Award, Association for Consumer Research, October 2008
• Winner, Society for Consumer Psychology Early Career Award, 2018
• Mary and Jim Lawrence Fellowship, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, 2018
• Marketing Science Institute Young Scholar, 2015