Min Zhao

EDUCATION

Ph.D., Marketing, Kenan-Flagler Business School, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
B.A., M.A., German Language and Literature, Beijing Foreign Studies University, China

EXPERTISE/RESEARCH INTERESTS

Professor Min Zhao’s primary research focuses on decision over time that pertains to consumers’ financial decisions, everyday task completion and product preferences. She uses the behavioral economics approach to help consumers stay committed to their long-term goals in these domains. She is also interested in consumer’s affective experiences and new product adoption. Professor Zhao has published in leading marketing and psychological journals such as the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, and Psychological Science. Her research findings are featured in major media including the Wall Street Journal or Financial Times.

Professor Zhao has taught Principles of Marketing, Consumer Behavior and Marketing Management.

EDITORIAL POSITIONS

• Behavioural Public Policy, March 2016–Present
• Journal of Consumer Research, July 2014–Present

SELECTED APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS

• Insight Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC),$143,130 CAD, 2013–2017
• Top 30 Most Productive Authors in the Premier AMA Journals, American Marketing Association (AMA), 2013; 2014; 2016
• Top 50 Most Productive Authors in the Premier Marketing Journals, American Marketing Association (AMA), 2013; 2014; 2015; 2016
• Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Young Scholar, 2013
• Excellence in Teaching Award, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, 2009; 2010; 2011; 2012; 2013
• RGC Grant, the Research Grant Council in Hong Kong, $380,000HKD, 2011–2013
• Standard Research Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), $68,650 CAD, 2010–2013
• Connaught Start-up Grant, University of Toronto, 2007
• AMA Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium Fellow, 2005
• Scholarship, University of North Carolina, 2002–2006
  

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Castelo, Noah, Elizabeth Hardy, Julian House, Nina Mazar, Claire Tsai and Min Zhao (2016), "Moving Citizens Online: Salience and Framing as Motivators for Behavioral Change," Journal for Behavioral Science and Public Policy, forthcoming.

Aggarwal, Pankaj and Min Zhao (2015) “Seeing the Big Picture: The Effect of Height on the Level of Construal,” Journal of Marketing Research, 52(1), 120-133, equal authorship.

Zhao, Min, Darren Dahl and Steve Hoeffler (2014), “Optimal Visualization Aids and Temporal Framing for New Products,” Journal of Consumer Research, 41(3), 1137-1151.

Lee, Kelly Kiyeon and Min Zhao (2014), “The Impact of Price on Preference Consistency over Time,” Journal of Consumer Research, 41(1), 109-118.

Zhao, Min, Leonard Lee and Dilip Soman (2012), “Crossing the Virtual Boundary: The Effect of Task-Irrelevant Environmental Cues on Task Implementation,” Psychological Science, 23(10), 1200-1207.

Zhao, Min, Steve Hoeffler and Darren Dahl (2012), “Imagination Difficulty and New Product Evaluation,” Journal of Product Innovation Management, 29, 76-90.

Soman, Dilip and Min Zhao (2011), “The Fewer the Better: Number of Goals and Savings Behavior,” Journal of Marketing Research, 48(6), 944–957, equal authorship.

Zhao, Min, Steve Hoeffler, and Gal Zauberman (2011), “Mental Simulation and Product Evaluation: The Affective and Cognitive Dimensions of Process versus Outcome-Focused Thoughts,” Journal of Marketing Research, 48(5), 827–839.

Zhao, Min and Jinhong Xie (2011), “Effects of Social and Temporal Distance on Consumers’ Responses to Peer Recommendations,” Journal of Marketing Research, 48(3), 486–496.

Zhao, Min and Claire I. Tsai (2011), “The Effects of Duration Knowledge on Forecasted vs. Actual Affective Experience,” Journal of Consumer Research, 38(3), 525–534, equal authorship.

Tsai, Claire I. and Min Zhao (2011), “Predicting Consumption Time: The Role of Event Valence and Unpacking,” Journal of Consumer Research, 38(3), 459–473.

Zhao, Min, Steve Hoeffler, and Darren Dahl (2009), “The Role of Imagination-Focused Visualization on New Product Evaluation,” Journal of Marketing Research, 46(1), 46–55.

Zhao, Min, Steve Hoeffler, and Gal Zauberman (2007), “Mental Simulation and Preference Consistency over Time: The Role of Process- versus Outcome-Focused Thoughts,” Journal of Marketing Research, 44(3), 379-388.

Gregan-Paxton, Jennifer, Steve Hoeffler, and Min Zhao (2005), “When Categorization is Ambiguous: Factors that Facilitate the Use of a Multiple Category Inference Strategy,” Journal of Consumer Psychology, 15(2), 127–140.
 

BOOK CHAPTERS AND REPORTS

Kim, Joonkyung, Min Zhao and Dilip Soman (2014), “Social Marketing and Responsible Financial Management,” in David W. Stewart (eds.), Handbook of Persuasion and Social Marketing, Praeger.

Ly, Kim, Nina Mažar, Min Zhao and Dilip Soman (2013), “A Practitioner’s Guide to Nudging,” Research Report Series, Rotman School of Management Report, University of Toronto.

Zhao, Min (2012), “Just Imagine: The Role of Visualization in New Product Evaluation,” in D. Soberman & D. Soman (eds.), Flux: The Evolving Role of the Marketing Manager, Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

Ratner, Rebecca, Min Zhao, and Jennifer Clarke (2010), “The Norm of Self-Interest: Implications for Charitable Giving,” in D. M. Oppenheimer & C.Y. Olivola, C.Y. (eds.), The Science of Giving: Experimental Approaches to the Study of Charity, NY: Taylor and Francis.
 

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Professor Zhao currently serves at the Editorial Review Board of Journal of Consumer Research and Behavioural Public Policy. She has also served in the program committee or as co-chair for multiple major marketing and decision-making conferences such as the Association for Consumer Research (ACR), Society for Consumer Psychology (SCP), or Behavioral Decision Research in Management (BDRM). Prior to joining Boston College, she was a faculty member at the Rotman School of Management and the Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman (BEAR), University of Toronto.