Faculty Directory
Min Zhao
Associate Professor
Min Zhao
Contact
Fulton Hall 450C
Telephone: 617-552-4983
Email: min.zhao.2@bc.edu
Education
- B.A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, China
- M.A., Beijing Foreign Studies University, China
- Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Research Interests
Judgment and decision; preference consistency over time; financial decision-making; hedonic experiences and happiness; and effect of visualization on new product preferences.
Expertise
- Decision Making & Decision Sciences
- Consumer Behavior and Pricing
- Behavioral Finance
Department
Profile
Min Zhao’s primary research focuses on decision over time that pertains to consumers’ financial decisions, everyday task completion, new product adoption, and hedonic consumptions. She uses the behavioral economics approach to help consumers stay committed to their long-term goals in these domains. She has published in leading marketing and psychological journals including the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, and Psychological Science. Her research findings are featured in major media such as the Wall Street Journal or Financial Times.
Professor Zhao was identified by the American Marketing Association (AMA) as authors with top research productivity in the premier Marketing Journals in four consecutive years from 2013 to 2016. She was also named a Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Young Scholar in 2013 and MSI Scholar in 2020.
Professor Zhao has taught Marketing Principles and Marketing Management. Currently she teaches Consumer Behavior in the undergraduate and MBA program.
SELECTED APPOINTMENTS AND AWARDS
- Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Scholar, 2020
- RADS Grant (Research Across Departments and Schools), Boston College, 2019-2020.
- Journal of Consumer Research Outstanding Reviewer Award, 2017
- Journal of Consumer Research Editorial Review Board, 2014 – present
- Behavioural Public Policy Editorial Review Board, 2016 – present
- Journal of Business Research Editorial Review Board, 2018 – present
- Insight Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), 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, 2011–2013
- Standard Research Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), 2010–2013
- Connaught Start-up Grant, University of Toronto, 2007
- AMA Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium Fellow, 2005
- Scholarship, University of North Carolina, 2002–2006
PUBLICATIONS
“Converging vs. Diverging: The Effect of Visual Depiction of Goal Structure on Financial Decisions.” (With Kim, Joonkyung, and Dilip Soman.) International Journal of Research in Marketing, 40, 362-377.
“Salient Knowledge That Others Are Also Evaluating Reduces Judgment Extremity.” (With Tsai, Claire, and Dilip Soman.) Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 50, 366-387.
“Consumers’ Response to Really New Products: A Cohesive Synthesis of Current Research and Future Research Directions.” (With Feurer, Sven, Steve Hoeffler, Michal Herzenstein.) International Journal of Innovation Management, 25 (8). 2021.
"Framing Effects on Decision-Making for Diagnostic Genetic Testing: Results from a Randomized Trial." (With Dwyer, Andrew A., Hongjie Shen, Ziwei Zeng, Matt Gregas.) Genes, 12 (6), 941. June, 2021.
“Joint or Separate? The Effect of Visual Presentation on Imagery and Product Evaluation.” (With Lan Xia.) International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38 (4), 935-952. December, 2021.
“Active Choice Format and Minimum Payment Warnings in Credit Card Repayment Decisions.” (With Salisbury, Linda.) Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, 39 (3), 284-304. December, 2019.
“Choice Architecture in Consumer Financial Decisions.” Review of Behavioral Economics, 5 (3-4), 417-437. 2018.
“Behavioural Economics, Consumer Behaviour, and Consumer Policy: State of the Art.” (With Reisch, Lucia.) Behavioural Public Policy, 1 (2), 190-206. October, 2017.
"Moving Citizens Online: Salience and Framing as Motivators for Behavioral Change." (With Castelo, Noah, Elizabeth Hardy, Julian House, Nina Mazar, Claire Tsai.) Journal for Behavioral Science and Public Policy, 1 (2), 57-68. February, 2017.
“Seeing the Big Picture: The Effect of Height on the Level of Construal.” (With Aggarwal, Pankaj.) Journal of Marketing Research, 52 (1), 120-133. February, 2015.
“Optimal Visualization Aids and Temporal Framing for New Products.” (With Darren Dahl and Steve Hoeffler.) Journal of Consumer Research, 41 (3), 1137-1151. December, 2014.
“The Impact of Price on Preference Consistency over Time.” (With Lee, Kelly Kiyeon.) Journal of Consumer Research, 41 (1), 109-118. June, 2014.
“Crossing the Virtual Boundary: The Effect of Task-Irrelevant Environmental Cues on Task Implementation.” (With Leonard Lee and Dilip Soman.) Psychological Science, 23 (10), 1200-1207. August, 2012.
“Imagination Difficulty and New Product Evaluation.” (With Steve Hoeffler and Darren Dahl.) Journal of Product Innovation Management, 29, 76-90. April, 2012.
“The Fewer the Better: Number of Goals and Savings Behavior.” (With Soman, Dilip.) Journal of Marketing Research, 48 (6), 944–957. December, 2011.
“Mental Simulation and Product Evaluation: The Affective and Cognitive Dimensions of Process versus Outcome-Focused Thoughts.” (With Steve Hoeffler, and Gal Zauberman.) Journal of Marketing Research, 48 (5), 827–839. October, 2011.
“Effects of Social and Temporal Distance on Consumers’ Responses to Peer Recommendations.” (With Jinhong Xie.) Journal of Marketing Research, 48 (3), 486–496. June, 2011.
“The Effects of Duration Knowledge on Forecasted vs. Actual Affective Experience.” (With Claire I. Tsai.) Journal of Consumer Research, 38 (3), 525–534. October, 2011.
“Predicting Consumption Time: The Role of Event Valence and Unpacking.” (With Tsai, Claire I.) Journal of Consumer Research, 38 (3), 459–473. October, 2011.
“The Role of Imagination-Focused Visualization on New Product Evaluation.” (With Steve Hoeffler, and Darren Dahl.) Journal of Marketing Research, 46 (1), 46–55. February, 2009.
“Mental Simulation and Preference Consistency over Time: The Role of Process- versus Outcome-Focused Thoughts.” (With Steve Hoeffler, and Gal Zauberman.) Journal of Marketing Research, 44 (3), 379-388. August, 2007.
- “When Categorization is Ambiguous: Factors that Facilitate the Use of a Multiple Category Inference Strategy.” (With Gregan-Paxton, Jennifer, Steve Hoeffler.) Journal of Consumer Psychology, 15 (2), 127–140. 2005.
BOOK CHAPTERS AND REPORTS
- Feurer, Sven, Steve Hoeffler, Min Zhao and Michal Herzenstein (2023), “Really New Product Launch Strategies: Prescriptive Advice to Managers from Consumer Research Insights,” in L. Bstieler & C. Noble (eds.), The PDMA Handbook of New Product Development (4th edition).
- 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, Journal of Marketing 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.