Dr. Shaobo (Kevin) Li serves as a tenured Associate Professor of Marketing at SUSTech Business School, within the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). He earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing from the Nanyang Business School at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, in 2019. He has been selected for the National Youth Talent Program and was recognized as Overseas High-Caliber Personnel in Shenzhen city. 

His research endeavors are propelled by the digital transformation wave, with a primary focus on understanding consumer behavior in the digital age. Furthermore, Dr. Li’s extensive volunteer activities in Northwest China have spurred his interest in exploring the determinants of social welfare. His research ambit extends to branding and cross-cultural marketing, especially observing the brand management strategies and international expansion efforts of Chinese private enterprises. In his research methodology, Dr. Li predominantly utilizes laboratory experiments, supplemented by empirical modeling and neuroscience techniques, to delve into these subjects.

His work has appeared in the Journal of Consumer Research, Information Systems Research, Production and Operations Management, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Business Research, Psychology & Marketing and others. He is on the editorial review board for the Journal of Business Research. He is the winner of the AMS Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Competition Award (2019), Best Paper Award of the Annual Conference of China Marketing Science (2020, 2024), Outstanding Paper Award of China Marketing International Conference (2023), and Best Paper Award of Chinese Marketing Association of Universities Academic Annual Conference (2023).

He teaches Financial Marketing at the undergraduate level and Frontier of Management and Research Methods at the Ph.D. level. He is the winner of the Premier Award of the SUSTech Teaching Competition. He was also awarded the SUSTech Teaching Achievement Award, SUSTech Teaching Excellence Award, and the Excellent Graduate Teacher of Nanyang Business School.

He was recognized as Overseas High-Caliber Personnel in Shenzhen city. He was also awarded the Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad by the Ministry of Education of the PRC.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Business Administration, Nanyang Technological University (2019)

• Master of Business Administration, University of Virginia (2014)

• Master of Finance, West Virginia University (2012)

• Bachelor of Business Administration, Lanzhou University (2011)

Honors and Awards:

Research Awards:

• Academy of Marketing Science Best Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Award (2019)

• Best Paper Award, China Marketing Science Academic Annual Conference (JMS) (2020; 2024)

• Second Prize for Excellent Paper, China Marketing International Conference (CMIC) (2023)

• Best Paper Award, China Higher Education Marketing Association Annual Academic Conference (CMAU) (2023)

• First Prize for Excellent Paper, China Higher Education Marketing Association Annual Academic Conference (CMAU) (2024)

• Best Paper Award, Asia-Pacific Marketing International Conference (APMA) (2024)

Teaching Awards:

• Best Graduate Teaching Award, Nanyang Business School (Ranked First; 2017)

• Grand Prize, Youth Teacher Teaching Competition, Southern University of Science and Technology (2021)

• Teaching Achievement Award, Southern University of Science and Technology (2022)

• Teaching Achievement Award, China Higher Education Marketing Association Annual Academic Conference (CMAU) (2023)

Comprehensive Awards:

• Excellent Overseas Student Scholarship, China Scholarship Council (2018)

• Jun-zheng Scholar (2010)

Publications:

1. Li, Shaobo (Kevin)#, Le Wang#, Jianxiong Huang*, Zhijie Lin, and Ram Gopal (2024), “Sizzle or Fizzle? Supply and Consumption Dynamics of Home-Cooked Food on Sharing Platforms,” Production and Operations Management (UTD 24; FT 50)

2. Li, Shaobo (Kevin)#*, Nuoya Chen#*, Elaine Chan, and Yang Guo (2024), “Loss Framing Increases Entity Theorists’ Vaccine Uptake,” International Journal of Research in Marketing (Official Journal of the European Marketing Academy)

3. Tang, Chuang#, Shaobo (Kevin) Li#*, Yi Ding#, Ram Gopal, and Guanglei Zhang* (2024), “Racial Discrimination and Anti-Discrimination: The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on Chinese Restaurants in North America,” Information Systems Research (UTD 24; FT 50)

4. Liu, Xiaoyan, Piaoran Ren, Xingyang Lv, and Shaobo (Kevin) Li*, (2024), Service Experience and Customers’ eWOM Behavior on Social Media Platforms: The Role of Platform Symmetry,” International Journal of Hospitality Management, (119), 103735

5. Wu, Ruomeng, Donald R. Gaffney#, Frank Kardes#, Shaobo (Kevin) Li#*, and Meng Liu# (2024), “As Good as New: Embarrassment and Consumers’ Preference for Used versus New Products,” Journal of International Consumer Marketing

6. Zhang, Kuangjie*, Shaobo (Kevin) Li*, and Sharon Ng (2022), “Sizes are Gendered: The Effect of Semantic Size on Brand Stereotyping,” Journal of Consumer Research, 49 (2), 252–267 (UTD 24; FT 50)

7. Zeng, Fue, He, Qiong*, Shaobo (Kevin) Li*, and Aowei Luo (2022), “Residential Mobility Boosts New Product Adoption,” Psychology & Marketing, 1–14

8. 陈诺亚, 黎俊显, 李少波*, 范秀成 (2022). 孤独感与消费者决策研究：述评与展望[J]. 外国经济与管理, 44 (11), 29–48

9. Li, Shaobo (Kevin)#*, Zhe Zhang#, Yue Liu#, and Sharon Ng (2021), “The Closer I am, The Safer I Feel: The “Distance Proximity Effect” of COVID-19 Pandemic on Individuals’ Risk Assessment and Irrational Consumption,” Psychology & Marketing, 38 (11), 2006–2018

10. Meng, Lu, Tongmao Li, Xin Huang, and Shaobo (Kevin) Li* (2021), “Lift the Veil of Rumors: the Impact of the Characteristics of Information Source on the Effectiveness of Rumors Spreading,” Internet Research, 32(1), 90–119

11. Chen, Nuoya, Jinfeng Jiao, Xiucheng Fan*, and Shaobo (Kevin) Li (2021), “The Shape of Loneliness: The Relationship between Loneliness and Preference for Angular versus Circular Logo and Product Shapes,” Journal of Business Research, 136, 612–629

12. Li, Shaobo (Kevin), Michail D. Kokkoris, and Krishna Savani* (2020), “Does Everyone Have the Potential to Achieve Their Ideal Body Weight? Lay Theories About Body Weight and Support for Price Discrimination Policies,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 157, 129– 148 (FT 50)

13. Zhu, Liang, Lingxue Zhan, and Shaobo (Kevin) Li* (2020), “Is Sustainable Development Reasonable for Tourism Destinations? An Empirical Study of the Relationship Between Environmental Competitiveness and Tourism Growth,” Sustainable Development, 29 (1), 66–73

14. Chen, Xingyu, Yitong Wang, Da Tao*, Ling Jiang, and Shaobo (Kevin) Li (2020), “Antecedents of Smartphone Multitasking: Roles of Demographics, Personalities and Motivations,” Internet Research, 31 (4), 1405–1443.

Research Projects:

1. National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), General Program, Project No. 72102099, “The 'Double-Edged Sword' Effect of the Sharing Economy on Consumer Well-Being and Its Mechanism”, Jan 2025 – Dec 2028, ¥400,000 (≈ $56,000), Principal Investigator

2. National High-Level Youth Talent Scientific Research Supporting Fund, “Belt and Road Strategy and the Internationalization of National Brands”, 2025 – 2027, ¥600,000 (≈ $84,000), Principal Investigator

3. Ministry of Science and Technology, Major 2030 Special Project, “****”, ¥120 million (≈ $16.8 million), Co-Investigator

4. Shenzhen High-Level Talent Scientific Research Startup Fund, “Research on the Impact Mechanism of Volatility on Investment Behavior”, 2022 – 2025, ¥2 million (≈ $280,000), Principal Investigator

5. National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), Youth Program, Project No. 72102099, “Brand Management in Turbulent Times: The 'Double-Edged Sword' Effect of Volatility on Brand Management, Its Impact Mechanism, and Corporate Response Strategies”, Jan 2022 – Dec 2024, ¥300,000 (≈ $42,000), Principal Investigator

6. National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), General Program, Project No. 72073057, “Theory and Experimental Research on Team Collaboration Incentives Based on Social Preferences and Bounded Rationality”, Jan 2021 – Dec 2024, ¥480,000 (≈ $67,200), Co-Investigator

7. Guangdong Provincial Ordinary Universities Characteristic Innovation Program (Humanities and Social Sciences), Project No. 2021WTSCX078, “Online Word-of-Mouth Communication and Service Recovery Research”, Jan 2021 – Dec 2023, ¥50,000 (≈ $7,000), Principal Investigator

8. Shenzhen Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project, SZ2021D021, “Brand Management in the New Situation: A Perspective Based on Variability”, Sept 2021 – Aug 2022, ¥50,000 (≈ $7,000), Principal Investigator

9. Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation, General Program, Project No. 2020A151501530, “The Impact Mechanism of Variability on Economic and Moral Decision-Making”, Oct 2019 – Sept 2022, ¥100,000 (≈ $14,000), Principal Investigator

10. Guangdong Provincial Ordinary Universities Youth Innovation Talent Program, Youth Program, Project No. 2019WQNCX106, “How to Stimulate Consumer Green Purchase Behavior—From the Perspective of Realism and Idealism”, Jan 2020 – Dec 2022, ¥40,000 (≈ $5,600), Principal Investigator

11. Southern University of Science and Technology Research Startup Fund, 2019 – 2022, ¥1 million (≈ $140,000), Principal Investigator