Research Statement:
Professor Huang’s research focuses on consumer motivation. Her work in this area has been programmatic, documenting how consumers have different concerns in different stages of goal pursuit, and thus derive motivation in very distinct ways. Professor Huang uses experiments to tightly examine causal processes, and field studies to test these findings in the real world, such as launching loyalty programs with local restaurants and conducting charity campaigns with nonprofit organizations. Her new projects examine consumer motivation in social settings, such as shared goal-pursuit groups (e.g., Weight Watchers) and pro-social behaviors (e.g., motivation behind donations)
Research Interests:
- Consumer Motivation and Self-Regulation
- Social Dynamics in Goal Pursuit
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Social Impact
- Field Experimentation
Szu-chi Huang is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. She received her PhD in Marketing and a Master’s degree in Advertising from the University of Texas at Austin. She also holds two Bachelor’s degrees from the National Taiwan University in Business Administration and in Business/Financial Law. Prior to her academic career, Professor Huang worked at JWT Advertising Agency as an Account Manager. While at JWT, she managed global brands such as Unilever and Estee Lauder.
Professor Huang’s main research interest is consumer motivation. Her research has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Her findings were featured in the popular press, including Harvard Business Review, Inc., Men’s Health, Inside Marketing, Chief Executive, Quartz, and The Huffington Post. She has been awarded prestigious fellowships and awards, including the American Marketing Association (AMA) Consumer Behavior Special Interest Group’s Rising Star Award (2013), AMA-Sheth Distinguished Faculty Fellow (2017), and Marketing Science Institute (MSI)’s Young Scholar (2017). Professor Huang was named one of Poets & Quants’ Best 40 Under 40 Professors in 2017.
