Szu Chi Huang

Research Statement

Szu-chi 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. 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). Her recent work also explores topics related to machines and service robots, spending and investing, and creativity.

Research Interests

• Consumer Motivation and Self-Regulation
• Social Dynamics in Goal Pursuit
• New Technology and Social Impact
• Field Experimentation

Teaching Statement

Huang believes that education in business school is a transformational process to create strategic thinkers. Students are encouraged to take a critical approach when analyzing real-world executions rather than merely accepting companies’ current practices as absolute truth. Along this line, she also believes that great education in business school takes place when course materials are related to the real world. Thus, she strives to have students work on real-world projects, conduct real consumer research (no matter how small the scale is), and provide strategic analyses and suggestions that can actually be applied in the real world, under a practical budget constraint. Lastly, she believes that students learn best through active participation, and that intense discussion leads to transformation in thoughts.

Bio

Huang is an Associate Professor of Marketing and PhD Liaison at Stanford Graduate School of Business. 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, Huang worked at JWT Advertising Agency as an account manager. While at JWT, she managed global brands such as Unilever and Estee Lauder.

Huang’s main research interest is consumer motivation. Her research has been published in top marketing, management, and psychology journals, such as the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of the Association for Consumer Research, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Her findings were featured in the popular press, including Harvard Business Review, Inc., Forbes, Fast Company, The Today Show, Men’s Health, Inside Marketing, and The Huffington Post. She has been awarded prestigious fellowships and awards, including the American Marketing Association’s Rising Star Award (2013), AMA-Sheth Distinguished Faculty Fellow (2017), Marketing Science Institute’s Young Scholar (2017), and most recently the Society for Consumer Psychology’s Early Career Award (2020). For her teaching contribution, Professor Huang was named one of Poets & Quants’ Best 40 Under 40 Professors in 2017, and received Stanford’s Amplifier Award for providing students broad and inclusive perspectives that prepare them to lead.

Academic Degrees

• Ph.D. in Marketing, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin, 2013
• MA in Advertising, University of Texas at Austin, 2008
• BS in Business Administration (summa cum laude), National Taiwan University, Taiwan, 2002
• BS in Economical and Financial Laws (summa cum laude), National Taiwan University, Taiwan, 2002

Academic Appointments

• Associate Professor of Marketing (tenured), Stanford GSB, 2020–present
• Associate Professor of Marketing, Stanford GSB, 2017–2020
• Assistant Professor of Marketing, Stanford GSB, 2013–17

Professional Experience

• Account Director, J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency, 2003-2006
• Marketing and Research Specialist, Tetra Pak Taiwan Ltd., 2001

Awards and Honors

• Transdisciplinary Initiatives Program Award, “Examining Communication and Marketing Strategies to Reduce Food Insecurity among Latinx Children in California's San Joaquin Valley,” 2021
• The Jen-Hsun and Lori Huang Foundation Digital Mental Health Platform Fund, “Adaptive Digital Mental Health Tools to Improve COVID-19 Mental Health among Healthcare Workers,” 2020–21
• The Amplifier Award, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2020
• Early Career Award, Society for Consumer Psychology, 2020
• Business School Trust Faculty Scholar for 2019–20
• Alumni Excellence Award, Zhongshan Elementary School, Taiwan, 2019
• Hong Kong Research Council Grant, “Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumer Donation Behavior,” (Co-Investigator), 2019
• Finalist, Erin Anderson Award for Emerging Female Marketing Mentor and Scholar, 2019
• Trust Faculty Scholar, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2018–19
• Trust Faculty Scholar, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2017–18
• Top 40 Business School Professors under 40, Poets & Quants, 2017
• AMA-Sheth Distinguished Faculty Fellow, 2017
• Marketing Science Institute’s Young Scholar, 2017
• Stanford GSB All Star (recognition of teaching/advisory excellence for STEP), 2016–17
• Discovery Award, Stanford Institute for Innovation in Developing Economies, 2015
• Spence Faculty Scholar Award, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2014–15
• Faculty Fellowship Award, Stanford Center at Peking University, 2014–15
• Wharton Customer Analytics Initiative Grant, ”Measuring Skill Level and Optimizing Player-Matching Algorithms in Online Games,” 2014
• Science of Philanthropy Initiative Partnership Grant, 2014
• Rising Star Award, American Marketing Association Consumer Behavior Special Interest Group, 2013
• William Powers, Jr. Presidential Graduate Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin, 2012–13
• Dean's Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin, 2009–11
• AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium Fellow, 2009–2011
• Dean's Fellowship, University of Texas at Austin, 2011
• Morris Hite/Tracy Locke Endowed Presidential Scholarship, University of Texas at Austin, 2007–08
• Best Presenter of the Year, J. Walter Thompson, 2006
• Top Team Award, J. Walter Thompson , 2006
• AMA-Sheth Distinguished Faculty Fellow, 2022

Publications

Journal Articles

• Subjective Age and the Greater Good
  Jen Heewon Park, Szu-chi Huang, Bella Rozenkrants, Daniella Kupor Journal of Consumer Psychology July 2021 Vol. 31 Issue 3 Pages 429–449
• Portraying Humans as Machines to Promote Health: Unintended Risks, Mechanisms, and Solutions
  Andrea Weihrauch, Szu-chi Huang Journal of Marketing May 2021 Vol. 85 Issue 3 Pages 184–203
• Does Practice Make Perfect? The Contrasting Effects of Repeated Practice on Creativity
  Melanie S. Brucks, Szu-chi Huang Journal of the Association for Consumer Research July 2020 Vol. 5 Issue 3 Pages 291–301
  
• Having Less, Giving More? Two Preregistered Replications of the Relationship between Social Class and Prosocial Behavior
  Angelos Stamos, Florian Lange, Szu-chi Huang, Siegfried Dewitte Journal of Research in Personality February 2020 Vol. 84
• It’s the Journey, Not the Destination: How Metaphor Drives Growth After Goal Attainment
  Szu-chi Huang, Jennifer Aaker Journal of Personality and Social Psychology October 2019 Vol. 117 Issue 4 Pages 697-720
• Planning for Multiple Shopping Goals in the Marketplace
  Jacob Suher, Szu-chi Huang, Leonard Lee Journal of Consumer Psychology October 2019 Vol. 29 Issue 4 Pages 642-651
• And the Winner Is…? Forecasting the Outcome of Others’ Competitive Efforts
  Daniella Kupor, Melanie S. Brucks, Szu-chi Huang Journal of Personality and Social Psychology September 2019 Vol. 117 Issue 3 Pages 500-521
• When Individual Goal Pursuit Turns Competitive: How We Sabotage and Coast
  Szu-chi Huang, Stephanie C. Lin, Ying Zhang Journal of Personality and Social Psychology September 2019 Vol. 117 Issue 3 Pages 605-620
• Leveraging Means – Goal Associations to Boost Children’s Water Consumption: Persuasion in a Four-School Three-Month Field Experiment
  Szu-chi Huang, Daniella Kupor, Michal Maimaran, Andrea Weihrauch, (All authors contributed equally) Journal of the Association for Consumer Research January 2019 Vol. 4 Issue 1 Pages 77-86
• Social Information Avoidance: When, Why, and How it is Costly in Goal Pursuit
  Szu-chi Huang Journal of Marketing Research June 2018 Vol. 55 Issue 3 Pages 382-395
• Step by Step: Sub-Goals as a Source of Motivation
  Szu-chi Huang, Liyin Jin, Ying Zhang Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes July 2017 Vol. 141 Pages 1-15
• How Winning Changes Motivation in Multiphase Competitions
  Szu-chi Huang, Jordan Etkin , Liyin Jin (First two authors contributed equally) Journal of Personality and Social Psychology June 2017 Vol. 112 Issue 6 Pages 813-837
• From Close to Distant: The Dynamics of Interpersonal Relationships in Shared Goal Pursuit
  Szu-chi Huang, Susan M. Broniarczyk, Ying Zhang, Mariam Beruchashvili Journal of Consumer Research February 2015 Vol. 41 Issue 5 Pages 1252-1266
• The Unexpected Positive Impact of Fixed Structures on Goal Completion
  Liyin Jin, Szu-chi Huang, Ying Zhang (All authors contributed equally) Journal of Consumer Research December 2013 Vol. 40 Issue 4 Pages 711-725
• All Roads Lead to Rome: The Impact of Multiple Attainment Means on Motivation
  Szu-chi Huang, Ying Zhang Journal of Personality and Social Psychology February 2013 Vol. 104 Issue 2 Pages 236-248
• So Near and Yet So Far: The Mental Representation of Goal Progress
  Szu-chi Huang, Ying Zhang, Susan M. Broniarczyk Journal of Personality and Social Psychology August 2012 Vol. 103 Issue 2 Pages 225-241
• When Others Cross Psychological Distance to Help: Highlighting Prosocial Actions toward Outgroups Encourages Philanthropy
  Marlone D. Henderson , Szu-chi Huang, Chiu-chi Angela Chang Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 2012 Vol. 48 Issue 1 Pages 220-225
• Motivational Consequences of Perceived Velocity in Consumer Goal Pursuit
  Szu-chi Huang, Ying Zhang Journal of Marketing Research December 2011 Vol. 48 Issue 6 Pages 1045-1056
• Been There, Done That: The Impact of Effort Investment on Goal Value and Consumer Motivation
  Ying Zhang, Jing Xu, Zixi Jiang, Szu-chi Huang Journal of Consumer Research 2011 Vol. 38 Issue 1 Pages 78-93
• How Endowed versus Earned Progress Affects Consumer Goal Commitment and Motivation
  Ying Zhang, Szu-chi Huang Journal of Consumer Research December 2010 Vol. 37 Issue 4 Pages 641-654
• College-Educated Youths' Attitudes toward Global Brands: Implications for Global Marketing Strategies
  Shu-Chuan Chu, Szu-chi Huang Journal of International Consume Marketing March 16, 2010 Vol. 22 Issue 2 Pages 129-145
• Counteractive Construal in Consumer Goal Pursuit
  Ying Zhang, Szu-chi Huang, Susan M. Broniarczyk Journal of Consumer Research 2010 Vol. 37 Issue 1 Pages 129-142
• Internet Use, Group Identity, and Political Participation among Taiwanese Americans
  Wei-ching Wang, Taofang Huang, Szu-chi Huang, Li-jung Wang China Media Research October 2009 Vol. 5 Issue 4 Pages 47–62

Book Chapters

• Competition and Goal Pursuit: A Temporally Dynamic Perspective
  Szu-chi Huang, Stephanie Lin The Psychology of Competition (forthcoming) 2022