Dr. Shaobo (Kevin) Li is a Tenured Associate Professor at the College of Business, Southern University of Science and Technology. He earned his PhD in Marketing from 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. He received the 2018 China Scholarship Council’s Excellent Self-Funded Student Scholarship.

His research focuses on the interface between marketing and information systems, specializing in digital economy & social well-being, and technology-driven marketing. Methodologically, his research primarily employs experimental approaches, complemented by econometric modeling and neuroscientific techniques. He serves as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Business Research and has published in leading UTD-24 journals such as the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, and Production and Operations Management (IS department). He has led nearly 10 research projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and others, and has participated in major technological initiatives, such as the Ministry of Science and Technology's 2030 Key Technology Innovation Program. He is the winner of the AMS Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Competition Award (2019), the Best Paper Award at the Annual Conference of China Marketing Science (2020, 2024), the Outstanding Paper Award at the China Marketing International Conference (2023), and the Best Paper Award at the Chinese Marketing Association of Universities Academic Annual Conference (2023).

He teaches Financial Marketing at the undergraduate level and Frontiers of Management and Research Methods at the Ph.D. level. He is the winner of the Premier Award in the SUSTech Teaching Competition and has also received the Top 10 Most Popular Professors Among Undergraduate Graduates, SUSTech Teaching Achievement Award, SUSTech Teaching Excellence Award, and the Excellent Graduate Teacher Award from Nanyang Business School.

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 (First Place; 2017)

• Premier Prize, SUSTech Young Teacher Teaching Competition (2021)

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

• Annual Outstanding Teaching Award, Southern University of Science and Technology (2023)

• Teaching Achievement Award, Chinese Marketing Association of Universities Academic Annual Conference (CMAU) (2023)

  
  

Comprehensive Awards:

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

• Jun-zheng Scholar (2010)

Publications:

Peer-Reviewed Publications

(* indicates corresponding author; # indicates equal contribution)

2026

• Meng, Lu#, Shaobo (Kevin) Li#, Ce Liang*, and Yuwei Jiang (2026), “Approaching with Calories: Zoom-in Food Presentation Increases Calorie Estimation,” Journal of Marketing Research. Conditionally accepted

• Li, Shaobo (Kevin), Huang, Xun, WANG, Le*; Jiang, Yuwei, and Luo, Xin* (2026). “Exploring Online Help-Seeking Tendencies: The Influence of Experience Type and Helper Identity.” MIS Quarterly.  50 (1): 327–350.

• Yan, Shuo, Shaobo (Kevin) Li*, Daniel Houser,  Chunmian Ge, and Jiayi Zhuo* (2026). “Forced Ranking Systems and Gender Gap in Job Tenure.” Management Science. (forthcoming)

• Yan, Shuo, Kun Chen, Shaobo (Kevin) Li, Zhijie Lin (2026). “The Role of Opinion Leaders in Crowd Wisdom: An Information Cascade Perspective .” Production and Operations Management. 35(9): 3410–3428.

2025

• Tang, Chuang, Shaobo (Kevin) Li*, Suming Hu, Fue Zeng, and Qianzhou Du* (2025). “Gender disparities in the impact of generative artificial intelligence: Evidence from academia.” PNAS Nexus 4(2): page591.

• Liu, Wumei, Heng Zhang*, Shaobo (Kevin) Li*, and Yan Liu (2025). “The Time-Healing Effects: A Multi-Method Study on How Time Affects Consumers’ Attitude Change Following the Occurrence of Brand Scandals.” Journal of Business Research 189, 115202.

• Guo, Yang, Gergana Nenkov, and Shaobo (Kevin) Li* (2025). “Cutting or Offsetting Emissions: How Political Ideology Shapes Consumer Preferences for Firms’ Carbon Emission Mitigation Strategies.” Journal of Business Research 198, 115489.

2024

• 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 33(1), 11-31.

• Li, Shaobo (Kevin)#*, Nuoya Chen#*, Elaine Chan, and Yang Guo (2024), “Loss Framing Increases Entity Theorists’ Vaccine Uptake,” International Journal of Research in Marketing 41(4), 745-760.

• 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 35(3), 1274-1295

• 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

• 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, 36(4), 320-335.

• 杨强,王俞丹,姚映竹,李少波 (2024).不同场景的机器人服务如何影响消费者满意度——基于中国首家全自动化机器人服务酒店的评论挖掘[J].营销科学学报, 4 (04): 55-75. 

2022

• 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

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

• 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

2021

• 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

• 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

• 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

2020

• 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– 142

• 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– 78

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

2. Principal Investigator, “Large Language Models and Product Innovation.” Shenzhen Science, Technology and Innovation Commission, Natural Science Foundation General Program. (Jan 2026 – Dec 2028), ¥300,000 (approx. $41,000).

3. Principal Investigator, “The 'Double-Edged Sword' Effect of the Sharing Economy on Consumer Well-Being and Its Mechanism.” National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), General Program (No. 72472068). (Jan 2025 – Dec 2028), ¥400,000 (approx. $56,000).

4. Principal Investigator, “Belt and Road Strategy and the Internationalization of National Brands.” National High-Level Youth Talent Scientific Research Supporting Fund. (2025 – 2027), ¥200,000 (approx. $28,000).

5. Co-Investigator, “[Project Title Confidential].” Ministry of Science and Technology, Major 2030 Special Project. (Duration not specified), ¥120,000,000 (approx. $16.8 million).

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

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

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

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

10. Principal Investigator, “Brand Management in the New Situation: A Perspective Based on Variability.” Shenzhen Philosophy and Social Sciences Planning Project (No. SZ2021D021). (Sep 2021 – Aug 2022), ¥50,000 (approx. $7,000).

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

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