Research

Research Interest

• Topics: Algorithms and user behaviors; Emotional/Empathetic AI; unstructured data analytics for marketing, finance, and innovation; data analytics for business and societal challenges.

• Methodologies: Machine/deep learning, causal inference, lab/field experiments, econometric modeling, game theories.

Journal Publication

• "Understanding Volunteer Crowdsourcing from a Multiplex Perspective," with J.X. Tan and Y. Tan, Information Systems Research.

  • Media coverage: Medium.com, Kickstartmag.com

• "Unifying Algorithmic and Theoretical Perspectives: Emotions in Online Reviews and Sales," with Y. Yang, J. Huang, and Y. Tan, MIS Quarterly, 47(1) 127-160, 2023. 

  • Best Student Paper Award, Finalist, INFORMS Social Media Analytics Section, 2021.

• "Using User- and Marketer-Generated Content for Box Office Revenue Prediction: Differences Between Microblogging and Third-Party Platforms," with T. Song, J. Huang, and Y. Tan, Information Systems Research, 30(1) 191-203, 2019. 

  • Outstanding Achievement Award, China Information Economics Society, 2019. 

  • Media coverage: Tsinghua SEM News.

Working Papers

Working papers are available on my SSRN homepage.

• "Picture-Evoked Affect and Review Helpfulness: An Affect-as-Information Perspective," with X. Wang, J. Huang, and Y. Tan. 

  • Under 2nd Round Major Revision. 

  • Best Student Paper Award, Runner-up, INFORMS Social Media Analytics Section, 2022.

• "Outstream Video Advertisement Effectiveness," with Y. Wang, G. Zhang, Z. Zhang, C. Wang, Z. Zheng, and Y. Tan. 

  • Under 2nd Round Major Revision. 

  • 2021 Amazon Research Awards. 

  • Media coverage: Amazon Science, Foster News.

• "Emotions in Online Content Diffusion," with S. Huang, Y. Liu, and Y. Tan. 

  • Under 2nd Round Major Revision.

• "When Emotion AI Meets Strategic Users," with W. Xue, L. Jia, and Y. Tan. 

  • Under 2nd Round Review.

  • Best Paper Award Nomination, Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS) 2022. 

• "COVID-19, Urban Transportation, and Air Pollution," with J. Wang, W. Xue, and Y. Tan. 

  • Under Revision for Resubmission.

• "Afraid of Niche, Tired of Mass: Atypical Idea Combination on Crowdfunding Platform," with Y. Kan, Y. Jiang, and Y. Tan. 

  • Under Revision for Resubmission.

  • Best Paper Runner-up and Best Student Paper Nomination, Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST) 2020.

• "Debiasing Machine-Learning- or AI-Generated Regressors in Partial Linear Models," with J. Zhang, W. Xue, and Y. Tan.

  • Under Review.

  • Popular Vote Poster Award, California Econometrics Conference 2023

• "Emotion AI in Disguise Spurs Strategic Behavior in Customer Care," with Y. Kan, L. Jia, and Y. Tan.

  • Under Review.

  • Best Student Paper Award, Finalist, INFORMS Social Media Analytics Section 2023.

Work in Progress

• • "Voice Feature and AI Persuasion: Evidence from Multiple Field Experiments," with H. Liang, L. Jia, and X. Hu.

  • "Style Matching or Content Matching? Moderating Role of Discrete Negative Emotions in the Effects of Managerial Responses Tailoring," with Y. Zhou, H. Yang and J. Huang.

Conference Papers and Proceedings

• • "Understanding Volunteer Crowdsourcing from a Multiplex Perspective," with J.X. Tan and Y. Tan, Biz AI Conference (BizAi-Conf) 2024.

  • "Correcting Machine Learning Generated Variable Bias in Regression Models," with J. Zhang, W. Xue, and Y. Tan, American Causal Inference Conference (ACIC) 2024; Biz AI Conference (BizAi-Conf) 2024; California Econometrics Conference 2023; MIT Conference on Digital Experimentation (CODE@MIT) 2023; Conference on Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, and Business Analytics (AIMLBA) 2023; Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST) 2023; INFORMS Workshop on Data Science (WDS) 2023; INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2023; China Marketing International Conference (CMIC) 2023.

  • "Chatbot in Disguise: How Non-Disclosing Agent Identity Spurs Strategic Behavior," with Y. Kan, L. Jia, and Y. Tan, INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2023.

  • "Digital Sculptors: Generative AI and Review Helpfulness," with X. Xu, W. Xue, L. Jia, and Y. Tan, INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2023.

  • "Style Matching or Content Matching? Moderating Role of Discrete Negative Emotions in the Effects of Managerial Responses Tailoring," with Y. Zhou, H. Yang, and J. Huang, The Annual Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS) 2023; The 33rd Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS) 2023.

  • "Emotion AI Meets Strategic Users," with L. Jia and Y. Tan, Workshop on Information Technologies and Systems (WITS) 2022. 

  • "Domestic Outbreak of COVID-19 Pandemic Heard Disproportionate Female Voices in News," with J. Wang, W. Xue, Y. Tan, and Z. Li, Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST) 2022.

  • "Customer-Product Matches in Online Social Referrals: A Graph Embedding Approach," with S. Huang and Y. Jiao, Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST) 2022.

  • "Afraid of Niche, Tired of Mass: Atypical Idea Combination on Crowdfunding Platform," with Y. Kan and Y. Jiang, International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2022.

  • "Picture-Evoked Affect and Review Helpfulness: An Affect-as-Information Perspective," with X. Wang, J. Huang, and Y. Tan, INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2022.

  • "COVID-19, Urban Transportation, and Air Pollution," with J. Wang, W. Xue, and Y. Tan, International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2021; Manufacturing and Service Operations Management (MSOM) Conference 2021.

  • "Atypicality Innovation and Crowdfunding Project Performance," with Y. Kan and Y. Jiang, Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST) 2020.

  • "Beyond Text: Do Pictures Provided by Consumers Affect Social Engagement?" with X. Wang, J. Huang, and Y. Tan, INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2020.

  • "Emotions in Online Content Diffusion," with S. Huang and Y. Liu, Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST) 2020; International Conference on Computational Social Science (IC2S2) 2020; INFORMS Marketing Science Conference (ISMS) 2020; Conference on Digital Experimentation (CODE) 2019.

  • "Unifying Algorithmic and Theoretical Perspectives: Emotions in Online Reviews and Sales," with Y. Yang, J. Huang, and Y. Tan, INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2021; INFORMS Workshop on Data Mining and Decision Analytics (DMDA) 2019; China Summer Workshop on Information Management (CSWIM) 2019.

Talks and Presentations

• • "Understanding Volunteer Crowdsourcing from a Multiplex Perspective," IROM Seminars, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin, 2024

  • Invited speaker, "Harness Product Differentiation and Content Features in Video Marketing," Management Information Systems Steering Committee Meeting, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin, 2024

  • Panel speaker, "Academic Job Market: Lessons Learned," IROM Seminars, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin, 2024

  • Invited speaker, "Emotion AI in Business," New Faculty Lightning Talk, Office of the Vice President for Research, Scholarship and Creative Endeavors, The University of Texas at Austin, 2024. 

  • Invited speaker, "Emotion AI in Business," Information Management Advisory Council Meeting, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin, 2023

  • "Correcting Machine Learning Generated Variable Bias in Regression Models," IROM Seminars, McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin, 2023

  • Invited speaker, "Emotion AI in Business: Theory and Application," IS Student Presentations Over the Cloud (ISPOC), 2023

  • Panel speaker, "IS Job Market Unveiled: Navigating the IS Academic Job Market with Finesse," AIS Doctoral Student College, Association for Information Systems, 2023

  • "Outstream Video Advertisement Effectiveness," Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, 2022

  • "Outstream Video Advertisement Effectiveness," Cox School of Business, Southern Methodist University, 2022

  • "Outstream Video Advertisement Effectiveness," McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin, 2022

  • "Outstream Video Advertisement Effectiveness," W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University, 2022

  • "Emotion AI Meets Strategic Users," Graduate School of Management, University of California, Davis, 2022

  • "Outstream Video Advertisement Effectiveness," Naveen Jindal School of Management, The University of Texas at Dallas, 2022

  • "Emotion AI Meets Strategic Users," Simon Business School, University of Rochester, 2022

  • "Emotion AI Meets Strategic Users," Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, 2022

  • "Emotion AI Meets Strategic Users," Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2022

  • "Emotion AI Meets Strategic Users," Freeman School of Business, Tulane University, 2022

  • "Afraid of Niche, Tired of Mass: Atypical Idea Combination on Crowdfunding Platform," INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2022

  • "Picture-evoked Affect and Review Helpfulness," INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2022

  • Panel speaker, Annual BizTech Forum, Technology and Business Association, University of Washington, 2022

  • "Video Advertisement Effectiveness," Amazon, 2021

  • "Sales Prediction with Domain-adaptive Emotion Analysis," INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2021

  • "Atypicality Innovation and Crowdfunding Project Performance," INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2020

  • "How Digital Content and Word-of-Mouth Affect Purchase Decisions," WeChat, Tencent Technology Company Ltd., 2019

  • "How Emotions Impact Online Content Spread: Evidence from a Massive Online Social Network," INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2019

  • "Emotions in Online Reviews and Product Sales: An Investigation of the Movie Industry," INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2019

  • "Analysis of a Large-Scale Online Volunteer Network: Retention, Migration, and Engagement," INFORMS Annual Meeting (INFORMS) 2019

  • "The Predictive Power of Discrete Emotions in Microblogging Messages: An Empirical Study in the Movie Industry," China Marketing International Conference (CMIC) 2019.

  • "The Impact of Microblogging Word of Mouth Sentiments on Box Office at Different Stages," Association for Information Systems (Chapter in China) (CNAIS) 2017.