Szu-chi Huang
Associate Professor of Marketing
Academic Area:
Bio
Szu-chi Huang is an associate professor of marketing 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 research focuses on motivation science. Huang uses lab studies to tightly examine causal processes, and field experiments to test these findings in the real world, such as launching loyalty programs with companies and conducting intervention campaigns with nonprofit organizations like UNICEF. Her recent projects examine how motivation science can be leveraged for the greater good, driving international collaborations between businesses and academia to help children learn how to make healthier choices, help low-performing teams improve productivity and longevity, and help institutions reduce food waste and plastic pollution. 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, 2022, 2024), Marketing Science Institute’s Young Scholar (2017), Marketing Science Institute Scholar, (2023), and Early Career Awards from the Society for Consumer Psychology (2020) and the Society for the Science of Motivation (2022). For her teaching contribution, Professor Huang was named one of Poets Quants’ Best 40 Under 40 Professors in 2017, and has received Stanford’s Amplifier Award (2020) and the prestigious Distinguished Teaching Award (2022).
Research Interests
- Goal Pursuit, Motivation, and Self-Regulation
- Collaboration and Competition in Shared Goal Pursuit
- Field Interventions on Health and Sustainability
- Financial and Social Impact of AI, Machines, and Robots
Administrative Titles
PhD Faculty Liaison
Co-Director, Coca-Cola Digital Leadership Transformation Program
Director, Asian Leadership Program
Stanford GSB Affiliations
- Affiliated Faculty Corporations and Society Initiative 2021–present
Academic Degrees
- PhD 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, 2017–20
- Assistant Professor of Marketing, Stanford GSB, 2013–17
Awards and Honors
- AMA-Sheth Distinguished Faculty Fellow, 2024
- BGS (Business, Government, and Society) Research Fund Grant, 2024
- Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Scholar, 2023
- BGS (Business, Government, and Society) Research Fund Grant, 2023
- R. Michael Shanahan Faculty Scholar, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2022–23
- Early Career Award, Society for the Science of Motivation (SSM), 2022
- Distinguished Teaching Award, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2022
- AMA-Sheth Distinguished Faculty Fellow, 2022
- 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, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 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
- Business School Trust Faculty Scholar, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2018–19
- Business School 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
Service to the Profession
Associate Editor
- Journal of Consumer Research, 2021–present
- Journal of Marketing Research, 2022–present
- Association for Consumer Research annual conference, 2021, 2023
- Society for Consumer Psychology annual conference, 2019
Editorial Review Board
- Journal of Consumer Research
- Journal of Consumer Psychology
- Journal of Marketing Research
Leadership
- Education and Training Chair, Society for Consumer Psychology, 2022–2025
- Co-chair, Climate Change Challenge (SCP Pre-Conference), 2023
- Founding member and Faculty Chair, California School Conference, 2022
- Social Co-Chair, Society for Consumer Psychology conference, 2022
- Co-Chair, Society for the Science of Motivation (APS) conference, 2020, 2021
Professional Experience
- Account Manager, J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency, 2004–06
- Account Executive, J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency, 2002–04
Research Statement
Szu-chi Huang’s research focuses on motivation science, specifically the temporal and social dynamics of goal pursuit. Huang uses lab studies to tightly examine causal processes, and field experiments to test these findings in the real world, such as launching loyalty programs with companies and conducting intervention campaigns with nonprofit organizations like UNICEF. Her recent projects examine how motivation science can be leveraged for the greater good, driving international collaborations between businesses and academia to help children learn how to make healthier choices, help low-performing teams improve productivity and longevity, and help institutions reduce food waste and plastic pollution. Her other research interests include consumers’ perceptions of machines and robots, financial decision making, and creativity.
Journal Articles
Book Chapters
Teaching Statement
Professor 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.
Degree Courses
Non-Degree Courses
Programs and Non-Degree Courses
Coca-Cola Digital Leadership Transformation Program, 2022
Google Executive Circle, 2021
WICT Senior Executive Seminar, 2021
SEED Transformation Program (Executives in India and Africa), 2020
MRKT The Human Factor, 2019–present
ELD The Human Factor, 2018–present
EPGC The Human Factor, 2017–present
Executive Education & Other Non-Degree Programs
Advance your skills, career, and network with the Asian Leadership Program, the first program of its kind from a leading business school.
Transform marketing in your organization with strategic frameworks, customer-centric innovation, and persuasive communication and leadership skills.
Effectively diagnose and solve problems using proven frameworks for executing change in this multidisciplinary strategic management course.
Develop strategic frameworks, customer empathy, and communication and leadership skills to help you move from product management to the C-suite.
Start the next step in your personal and professional journey by experiencing Stanford GSB and Silicon Valley’s culture of innovation.
Make the business case for sustainability with strategic and financial frameworks, personal leadership skills, and a deeper knowledge of today’s sustainability landscape.
In the Media
Insights by Stanford Business
School News
Faculty Voices
Videos and Podcasts
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Marketing Good Nutrition to Kids
Marketing junk food to kids works, but what if you used the same tools to convince kids that healthy foods were better?
00:05:56Marketing Good Nutrition to Kids
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How Metaphor Drives Growth After Goal Attainment
Szu-chi Huang and Jennifer Aaker found that instead of focusing only on the goal that’s been attained, we should reflect on the steps it took to achieve it — and to think metaphorically about the entire effort as a journey.
00:04:11How Metaphor Drives Growth After Goal Attainment
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Leverage Social Information for Success
Why do we avoid information right when we need it most? Social networking can help motivate us to reach our goals if we know how and when to use it.
00:03:03Leverage Social Information for Success
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Keep Your Friends Close in Goal Pursuit
Pursuit of a mutual goal can turn friends into foes — it’s a common scenario when two people are working toward similar goals, and it has implications for companies and organizations that serve them.
00:02:07Keep Your Friends Close in Goal Pursuit
