Welcome Associate Professor of Marketing Wenkai Zhou: A Distinguished Teacher-Scholar with a Truly Global Perspective

The Crummer Graduate School of Business is thrilled to welcome Dr. Wenkai Zhou as an Associate Professor of Marketing to our faculty, bringing a wealth of experience from his previous roles at the University of Central Oklahoma and the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay. 

Originally from Xi’an, China’s ancient capital, Wenkai possesses deep insights into Chinese cultural dimensions and their influence on business ideologies. His international perspective is enriched by his childhood years in Australia and extensive academic pursuits across the United States. With his diverse Eastern and Western background, Wenkai is passionate about helping individuals and organizations navigate global trends, including technological transformations and cross-cultural consumer decision-making, to enhance strategic marketing decisions in today’s interconnected yet unpredictable global economy. 

Wenkai’s current research interests include AI-marketing interface, marketing in emerging markets, digital technology adoption and organizational adaptiveness, consumer decision-making, and innovative survey methodologies. He has presented at diverse academic conferences and his scholarly contributions have been featured in a broad array of journals. 

His research has won track best paper awards at the Society for Marketing Advances annual conferences. In 2022, his co-authored research on the drivers of salespeople’s AI acceptance received honorable mention for the prestigious Marvin Jolson Award for Best Contribution to Selling and Sales Management Practice, as recognized by the Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management. He has served as a co-guest editor for a special issue of International Marketing Review, as well as for a special issue of International Journal of Market Research. He also serves on the editorial review board of Journal of Global Marketing and Journal of Information Technology Case and Application Research.  

About five years ago, Wenkai began teaching MBA courses and realized he was passionate about his pedagogy and loved his students. “MBA students are far more interactive. With their experience working, they are willing and more eager to contribute to class discussions.” A key factor that drew Wenkai to Crummer specifically is its outstanding reputation in graduate business education. Recent school rankings got his attention and underscored the institution’s prestigious standing. 

Wenkai’s global experiences from China to Australia and beyond will be a great boon to Crummer students.  He plans on sharing the many global trends he has observed, including the technology transformation he’s seen and how it impacts marketing. “Nowadays business is done digitally on a much bigger scale compared to a decade ago. Ecommerce and online marketplaces are flourishing and social media makes it easy for consumers from different countries and cultures to connect. Technology has become a key enabler for cross-border business opportunities, bringing people around the world closer together. This makes understanding cross-cultural consumer behavior more important than ever for global companies when making strategic marketing decisions.” 

Another trend Wenkai is experienced in is AI. In fact, he published one of the first peer-reviewed papers on ChatGPT and marketing, entitled “ChatGPT and marketing: Analyzing public discourse in early Twitter posts.” He said, “A lot of the traditional content generated by marketers is now done by machines.” He likened the surge in AI use to the development of the internet. When it first emerged, people were afraid it would take over their jobs. “Those who are able to use AI to their advantage will be able to advance their jobs and improve productivity.”  He added, “Unless your job involves repetitive and simple tasks, it’s more likely that you’ll be replaced by someone who can use AI effectively and responsibly, rather than by AI itself.” 

His paper on ChatGPT and marketing is one of many publications Wenkai has coauthored, and he takes special pride in having collaborated with a former MBA student on this work. His intellectual contributions have been featured in a wide range of journals, not just marketing-focused ones. He’s passionate about working with researchers from different fields to promote interdisciplinary collaboration that benefits both business scholarship and practice. “Rollins’ rich liberal arts tradition opens up a world of remarkable opportunities in this arena,” he said.  

Currently, Wenkai is working on several more publications with various research teams. One focuses on sustainable consumer behavior, specifically how the use of appealing sea animals and anthropomorphic language in advertising affects consumers’ pro-environmental behavior. Another research paper he is coauthoring discusses how products being locked up to reduce retail theft might have a negative impact on consumer purchasing intentions. He is investigating what kind of products are prone to this negative impact and what solutions might be available for retailers.  

As you can see, Wenkai has a lot to offer Crummer and will contribute greatly to the students’ learning journeys. When asked what he is looking forward to as he begins his position at Crummer, his answer was two-fold: “I am excited to learn more about the students, what their career goals and aspirations are, what they want to learn about marketing, and how I can be of value to them. I also look forward to collaborating with my new colleagues to enact the dean’s new vision. Business leaders need to be really forward-looking in the coming years, and I want to play a role in the process to make an impact.”  

When Wenkai isn’t working, you might find him playing with his two dogs, one husky mix and one chiweenie. He also loves to travel; he’s been to over forty states. In welcoming Dr. Zhou to Crummer, we are not only gaining a distinguished scholar but also a passionate educator with a truly global perspective. His extensive experience in marketing, coupled with his deep understanding of cultural dynamics and technological transformations, will be invaluable assets to our students and faculty alike. We are thrilled to have him on board and look forward to the many contributions he will make in the years to come. 

To get started on your MBA journey and have classes with Wenkai, make an appointment with an admissions specialist.