General Information
Biography
Zhihao (Max) Yu is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He is a behavioral researcher studying digital interaction design, social media strategies, and human-robot interaction. His research has been published in top-tier business journals such as the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Advertising, and the Journal of Business Ethics. He serves on the editorial review board of the Journal of Business Research, and his research and interviews have been featured in the Harvard Business Review and the American Marketing Association.Prior to academia, Max worked in the luxury industry as a digital brand manager for several international luxury brands (Bang & Olufsen, Royal Asscher, etc.). As a former marketing practitioner with strong industry contacts, he is keen to collaborate with companies for his class and scientific studies to help solve their problems and capitalize on their opportunities. He teaches Digital Marketing Communications (MKT 3360) and Social Media Marketing (MKT 3370).
Teaching Interests
Digital Marketing and Social Media Marketing
Research Interests
Digital Interaction Design, Human-Robot/AI Interaction, Brand Management
Service Summary
Editorial Review Board Member of the Journal of Business Research, Member of the UNO Social Media Lab
Awards and Honors
AMA Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium Fellow, Scholarship/Research - 2020
College Research and Creative Activity (RCA) Award, Scholarship/Research - 2025
UCRCA Research Award and Grant, Scholarship/Research - 2024
UNO Weitz Innovation and Excellence Fund, Teaching - 2024
CBA Summer Research Fellowship, Scholarship/Research - 2025
CBA Summer Research Fellowship, Scholarship/Research - 2024
CBA Summer Research Fellowship, Scholarship/Research - 2023
CBA Summer Research Fellowship, Scholarship/Research - 2022
Education
Ph D, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, Marketing, Psychology, 2021
Scholarship/Research/Creative Activity
Selected Publications
Xu, Minzhe, Yu, Zhihao, Tu, Yanping. 2022. I Will Get a Reward, Too: Disclosing the Referrer-reward Increases Referring, authors contributed equally, Journal of Marketing Research, 60, 2, 355-370.
Yu, Zhihao, Ponomarenko, Veronika, Luke, Liska. 2023. How to Allocate White Space in Ad Design? The Impact of Product Layouts on Perceived Entitativity and Advertising Performance, Journal of Advertising.
Cowart, Kelly, Yu, Zhihao, Ding, Aihui. 2024. Customer Inferences about Racial Composition in Ads: A Comparison of Monoracial and Interracial Models , Journal of Advertising.
Chen, Siyun, Yu, Zhihao, Xiong, Jiwei, Ponomarenko, Veronika (Forthcoming). Navigating Ethical Paths with “Less”: Unveiling the Simplicity-Naturalness Association and Its Impact on Sustainable Consumption, Journal of Business Ethics.
Service
Media Contributions
Magazine, Harvard Business Review, "Get More Traction for Your Referral Program" (https://hbr.org/archive-toc/BR2403), 05/01/2024
Internet Publication, American Marketing Association, "Boosting Your Referral Program's Effectiveness" (https://www.ama.org/2023/10/11/one-simple-tweak-can-make-referral-programs-more-effective/), 10/11/2023