Ying Bao

Ying Bao serves as Assistant Professor of Marketing at the Gies College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, specializing in consumer analytics and business analytics within the Department of Business Administration. Her research bridges marketing theory with practical applications in digital environments and consumer well-being.

Her educational background includes:

• Ph.D. in Marketing from University of Toronto Rotman School of Management (2020)
• M.A. in Economics from University of Toronto (2014)
• B.Sc. in Economics from University of Toronto (2013)

Dr. Bao's research explores how digital technologies influence consumer behavior, with particular focus on attention mechanisms, consumption tracking systems, and food-related decision-making. Her work examines the psychological impacts of technology adoption, contract design in product development, and obesity-related price sensitivity in food markets. Current investigations analyze polarization dynamics in content creation and visual pricing strategies in luxury resale markets.

Her publication portfolio reveals consistent contributions to top marketing and interdisciplinary journals since 2020, with increasing focus on health economics and platform dynamics. Recent work demonstrates methodological diversity through empirical analyses of online review systems, mobile application ecosystems, and consumer tracking technologies, reflecting growing engagement with public policy implications of marketing practices.

Dr. Bao serves as reviewer for Decision Science, Production and Operations Management, Management Science, and the Journal of Global Fashion and Marketing. Her funded research includes:

• Alleviating Mobile Phone Addiction Through Goal Design (Gies College of Business, 2023-2025)
• Campus Research Board Grant (University of Illinois, 2021-2023)
• Multiple Junior Faculty Grants from Gies College of Business (2021-2023)

She teaches Marketing Research (BADM 322), Intro to Consumer Analytics (BADM 362), and Cons Analytics: Theory & Pract (BADM 526), emphasizing hands-on applications of R, Python, and data analytics platforms in real-world marketing scenarios.