- Snead Hall
- 301 W. Main Street
- Box 844000
- Richmond, VA, 23284-4000
- Office: B3131
Expertise
- Brand Activism
- Stakeholder Identity
- Marketing Strategy
Interests
Teaching
- Marketing Research
Research
- Brand Activism, Stakeholder Identity, Marketing Strategy, Consumer Well-Being
Bio
Lin Zhao (she/her), Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the VCU School of Business.
Dr. Zhao's research focuses on brand activism, with particular emphasis on stakeholder identity and marketing strategy. She examines how brands can effectively communicate sociopolitical values and how such efforts can potentially enhance consumer well-being and contribute to the destigmatization of marginalized social groups. Her work explores the impact of brand activism on consumer-brand interactions and brand performance, while identifying both the risks and the opportunities of brand activism in B2C contexts. Her research has been published in Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, International Business Review, and Journal of Product and Brand Management, among others. Her perspectives on corporate sociopolitical activism have been featured in media outlets such as U.S. News & World Report.
Dr. Zhao currently teaches Marketing Research at the undergraduate level at the VCU School of Business. Prior to joining VCU, she taught Product and Brand Management, Buyer Behavior, and AI Impact on Marketing at West Virginia University.
She holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from West Virginia University, an M.S. in Financial Analysis from Temple University, and a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism, with a minor in Finance, from Zhejiang University City College.
