Are numbers perceived to have human-like characteristics, such as the ability to feel lonely? A study by HKUST’s Jaideep Sengupta and colleagues suggests that they are—and that consumers’ preferences are influenced by these supposed characteristics. This pioneering study, which for the first time links numerical cognition with consumer behavior, shows that ... Read More

The likelihood of venture capital (VC) firms’ forming partnerships with others is strongly influenced by their relative status, say HKUST’s Pavel I. Zhelyazkov and his co-author Adam Tatarynowicz (Singapore Management University). In a timely and incisive study, the authors investigate “status-asymmetric ties” to understand why and how unequal partners ... Read More

Interviews are riddled with unspoken negotiations, with both parties bound to the push and pull of obtaining and withholding information. For an interviewee, the optimal outcome is to be trusted and liked by one’s interviewer, and—most importantly—hired at the highest possible salary. However, unwelcome questions can expose information that compromises ... Read More

Deciding how much to grow can be difficult for farmers in developing countries, who largely operate without crucial market information. Governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are attempting to address this knowledge gap, but how widely should they deliver such information to the maximum benefit of farmers? Is wider information distribution ... Read More

Despite the world’s aging population, there is limited understanding of the relationship between age diversity and organizational performance. As a result, researchers are increasingly interested in the impact of age composition within the workplace. In a timely study, Yaping Gong of HKUST and colleagues set out to explore the impact of age on corporate ... Read More

Having a good sense of humour can be beneficial in many scenarios, whether in your personal life or at work. However, when defining a strong leader, most people would not consider humour as being a crucial attribute. An article by Brad Bitterly and Alison Wood Brooks aimed to dig deeper into this topic, understanding that humour, when used responsibly, can ... Read More

As social media become more pervasive, forming an ever larger part of our everyday lives, it is only natural that they should begin to impact our careers. In the first study of its kind, HKUST’s Yanzhen Chen and colleagues set out to discover whether creating a personal “brand” on social media can improve executives’ performance in the job market. “We ... Read More

Peers and trend-setters have a powerful say in what products we decide to buy, particularly on online social media platforms. Naturally, this means that firms must consider the influence of network connections on purchase behaviors when designing pricing strategies. In doing so, they must consider when consumers decide to buy a new product—some consumers ... Read More

HKUST’s Danqing Wang and co-researchers claim that political term, which they define as “the tenure of an official at a certain level on the career ladder,” can influence the incentives of newly appointed government officials and their efforts to achieve the state’s foreign direct investment (FDI) goals. In a novel study that sheds light on intra-country FDI ... Read More

Social media posts about potential mergers and acquisitions (M&As) can significantly predict the likelihood of M&A success, say HKUST researcher Charles Hsu and colleagues. Social media message boards give China’s 50 million small investors a voice, which they are using to express their opinions on acquisition activity. This study establishes an influential ... Read More