Dr Wei-Fen Chen

Prior to joining the University of Leicester School of Business in 2019 as a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) in Marketing, I conducted my post-doctoral research in Hong Kong, affiliated with The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2018-2019) and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2016-2018). I have been a fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) since 2020. 

Originally from Taiwan, I have professional experiences in both private and public sectors before pursuing my PhD degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2011-2016) as a Fulbright grantee. 

My research focuses on optimal communication and persuasion strategies in relation to social inequality, business sustainability, and decision-making interfaces. Empirically, I embrace interdisciplinary and multi-methods research design, in which I often collaborate with scholars from diverse academic backgrounds and countries.

1. Journal articles

Wei-Fen Chen, Xue Wang, and Chenyang Shao (2025). When to Appeal to Cultural Capital in Advertisements? Cultural Capital Appeals Increase Purchase Intentions for High- But Not Low-priced Products. Journal of Advertising Research. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/00218499.2025.2464 291 (AJG-3)

Aliasghar Aliakbari, James Crick, Wei-Fen Chen, and Dave Crick (2025). Unpacking the Relationship between Entrepreneurial Marketing Activities and Small Firm Performance. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior and Research, 31(4), 999-1018. Available at https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEBR-10-2024-1173 (AJG-3)

Xue Wang, Yuemin Zhuo, Wei-Fen Chen, Hongfei Du, and Zhansheng Chen (2024). Perceiving Low Social Mobility Induces Zero-Sum Beliefs About Social Hierarchies. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672241290390 (AJG-4)

Yujia Sun, Xue Wang, Tonglin Jiang, Wei-Fen Chen, and Song Su (2024). Low Self-Concept Clarity Induces Scarcity Perceptions: The Subsequent Effects on Prosocial Behavior. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672241294103 (AJG-4)

Wei-Fen Chen and Jingshi (Joyce) Liu (2023). When Less is More: Understanding Consumers' Responses to Minimalist Appeals. Psychology & Marketing. Available at https://doi.org/10.1002 /mar.21869 (AJG-3)

Tianran Wang, Wei-Fen Chen, Xue Wang, and Xiucheng Fan (2023). Smartphone Use Increases the Likelihood of Making Short-sighted Financial Decisions. Journal of Pacific Rim Psychology, 17. Available at https://doi.org/10.1177/18344909221147782 (AJG-1)

Xue Wang, Wei-Fen Chen, Ying-yi Hong, and Zhansheng Chen (2022). Perceiving High Social Mobility Breeds Materialism: The Mediating Role of Socioeconomic Status Uncertainty. Journal of Business Research, 139, 629-638. (AJG-3)

Wei-Fen Chen and Michelle R. Nelson (2020). Champagne Taste, Beer Budget—The New Poor’s Incongruent Capital and Consumption. Journal of Consumer Culture, 20 (1), 23-42. 

Wei-Fen Chen, Xue Wang, Haiyan Gao, and Ying-yi Hong (2019). Understanding Consumer Ethics in China’s Demographic Shift and Social Reforms. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 31 (3), 627-646. (AJG-1)

Wei-Fen Chen and Tin-yuet Ting (2019). Contesting Shopping Tourism: Neoliberal Consumptionscapes and Conflicts in Host Societies. Tourism Culture & Communication, 19 (2), 155-160. (AJG-1)

Wei-Fen Chen (2018). The Perceived Cosmopolitan Consumption of Globally Mobile Young Consumers from China. Young Consumers, 19 (4), 450-464. (AJG-1)

Wei-Fen Chen (2014). Proud Stigma: The Domestic Narrative of a Family as Political Criminal Descendants. Qualitative Inquiry, 20 (3), 283-287.

2. Book Chapters

Aliasghar Aliakbari, James Crick, and Wei-Fen Chen (2024). Understanding the complexity between coopetition and firm performance. In J.M. Crick (Ed.), De Gruyter Handbook of Coopetition. De Gruyter.

Tin-yuet Ting and Wei-Fen Chen (2021). Embattled Consumptionscape of Tourism: Networked Urban Contention against Inbound Tourist Shoppers in Hong Kong. In C. Ba, S. Frank, C. Müller, A. L. Raschke, K. Wellner, & A. Zecher (Eds.), The Power of New Urban Tourism: Policies, Representations and Contestations. Routledge.

3. Conference proceedings

Wei-Fen Chen, Xue Wang, and Ying-yi Hong (2020). What to Buy When the American Dream Fails? Understanding the Taste of Downwardly Mobile Consumers. ACR North American Advances, 48, 1188.

Wei-Fen Chen (2017). The Social Mobility Perception of Chinese International Students in the U.S. The Proceedings of the 2017 Asian Conference on Media & Mass Communication. ISSN: 2186-5906

4. Book reviews

Wei-Fen Chen (2018). Review of The Myth of the Age of Entitlement: Millennials, Austerity, and Hope, by James Cairns. Journal of Consumer Culture, 19 (2), 289-292. 

5. Briefs and reports

Wei-Fen Chen (2022). Understanding Minimalism Consumption and Social Inequality. UN PRME Report 2022. 

Wei-Fen Chen, Xue Wang, and Ying-yi Hong (March 2019). Understanding Emerging Market Consumers through the Lens of Social Mobility. HKUST Thought Leadership Briefs No.25, available at https://iems.ust.hk/assets/publications/thought-leadership-briefs/tlb25/hkust-iems-tlb25-chen.pdf

Wei-Fen Chen (October 2017). Understanding the Globally-Mobile, Young Consumers from the Emerging Markets. HKUST Thought Leadership Briefs No.19, available at https://iems.ust.hk/assets/publications/thought-leadership-briefs/tlb19/chen-understanding-consumers-iems-tlb19_1.pdf

I look forward to working with PhD students whose research interests are the following areas:

1. Social inequality

2. Minimalism

3. Advertising 

4. Medium and Decision Making 

Since I joined the University in 2019, I have contributed to the following modules—

1. Postgraduate level (on-campus and/or distance learning):

          Consumers Brands & Communications (MSc Marketing)

          Marketing Management (MSc Management)

          Advanced Issues in Marketing (MSc Marketing)

          Dissertation supervision (MSc Marketing)

2. Undergraduate level (on-campus and/or distance learning):

          Consumer Behaviour

          Dissertation supervision