Marketing News: May 2025
MAY 2025
The Marketing Department at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is home to world-renowned marketing faculty who are leaders in marketing research, analytics, AI, and social influence.
Best regards,
Amna Kirmani
Dean's Chair of Marketing
Ralph J. Tyser Professor of Marketing
Marketing Department Chair
States are rushing to legalize sports betting for tax windfalls and associate professor Dan McCarthy examines the hidden costs. His research reveals whether legalization fuels gambling addiction and financial distress, challenging policymakers to balance economic benefits with consumer protection as the betting boom expands. Read more.
Are You Ready for the Future? AI Can Help
The human mind favors immediate rewards over distant benefits, creating challenges for retirement planning. Assistant professor Joseph Reiff explores how AI-generated personalized visualizations help overcome present bias by making future financial goals tangibly vivid and motivating. Read more.
Will Banning Self-Preferencing in Digital Markets Help or Hurt?
Digital platforms often prioritize their products over competitors, but is regulation the answer? Associate professor Bobby Zhou examines whether banning self-preferencing in digital marketplaces helps consumers or inadvertently harms the very competition it aims to protect. Read more.
The Language of Buying: Deciphering AI Conversations
AI assistants capture millions of user interactions daily, but which signal buying intent? By analyzing how words are connected in consumer queries to AI assistants, research from marketing PhD student Ziting Liao, associate professor Liye Ma, and Dean’s Professor of Marketing Wendy W. Moe uncovers how analyzing the hidden connections within consumer conversations can help companies better identify potential buyers and make smarter advertising decisions. Read more.
The department welcomed Daniel McCarthy, associate professor of marketing, Xinying Hao, assistant professor of marketing, and Cathy Chen, clinical associate professor of marketing. Read more.
Rebecca Ratner, the Dean's Professor of Marketing, reflects on beginning her duties as the President of the Association of Consumer Research this year. Read more.
Liye Ma and Bobby Zhou Named 2024 MSI Scholars
The associate professors reflect on their MSI Scholars distinction. Read more.
P.K. Kannan Wins AMA TechSIG Lifetime Achievement Award
The prestigious award celebrates Kannan's influential work in digital marketing, online product reviews, and machine learning applications that have shaped the field. Read more.
The Smith School Recognizes Outstanding Marketing Faculty
Rebecca Ratner and Bobby Zhou are recent recipients of the Allen J. Krowe Award for Teaching Excellence. Idil Yaveroglu was awarded the Legg-Mason Teaching Innovation Award. Read more.
Our distinguished tenure-track faculty represent the academic excellence and innovative spirit that define our department. Learn more about their expertise, current work, and opportunities for collaboration.