Research
Publications
The cost of anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic, (1st author) with Masha Krupenkin, David Rothschild, and Julia Lee Cunningham. Nature Human Behaviour (2023). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-022-01493-6.
formerly titled "From Anti-China Rhetoric to Anti-Asian Behavior: The Social and Economic Cost of ‘Kung Flu’"
The Bright Side of Emotional Extremity: Evidence from Tipping in Live Streaming Platform, with Xingyu 'Celine' Chen, Li Ji, and Ling Jiang. Information & Management (2023). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S037872062200132X.
Working Papers
Politically biased moderation drives echo chamber formation: An analysis of user-driven content removals on Reddit, (1st author) with Jangwon Choi and Yuqin Wan. (2024). Available at SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4990476.
From Silos to Synergy: Effectiveness of Influencer Advertising with Spillover Effects, with Xingyu 'Celine' Chen, Li Ji, and Ling Jiang. Submitted to Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (2022).
Variety and Risk-Taking in Content Creation: Evidence from a Field Experiment Using Image Recognition Techniques, (1st author) with Sridhar Narayanan and Rupali Kaul. (2022). Submitted to Management Science (2022).
Effect of Attention and Recognition on Content Creation and Engagement: Experimental Results from a Large Social Network, (1st author) with Sridhar Narayanan. (2022).
Visibility Policy, Seller Incentives, and Pricing Dynamics in a Digital Goods Marketplace, sole author. (2022).
In Progress
Is Sponsorship Disclosure Always Bad for Influencers? The Moderating Role of Influencer Tier, with Candice Huang
Content Informativeness and Intimacy Drive the Outcome of Influencer Marketing, with Candice Huang, Jiaxin Pei, and Fiona Yang.
Product Placements in Generative AI Knowledge Search, with Aradhna Krishna
Diversity in Team Performance and Peer-Evaluations, with Aradhna Krishna
The Paradox of Goal-Based Subscriptions, with Hongxian Huang.
Measuring the Impact of Early Cross-Community Exposures on Long Term Success of Online Communities, with Tiago Cunha, David Jurgens, Daniel Romero, and Xingyao Wang.
Platform design drives content creation, user engagement, and growth.
My research combines economic theory and marketing tools such as dynamic structural modeling with industry knowledge to explore how digital platform design affects user behavior and incentives in online environments including studies on online marketplaces, social networks, influencer marketing, and livestreaming. This work is highly relevant to content creators, consumers, advertisers, and technology platforms as they navigate questions surrounding ranking and displaying content, driving organic content creation, and managing long-term growth.
Pandemic-related stigma negatively impacted the economic livelihoods of Asian Americans.
My research, published in Nature Human Behaviour, estimates that COVID-related stigma and anti-Asian hate cost Asian American businesses $7.42 billion in lost revenue in 2020, highlighting how negative sentiment towards foreign entities can spillover into consumer discrimination targeting domestic minority groups. These patterns echo how Muslim Americans faced widespread discrimination, hate, and stigma post-9/11 and exemplify how some American minority groups are perceived through the lens of the perpetual foreigner stereotype.
Content creators sink or swim based on whether their content is promoted.
What incentives are inherent in the way that a platform ranks and displays content? Many websites are designed with the consumer in mind, but it's important to remember that creators - whether influencers, sellers, or small businesses - are key stakeholders and actors in the content ecosystem. For example, ranking products on the basis of historical sales (for example, a 'Top Selling' list) entrenches incumbents and creates dynamics where current sales subsidize future product visibility, as explored in Visibility Policy, Seller Incentives, and Pricing Dynamics in a Digital Goods Marketplace.
How is user content moderated in online spaces?
Platforms rely heavily on volunteer users to own and moderate online spaces, including comment threads, channels, or communities. These moderators have broad authority to set and enforce content guidelines around harassment, safety, and community norms. But, when these standards are enforced inconsistently or in a content-biased manner, moderation actions can feed the formation of echo chambers characterized by rigid views and polarization. Read more in Moderation-based Echo Chambers: An Exploration of Politically Motivated Content Removal on Reddit.