Elina Tang

Associate Professor

Department

Marketing

Education

• Ph.D., University of Missouri, Marketing (Statistics minor)
• M.S., Tufts University, Molecular Biology and Microbiology
• Graduate Certificate, Harvard University, Administration and Management
• B.S., Wuhan University, Biochemistry

Bio

Elina Tang is an associate professor of marketing whose research investigates how responsible marketing, service design and emerging technologies can advance individual and societal wellbeing. Her scholarship centers on two complementary research areas. The first examines how responsible service design can promote consumer wellbeing, particularly among vulnerable populations. The second investigates how emerging neurotechnology, especially brain computer interface technology, shapes individual and workplace wellbeing.

Tang's research has appeared in leading journals, including Marketing Science, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Service Research, Journal of the American Statistical Association, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of Services Marketing, Journal of Service Management, Psychology & Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management and International Journal on Media Management, among others.

Her multidisciplinary research has earned prestigious awards for its contributions to marketing scholarship and its impact on marketing practice. These distinctions include the AMA–EBSCO Research in Marketing Award, the Academy of Marketing Science Building the Bridge Award, a Reynolds Journalism Institute Research Fellowship, the Carolan Foundation Research Award, and multiple NIU research excellence awards. Her work has been featured by CBS News, American Marketing Association TV, Adweek, and the Columbia Missourian.

Tang serves on the editorial boards of Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, a Financial Times Top 50 (FT-50) journal; Journal of Business Research; and Journal of Service Management. She is also a founding member of the Adweek Academic Council.

A transdisciplinary scholar with graduate degrees in three disciplines, Tang bridges rigorous academic research with practical relevance. Before entering academia, she held biomedical research and marketing roles in pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Since then, she has collaborated with Meta, TransUnion, the American Marketing Association, World Vision, and the American Council on Education.

In the classroom, Tang brings over a decade of teaching and consulting experience. Her teaching was recognized with the 2026 NIU Outstanding Graduate Marketing Educator Award. She has taught courses in undergraduate and master's programs, including digital and social media marketing, marketing management, marketing analytics, consumer behavior, and sales.

Tang loves gardening and nature walks and is a proud Bank of America Chicago Marathon finisher. She completed the marathon with Team World Vision, a nonprofit fundraising initiative. Together, these experiences reinforce the strong sense of purpose that guides her scholarship and her commitment to rigorous, meaningful research with real-world impact.

Selected Publications

Elizabeth Minton, Frank G. Cabano, Christopher P. Blocker and Elina Tang (2026), Navigating Consumer Emotional Vulnerability in Services, Journal of Service Research, forthcoming.

Alexander Kies, Arne De Keyser^{(Student co-author)}, Jiarui Li^{(Student co-author)}, Maria Susana Jaramillo Echeverri^{(Student co-author)}, Yihui Elina Tang^{(Student co-author)}, and Ihtesham Ud Din^{(Student co-author)} (2025), Wired for Work: Exploring the Impact of Brain-Computer Interfaces on Frontline Service Employees' Well-Being and Technostress, Journal of Service Management, 36 (1), 1-26. (^{(Student co-author)}Alphabetical order; Lead Article)

Tang, Elina, Reto Felix and Christian Hinsch (2024), Ritual and environmental ineffectiveness: How psychological ownership of community drives environmental behavior. Psychology & Marketing, 41 (4), 860-879.

Bunds , Kyle, Yihui (Elina) Tang and Joerg Koenigstorfer (2023), Community building in virtual participation charity sport events, Journal of Marketing Management, 39 (17-18 December), 1738-1764.

Elina Tang and Christopher Blocker (2022), Promoting Social Resilience in Service Communities: A Molecular Biology Perspective, Journal of Services Marketing, 36 (7), 895-907 .

Hinsch, Christian, Elina Tang, Donald Lund (2021). Compulsion and Reactance: Why Do Some Green Consumers Fail to Follow Through with Planned Environmental Behaviors? Psychology & Marketing, 38 (12), 2209-2226. (Special Issue:: Psychological mechanisms enabling the acceptance, adoption, and engagement with Artificial Intelligence technology in marketing)

Huges, M. Courtney^{(Student co-author)}, Elina Tang^{(Student co-author)}, Shupei Yuan (2021). Collaboration Between Public Health and Marketing Experts as a Response to COVID-19. Population Health Management, 24(5), 527-531 (^{(Student co-author)} First two authors equal contribution)

Tang, Elina, Christian Hinsch, Donald Lund and Hunsi Kharouf (2020). Service Gifts, Collective Social Connection and Reciprocity. European Journal of Marketing, 54(10), 2477-2500.

Tang, Elina and Lei Wang (2020), 3 Elements of Your Brand That Can Shine Through in These Harrowing Times: This Will Help Preserve Relationships with Consumers in The Long Run, Adweek, March 16, 2020

Tang, Elina and Detelina Marinova (2020), When Less Is More: The Downside of Customer Knowledge Sharing Within New Product Development Teams, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 48 (2), 288–307

Tang, Elina and Haisu Zhang (2019), Disruption Reaches Healthcare – The Sector Is Being Shaken up by Digital Innovations, (Online version title: Healthcare Is Undergoing a Digital Revolution, Courtesy of Smart Devices), Adweek, October 7, 2019, page 11

Tang, Elina and Chris Hinsch (2018), Going Green to Be Morally Clean: An Examination of Environmental Behavior Amongst Materialistic Consumers, Psychology & Marketing, 35 (11), 845–862

Liu, Qing^{(Student co-author)} and Elina Tang^{(Student co-author)} (2015), Construction of Efficient Heterogeneous Choice Designs: A New Approach, Marketing Science, 34 (3): 346 – 366 (^{(Student co-author)} Equal contribution)

Yang, Min, Stefanie Biedermann and Elina Tang (2013), On Optimal Designs for Nonlinear Models: A General and Efficient Algorithm, Journal of the American Statistical Association, 108 (504), 1411 – 1420

Raman, Kalyan^{(Student co-author)}, Murali K. Mantrala^{(Student co-author)}, Shrihari Sridhar^{(Student co-author)} and Elina Tang^{(Student co-author)} (2012), Optimal Resource Allocation with Time-Varying Marketing Effectiveness, Margins and Costs, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 26 (1), 43 – 52 (^{(Student co-author)} Equal contribution)

Tang, Elina, Shrihari Sridhar, Esther Thorson and Murali Mantrala (2011), The Bricks That Build the Clicks: Newsroom Investments and Newspaper Online Performance, The International Journal on Media Management, 13 (2), 107 – 128 (Lead Article)

Bond, Edward, Mark Houston and Elina Tang (2008), Starting Up a High-Technology Knowledge Transfer Network: The Practical and Symbolic Roles of Identification, Industrial Marketing Management, 37 (6), 641 – 652