On June 6, the School of Journalism and Communication invited Professor Cai Zhao of University of Nottingham Ningbo China to deliver a lecture at Nankai Communication Lecture. Chen Na, Vice Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication, presented Professor Cai Nankai Communication Lecture Speaker certificate. The lecture was moderated by Associate Professor Yu Mengli of the School.
Under the theme Cause and Effect: Exploring the Influence of Cause-Related Marketing on Consumer Review in Digital Platforms, Professor Cai explored how cause-related marketing mechanisms on e-commerce platforms encourage consumers to provide high-quality reviews following their purchases. Based on social learning theory and adopting a multi-method approach that integrates econometric analysis with survey, the study validated the significant positive impact of cause-related marketing on both the volume and engagement level of reviews. It highlighted that businesses can refine their cause-related strategies by leveraging user profiles to enhance participation and brand trust.
During the Q&A session, Professor Cai engaged faculty and students in discussions on topics such as variable construction, data crawling, and the adaptation of methods to different platform contexts. He suggested that future research could combine experimental design with NLP technologies to capture the interaction between review sentiment intensity and content quality.
The Nankai Communication Lecture is committed to building a cross-disciplinary dialogue platform in communication studies. Going forward, the School will continue to launch a series of lectures on cutting-edge topics such as digital and intelligent communication, aiming to foster interdisciplinary exchanges and cultivate innovative talents. Through these efforts, it seeks to contribute Nankai’s insights to promoting the development of journalism and communication on a global scale.
[Scholar Profile] Cai Zhao is a Professor in Information Systems at University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) and Executive Director of the Nottingham China Health Institute. His research interests focus on digital supply chain management, platform competition, and digital health. His research focuses on digital supply chain management, platform competition, and digital health. His work has been published in leading journals such as MIS Quarterly (MISQ), Journal of Operations Management (JOM), Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science (JAMS), Journal of the Association for Information Systems (JAIS), and International Journal of Operations and Production Management, among others. Professor Cai serves as the Managing Editor of Industrial Management & Data Systems (IMDS), and Associate Editor for Internet Research (IR). Additionally, he has served as Track Chair for the Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems (PACIS) and Wuhan International Conference on E-Business, Mini-track Chair of the Americas' Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS), and Associate Editor for the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and the European Conference of Information Systems (ECIS).
