Ronnie (Chuang Rang) Gao, PhD

Associate Professor of Business

Dr. Ronnie Gao received his BEng in Electrical Engineering from Tongji University in Shanghai, China, in 1989.  He earned his MBA from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, in 2004, and his PhD in Business Administration from Drexel University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 2014. Ronnie joined in TWU as an assistant professor of marketing in 2014, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2017. Ronnie’s professional employment includes positions as locomotive engineer at the Chinese Railway Systems, as training engineer at the Chinese Railway Expert Team at Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority, as public relations & marketing director at the Nigerian Railway Rehabilitation Project, and as vice president business development and marketing at the China Operations of a Canadian consulting company. In his leisure time, Ronnie enjoys playing tennis and hiking with family and friends.  

  • PhD (Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA; 2014)
  • MBA (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC; 2004)
  • BEng (Tongji University, Shanghai, China; 1989)

Expertise

Marketing, Languages: English, Mandarin.

  • Cross-(sub)cultural Consumer Behavior Research
  • Green Consumer Behavior
  • Salepeople Behavior

Awards & Honors

  • Conference Grant, Center for Customer Insights, Yale University (2014)
  • International Travel Award, Office of International Programs, Drexel University (2014)
  • Excellence in Teaching Award, Marketing Department, Drexel University (2013)
  • Conference Grants, Marketing Department, Drexel University (2011-2014)
  • Conference Grants, Office of Graduate Studies, Drexel University (2012-2013)

Recent Publications

  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), William Murphy, and Rolph E. Anderson (2020), “Transformational Leadership Effects on Salespeople’s Attitudes, Striving, and Performance,” Journal of Business Research, 110, 237 - 245.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang) (2019), “Do Product Failure Type and Product Country of Origin Matter in Consumer Attitudes toward Product Failures? A Two-Country Study,” in Understanding Complexity, Transforming the Marketplace, Vol. 30, eds. Son K. Lam, Markus Giesler and Xueming Luo. Chicago: American Marketing Association, MC27 - MC28.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), Rolph E. Anderson, Swaminathan Srini, and Hyokjin Kwak (2018),“ Transformational Leadership and Salesperson Job Satisfaction: The Mediating Effects of Psychological Empowerment and Employee Vigor,” in Big Ideas and New Methods in Marketing, Vol. 29, eds. David Gal, Kelly Hewett and Satish Jayachandran, Chicago: American Marketing Association, SS29 – SS30.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), Yanliu Huang, and Trina L. Andras (2017), "“Subtle or Salient?” Examining Mainstream Consumers’ Attitudes toward Ethnic-Targeting Services with Different Cultural Salience Levels",” in Innovation and Sustainability in Marketing, Vol. 30, eds. Kelly Haws, Mark B. Houston, and Charles H. Noble, Chicago: American Marketing Association, forthcoming.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), Yanliu Huang, and Trina L. Andras (2016), “Comparing Mainstream and Ethnic Consumers’ Reactions to Ethnic-Targeting Services,” in What Happens in Marketing, Stays Digital: Rethinking Marketing for Success in the Era of Unlimited Data, Vol. 27, eds. Charles F. Hofacker and Thorsten Hennig-Thurau, Chicago: American Marketing Association, F-2 – F-3.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), Rolph E. Anderson, and Swaminathan Srini (2016), “Transformational Leadership and Salesperson Job Performance: Mediating Effects of Accomplishment Striving and Perceived Self-Efficacy,” in What Happens in Marketing, Stays Digital: Rethinking Marketing for Success in the Era of Unlimited Data, Vol. 27, eds. Charles F. Hofacker and Thorsten Hennig-Thurau, Chicago: American Marketing Association, E-3 – E-4.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), Yanliu Huang, and Trina L. Andras (2015), “An Enduring Personal Orientation or a Situational Characteristic? Examining the Nature of Cosmopolitanism,” in Improving Business Practice Through Marketing Insight, Vol. 26, eds. Michael Ahearne, and Douglas E. Hughes, Chicago: American Marketing Association, H-6 - H-7.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), Trina L. Andras and Yanliu Huang (2013), “Investigating the Interrelatedness among Consumer Animosity, Cosmopolitanism, and Consumer Ethnocentrism: A Two-country Study,” in Challenging the Bounds of Marketing Thought, Vol. 24, eds. Jim Burroughs and Aric Rindfleisch,  Chicago: American Marketing Association, 351-352.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang) and Rolph E. Anderson (2013), “Psychological Empowerment and the Mediating Effects of Motivation and Employee Vigor,” in Challenging the Bounds of Marketing Thought, Vol. 24, eds. Jim Burroughs and Aric Rindfleisch, Chicago: American Marketing Association, 151-152.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang) and Rajneesh Suri (2012), “In the Name of Environmental Friendliness: Effects on Attitudes toward the Service,” in NA-Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 40, eds. Zeynep Gurhan-Canli, Cele Otnes, and Juliet Rui Zhu, Duluth, MN: Association for Consumer Research, 1127.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), Yanliu Huang, and Trina L. Andras (2012), “Examining Ethnic Consumers' Attitudes toward Ethnic Enterprises,” in Marketing Theory and Applications, Vol. 23, eds. Sundar Bharadwaj and John Hulland, Chicago: American Marketing Association, 364-365.
  • Conference Presentations:  Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), Yanliu Huang, and Trina L. Andras (2017), ““Your Service Negatively Affected Me”: Examining Mainstream Consumers’ Attitudes toward Ethnic-Targeting Services,” American Marketing Association Educator’s Conference, February 2017, Orlando, FL, U.S.A.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), Yanliu Huang, and Trina L. Andras (2014), “Examining the Effects of Animosity, Consumer Ethnocentrism, and Cosmopolitanism on Consumers¹ Attitudes toward Products from Adversarial Country: A Two-Country Study,” China India Insights Conference by Yale University, July 2014, Lijiang, Yunnan, China.
  • Gao, Ronnie (Chuang Rang), Yanliu Huang, and Trina L. Andras (2013), “Examining Mainstream Consumers’ Reactions toward Ethnic-Targeting Services,” China India Insights Conference by Yale University, September 2013, New York, NY.

Affiliations & Memberships

  • American Marketing Association
  • Association for Consumer Research

  • BUSI 231/331 Principles of Marketing
  • BUSI 335 Consumer Behavior
  • BUSI 338 International Marketing Management
  • BUSI 430 Marketing Research
  • BUSI 435 Marketing Management
  • MBA 501 Marketing Management