International Student Focuses on Digital Marketing and Social Responsibility

Marketing can achieve more than promote a brand and drive sales. According to fourth-year doctoral student Xiaobo Lin ’25 Ph.D., “marketing that reflects a company's stance has the power to raise public and consumer awareness about social issues,” she says. 

Lin is particularly interested in digital marketing campaigns. Her most recent research examines female representation. “While there is plenty of research on gender equality in leadership and the workforce, I found very little about gender representation in marketing,” she says.  

But she believes representation in marketing is just as important.  

A quantitative researcher, Lin developed a machine learning algorithm to study the Instagram posts of S&P 500 companies and measure how often women appear as well as the diversity of that representation. “I’m analyzing the proportion of female elements in those images to understand how companies use marketing to promote diversity,” she says. 

She used a similar method to analyze the text of Instagram posts on an earlier study that examined the impact of a product quality crisis on competitor brands, measuring the similarity in descriptions between the focal firm and the rival firms. “Many people assume a competitor's crisis would be beneficial, but my research shows that a product crisis can negatively impact rival firms because it creates overall suspicion among customers,” she says.  

Lin became interested in social media marketing in her first professional roles, holding positions at L’Oreal and Pfizer after earning an undergraduate degree in marketing from Shandong University in China. “At the time, social media marketing was booming. There was a lot of talk about data-driven marketing and how emerging technologies would drive even more change,” she says.   

A volunteer experience in Tunis, Tunisia, provided an entirely different perspective. “There were many small family-owned businesses that had little awareness to run e-commerce or use social media to promote their business,” she says. “It really opened my eyes to see how different business practices can be across the world.” 

Hungry to learn more, Lin headed to Kings College of London to earn a master’s degree in digital marketing. “I can still remember how exciting every lecture felt because each one was tied closely to current global trends,” she says.  

As part of her study, she began reading academic papers in the field. “Research papers introduced me to a more rigorous academic world, far beyond the typical readings I encountered for class,” she says. “I found myself completely drawn in. It was a transformative experience that not only deepened my understanding of marketing phenomena but also ignited my passion for academic inquiry.” 

Lin hopes to add to that body of knowledge. As a doctoral student the Whitman School, Lin has focused her research on socially responsible marketing and ways marketing can support underrepresented groups. She says she chose the school based on the number of faculty whose expertise was similar to her own interests.  

She has found Whitman to be a supportive environment to study and conduct research, something she had little experience with before her doctoral study. She credits her advisor, Professor Guiyang Xiong, for his encouragement and confidence in her abilities, leading her to present at academic conferences and to teach her first course to undergraduates.  

In addition to acquiring knowledge and skills since coming to Syracuse, Lin has also gained a partner. She met her husband—a doctoral student in engineering at Syracuse—and married last summer. “We had our ceremony in the morning and he graduated that afternoon,” she says. 

Outside of her studies, Lin enjoys photography, road trips, cooking and movies, particularly rewatching her collection of films by director Ang Lee. “I have an emotional connection to them; they remind me of my mindset and life stage at the time I first watched them,” she says. 

And she spends plenty of time on social media, if for professional reasons alone. “I’m fascinated by how digital trends drive change,” she says. “Today we’re talking about AI and tomorrow it will be something else. Academia is a perfect fit for me to explore many research questions and contribute to new knowledge.” 

By Renée Gearthart Levy