XU ZHANG

Assistant Professor of Marketing

London Business School


Research Interests: digital platforms, information design, pricing, online healthcare


Email: xzhang@london.edu


[SSRN] [Google Scholar] [LinkedIn] [LBS Website]

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Xu Zhang is Assistant Professor of Marketing at London Business School. Her research examines how information design and pricing shape market efficiency, firm profitability, and consumer welfare in digital platform markets. With a global reach, she collaborates with companies in healthcare, social media, freelance services, e-commerce, and online travel, translating theoretical insights into practical applications. Her work has been published in leading journals, including the Journal of Marketing Research and Marketing Science, and she serves on the editorial board of Marketing Science.


At London Business School, Zhang teaches Digital Marketing in the Executive MBA, MBA, and other master’s programmes. She has also taught Empirical Marketing Models and the Marketing core at LBS, as well as Applied Microeconomics at the University of Michigan. Her teaching has been recognized by Poets & Quants, which named her as one of the Best 40-Under-40 MBA professors, and by LBS, where she was a runner-up for the MiM Best Teacher Award. Additionally, her expertise has been featured in leading media outlets including the BBC and the Economist.


Zhang holds a PhD in Business Economics from the University of Michigan, an MA in Economics from UC Davis, a BS in Engineering from Tsinghua University, and a BA in Economics from Peking University. 

PUBLICATIONS

  • Digital Platforms 2.0: Learnings, Opportunities, and Challenges, with Shrabastee Banerjee, Ishita Chakraborty, Hana Choi, Hannes Datta, Remi Daviet, Chiara Farronato, Minkyung Kim, Anja Lambrecht, Puneet Manchanda, Aniko Oery, Ananya Sen, Marshall W. Van Alstyne, Prasad Vana, Kenneth C. Wilbur, and Bobby Zhou. International Journal of Research in Marketing (2026). [SSRN, Journal]


  • Bargaining and Network Effects in Two-Sided Platforms: Evidence from Online Healthcare, with Junhong Chu and Puneet Manchanda. Marketing Science (2026). [SSRN, Journal]


  • Information Disclosure via Platform Endorsement in Online Healthcare, with Jiajia Zhan and Hongqiao Fu. Journal of Marketing Research (2026). [SSRN, Journal]


  • The Value of Platform Endorsement, with Mimansa Bairathi and Anja Lambrecht. Marketing Science (2025). [SSRN, Journal]


  • TV Advertising and Online Sales: A Case Study of Intertemporal Substitution Effects for an Online Travel Platform, with Anja Lambrecht and Catherine Tucker. Journal of Marketing Research (2024). [SSRN, Journal]


  • Meet Me Halfway: The Costs and Benefits of Bargaining, with Puneet Manchanda and Junhong Chu. Marketing Science (2021). [SSRN, Journal] 


  • Brighter Prospects? Assessing the Franchise Advantage Using Census Data, with Francine Lafontaine and Marek Zapletal. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy (2019). (Lead Article) [SSRN, Journal]

Working Papers

  • Beyond Text: How Voice Notes Shape Outcomes in Chat-Based Services, with Yi Zhang. Revise & Resubmit at Management Science. [SSRN]


  • When Professionals Become Influencers: The Impact of Live Streaming on Service Demand, with Yuqing Gu, Yi Zhang and Puneet Manchanda. Under review. [SSRN]


  • Gender Disparity in Online Reputation: Evidence from an Online Freelance Platform, with Mimansa Bairathi and Anja Lambrecht. [SSRN]


  • Seller Experience and Transaction Prices on a Blockchain-Enabled Marketplace, with Chaoran Liu and Anja Lambrecht. [SSRN]


HONORS and awards

  • Faculty Fellow at ISMS Marketing Science Doctoral Consortium 2025
  • Wheeler Institute Sui Foundation Grant, London Business School 2025
  • Marketing Science Service Award 2024
  • ISMS Early Career Scholar 2023
  • Poets & Quants’ Best 40-Under-40 Business School Professors 2023
  • Best MiM Teacher Award, Runner-up, London Business School 2021
  • 47th Haring Symposium Fellow, Indiana University 2017
  • Flamholtz Award for Academic Excellence, University of Michigan 2016
  • INFORMS Marketing Science Doctoral Consortium Fellow 2016

education

  • Ph.D. in Business Economics, University of Michigan 2018
  • M.A. in Economics, University of California, Davis 2012
  • B.Eng. in Automation (Magna Cum Laude), Tsinghua University 2011
  • B.A. in Economics (double major), Peking University 2011

TEACHING

London Business School

  • Digital Marketing (newly developed elective for MBA and executive MBA) 2022 - present
  • Empirical Marketing Models (PhD) 2020 - present
  • Marketing I (core for MiM) 2018 - 2021
  • Marketing II (marketing analytics for MiM) 2018 - 2022

Ross School of Business, University of Michigan

  • Applied Microeconomics (core for BBA) 2015

media coverage

  • AI-Ready Marketing: The Next Shift in Digital Marketing Strategy. Think Ahead Podcast. May 14, 2025.
  • The Significance of Platform Endorsements. Luohan Academy (in Chinese). January 17, 2025.
  • Why Platform Endorsement Can Boost Sales Across The Board. Forbes. December 4, 2024.
  • 2024 Marketer’s Priorities – All Signs Point to AI. Martechvibe. January 22, 2024.
  • Why Should Firms Experiment More When It Comes to Their Marketing Activity? The Why Podcast. October 25, 2023.
  • The Key Ingredients of Social Commerce Success. Raconteur. January 13, 2023.
  • John Lewis Christmas Ad Focuses on Kindness Theme. BBC News. November 13, 2020.
  • Is Your Firm Too Dependent on Facebook? The Economist Applied. October 19, 2020.
  • Independent Businesses Measure Up Against Franchises. Ross Thought in Action. July 17, 2018.

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