Hongye Sun is a PhD candidate in Marketing at the University of Utah, expected to graduate in 2026. Hongye holds an M.Phil. in Marketing (with distinction) from Nanjing University and a B.A. in Marketing (Honors) from Jilin University.

Hongye’s research investigates non-monetary drivers of critical business decisions through field experiments, causal inference, and machine learning methods. His work spans three research streams: ties and technology in salesforce, healthcare decision-making, and ML applications in real business. His research has been featured in collaborating firms’ IPO prospectuses and has reshaped their departmental structures. He has also been selected as an AMA Fellow (2025) and nominated as an ISMS Fellow (2024). He received the Botosan Doctoral Thesis Award ($4,000) along with competitive research grants: Lerner Business Grant ($5,000), Sigma Healthcare Grant ($5,000), and David Eccles Grant ($5,000).
He also serves as an independent instructor for Principles of Marketing and a leading teaching assistant for Marketing Analysis, Marketing Research, and Marketing Introduction courses, while managing the Marketing Lab at Utah. He represented Utah at the Intermountain Marketing Conference (2024), serves as a reviewer for the AMA Winter Conference, and is a session moderator at the ISMS Conference.

Education:
University of Utah, USA 2021 – 2026 (expected)
Ph.D. in Marketing
Nanjing University, China 2017 – 2020
M.Phil. Marketing (with distinction)
Jilin University, China 2013 – 2017
B.A. Marketing (Honors)

Teaching Experience:
•Lecturer, Principles of Marketing, University of Utah, Spring 2025
•Teaching Assistant, Principles of Marketing, University of Utah, Fall 2024
•Teaching Assistant, Marketing Analysis, University of Utah, Fall 2023
•Lab Manager, Marketing Department, University of Utah, Spring 2022, Fall 2024
•Teaching Assistant, Marketing Research, University of Utah, Spring 2022, Spring 2023
•Teaching Assistant, IS & Marketing Intro, Nanjing University, Fall 2018, Fall 2019

Research Summary:
Hongye’s research investigates non-monetary drivers of critical business decisions through field experiments, causal inference, and advanced machine learning methods. His work spans three research streams: ties and technology in salesforce, healthcare decision-making, and ML applications in real business. Through partnerships with leading industry partners across healthcare, high-tech, retail, and education sectors, his research has been featured in collaborating firms’ IPO prospectuses and has reshaped their departmental structures. Two recent studies (2025) each demonstrate potential savings exceeding half a million dollars, with one already implemented. He aims to continue advancing the discipline through the research that bridges the gap between theoretical advancements and practical applications in today’s data-rich marketing landscape.

Selected Awards:
Botosan Doctoral Thesis Award ($4,000) 2025
Lerner Business Research Grant ($5,000) 2025
Sigma Theta Tau Healthcare Grant ($5,000) 2024
David Eccles Doctoral Research Grant ($5,000) 2023
AMA-Sheth Foundation Doctoral Consortium Fellow 2025
ISMS Doctoral Consortium Fellow 2024
Department of Marketing UT Scholarship 2021
Outstanding Graduate, Nanjing University 2020
First-class Scholarship, Nanjing University 2017
First-class Scholarship, Jiling University 2015