36 ISSUE
DEC 2025
Impactful Research Insights for Business
Research INSIGHTS Table for One, Please—
And Make It a Robot Waiter Beauty Pays:
How Good Looks Can Boost Your Career—Even in Accounting
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Research INSIGHTS Table for One, Please— And Make It a Robot Waiter Beauty Pays: How Good Looks Can Boost Your Career—Even in Accounting
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NEWS
Dean Professor Zhang Han Honoured with 2025 INFORMS ISS Distinguished Fellow Award Professor Christy Cheung Inaugurated for the Research Grants Council Research Fellow Alliance
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Research EXCELLENCE
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Upcoming EVENTS
Research Espresso / DEC 2025
Research INSIGHT
Table for One, Please—
And Make It a Robot Waiter
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Research Insight
Do, T. K., & Chan, K. W. (2024). Being alone or together: How frontline anthropomorphized robots affect solo (vs. joint) service consumption. Journal of Service Research, 27(4), 579–599. https://doi.org/10.1177/10946705231218405
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RESEARC INSIGHT
Research Espresso / DEC 2025
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rom Jim CARREY in The Majestic to Nicholas CAGE in It Could Happen to You, movies have long played with the romantic trope of lonely customers falling for kind service workers. With the rise of solo dining and traveling, this classic theme seems increasingly relevant. But there’s a new twist: the growing presence of frontline anthropomorphized robots (FARs). Can lonesome customers genuinely connect with robots? A recent study suggests that, under the right conditions, they just might!
As anyone who has ever dined alone with their phone knows, loneliness has become a defining part of modern life. In fact, sales of single round-trip travel tickets surged by 200% in the summer of 2021 in the US, while “table for one” reservations accounted for the largest market segment—35%—at U.S. restaurants in 2020. At the same time, technology is transforming the service sector, with FARs—robots designed to look and act human—replacing more and more human workers. But while some customers may form a social rapport with service robots, leading to positive feedback, others find them eerie and unsettling. So, are solo diners doomed to loneliness?
customers seemed to overlook the eeriness, possibly because the presence of others distracted their focus from the distinctiveness of the robots.
Researchers studied both field and online data from diverse samples across airports, restaurants, and hotels to explore how social rapport and eeriness affect the service experiences of solo versus group customers interacting with FARs. The results? Solo customers formed stronger bonds with FARs, but they were also more sensitive to the robots’ unnatural qualities. Meanwhile, group
The findings show that social context matters— there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to deploying FARs. Instead, firms can leverage our natural preference for familiarity, known as in-group favouritism. For example, simple cues, like adding a national flag or cultural symbols to a hotel FAR, can make domestic tourists feel more at home. Meanwhile, personalised interactions, like addressing customers
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by name, can also strengthen these connections, especially as technology gets more powerful. Because people generally value control, solo customers may appreciate a fully automated FAR experience, while group customers might find this lack of control unsettling. Thus, businesses should try to strike a balance, using simple solutions like a help button connecting with human staff to reassure customers without undermining automation. Businesses can also enhance FAR interactions by creating immersive, sensory-rich environments by adding elements like
Research Insight
ambient lighting and music. Solo customers, especially, respond better with the FAR when the experience feels engaging rather than purely functional. For more task-focused customers such as business travellers, traditional self-service options may be a better fit. And for romantic customers? Don’t lose hope! Since even tech visionaries like Elon MUSK have expressed fascination with AI companions, such as Sophia—an advanced robot designed to mimic human intelligence, emotions, and expressions—romance might just be around the corner!
Professor Kimmy Chan Professor Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems (MMIS)
Research Espresso / DEC 2025
Research INSIGHT
Beauty Pays:
How Good Looks Can Boost Your Career— Even in Accounting
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Research Insight
Liu, Y., Lu, H., & Veenstra, K. (2024). Beauty and accounting academic career. Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance, 39(4), 1121–1138. https://doi.org/10.1177/0148558X221115115
Research Espresso / DEC 2025
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B
eauty might be in the eye of the beholder, but it’s also in the bank accounts of the beautiful. From models to actors, those blessed with good looks are not only accustomed to the envious gaze of others, but also to the monetary rewards that come with having been born with the “right” features. But surely, such superficial advantages are limited to professions that don’t rely on brainpower? A recent study says—think again. It has long been known that the way we look matters beyond socialising at happy hour. Compared to their less-attractive peers, good-looking individuals are better liked and receive more favourable treatment in hiring, performance evaluations, and promotions. Even at the executive level, having a CEO who exudes confidence and happiness can add to shareholder value. The influence of this “beauty premium” is so strong that even those who associate with attractive people benefit— something many wingmen can attest to after a night out with their good-looking friends. From a better life to more money, those blessed with the beauty premium get it all. But does beauty’s impact last forever? Applying a self-designed beauty index to a sample of 714 photos and CVs from accounting faculty members across 93 university websites, researchers examined how facial attractiveness relates to career outcomes. They analysed its correlation with the ranking of a PhD candidate’s first job placement, the time required to
obtain tenure, and the time to reach full professorship. The results? It pays—at least for a while—to be pretty, even in a profession as sedate as accounting! Findings suggest that facial beauty provides an early career advantage: More attractive PhD candidates are placed at higher-ranked schools for their first job, giving them a head start. When it comes to securing tenure, beauty helps as well—if a professor stays at their first school or voluntarily moves elsewhere. However, those forced to leave their first job and find tenure elsewhere don’t receive the same advantage.
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Likewise, the power of beauty appears to fade when it comes to becoming a full professor, suggesting that over time, merit outweighs appearance—much to the relief of plain-looking accountants! Interestingly, while gender doesn’t seem to impact career progression, ethnicity does. Asian scholars tend to start at lowerranked schools and face longer waits for tenure if they have to change institutions, while African scholars take significantly longer to achieve tenure. Given the above, universities should strive for greater transparency and objectivity in recruitment,
Research Insight
tenure, and promotion decisions to reduce bias. Meanwhile, committees must recognise their own tendencies—overvaluing facial attractiveness and discriminating against Asian and African minorities. As for aspiring accounting professors, if they can’t change who they are, they might still want to invest in a good suit, a decent haircut, and a gym membership— after all, beauty has many facets beyond facial attractiveness. And if you are smart enough to make a balance sheet look good, you can probably make yourself look better too!
Professor Liu Yanju Associate Professor Department of Accountancy, Economics and Finance (AEF)
Research Espresso / DEC 2025
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NEWS Dean Professor Zhang Han Honoured with
2025 INFORMS ISS Distinguished Fellow Award
Professor Zhang Han, Dean of the School of Business and Chair Professor in the Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems (MMIS), has been awarded the prestigious 2025 INFORMS Information Systems Society (ISS) Distinguished Fellow Award on 26 October 2025 at the Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST) in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Earning one of the discipline’s highest honours, Professor Zhang was recognised for his outstanding contributions and transformative impact in the field of Information Systems. His research has significantly advanced understanding in areas such as online trust and reputation, online word-of-mouth, and human-AI interaction. This award also celebrates scholars whose work bridges theoretical foundations and practical applications, and who demonstrate a strong commitment to mentoring doctoral students and nurturing the next generation of academic leaders. Professor Zhang’s recognition is particularly historic — he is the first scholar of Chinese origin to receive both the INFORMS ISS Distinguished Fellow Award and the Association for Information Systems (AIS) Fellow Award, the latter of which he received in 2023. The AIS Fellow Award honours individuals who have made exceptional contributions to information systems through research, teaching, and service at both global and local levels. This dual honour highlights Professor Zhang’s global academic leadership and profound impact in the discipline.
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NEWS
Reflecting on the award, Professor Zhang expressed his gratitude for the support he has received throughout his career, especially from Hong Kong Baptist University and Georgia Institute of Technology. He also acknowledged the vital contributions of his colleagues and PhD students, whose collaboration and dedication have been instrumental to his academic journey and success. The School congratulates Professor Zhang on this remarkable achievement. His continued commitment to academic excellence, innovation, and global impact in the field of information systems is truly commendable.
Professor Christy Cheung Inaugurated for
the Research Grants Council Research Fellow Alliance
Professor Christy Cheung, Chair Professor of the Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems (MMIS), was inaugurated as a founding member and Honorary Secretary of the newly formed Hong Kong Research Grants Council Research Fellow Alliance (HKRFA) on 3 November 2025. In this role, she will enhance the impact of Hong Kong researchers by catalysing cross-institutional collaboration, mentoring emerging scholars, and strengthening the region’s status as a world-class research ecosystem.
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Research Espresso / DEC 2025
Research EXCELLENCE
Professor Liu Sibo
Professor Zeng Jicheng
Associate Professor Department of Accountancy, Economics and Finance (AEF)
Assistant Professor Department of Management, Marketing and Information Systems (MMIS)
Participation and Upgrading along Global Value Chains: The Role of Audit Oversight
Untangling the Performance Impact of E-marketplace Sellers’ Deployment of Platform-Based Functions: A Configurational Perspective
Journal of International Business Studies
Information Systems Research
https://doi.org/10.1057/s41267-024-00719-1
https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2020.0539
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Upcoming Events
Upcoming EVENTS Date
Speaker
Topic
Centre for Business Analytics and the Digital Economy 27 March 2026 16:00 -17:30
Zoom
Co -hosted with NTU, NYU -Shanghai, and Sinica
Professor Clément Gorin Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne University
State of the Art: Economic Development Through the Lens of Paintings
25 March 2026 16:00 -17:30
Zoom
Co -hosted with CEIBS, NTU, NUS, and Sinica
Mr Hyungmin Park University of Warwick
Divergence of Modernization Civic Culture and State-Building under Autocracy and Democracy
27 February 2026 09:00 -10:30
Zoom
Co -hosted with NTU, NYU -Shanghai, and Sinica
Dr Marco Reuter International Monetary Fund
Decrypting Crypto: How to Estimate International Stablecoin Flows
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The Research Espresso, a bimonthly e-publication covering everything you need to know about the latest research developments at the HKBU School of Business, focuses on four key areas: Research Insights (the main research topic of the month), Research Excellence (recognition of faculty members’ research achievements), News (research-related updates), and Seminars (sharing research skills and knowledge). The idea is to provide business practitioners with the most recent research findings from the School‘s faculty members. We want to build links between research and practice and to ensure that the School's research has business and societal impact. Enjoy reading, and your feedback and input are always welcome!
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