China Business Knowledge@CUHK’s Top 10 Articles in 2022

Dai, Xianchi（戴先熾）, Zhang, Wenrui（張文瑞）, Stice, Han, Lau, Dora Chi-sun（劉芷申）, Shen, Hao（沈浩）, Wu, Donghui（吳東輝）, Hu, Maggie Rong（胡榮）, Kitney, Paul, Wan, Lisa C.（尹振英）, Choi, Sungwoo（崔成宇）, Zhuang, Zili（莊子力）

From surging inflation to the conflict in Ukraine, for many people doing business in 2022 was probably fraught with a high degree of uncertainty. To illuminate the way ahead, here are this year’s 10 most popular articles, featuring our cutting edge research and expert insights

By China Business Knowledge@CUHK

#1 The Power of Memory in Stimulating Purchases

Prof. Dai Xianchi, Department of Marketing

What we remember in the past can determine what we try or buy in the future. In this vein, study sheds new insight that inducing people to recall past experiences in a shorter time frame would make them to think that these past experiences took place in a more distant past, which may in turn spark their desire to do the same activities again.

#2 Escaping from the Dilemma of Corporate Bribery

Prof. Zhang Wenrui, Department of Finance

Corruption is a global problem, but what should companies do when they don’t want to collude? Study finds that vulnerable companies may employ more conservative accounting strategies to protect themselves when faced with demands for questionable or even illegal payments.

#3 Violent Video Games and Crime

Prof. Han Stice, School of Accountancy

Given the immense popularity of video games and the fact that many of the most popular titles released today portray gratuitous violence in a not-so-healthy light, they have long been blamed for increases in violence and crime. This research study seeks to add its voice to the ongoing debate into the potential relation between violent video games and crime. It finds that crime (particularly for young people) increases following the release of violent video games (with a rating of M).

#4 How to Nurture Creative Performance in the Workplace

Prof. Dora Lau Chi-sun, Department of Management

For businesses, the search for such out-of-the-box initiatives often hinges on creative staff who are able to come up with the innovative ideas that make the difference. This study tries to answer a critical question largely overlooked before: what role do colleagues, who can view and comment on another’s work, play in the relationship between employee creative role identity and creative performance?

#5 How Marketers Can Leverage on the Power of Comparison

Prof. Hao Shen, Department of Marketing

Consumers are highly social animals and what they purchase can often be influenced by their social needs. For companies, social comparison can be highly useful in stimulating consumption. Using data form China, study finds whether consumers choose to purchase products that make them appear to be more confident or friendly depends on how they compare themselves with others.

#6 Does Guanxi Among Auditors Defeat the Purpose of Auditor Rotation?

Prof. Wu Donghui, School of Accountancy

A group of researchers chose to look into the intricate patterns of auditor rotation practice in China to see whether there were any close network connections between the outgoing and incoming auditors, and what kind of impacts those connections might have on audit quality and auditor performance.

#7 Do Borrowers Benefit from Using Lucky Numbers?

Prof. Maggie Hu, School of Hotel and Tourism Management

In psychology, lucky numbers are a form of mental heuristic, which are shortcuts or rules of thumb that help people solve problems and learn new concepts quickly and efficiently. Study looks at the use of two popular heuristics that were commonly used on a leading Chinese peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, and finds the choice of their use can lead to tangible differences in the loan application outcome, such as whether a loan is likely to get funded or their likelihood of default.

#8 Global Economic Growth: Inflation or Double Dip Recession?

Prof. Paul Kitney, Department of Decision Sciences and Managerial Economics

This rise in inflation has been mirrored in many of the largest economies in the world, fueled by stimulus and pandemic disruptions, although it has generally remained low in Asia.
Is inflation here to stay or is it transitory? And how can economies around the world fight it without risking a double-dip recession?

#9 Can Robots Be Used to Obtain Honest Customer Feedback?

Prof. Lisa Wan and Prof. Choi Sungwoo, School of Hotel and Tourism Management

How can hospitality firms obtain more customer feedback at the moment of truth that leads to service improvement? To address this question, researchers suggest a novel feedback collection method: service robots.

#10 Is There a Brain Drain in Public Accounting in China?

Prof. Zhuang Zili, School of Accountancy

The public accounting sector is notorious worldwide for its high turnover. This was the basis for a study, which looked at the “brain drain” situation in the auditing industry, specifically in China. It found that (rather counter-intuitively) the departure of auditors from public accounting may actually be improving the overall competency of audits.