Xiaoyu Chen,PhD (陈晓宇)

About Me

I’m an Assistant Professor in the Department of Library and Information Studies of the School of Cultural Heritage and Information Management at Shanghai University, China.

I hold a PhD in Information Studies from Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

My research interests focus on 3U, namely, user information behavior, user cyberpsychology, and user-generated content, particularly in the context of digital technologies.

My PhD dissertation studies a particular group of digital influencers who sell self-created knowledge products in an online environment. My dissertation is being jointly supervised by Dr. Alton Y.K. Chua and Dr. L.G. Pee.

I hold a master’s degree in Information Science from Wuhan University and a bachelor’s degree in Information Management & Information Systems from Huazhong Agricultural University, both of which are based in Wuhan, a City of Punk in China.

If you are exploring the possibility of doing research in areas similar to my interests and are keen to become a research-active scholar, feel free to drop me a note. I am most happy to bounce off ideas with you.

Before I went to Singapore to pursue my PhD degree, I had worked at Xinhua News Agency, Hubei Branch ( July 2016 - December 2016).

I was born in Jinzhai County, Anhui Province, P. R. China, also known as “the Cradle of Generals.”

Address:

Building #1, East Campus, Shanghai University, Nanchen Rd #333, Baoshan District, Shanghai 200444, P.R. China

Email: xiaoyu-chen@shu.edu.cn; xiaoyu.chen0928@gmail.com

Last Update: January 2024

News

• One short research paper and one application for the Early Career Colloquium have been accepted by iConference 2024, which will be held in Jilin, China.
• I won the “Best Paper Award in Sociotechnical Concerns “ in the 2023 ASIS&T SIG-ILS International Paper Competition.

Education

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (Aug 2017 - Dec 2021)            

• Doctor of Philosophy in Information Studies
• Thesis Title: “Study of Online Celebrities Who Sell Knowledge: Perceived Attractiveness and Users’ Willingness to Pay”
• Thesis Advisory Committee: Alton Chua (advisor), L.G. Pee (co- advisor), Joanna Sin (member), and Ben Choi (member)

Wuhan University, China (Aug 2013 - Dec 2016)            

• M.Phil. in Information Science
• Thesis Title: “Study of User Information Behavior Characteristics and Transferring Mechanism in a Social Q&A Community”

Huazhong Agricultural University, China (Sep 2009 - Jun 2013)            

• Bachelor of Business Administrationg (B.B.A), Information Management & Information Systems

Research

Research Interests

• Topics: Cyberpsychology, Human information behavior, Social and economic impacts of digital technologies

• Philosophy: My research trajectory concentrates largely on “3U”– user information behavior, user cyberpsychology, and user-generated content. To this end, I attempt to adopt a full-cycle approach to moving my research forward. It begins with a certain “action” that raises my interest (i.e., user information behavior), followed by the “underlying mechanism” (i.e., user cyberpsychology) that allows me to explicate the action behaved by users, and finally, look into the outcome (i.e., user-generated content).

• Methodologies: I use mainly quantitative methods, including experiments and surveys, in my work. On occasion, I have used qualitative methods such as interviews, qualitative content analysis, and qualitative comparative analysis to complement my quantitative research. My skills do not include advanced forms of econometric modeling, simulation, or data mining. However, I am learning the basic knowledge and applications of economic analyses, such as difference-in-differences, instrumental variables, and regression discontinuity, as I believe that field (quasi-) experiment designs and causal inference will be increasingly popular in information behavior research. Also, I’m interested in design science research that relates to my study areas.

PhD Dissertation

• Chen, X. (2021). Study of Online Celebrities Who Sell Knowledge: Perceived Attractiveness and Users Willingness to Pay. Doctoral thesis, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
• Thesis Advisory Committee: Alton Chua (WKWSCI); L.G. Pee (WKWSCI); Joanna Sin (WKWSCI), Ben Choi (NBS)
• Slides for the oral defense: PPT Slides
• Best Dissertation Talk Award: ASIS&T SIG-KM International Research Symposium 2022

Refereed Monograph/Book Chapter

• Chen, X. (2023). Attraction of Knowledge Celebrities: How They Motivate Users to Pay for Knowledge. Routledge.[Coverage from Information Matters]
• Chen, X., & Chua, A. Y. (2024).The role of influencer endorsements in users’ willingness to pay for knowledge products: An empirical investigation..The Elgar Companion to Information Economics. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Refereed Journal Publications (* corresponding author)

• Chen, X*. (2023). Investigating users’ sustained information seeking on academic social networking sites. Aslib Journal of Information Management,75(6),1129-1151.
• Chen, X*., Chua, A. Y., & Pee, L.G. (2022). Who sells knowledge online? An exploratory study of knowledge celebrities in China. Internet Research,32(3),916-942.[Coverage from Information Matters]
• Fu, S., Chen, X*., Zheng, H., & Ou, M. (2021). Understanding health information literacy of mHealth apps users from digital wellbeing perspective: Evidence from regression analysis and fsQCA. Library & Information Science Research, 43(3), 101108.
• Fu, S., Chen, X., & Deng, S. (2021). Relating health information literacy self-efficacy to information technology use and health status: A large-scale study among Chinese undergraduates. Canadian Journal of Information and Library Science,44 (1): 38-69.
• Fu, S., Chen, X*., & Zheng, H. (2021). Exploring an adverse impact of smartphone overuse on academic performance via health issues: A stimulus-organism-response perspective. Behaviour & Information Technology,40 (7): 663-675. (PPT Slides)
• Li, C., Chen, X*., & Bi, X. (2021). Wearable activity trackers for promoting physical activity: A systematic meta-analytic review. *International Journal of Medical Informatics, 152, 104487.
• Zhao, H., Fu, S., & Chen, X*. (2020). Promoting users’ intention to share health articles on social media: The role of confirmation bias. Information Processing & Management, 57 (6), 102354. (Note: authors have equal contribution; ASIS&T SIG SM Best Paper Award) (Recording of the presentation on YouTube) (PPT Slides)
• Chua, A.Y ., & Chen, X. (2020). Rumor retransmission on Twitter: Message characteristics, user characteristics and retransmission outcomes. Journal of Digital Information Management, 18 (1), 21-32.
• Lou, C., Tan, S. S., & Chen, X. (2019). Investigating consumer engagement with influencer-vs. brand-promoted ads: The roles of source and disclosure. Journal of Interactive Advertising, 19 (3):169-186.
• Chen, X*., Chua, A. Y., & Deng, S. (2018). Comparing the web and mobile platforms of a social Q&A service from the user’s perspective. Aslib Journal of Information Management, 70 (2):176-191.
• Deng, S., Lin, Y., Liu, Y., Chen, X., & Li, H. (2017). How do personality traits shape information-sharing behaviour in social media? Exploring the mediating effect of generalized trust. *Information Research, 22 (3): 1-37.

Selected Working Papers

• “Variance of economic returns among knowledge celebrities.”
• “Theorizing and validating the perceived attractiveness of knowledge celebrities.”
• “Users’ willingness to pay for knowledge products: pay-after-consumption vs. pay-before-consumption.”
• “An analysis of online fake news on social media.”
• “Searching as learning in online medical Q&A sites.”
• “Motivation crowding of knowledge contribution in academic social networking sites.”

Refereed Conference Papers/Poster

• Chen, X., He, Y., Zheng, H., Lu, J. (2023). Audience video game engagement in a live streaming context: Examining the role of perceived influence of game streamers from the self-determination perspective In Proceedings of 18th International Conference on Information (iConference 2023): pp. 257-267.
• Chua, A.Y., & Chen, X. (2022). Online “helpful” lies: An empirical study of helpfulness in fake and authentic online reviews. In Proceedings of 17th International Conference on Information (iConference 2022): pp. 91-99.
• Chen, X., & Chua, A. Y. (2021). Exploring the perceived attractiveness of online celebrities who sell knowledge: A self-branding perspective. In Proceedings of 84th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T 2021): pp. 60-69.
• Chua, A. Y., & Chen, X. (2021). Analyzing readers’ responses to fake news on Facebook. In Proceedings of 84th Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T 2021): pp. 694-696.
• Zheng, H., Chen, X., & Fu, S. (2020). An exploration of determinants of cyberchondria: A moderated mediation analysis. In Proceedings of 83rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T 2020).
• Chen, X., & Chua, A. Y. (2020). Reviewing the landscape of research on influencer-generated content. In Proceedings of 6th International Conference on Information Management (ICIM 2020): pp. 244-248. IEEE.
• Zheng, H., Chen, X., & Duan, X. (2019). An overview of altmetrics research: A typology approach. In Proceedings of 21st International Conference on Asian Digital Libraries (ICADL 2019): pp. 33-39. Springer, Cham.
• Chen, X.,& Zheng, H. (2019). Who sells knowledge online? Understanding online identities of knowledge influencers on a pay-for-knowledge platform. Paper presented at the 17th Chinese Internet Research Conference (CIRC 2019): June 28, 2019: National University of Singapore, Singapore. (PPT Slides)
• Chen, X., Lou, C., & Fu, S. (2018). Analyzing high-quality social media discussion content: an information-seeking and sense-making approach. Paper presented at the 68th Annual Conference of the International Communication Association (ICA 2018), Prague, Czech Republic.
• Lou, C., Tan, S.S., & Chen, X. (2018). Mining influencer marketing messages: investigating consumer responses to brand- vs. influencer-generated ads. In Proceedings of the American Academy of Advertising Annual Conference (AAA 2018): New York, USA.
• Kong, W. Y., Chen, X., Bañas Alvarez, K., Ho, S. S., & Cummings, C. L. (2017). Exploring the impacts of food technology beliefs, evaluations, and media consumption on attitudes toward nanofood in Singapore. Paper presented at 6th Annual International Conference on Journalism & Mass Communications (JMComm 2017), Singapore.

Refereed Workshop Papers

• Chen, X., & Fu, S. (2019). Who sells knowledge to you? Understanding online identities of knowledge influencers on a pay-for-knowledge platform. Paper presented at the 13th China Summer Workshop on Information Management (CSWIM 2019): June 29-30, 2019: Shenzhen, China.

Teaching

• Instructor, School of Cultural Heritage and Information Management, Shanghai University

  • Information Collection and Analytics (Undergrad selective, 2022-2023 Autumn Trimester)

    • Course Enrollment: 22
  • Managing Information and Misinformation in the Connected World (Co-teaching with Dr Alton Chua, 2021-2022 Summer School)
    • Course Enrollment: 58
  • Research Methods in Library and Information Science (MLIS Core, 2021-2022 Winter Trimester)
    • Course Enrollment: 51
• Teaching Certificate: “Recommend to Teach” by Teaching, Learning and Pedagogy Division at Nanyang Technological University
  • Completed 8 Modules for HWG702 University Teaching for Teaching Assistants
• Instructor, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information, Nanyang Technological University
  • Fundamentals of Research (Undergraduate Core, Jan 2020 – May 2020)
    • Course Enrollment: 36
    • Teaching Evaluation: 4.62/5.00
    • Teaching Feedback Report
• Teaching Assistant, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information, Nanyang Technological University
  • Make Sense of Big Data (Undergraduate Core, Aug 2020 - Dec 2020; Instructor: A/P Dion Goh)
  • Foundation of information analytics (Undergraduate Core, Aug 2019 - Dec 2019; Jan 2019 - May 2019; Instructor: Dr Lee Chu Keong)
  • Knowledge Management Practices & Implementation (Master of Knowledge Management Core, Aug 2018 - Dec 2018; Instructor: Asst/P L.G. Pee)
  • Web Design & Technologies (Undergraduate Core, Jan 2018 - May 2018; Instructor: Mr Ruben Png)
  • Media & Society in the Digital Age (Undergraduate Selective, Aug 2018 - Dec 2017; Instructor: A/P Brendan Luyt)
• Teaching assistant, Department of Information Management Science, Wuhan University
  • Human Information Behavior (Postgraduate Selective, 2014 - 2016; Instructor: Prof. Deng Shengli)

Others

Professional Services

• Nanyang Technological University

  Residential Mentor of Hall of Residence 13 (August 2019 - July 2021)

  Master Theses Supervision (AY 2019 - 2020; AY 2020 - 2021)

• Association for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T)

  Board member (Communication Officer) at ASIS&T Special Interest Group for Social Media (2020 - 2021)

• Ad hoc journal reviewer

  Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology (JASIST)

  Aslib Journal of Information Management

  Behaviour & Information Technology

  Computers in Human Behavior

  Information Processing & Management

  Information Technology & People

  Internet Research

  Knowledge Management Research & Practice

  Journal of Advertising

  Journal of Interactive Advertising

  Journal of Consumer Behaviour

• Ad hoc conference reviewer

  Annual Meeting of International Communication Association: ICA 2020

  Annual Meeting of the Association of Internet Researchers: AoIR 2021, AoIR 2022

  European Conference on Information Systems: ECIS 2022

  IEEE International Conference on Information Management: ICIM 2021, ICIM 2022

  International Conference on Information Systems: ICIS 2021

  Pacific Asia Conference on Information Systems: PACIS 2021

  Wuhan International Conference on E-Business: WHICEB 2021

• Student Reviewer Training Program: Journal of Advertising (2020 – 2021)

• MIS Quarterly (MISQ) Virtual Reviewer Development Workshop: MISQ Reviewer Trainee (Dec 15, 2020)

• Membership

  Academy of Management (AoM)

  American Academy of Advertising (AAA)

  Association for Information Science & Technology (ASIS&T)

  Association for Information Systems (AIS)

  Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR)

• Technical Program Committee Member

  International Conference on Information Management (ICIM)

  European Advanced Educational Technology Conference (EAET)

  International Conference on E-Business and Internet (ICEBI)

Awards & Honors

• ASIS&T SIG-ILS Paper Completion, Best Paper Award in Sociotechnical Concerns (2023)
• ASIS&T SIG-III International Paper Contest Award, 2nd Place (2023)
• Shanghai Leading Talents (Overseas) Project (2022)
• Shanghai University Early Career Research Award (2022)
• ASIS&T SIG-KM Symposium Best Dissertation Talk (2022)
• Chinese Government Award for Outstanding Self-financed Students Abroad (2021)
• ASIS&T SIG-SM Inaugural Best Paper Award-Winner (2021)
• Research Scholarship Awarded by Nanyang Technological University (2017 – 2021)

Hobbies

• Books & movies & music (100% passion)
• Jogging (80%)
• Story writing (70%)
• Photography (50%)
• Traveling (50%)
• Cooking (30%)
• Sichuan/Shanghai Mahjong (25%)

Expertise

• Debates: I had 7-year debating experience in competitions and coaching
• Debating styles: TV shows, Oregon, and British Parliamentary
• Language for debates: Mandarin