Kevin Kam Fung So

Professor, White Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management

Areas of Expertise

Services Marketing
Human Factors and Service Innovations
Customer Engagement
Digital Marketing
Sharing Economy
Human-AI Interactions

HHS Signature Research Area(s)

Healthy Lifestyles and Vital Longevity
Sustainable Organizations and Thriving Communities

Biography

Dr. Kevin Kam Fung So is internationally recognized as a rising thought-leader in hospitality and tourism management. His research expertise lies in services marketing, with strong emphases on human factors in service innovations, customer engagement, digital marketing, the sharing economy, and human-AI interactions. He has published more than 100 scientific publications, 70 of which have appeared in the discipline’s internationally acclaimed A or A+ journals. Prior to joining Purdue University, Dr. So served as William S. Spears Chair in Business, Professor, and Ph.D. Program Coordinator with the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Oklahoma State University.

Dr. So has received numerous research awards, including the Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research Article of the Year Award, the Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing Martin Oppermann Best Article of the Year Award, and the William Bradford Wiley Memorial Best Research Paper of the Year Award. In 2022, his 2014 Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research article was named the no. 1 most highly cited among 748 articles published in the journal in the past decade. In 2019, Dr. So was named a Breakthrough Star of the University of South Carolina. Three years in a row (2022, 2023, and 2024), he received The Richard W. Poole Research Excellence Award from Oklahoma State University. Dr. So is one of few scholars in his discipline to have been named on the list of Highly Cited Researchers from Clarivate™ consecutively for 2021, 2022, and 2023. He has been recognized by Stanford University as among The World’s Top 2% of scientists. Many of his publications have been ranked among the most highly cited and most frequently downloaded articles in top-tier hospitality and tourism management journals.

Dr. So serves as a Coordinating Editor of International Journal of Hospitality Management and Associate Editor of Journal of Hospitality Marketing and Management. He sits on the editorial board of 12 leading academic journals in his field and serves as a reviewer for 13 other journals. He has chaired or served on the dissertation committees of 19 Ph.D. students. Dr. So’s work on using tourism as catalyst for economic development has been funded by state and federal funding agencies including the United States Department of Commerce, the United States Department of Agriculture, and the American Hotel and Lodging Association, as well as peer institutions in the United States, Australia, and Hong Kong.

Education

Ph.D. in Business Administration, Hospitality and Tourism Management, 2014, Griffith University
Graduate Certificate in Mathematical Sciences, Statistics and Statistical Modeling, 2010, Queensland University of Technology
Bachelor of Business (First-class Honours, University Medalist), 2009, Griffith University

Social Media Accounts

Current Courses

HTM 23100 - Marketing In Service Industries
HTM 50900 - Service Experience Design

Selected Honors/Awards

Highly Cited Researcher, Clarivate - 2021, 2022, 2023
The Richard W. Poole Research Excellence Award, Spears School of Business, Oklahoma State University - 2022, 2023, 2024
Breakthrough Star Award, Office of the Vice President for Research, University of South Carolina - 2019
William Bradford Wiley Memorial Best Research Paper of the Year Award, the I-CHRIE - 2018
Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research Article of the Year Award - 2015

Professional Affiliations

Travel and Tourism Research Association (TTRA)
International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (I-CHRIE)