The Open University

Professional biography

Xia Zhu is a Lecturer in Marketing at the Open University. Previously, Xia worked at Keele University and Sheffield Hallam University. Xia obtained her MSc in Marketing from UMIST, and her Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of Manchester. Before her academic career, she worked as a business development manager in a British company expanding its business in the Far East. Xia has been awarded by British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant examining social media engagement during museum visits. Xia is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). She is also a Certified Management & Business Educator (CMBE).

Research interests

Dr. Xia Zhu's research interests are in the following areas

Services marketing,
Business-to -business marketing,
Social media/digital technology in marketing
Methodological issues in marketing
Faith and wisdom in business

Xia has supervised PhD students to successful completion. She also served as an external examiner for doctoral degrees. Xia welcomes potential PhD students who are keen to develop research in related areas.

Teaching interests

Xia has taught marketing across undergraduate and postgraduate levels at various universities. Examples of modules that Xia delivered include:

Services Marketing
Marketing Research
Marketing Principles
Business Marketing and Sales Skills
Strategic Marketing Management
Master Dissertation
Master Consultancy Projects

Impact and engagement

Xia showcased her research at the Manchester Museum. She has also worked with York Museum Trusts, investigating social media enegagement during museum visits and fed back to their practice. Xia also engages external parties and provide research on community projects.

External collaborations

Xia has been working with academics internationally on funded projects. Xia serves at the editorial board for The Journal of Philanthropy and Marketing (formerly known as International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing). She is also a peer reviewer for a number of international journals and for funding bodies such as the British Academy.

Funding

2024-2025, Faculty Seedcorn funding (Principal Investigator) (£2450) with Prof. Sunil Sahadev (CI, Sheffield Hallam University)
2019-2020, Faculty Seedcorn funding (Co-Investigator) (£2805) with Dr. Yue Meng Lewis (PI), Hongfei Liu (CI, University of Southampton)
2017-2018, British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grant (Principal Investigator) (£9549.00) with Prof. Adrian Palmer (CI) and Prof. Noel Siu (CI, Hong Kong Baptist University).
2017-2018, Erasmus+ Mobility Grant (£957.58) at IESEG Management School, France.
2017, NCRM Training Bursary (£200.00)
2016, Hong Kong Baptist University Faculty Research Grant (Co-Investigator) (99880.00 Hong Kong Dollars, equivalent to £9811.00) with Prof. Noel Siu (PI, Hong Kong Baptist University).
2013, ESRC Training Bursary (£650.00)
2011, ESRC Training Bursary (£1000.00)
2009-2010, FfWG, Funds for Women Graduates (£3800.00)

External examination

University of Reading (2023 - present) MBA programme
Bahrain Polytechnic (2024 - present)
Anglia Ruskin University (2019-2022)
DBA Examination - Sheffield Hallam University (2023)
PhD Examination - University of Huddersfield (2019, 2020)

Publications

Journal articles

Superfoods, super healthy: Myth or reality? Examining consumers’ repurchase and WOM intention regarding superfoods: A theory of consumption values perspective (2021-12)
Liu, Hongfei; Meng-Lewis, Yue; Ibrahim, Fahad and Zhu, Xia
Journal of Business Research, 137 (pp. 69-88)

An Exploration of China-Africa Cooperation in Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges in Open Distance Learning (2021)
Zhu, Xia and Chikwa, Gladson
Open Praxis, 13(1) (pp. 7-19)

[Book review] Managing Organisational Success in the Arts (2020)
Zhu, Xia
Cultural Trends, 29(5) (pp. 418-420)

Letter To The Editor: Vitae Researcher Development International Conference (2018)
Zhu, Xia and Westwood, R.
Journal of Academic Development and Education, 9

Exploring service adaptation in a business-to-business context (2016-05-09)
Zhu, Xia and Zolkiewski, Judy
Journal of Service Theory and Practice, 26(3) (pp. 315-337)

Exploring service failure in a business-to-business context (2015-08-10)
Zhu, Xia and Zolkiewski, Judy
Journal of Services Marketing, 29(5) (pp. 367-379)

Exploiting the B2B Knowledge Network: New Perspectives and Core Concepts (2009-07)
Naude, P.; Henneberg, S. C.; Zolkiewski, J. and Zhu, Xia
Industrial Marketing Management, 38(5) (pp. 493-494)

Book chapters

Fostering inclusive religious and spiritual working environment in Higher Education Institutions (2022-10)
Chikwa, Gladson; Zhu, Xia and Rajah, Edwin
In: Agha, Kakul and Las Heras Maestro, Mireia eds. Global Perspectives on Maintaining Gender, Age, and Religious Diversity in the Workplace
ISBN : 9781668451519 | Publisher : IGI Global

Fostering an Inclusive Religious and Spiritual Working Environment in Higher Education Institutions (2022-06-30)
Chikwa, Gladson; Zhu, Xia and Rajah, Edwin
In: Agha, Kakul and Las Heras Maestro, Mireia eds. Global Perspectives on Maintaining Gender, Age, and Religious Diversity in the Workplace (pp. 295-307)
Publisher : IGI Global

Towards Academic Integrity: Using Bloom’s Taxonomy and Technology to Deter Cheating in Online Courses (2022-02-19)
Agha, Kakul; Zhu, Xia and Chikwa, Gladson
In: Hamdan, A; Hassanien, A. E.; Mescon, T and Alareeni, B. eds. Technologies, Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Learning Post-COVID-19. Studies in Computational Intelligence. Studies in Computational Intelligence (1019) (pp. 447-466)
ISBN : 978-3-030-93920-5 | Publisher : Springer | Published : Cham

Ten Years in Academia: A Journey of Exploration and Development (2021)
Zhu, Xia
In: Morris, Sean Michael; Rai, Lucy and Littleton, Karen eds. Voices of Practice: Narrative Scholarship
ISBN : 578868830 | Publisher : Hybrid Pedagogy Inc

Conference items

Enhancing consumption value through inclusive spirituality: a relational approach (2023)
Zhu, Xia and Rajah, Edwin
In : IRSSM11 (Jun 2023, Katowice)

The Effects of Social Media Engagement on Recall and Recommendation of a Service Experience: An Abstract (2023)
Palmer, Adrian; Mete, Melisa and Zhu, Xia
In : Academy Of Marketing Science 23rd World Marketing Congress (11-14 Jul 2023, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK)

Wearable Diabetes Technology for Adolescents with Type 1 Diabetes and Caregivers: The Lived Experience (2022)
Radu, Simona; Zhu, Xia and Daniel, Elizabeth
In : AMASERVSIG (16-18 Jun 2022, Glasgow)

Modernisation of Higher Education in Emerging Economies: An exploration of opportunities & challenges for collaborative partnerships on Open Distance Learning between Chinese & African Universities (2020)
Zhu, Xia and Chikwa, Gladson
In : Annual International Forum on Higher Education (20-22 Nov 2020, Zhengzhou, China)

Sino-African Cooperation in Higher Education: an exploration of ODL opportunities and challenges (2019)
Chikwa, Gladson and Zhu, Xia
In : Open Impact Conference (13-14 Dec 2019, Uganda)

Tweeting to the World or Enjoying the Moment? The effects of Social Media Engagement on Recall and Recommendation of a Service Experience (2018)
Palmer, Adrian; Zhu, Xia and Mete, Melisa
In : Global Marketing Conference (26-29 Jul 2018, Tokyo, Japan) (p 1602)

Real-time Sharing of Service Experience: Effects on Subsequent Recall and Referral Behaviours (2018)
Palmer, Adrian; Zhu, Xia and Mete, M
In : 15th International Research Conference in Service Management (10-13 Jun 2018, La Londe Les Maures, France)

Value Co-Creation in a Closed Business Service Triad: From a Dialogic to a Tri-logic Process (2016)
Zhu, Xia and Fletcher-Chen, C
In : 2016 IMP Asia Conference (4-7 Dec 2016, Cape Town, South Africa)

Thesis

Service Experience in Business-to-Business Relationships (2012-04)
Zhu, Xia
PhD thesis University of Manchester

Other

Communication in business practice: its central role in supply chain management (2016-01-03)
Zhu, Xia
Kogan Page