Research

Identity, Stigma & Consumer Judgment

My dissertation, Essays on Stigma Exploitation, examines how consumers and decision-makers evaluate EDI-related identity signals from brands, organizations, and individuals.

Job Market Paper

Body-Positive Messaging Backfires for Indulgent Food Brands

Tianyujun Lu, Yann Cornil, and Darren W. Dahl · Dissertation Essay 1

Under 1st round review at Journal of Consumer Research
Paper (PDF) Request draft

Journal Publications & Papers Under Review

The Reputational Consequences of Victim Signaling

Karl Aquino, Stefan Thau, Maja Graso, Cory Clark, Constantin Lagios, Simon Lloyd D. Restubog, and Tianyujun Lu

Personality and Individual Differences

Published 2026
doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2025.113515

How Identity Signaling Can Backfire in Leadership Selection

Tianyujun Lu, Karl Aquino, Adam A. Kay, and JoAndrea Hoegg · Dissertation Essay 2

Invited for revision · 2nd round at OBHDP
Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes

Working Papers

Age Bias in Consumer Reactions to Inclusive AI-Generated Contents

Tianyujun Lu, Jen Park, and Noah Castelo

4 studies completed
Data collection in progress.

Selective Diversity: Fulfilling Gender Quotas While Neglecting Racial Diversity in Higher- vs. Mid-Level Leadership Positions

Hsuan-Che (Brad) Huang, Huan You, Tianyujun Lu, Maja Graso, Luke Zhu, and Karl Aquino

Under 1st round review at Organization Science
Organization Science

Research in Progress

Partial Body Ownership: Scale Development and Cross-Cultural Evidence

Brent McFerran, Karl Aquino, and Tianyujun Lu

Data collection in progress
 

Brand Status and Cultural Appropriation

Tianyujun Lu, Yann Cornil, and Aradhna Krishna

Data collection in progress
 

Conference Presentations

  • Association for Consumer Research, Chicago, IL* September 2026 · “Body Positivity Messaging Backfires for Indulgent Food Brands”
  • UBC–UWashington Conference, Seattle, WA* April 2026 · “Body Positivity Messaging Backfires for Indulgent Food Brands”

* denotes presenting author

Service

  • Conference Reviewer, Society for Consumer Psychology 2024–2025
  • UBC Marketing & Behavioural Science Brown Bag Workshop Manager 2023
  • UBC Sauder Women Scholars PhD Student Society 2023–2024
  • UBC Marketing Behavioural Student Subject Pool Manager 2023–2024