Ph.D., The Ohio State University, 2005, Consumer Sciences (Minors: Marketing / Quantitative Psychology)
M.S., Iowa State University, 2001, Textiles and Clothing (Minor: Business Administration)
B.S., Seoul National University, 1993, Clothing and Textiles

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Consumer Environments: Conversational AI design and analysis for optimizing cognitive and social assistance to support consumer information processing and decision making in phygital (physical + digital) environments; Consumer and industry perceptions and acceptance of AI; Machine learning and data analytics for enhancing customer service.
• Innovations in Branding and Merchandising: Branding in social media for boosting customer engagement; Immersive/interactive technology (e.g., VR/AR) for optimal branding and merchandising in actual and virtual consumption environments

• Innovation in Retail and Consumer Experiences
• Retail Management
• Merchandise Planning and Control
• Research Methods
• Branding Research
• Conversational AI Agent Research in Consumer and Design Sciences

Chattaraman, V., Kwon, W.-S., Ross, K., Sung, J., Alikhademi, K., Richardson, B., & Gilbert, J. E. (2024). Smart’ choice? Evaluating AI-based mobile decision bots for in-store decision-making. Journal of Business Research, 183, 114801. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2024.114801

Harrison, E. N. B., & Kwon, W.-S.(2023). Brands talking on events? Personifying brands to drive consumer engagement in real-time marketing on Twitter based on brand-event congruence. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 32(8), 1319-1337. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-10-2022-4180

Huang, X., & Kwon, W.-S. (2023). Do university trademarks matter? Interaction between university-related apparel style and licensing status. Journal of Product and Brand Management, 32(7), 1018-1031. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2022-4041

Chang, J. Y., & Kwon, W.-S. (2022). E-store-brand personality congruence for multichannel apparel retail brands. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management, 26(1), 159-178. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFMM-08-2019-0167

Kwon, W.-S., Woo, H., Sadachar, A., & Huang, X. (2021). External pressure or internal culture? An innovation diffusion theory account of small retail businesses’ social media use. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 62, 102616. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102616

Ross, K., Kwon, W.-S., Westrick, S., Kader, M. S., Zhao, Y., & Huang, X. (2021). Medicare plan decisions: What strategy do older adults use for e-healthcare decision-making and what intelligent assistance do they need? Communications in Computer and Information Science, 1419, 265-272. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78635-9_41

Ginder, W., Kwon, W.-S., & Byun, S.-E. (2021). Effects of internal-external congruence based CSR positioning: An attribution theory approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 169, 355–369. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-019-04282-w

Chattaraman, V., Kwon, W.-S., Ross, K., & Gilbert, J. (2019). Should AI-based, conversational digital assistants employ social- or task-oriented interaction style? A task-competency and reciprocity perspective. Computers in Human Behavior, 90, 315-330. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2018.08.048

Kwon, W.-S., Chattaraman, V., Ross, K., Alikhademi, K., & Gilbert, J. E. (2018). Modeling conversational flows for in-store mobile decision aids. Communications in Computer and Information Science, 852, 302-308. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92285-0_42

Kwon, W.-S., Englis, B., & Mann, M. (2016). Are third-party green-brown ratings believed? The role of prior brand loyalty and environmental concern. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), 815-822. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.07.008

•The Federation of Business Disciplines (FBD) Distinguished Paper Award (2024)
•Best Paper Award in the Corporate Social Responsibility and Political Governance Track, The Joint Annual Meetings of the Association of Collegiate Marketing Educators (ACME) and FBD (2024)
• Student Government Association Outstanding Faculty Award, Auburn University (AU; 2008)
• Overall Best Paper Award, American Collegiate Retail Association / American Marketing Association Triennial
 Conference (2021)
• Paper of Distinction Awards, International Textiles and Apparel Association (ITAA; 2010, 2011, 2013, 2019,
 2020)
• Educators for Socially Responsible Apparel Practices Research Award, ITAA (2018)
• Best Poster Paper Award, HCI International (2018)
• Best Poster Award for Faculty Engagement, Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference (ESCC; 2017)
• People’s Choice Poster Award, ESCC (2017)
• Nomination for Creative Research and Scholarship Awards, AU (2017)
• Nomination for Alumni Professorship,, AU (2016)
• National Textile Center (NTC) Director’s Award for Excellence in Demonstrating Inter-University Collaboration
  (2009)
• Best Poster Award, NTC Forum (2007, 2009)
• NTC Director’s Award for Excellence in Achieving Project Objectives (2007)