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Hong Yu

Dr. Hong Yu

Professor
DepartmentRetail Management
EducationBEng, MEng, PhD
OfficeTRS 3-036
Phone(416) 979-5000 ext: 552540

Overview

Dr. Hong Yu is a Professor in the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management. She has taught in TMU’s Fashion, Retail Management, MBA, and Master of Science in Management programs and has been a Visiting Professor at universities across the Greater China region since 2005.

Dr. Yu has published in leading retail and consumer studies journals, including the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Travel Research, Tourism Management, and the International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management. She led the development of an open e‑textbook on pop‑up retail strategies, attracting more than 50,000 users since Nov 2020, including about 12% repeat visitors. Readers come from over 190 countries, led by the United States, India, and Canada.

She has supervised or served on committees for more than 70 master’s and PhD students. Her work has earned a “Best Paper Award” in Europe, a “Highly Commended Award” in the Asia Pacific region, and an “Education Technology Award” in the United States. In 2019, she received TMU’s YSGS Outstanding Contribution to Graduate Education Award.

Before academia, Dr. Yu was a Consumer Scientist at Maytag Appliances (U.S.). She has also consulted for retail design and fashion firms on visual merchandising, branding, and international expansion strategies.

Consumer well‑being & inclusive retail experiences; sustainable, ethical & circular fashion consumption; digital retail transformation

Publications:

Tangri, K., Yu, H., & Rahman, O. (2025, in-press). Unlocking Baby Boomers' Shopping Well-Being: Fashion Orientation, Involvement, and Experiential Value. Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management.

Robichaud, Z., Brand, B., & Yu, H. (2024). Bridging the Information asymmetry in e-commerce: an intercultural perspective on sustainable clothing. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 52(10/11), 1004-1019

Duh, H., Yu, H., Venter De Villiers, M., Steffek, V., & Shao, D. (2023). Young adults’ slow fashion attitudes and idea adoption: Examining drivers in Canada, China, and South Africa. International Journal of Emerging Markets.

Robichaud, Z., & Yu, H. (2023). Learning to be consumers of “smart” retail channels: The baby boomer experience. Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science, 33(4), 536-560. https://doi.org/10.1080/21639159.2023.2218394 (external link) 

Tangri, K., & Yu, H. (2023). Why buy used? Motivators and barriers for re-commerce luxury fashion. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, 51(9/10),  1095-1114.  https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-10-2022-0417
Esrar, H., Zolfagharinia, H., & Yu, H. (2023). Inventory management practices at a big- box retailer: a case study. Benchmarking: An International Journal, 30(7), 2458-2485. https://doi.org/10.1108/BIJ-11-2021-0716
Mok, A., Yu., H., & Zihayat, M. (2022). A triple bottom line analysis of sustainability trends in luxury fashion industry: A topic modeling approach. Journal of Global Fashion Marketing, 13(4), 360–379. https://doi.org/10.1080/20932685.2022.2085601

Yu, H., Rahman, O., Marlatt, D., & Robichaud, Z. (2022). Experiential value and shopping well-being of aging consumers. Canadian Journal of Administrative Sciences, 39(2), 168-183. https://doi.org/10.1002/cjas.1662

Robichaud, Z., & Yu, H. (2021). Do young consumers care about ethical consumption? Modeling Gen Z’s purchase intention towards fair-trade coffee. British Food Journal, 124(9), 2740-2760. https://doi.org/10.1108/BFJ-05-2021-0536

Tullio-Pow, S., Yu., H., & Strickfaden, M. (2021). Do you see what I see? The shopping experiences of people with visual impairment. Interdisciplinary Journal of Signage and Wayfinding, 5(1), 42-61. https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2470-9670.2021.v5.i1.a69

Duh, H., Yu, H., & Ni, Y. (2021). Chinese millennials’ happiness and materialism: Explanations from two life-course theories, self-esteem, and money-attitudes. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 54(4), 1306-1332. https://doi.org/10.1111/joca.12368

Trade Publications and Social Media Dissemination

Hughes, M., Rahman, O., & Yu., H. (2025).  Adaptive Clothing Needs of Seniors: A Caregiver's Perspective. Silverts. Retrieved May 23, 2025 from https://givingcare.silverts.com/adaptive-clothing-needs-of-seniors-a-caregivers-perspective/

Yu, H, Robichaud, Z., Tangri, K., Rahman, O., & Hughes, M. [Retail TMU] (November 7, 2024). Baby Boomers Shop as Caregivers [YouTube channel], Retrieved February 2, 2025, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYloMGNmeyo (external link) 
Robichaud, Z., Yu, H., Rahman, O., (2024). Finding Joy in Caregiving: Baby Boomers Find Purpose in Shopping for Those They Look After. The Conversation. Retrieved from: https://theconversation.com/finding-joy-in-caregiving-baby-boomers-find-purpose-in-shopping-for-those-they-look-after-231906 (external link) 

Yu, H., Sedlezky, S., Wong, K. K.-K., Hernandez, T., Stevenson, G., & Larsen, P. (2018). Pop-up retail strategies in an omnichannel context. eCampus Ontario. https://pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca/popup/

RMG 210 Retail and Society
RMG 452 Visual Merchandising and Space Planning
RMG 500 Retail Strategies
Courses Previously Taught
RMG 400 Retail Buying I
RMG 905 Design, Commerce and Culture
RMG 913 Retail Private Label
RMG 917 Experiential Learning: Asia Pacific Studies
SM 8000 Research Seminar
Ph.D. Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
M.Eng, Beijing Institute of Fashion Technology, P.R. China
B.Eng
Tianjin Polytechnic University, P.R. China