Charlene Chen is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). Professor Chen holds a PhD and MPhil in Marketing from Columbia Business School, an MA in Clinical Psychology from Columbia University, and a BSSc with First Class Honours in Psychology from the National University of Singapore.
Professor Chen is a social and consumer psychologist. Her research programme focuses on how consumers’ various emotional and motivational states drive their behavior and shape their consumption experiences. Her work has important implications for how businesses can provide offerings and services that maximise customer value and optimise consumer well-being. Professor Chen's research has been published in leading academic journals including Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and Journal of Happiness Studies. Her work and commentaries have also been featured in press such as Bloomberg, BBC, The Business Times, The Straits Times, and Channel News Asia. At Nanyang Business School (NBS), Professor Chen teaches an undergraduate elective course called "Marketing Sustainability for the Next Generation."
Professor Chen has won both research and teaching excellence awards. In 2020, she was awarded the Social Science and Humanities Research Fellowship by the Social Science Research Council to study perceptions of socioeconomic inequality in Singapore. In 2023, she was voted by the students as the NBS Teacher of the Year. Professor Chen's consulting expertise includes Customer Experience, Strategic Relationships, Motivation Science, and Consumer Wellbeing.