Education

Ph.D., Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University
M.S., Data Science and Business Statistics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
B.S. (Hons.), Hotel Management, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Background

Chang (Evita) Ma is an assistant professor in the School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management. She brings a global perspective to her research that examines how innovative technologies, including artificial intelligence and service robots, transform customer experiences and operational strategies in service settings. She earned her Ph.D. from Purdue University, where her dissertation examined technology adoption, design, and privacy concerns in service interactions.

Before joining academia, Ma held leadership roles in hospitality and consulting across Hong Kong and China and served as Director of the HFTP Asia Research Center, contributing to industry reports on cybersecurity, infrastructure, and data protection. This professional grounding informs her scholarship on human-technology interaction, experience management, and digital innovation.

Ma’s work appears in leading journals including the International Journal of Hospitality Management, Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, and the International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. She has received the Outstanding Doctoral Student Award from Purdue University and Best Paper honors at national conferences. Dedicated to teaching innovation and mentorship, she designs courses that bridge theory and practice and is passionate about community-engaged learning.

Honors / Awards

• Best Paper Award, 2025 ICHRIE Global Conference (2025)
• Outstanding Doctoral Student, White Lodging-J.W. Marriott, Jr. School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University (2024)
• Best Paper, 29th Annual Graduate Education & Graduate Student Research Conference in Hospitality & Tourism (2024)
• Best Research Proposal, CentralCHRIE Conference (2023)
• CentralCHRIE Future Educator Scholarship (2022)

Research Interests

• Human-technology interaction and service innovation
• Digital privacy and consumer behavior
• Experience innovation in hospitality and tourism
• Sustainability and service marketing

Teaching

• HTMT 440 – Services Management for Hospitality and Tourism

Professional Affiliations

• Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP)
• International Council on Hotel, Restaurant, and Institutional Education (ICHRIE)

Publications

Dou, X., Ma, C., & Fan, A. (Accepted). The impact of robotic integration on prospective hospitality employees: Job anxiety, career intention, and the moderating role of emotional intelligence. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

Ma, C., Fan, A., & Mattila, A. S. (2024). Decoding the shared pathways of consumer technology experience in hospitality and tourism: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 118(103685). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhm.2023.103685

Ma, C., Fan, A., & Lee, S. A. (2024). Unveiling the role of congruity in service robot design and deployment. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 36(12), 4150-4170. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2023-1686

Fan, A., Wu, L., Ma, C., & Wang, P. (2024). The manipulative effects in the technology-facilitated preservice tipping experience. Cornell Hospitality Quarterly, 66(1), 56-70. https://doi.org/10.1177/19389655241235106