Dr. Chris Ling, Ph.D. (University of South Carolina), is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at the DeGroote School of Business, McMaster University. He received his Ph.D. in Business Administration (Marketing) from the Darla Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina, where he was a Presidential Doctoral Fellow and recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Student Teaching Award. He also holds an M.Sc. in Management from the Smith School of Business at Queen’s University and a B.B.A. in Marketing from the University of Toronto.
An expert in consumer behavior, Professor Ling previously worked as a management consultant in Toronto, advising Fortune 1000 companies across a wide range of industries – including retail, financial services, hospitality and consumer packaged goods (CPG). His consulting work focused on branding optimization, menu redesign, customer acquisition strategies, marketing mix optimization and marketing plan development.
At DeGroote, Professor Ling teaches in both the undergraduate and MBA programs. His teaching interests include marketing principles, consumer behaviour, research methods, marketing strategy and branding. He also serves as the course coordinator for Introduction to Marketing, the first-year Commerce course. In addition, he is a co-author of Marketing, 2026 Release (McGraw Hill), a textbook introducing students to foundational concepts in marketing.
Dr. Ling’s research explores the psychological and contextual factors that influence consumer decision-making. His work on the relationship between middle names and indulgent behaviour has been published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology.
