Dr Alessandro BUFFOLI

Assistant Professor
Department of Marketing

Academic & Professional Qualifications

PhD (HKUST)
MSc (HKUST & WU Vienna)
BBA (UNIBS)

Biography

Dr Buffoli is an Assistant Professor of Marketing at The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong. He received his Ph.D. in Marketing from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2026. He also holds a CEMS M.Sc. in International Management from HKUST and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Brescia. His research examines the psychological drivers of consumer judgment and choice, with particular attention to sustainability, food consumption, packaging, and digital environments. He studies how emotions, intuitive beliefs, product cues, and interfaces shape marketplace behavior, and he is developing a research stream in financial consumer behavior. His work aims to translate behavioral insights into practical value for consumers, businesses, and policymakers. In 2025, he won the HKUST Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition for communicating his research to a non-specialist audience. Before entering academia, he worked in marketing, policy advocacy, and educational consulting in Italy, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

Research and Teaching Interests

Research

  • Consumer Behavior
  • Food Marketing
  • Sustainability and Green Consumption
  • Packaging
  • Digital Marketing
  • Financial Consumer Behavior

Teaching

  • Global Marketing
  • Consumer Behavior
  • Digital Marketing
  • Judgment and Decision Making

Research Grants and Awards

  • University Level Champion, HKUST Three Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition, 2025
  • HKUST RedBird Academic Excellence Award, 2022 & 2025
  • Member, Beta Gamma Sigma, HKUST Chapter, 2023
  • SBM Dean’s Postgraduate Scholarship, 2022-2023
  • Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Award, 2021-2024
  • HKUST RedBird Recruitment Award and Academic Excellence Award, 2021
  • MSc in International Management Admission Scholarship, 2019