Editor’s Note: The Fourth Annual Conference of the Asia-Pacific Marketing Academy (APMA) opened on June 6, 2026, at the Hengqin International Hi-Tech Innovation Park in Zhuhai. Co-organized by the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao University Alliance for Marketing and the Macau University of Science and Technology Foundation, and hosted by the School of Business at Macau University of Science and Technology together with the MUST Innovation Technology Research Institute in the Guangdong–Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, the conference convened under the theme “AI-Driven Market Collaboration & Marketing Innovation.” The event drew over 500 scholars from 15 countries and regions—among them China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates—representing more than 150 universities and research institutions. The strong international turnout and wide-ranging scholarly exchange brought exceptional diversity and energy to this year’s gathering.

Professor Haizhong Wang of Sun Yat-sen University, Chairperson of the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao University Alliance for Marketing and Honorary Chair of the APMA 2026 Organizing Committee, delivered the opening address, titled “Three Reflections.” The full text is published below. (The address was delivered in English)

APMA 2026 Group Photo

Three Reflections

Dear Vice Chancellor Chuan Pang, Dean Ni Sheng, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning.

At this moment, as we open this wonderful conference, my heart is filled with gratitude. I want to thank our host, Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST) and its School of Business. In particular, I wish to thank our conference chair, Professor Lei Zheng, and all of our colleagues in Marketing. Thanks to your months of careful planning and hard work, we gather here for this grand event today. In the next two days, our organizing team and volunteers will continue to deliver attentive on-site support. Let’s give them a round of applause.

I also sincerely thank all scholars from around the world who submitted papers. This year, many attendees traveled great distances to join us. They come from provinces and cities across China, as well as from:

New Jersey, Indiana, California, and Alaska in the U.S.

London and Leeds in the U.K.

Tokyo and Osaka in Japan.

Auckland in New Zealand.

Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, among many other places.

Because of all of you, APMA 2026 is lively, diverse and special. In this spirit, I would like to share three sincere reflections with you all.

         1. Small Yet Extraordinary

Macao is not large, but it is truly unique. Macao covers just 33 square kilometers, with about 680,000 people. This city carries over 400 years of combined Chinese and Western culture. It is one of the few places in the world where we can feel the deep mix of Chinese and Portuguese heritage.

Today, Macao has one of the world’s highest per capita GDPs. Its leisure, exhibition, traditional Chinese medicine, and creative industries are growing strongly. So, Macao proves that small size does not limit big impact.

As our host, Macau University of Science and Technology was established in 2000, yet it has earned broad international academic recognition. Last May, the Alliance for Marketing passed APMA flag to the Marketing department at MUST Business School.  

Over the past year, Conference Chair Professor Lei Zheng has organized this event with care and commitment. Upholding strict academic standards, the team has built a rigorous, high-quality conference program, which has yielded outstanding outcomes today.

This year, we received more than 300 English paper submissions—from far beyond the Asia-Pacific region, further establishing APMA as a widely respected international academic brand in marketing research. And yet young as it is, APMA is already showing signs of far-reaching scholarly impact. From these promising beginnings, something extraordinary is taking root.

         2. Openness and Inclusiveness

Since it started in 2023, APMA has stood by four core values: Integrity, Progress, Innovation, and Openness. Of these, openness defines who we are. APMA, launched by the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao University Alliance for Marketing, has always been an open international platform that welcomes all scholars who want to build our academic community.

I am pleased to say that in the past year, we have added two new members to the Alliance for Marketing: Tianjin University and the University of Saint Joseph in Macau. In addition, we continue to expand the diversity of our contributors. This year, submissions came from early 20 countries and regions. Overseas submissions made up more than 30% of all papers. Beyond the Asia-Pacific, we received strong submissions from North America, Europe, and Oceania. Alongside opening its doors to scholars at home and abroad, APMA actively supports interdisciplinary research. Along with marketing, submissions from information systems, operations management, tourism and leisure studies have grown each year.

In response to this trend, earlier this year, APMA founded the Interdisciplinary research Committee, and an interdisciplinary research forum has been arranged for the current conference.

As society, technology, and economy change rapidly, we believe that cross-disciplinary cooperation will strongly push forward knowledge innovation.

3. Participation and Collaboration

Over the past year, countless people among us have stepped forward to build APMA together. Let me share just a few examples.

None of this conference would be possible without our Conference Chair, Professor Lei Zheng. His full commitment and tireless efforts have brought us this exceptionally high-standard conference.

Young scholars are at the heart of APMA. Last November, the APMA Young Scholars Committee, together with marketing faculty from Shantou University, hosted the 3rd Young Scholars Forum. Truly, it was a rewarding event.

I also want to acknowledge our many regular participates and distinguished guests. You return year after year, and your steady support is the quiet engine of APMA’s growth. A fine showcase of this collaborative spirit is Professors Krista Jiaoyang Li from Indiana University and Ruby Lee of the Journal of Product Innovation Management. They first joined us last year. Shortly afterward, we agreed to co-host two Paper Development Workshops for this conference. They traveled all the way from the U.S. exclusively to lead these workshops in person and will head home once the workshops conclude. I am deeply grateful for their extraordinary commitment. 

APMA continues to grow from strength to strength. I invite every one of you to join us in further developing this growing academic community.

Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen, these are my three sincere reflections at this moment. Over these coming days, let us experience the “small but extraordinary culture of Macao and MUST. Let us live the openness that makes APMA unique. Let us work side by side to make APMA a top-quality global platform for marketing scholarship. Together, we will advance knowledge innovation in marketing for the new era. Thank you.

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