Hyunsang Son began his new journey at WVSU as the assistant professor for the marketing department in the fall 2019 semester.
Son is from Seoul, South Korea, where he received his mass communications bachelor’s degree with a minor in sociology in 2009 at Chung-Ang University.
After receiving his bachelor’s degree, he earned his master’s degree in journalism and communication in 2011 at the University of Florida. He said he wrote his thesis on “Adoption of Twitter and Its Effectiveness in e-WOM.”
Between earning his master’s and doctoral degrees, Son left the United States to fulfill his military obligation in South Korea. Every male in South Korea is required by law to fulfill the military obligation before age 35. During that time, Son put his degrees to use and worked as a marketing and public relations practitioner. Son said it was an interesting job, especially the work he was able to do for athletic teams.
Later in 2014, Son became a doctoral candidate at the University at Texas’ Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations. Son was scheduled to finish in March.
Before becoming an assistant professor at WVSU, Son was an instructor at University of Texas. He also was an instructor at Colorado State University, where he taught digital promotion, management and the psychology of management.
Son researched the dynamic in user-generated content in the online environment, surrounding brands, products or services and understanding the implications for marketing strategy.
Son said his goal as a new assistant professor at WVSU is to bring in new ways for the students to learn marketing. He plans to use learning materials that give students a chance to get more hands-on experience in the classroom setting.
Son said he is using case studies and a marketing-simulation program for the students to get a sense of how to use marketing tools in a real-world experience.
Theory and practice of marketing are important, Son said, but the fundamentals never change. He hopes to include the fundamentals as he broadens his students’ knowledge of theory and practice skills.
