Minu Kumar, Ph.D.
Faculty Site URL: https://faculty.sfsu.edu/~mkumar/
Minu Kumar is a Professor of Marketing at San Francisco State University (SFSU) and is the Founder-Director of the Responsible Innovation and Entrepreneurship (RI&E) Research Initiatives. He also serves as the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Product Innovation Management (ABS 4, A* ABDC Journal with two year impact factor of 10.5). He earned a Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy, a Masters in Business Administration (Concentration in Pharmaceutical Marketing, 2002) and a Ph.D. in Marketing. His primary scholarly interest lies in the area of Innovation, New Product Design & Development, and Entrepreneurship.
Professor Kumar has published in journals such as the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Consumer Psychology, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Product Innovation Management among others. He has won several awards such as the Best Overall Conference Paper award at the Summer AMA conference (2011) and the University President’s Award for Research. His work has directly helped the university raise several millions of dollars for I&E programs https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/SFSU-says-25M-crypto-gift-i… ). He has also worked for or consulted with firms such as Barilla, SAP, Ranbaxy Pharmaceuticals (Now Daiichi Sankyo), Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals, Schering Plough Pharmaceuticals (Now Merck), Medtronic, Glaxo Smithkline, among others on product design & development, sales, and marketing projects.
ORCID ID: 0000-0003-2913-2325
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Acur, Nuran, Jarryd Daymond, Carlos Carbajal, and Minu Kumar (Ongoing Special Issue expected to be published in 2027) "Responsible Innovation for Emerging Technology: Navigating Ethics, Society, Diplomacy, and Sustainability," Research-Technology Management. Click this Link for more details about submission.
Kumar, Minu, Sinapuelas, Ian C, Macnaghten, Phillip, and Li, Chenwei (Ongoing Special Issue expected to be published in 2026) “Special issue: Responsible New Product Development and Innovation Management.” Journal of Product Innovation Management. See this Link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/pb-assets/assets/15405885/JPIM_RI_Special_issue_proposal%20final-1687365170957.pdf
Nickel Kristina, Ulrich R. Orth, and Minu Kumar (2025), "Consumer response to visual harmony: when is a gender difference, not a gender difference?" Journal of Marketing Communications, 1–28. https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2025.2455661. Second piece from Kristina Nickel's dissertation project.
Spanjol, Jelena, Charles H. Noble, Markus Baer, Marcel LAM Bogers, Jonathan Bohlmann, Ricarda B. Bouncken, Ludwig Bstieler, Luigi De Luca, Rosanna Garcia, Gerda Gemser, Dhruv Grewal, Martin Hoegl, Sabine Kuester, Minu Kumar, Ruby Lee, Dominik Mahr, Cheryl Nakata, Andrea Ordanini, Aric Rindfleisch, Victor Seidel, Alina Sorescu, Roberto Verganti, and Martin Wetzels (2024), "Fueling innovation management research: Future directions and five forward‐looking paths." Journal of Product Innovation Management, Vol 41 (September), p.893-948. https://doi.org/10.1111/jpim.12754
Nickel Kristina, Ulrich R. Orth, and Minu Kumar(2020). Designing for the genders: The role of visual harmony. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 37(4), 697-713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2020.02.006. From piece from Kristina Nickel's dissertation project.
Ho-Dac, N.N., Kumar, M. & Slotegraaf, R.J (2020). Using product development information to spur the adoption of continuous improvement products. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. 48(November), 1156–1173. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-020-00730-6
Luchs Michael and Minu Kumar (2017) "Yes, but this one looks better/works better: When might consumers choose superior sustainability despite a trade-off with other valued product attributes?" Journal of Business Ethics. 140(3), 567-584. DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2695-0
Kumar Minu and Charles H. Noble (2016) "Beyond form and function: why do consumers value product design?" Journal of Business Research, 69(2), 613-620. DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2015.05.017
- This project was funded by Marketing Science Institute through their competitive grants
- An earlier version of this paper won the prestigious Overall Best Paper Award at the 2010 Summer AMA conference.
Kumar Minu, Janell Townsend and Douglas W. Vorhies (2015) “Enhancing relationships with brands using product design" Journal of Product Innovation Management. 32(5), 716-730. DOI: 10.1111/jpim.12245
- Press coverage in: Miami Herald, Phys.org, CTV news, Redorbit.com, Hindustan Times, and Express.be
Kumar, Minu and Nitika Garg, (2010) "Aesthetic principles and cognitive emotion appraisals: How much of the beauty lies in the eye of the beholder?" Journal of Consumer Psychology, Volume 20 (Issue 4), 485-494.
Noble Charles H. and Minu Kumar (2010) "Exploring the appeal of product design: A grounded, value-based model of key design elements and relationships," Journal of Product Innovation Management. 27:640–657.