USJ’s Faculty of Business and Law Joins Asia Pacific Marketing Academy & its GBA Alliance
USJ's Faculty of Business and Law Joins Asia Pacific Marketing Academy & its GBA Alliance
02
Feb
02/02/2026
The Faculty of Business and Law (FBL) at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) has been formally welcomed as a member of the APMA Greater Bay Area and its Greater Bay Area (GBA) Alliance.
The Faculty of Business and Law (FBL) at the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) is proud to announce a significant milestone in its commitment to international research excellence and regional collaboration. Following the Asia Pacific Marketing Academy (APMA) Plenary Meeting on 25 January 2026, USJ’s FBL has been formally welcomed as a member of the APMA Greater Bay Area and its Greater Bay Area (GBA) Alliance.
The Asia Pacific Marketing Academy’s GBA Alliance is a consortium of leading academic institutions within the Greater Bay Area dedicated to advancing marketing research, education, and practice, fostering a community of scholars and professionals.
This strategic accession was formally presented by USJ’s Vice-Rector for Innovation, Prof. Alexandre Lobo, who highlighted USJ’s growing profile and dedication to cutting-edge marketing scholarship in the Asia-Pacific region. Vice-Rector Prof. Lobo stated that “Joining the APMA GBA Alliance is more than a membership, it’s a gateway to transformative collaboration”.
This initiative is set to substantially enhance USJ’s FBL marketing researchers’ capacity by providing a structured, high-impact platform for engagement with leading institutions across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
First Concrete Milestone
The first tangible outcome of this new alliance is already taking shape. The Laboratory of Applied Neurosciences (LAN) at USJ will chair a special track on “Neuromarketing and Consumer Behavior: Challenges and Trends” at the upcoming APMA Annual Conference. This prominent role places our pioneering Neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience research at the forefront of a major international academic forum.
Strategic Research Synergies
USJ’s participation in the Alliance will actively focus on developing collaborations in several key, forward-looking domains, building on this initial momentum:
- Neuromarketing: Fostering partnerships to explore the intersection of neuroscience, consumer behaviour, and marketing strategies, now with a direct platform at the APMA conference.
- AI in Marketing Analytics: Collaborating on advanced research utilising artificial intelligence to decipher market trends, consumer insights, and predictive analytics.
- Social Media Marketing: Investigating novel approaches and impacts of digital and social media in dynamic, cross-cultural contexts.
In addition, a core component of USJ engagement will be spearheaded by the FBL Sustainable Business Lab, intending to develop research in Social Marketing for Promotion with Societal and Environmental Impact, aligning with the USJ’s mission to develop business knowledge that contributes to a sustainable future, focusing on how marketing principles can drive positive behavioural change for the well-being of society and our planet.
In a statement, Vice-Rector Prof. Lobo said that “Our entry into the APMA and its GBA Alliance marks a milestone in USJ-FBL’s regional research strategy. It recognises our expertise and provides a vibrant consortium to co-create knowledge with top-tier peers in the GBA. We are particularly excited to contribute our strengths in sustainable and socially responsible marketing to this powerful network, and we are already moving forward with concrete actions, beginning with LAN’s chairing of a special track at the APMA annual conference.”
This alliance promises to open new horizons for joint research projects, faculty and student exchanges, symposiums, and publication opportunities.
