Dr Yue Meng-Lewis

Professional biography

Yue Meng-Lewis is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Marketing at The Open University. Her research examines how digital platforms, artificial intelligence and immersive technologies are reshaping consumer behaviour, branding, work and governance in esports and gaming. Her particular interests include esports ecosystems, fan and player experiences, career development and wellbeing, digital communication, and industry governance and policymaking.

Yue is Qualification Lead for the BA (Hons) Business Management with Marketing (R84) and has led the development of the University’s new BA (Hons) Marketing qualification. She is also Module Chair for Brands, Branding and Society (B323), a final-year module examining strategic brand management and the wider role of brands in society.

Her teaching focuses on digital marketing, branding, consumer behaviour, marketing research and the application of emerging technologies in marketing. She is particularly interested in developing research-informed curricula that help students critically and responsibly evaluate the use of artificial intelligence in marketing practice.

Her research has been published in journals including the Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, Internet Research, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Information Technology & People and Sport Management Review. She is co-author of the SAGE textbook Business Research Methods for Chinese Students and co-editor of the Routledge book The Geopolitical Economy of Esports, which examines the global esports industry in relation to geopolitics, economic development and international power.

Yue serves on the editorial board of Team Sports Studies and previously served on the editorial board of the International Journal of Sports Marketing and Sponsorship. She was lead guest editor of the Internet Research special issue “Esports: A Multidisciplinary Research Perspective”.

Her public engagement includes serving as an academic consultant for the BBC documentary series Trouble at Topshop and Thames Water: Inside the Crisis. She also works with international researchers, esports associations and industry organisations to develop research addressing the commercial, social and policy challenges facing esports and gaming.

Research interests

• Esports and gaming ecosystems, including sustainable business models, governance, policymaking, professional career development and player wellbeing.

• Digital consumer behaviour, branding and communication in esports, gaming, livestreaming, AI-enabled technologies and immersive environments.

• The application of gaming, gamification and immersive technologies in healthcare, education, services and tourism.

• Esports, cultural diplomacy and international communication, including the relationship between digital platforms, national interests and global influence.

Selected awards and research funding

• 2025: Best Paper Award, Leadership and Team Performance Management track, European Academy of Management (EURAM) Conference, Florence, for “Abusive Supervision and Employees’ Deviance: The Roles of Moral Disengagement, Power Distance, and Self-Efficacy”

• 2024: Research grant from the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation for “Public Perceptions of Esports in Japan and the UK: Implications of Cultural Values on Esports Development”

• 2019: Best Paper Award, 27th European Association for Sport Management (EASM) Conference, Seville, for “Complexity and Dynamics of the Career Development of Esports Professionals”

Public engagement and media

• Academic consultant for Thames Water: Inside the Crisis, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, 2025

• Academic consultant for Trouble at Topshop, BBC Two and BBC iPlayer, 2022

• Contributor to the Sport Management Review Insights podcast on the career development of esports athletes, 2021
  
  

Selected invited talks and academic events

• Invited talk, “Esports: A Multidisciplinary Research Perspective”, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China, 2025

• Workshop convenor, “Sport and the Metaverse”, 31st European Sport Management Conference, Belfast, 2023

• Invited research seminar, “Understanding Esports Fans’ Live-Streaming Experiences”, SKEMA Business School, France, 2023

• Invited webinar, “Exploring the Esports Live-Streaming Experience”, Association of Pacific Rim Universities Games and Esports Webinar Series, 2023