Title: The Impact of Socioeconomic Status (SES) on Patient Preference for Aggressive Treatment Options

Speaker: Jing (Jill) Lei, Professor of Marketing, University of Melbourne

Host: Zhengyu Shi, Assistant Professor, Antai College of Economics and Management, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Time: 13:30–15:00, Wednesday, April 1, 2026

Venue: Room A303, Antai College of Economics and Management, Xuhui Campus, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Brief introduction of the content: 

For health conditions ranging from the common cold to cancer, patients often face a decision between conservative and aggressive options. For example, a person diagnosed with thyroid nodules might weigh watchful waiting against a minimally invasive thyroidectomy. In today’s patient-centred healthcare, patients play a growing role in treatment decision-making (Elwyn 2021; Epstein 2000). A key patient-related factor, socio-economic status (SES), is consistently linked to health outcomes (Adler et al. 1994), yet the behavioral mechanisms driving these outcomes are less understood. Our research explores how SES influences patient preference for aggressive vs. conservative treatments.

Speaker's profile:

Jing (Jill) Lei is a Professor of Marketing and former Head of the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Melbourne with over 100 full-time academic members. Her current research focuses on consumers’ judgment and decision-making in the context of public health and well-being. Her ongoing projects include studying consumers’ judgments and decisions related to medications, treatment options, and participation in preventive actions. She served as AE for the Journal of Consumer Psychology and is a member of the Health Analytics, Leadership, and Economics Hub and the Melbourne Health and Business Research Hub at the University of Melbourne. She has published in marketing journals (e.g., Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, among others), as well as in interdisciplinary journals (e.g., Appetite, Public Health Nutrition, Obesity Reviews).

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