"Digitalization fundamentally ensures a great deal of price transparency, which puts companies under pressure to offer their clients even better arguments for making a purchase. It is also important to consistently manage the various points at which customers come into contact with companies. For example, there must be no break between the support in the retail store and the online store", explains Ruhnau. In addition, he went on to say that referral behavior had changed as a result of digital channels, which made it easier to complain and publicly disseminate one's dissatisfaction.
For Ruhnau, however, digital marketing issues are not limited to aspects of sales channels or complaint management. He also investigates, for example, how the image of companies among consumers is influenced by smart household appliances and what role the handling of data security plays in the positive perception among customers.
In addition to business with private customers, Professor Ruhnau's research also explores the challenges of digitalization in the business-to-business sector. In the construction industry, for example, companies are increasingly offering their clients the opportunity to walk through a future factory building with the help of augmented reality, to take a closer look at production lines and to carry out detailed planning even before the groundbreaking ceremony. According to Ruhnau, these in particular are aspects that exemplify his understanding of digital marketing.
Prof. Dr. Robin-Christopher Ruhnau comes from Tübingen and initially completed a Bachelor's degree in Tourism Management at the Munich University of Applied Sciences before transferring to the University of Mannheim for a Master's degree in Management. He received his doctorate from Mannheim University and worked as a habilitation candidate at the Chair of Business-to-Business Marketing, Sales & Pricing there.