Your application for a thesis at our chair

Consumer behavior research examines why people make certain decisions. Which service (product) they consume, when, why, where and for what purpose and how the decision is made. The objects of study are the psychological core, decision-making as such, the culture of consumers and the results and problems of consumer behavior.

Research on Consumer & Employee Well-Being analyzes the state of health, satisfaction and well-being on the part of customers and employees. But it also includes the analysis of missing negative emotions (e.g. stress) and engagement in activities that promote meaning and fulfillment. The aim of well-being research in the service context is to identify factors that influence consumer & employee well-being in (digital) services and to analyze the relationship between well-being and service outcomes. Example questions include: How do digital services influence the well-being of consumers? What influence do new technologies have on service providers? And what is the connection between the well-being of customers and employees and the success of the company?

Supervisor: Jannes Marquardt

Topic-related Publications:

• Hogreve, J., Iseke, A., & Derfuss, K. (2022). The Service-Profit Chain: Reflections, Revisions, and Reimaginations, in: Journal of Service Research, 25(3), 460-477.

Today's economy and society are increasingly being shaped by the comprehensive digitalization of services. Digital service innovation concerns the development of new services using digital technologies with the aim of creating added value for the provider-customer relationship.

Municipalities also face the challenge of using digitalization in the spirit of integrated urban development in order to make urban life more sustainable, efficient and safe. Data-based services are driving the development of smart cities and promise to increase the welfare of citizens. This requires dialogue with society. In addition to examining potential new business models based on citizens' personal data, the question arises as to what attitude citizens themselves have towards the release of personal data for the development of new technologies and services in an urban context. What are the drivers and barriers to data sharing and what role do the variables intimacy and fear of surveillance play?

Supervisors: Louisa Peine & Jannes Marquardt

Topic-related publications:

• Bleier, A. Goldfarb, A., Tucker, C. (2020). Consumer privacy and future of data-based innovation and marketing, in: International Journal of Research in Marketing
• Hillebrand, K. Hornuf, L. (2021). The Social Dilemma of Big Data: Donating Personal Data to Promote Social Welfare, in: CesIfo Working Paper Series
• Dinev, T., Xu, H., Smith, J.H., Hart (2013). Information privacy and correlates: an empirical attempt to bridge and distinguish privacy-related concepts, in: European Journal of Information Systems
• SAVe: Funktions- und Verkehrs-Sicherheit im Automatisierten und Vernetzten Fahren
• Morewedge, C. K., Monga, A., Palmatier, R. W., Shu, S. B., & Small, D. A. (2021). Evolution of Consumption: A Psychological Ownership Framework, in: Journal of Marketing, 85(1), 196–218
• Peck, J., Kirk, C. P., Luangrath, A. W., & Shu, S. B. (2021). Caring for the Commons: Using Psychological Ownership to Enhance Stewardship Behavior for Public Goods, in: Journal of Marketing, 85(2), 33–49
• Fritze, M. P. et al. (2020). Access-Based Services as Substitutes for Material Possessions: The Role of Psychological Ownership, in: Journal of Service Research, 23(3), pp. 368–385
• Opazo-Basáez, M., Vendrell-Herrero, F., & Bustinza, O. F. (2021). Digital service innovation: a paradigm shift in technological innovation, in: Journal of Service Management.

Between rationality and intuition

Dealing with money is something we all do very naturally every day. But we don't always behave as sensibly and rationally as we think. And even if we take enough time to think carefully, we often decide based on our gut instinct after pondering for a long time. Why do people make certain decisions? What role do our personality traits play in this? And how can we help people make better financial decisions and thus increase their subjective well-being?

Supervisor: Anabel Walia

Topic-related publications:

• Brüggen, E. C., Hogreve, J., Holmlund, M., Kabadayi, S., Löfgren, M. (2017): Financial well-being: A conceptualization and research agenda, in: Journal of Business Research, Vol. 79, 228-237.

• Park, J. J., Sela, A. (2018): Not My Type: Why Affective Decision Makers Are Reluctant to Make Financial Decisions, in: Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 45, No. 2, 298-319.

• Netemeyer, R. G., Warmath, D., Fernandes, D., & Lynch, J. G. (2018): How Am I Doing? Perceived Financial Well-Being, Its Potential Antecedents, and Its Relation to Overall Well-Being, in: Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 45, No. 1, 68-89.

• Think Forward Initiative

• How a "Social Norm Nudge" could help people to save more

The freelancing working model has been enjoying increasing popularity in recent years, especially in view of new technological possibilities. However, freelancers are not yet given sufficient attention in science and research as well as in practice, so there is still a lot of potential to find out more about freelancers as a driving economic force in the European economy and to ensure a better understanding of this work concept.

What are the motivations that drive people to become freelancers? What motivates people to become freelancers? How much are freelancers protected against economic damage such as: B. insured during the corona pandemic? How important is the financial aspect when deciding to become or remain a freelancer? How do you successfully differentiate yourself from the competition in the gig economy on online freelance platforms like Fiverr?

Supervisor: Anabel Walia

Topic-related publications:

May, T., Warran, K., Burton, A., & Fancourt, D. (2022). Socioeconomic and Psychosocial Adversities Experienced by Freelancers Working in the UK Cultural Sector During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Study, in: Frontiers in Psychology, 12.

Yoganarasimhan, H., (2013). The Value of Reputation in an Online Freelance Marketplace, in: Marketing Science.

Ludwig, S., Herhausen, D., Grewal, D., Bove, L., Benoit, S., De Ruyter, K., & Urwin, P. (2022). Communication in the Gig Economy: Buying and Selling in Online Freelance Marketplaces, in: Journal of Marketing.

Emerging and emerging mobility concepts such as urban air mobility and autonomous driving promise automated, connected and electrified travel. Theories such as the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), the Theory of Planned Behavior or the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) explain consumer reactions to new technologies. The question arises as to whether these theories can also be applied in the context of new mobility concepts, as some of the theories do not take all relevant factors into account. In addition, the majority of existing models and studies only focus on individual usage intention. In the case of autonomous forms of mobility, however, this falls short, as this technology not only affects the passengers themselves, but also directly affects other road users. These must therefore also be taken into account when examining social acceptance of new forms of mobility. The focus of this research field is the identification of drivers and barriers to the acceptance of new forms of mobility and the derivation of recommendations for action for their market launch.

Supervisor: Jannes Marquardt

 Topic-related Publications:

• Venkatseh, V., Morris, M.G., Davis, F.D., & Davis, G.B. (2003): User Acceptance of Information Technology: Toward a Unified View, in: MIS Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 2, 425-478.

• Xu, Z., Zhang, K., Min, H., Wang, Z., Zhao, X., & Liu, P. (2018): What drives people to accept automated vehicles? Findings from a field experiment, in: Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 95, 320-334.

• Nielsen, T. A. S., & Haustein, S. (2018): On sceptics and enthusiasts: What are the expections towards self-driving cars?, in: Transport Policy, Vol. 66, 49-55.
• Al Haddad, C., Chaniotakis, E., Straubinger, A., Plötner, K., & Antoniou, C. (2020). Factors affecting the adoption and use of urban air mobility, in: Transportation research part A: policy and practice, Vol. 132, 696-712.
• Garrow, L. A., German, B. J., & Leonard, C. E. (2021). Urban air mobility: A comprehensive review and comparative analysis with autonomous and electric ground transportation for informing future research, in: Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, Vol. 132, 103377.

Hardly anyone can ignore the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a call to all member states, companies and citizens to create a socially just and sustainable world. Based on the challenges of the SDGs, central questions arise for the marketing and management of services. A particular focus is consumer vulnerability in the context of digital services. With regard to social justice and inclusion, the question arises as to what consequences the digitalization of services has. How is customer interaction changing and what requirements result from the digitalization of customer services? Do vulnerable customer groups need to be reconsidered?

Supervisor: Louisa Peine

Topic-related Publications:

• Wünderlich, N.V., Hogreve, J., Chowdhury, I.N., Fleischer, H., Mousavi, S., Rötzmeier-Keuper, J., & Sousa, R.S. (2020). Overcoming vulnerability: Channel design strategies to alleviate vulnerability perceptions in customer journeys, in: Journal of Business Research
• Hill, R., Sharma, E. (2020) Consumer Vulnerability, in:Journal of Consumer Psychology
• Puntoni, S., Walker Reczek, R., Giesler, M., Botti, S. (2021) Consumers and Artificial Intelligence: An Experiential Perspective, in:Journal of Marketing
• Bieler, M., Maas, P., Fischer, L., Rietmann, N. (2021) Enabling Cocreation with Transformative Interventions: An Interdisciplinary Conceptualization of Consumer Boosting, in: Journal of Service Research

The rapid development of AI tools such as Chat GPT and Midjourney has far-reaching effects on various areas of life - not least on the B2B sector. Service providers in creative or knowledge-based areas and their customers in particular have to adapt to various changes.

How are the supply and demand of text- and image-based B2B services affected by the availability of AI tools? How does the perception of such services change among companies requesting them, for example in terms of quality or willingness to pay? What changes are inquiring companies making internally? Is there a trend back towards in-house production of services? How are creative jobs changing in companies?

Supervisor: Anabel Walia

Themenbezogene Publikationen:

Dwivedi, Y. K., Kshetri, N., Hughes, L., Slade, E. L., Jeyaraj, A., Kar, A. K., ... & Wright, R. (2023). “So what if ChatGPT wrote it?” Multidisciplinary perspectives on opportunities, challenges and implications of generative conversational AI for research, practice and policy, in: International Journal of Information Management, 71.

López, J. E. A.; Ouariachi, T. (2020). An exploration of the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and automation for communication professionals, in: Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 19(2), pp. 249-267.

Kirov, V. & Malamin, B. (2022). Are Translators Afraid of Artificial Intelligence?, in: Societies, 12(2).

Anantrasirichai, N. & Bull, D. (2021): Artificial intelligence in the creative industries: a review, in: Artificial Intelligence Review, 55(1), pp. 589-656.

Mishra, A. &  Awasthi, S. (2023). Chat GPT: Revolutionizing Communication or Threatening Authenticity?, in: Management Dynamics, 23(1), pp. 165-168.

You can propose work in the field of service management in collaboration with a company yourself. To do this, please write an exposé including research question/goal and planned methodology (1-2 pages), which you send to jannes.marquardt(at)ku.de together with the remaining application documents. Please note that when completing theses in collaboration with a company, it is ALWAYS a prerequisite that the topic meets scientific standards and that a scientific question is addressed through the collaboration with the company. This means that support for market research work (e.g. market analyses, competition studies, etc.) cannot be provided. In principle, final theses must be coordinated with the chair in cooperation with a company and there is only limited supervision capacity available for this.