Dissertation themes

I will write in English this week, out of consideration for the Greek students to whom I will be teaching today and tomorrow. Some time ago, a comment was left on a previous message on the role of Esperanto as a truly global language as it overcomes the limitations of non-native English speakers... However, I'll have to settle with English as I do not speak Esperanto!

Many students have talked to me about their plans for dissertation. Below I list some of my research interests and plans that I hope some of you will find useful in choosing your own research path. Whenever possible, I included information about specific calls for research in a particular subject as these provide a detailed appraisal of the state of the art or the research gaps in the area.


Globalization and challenges for International marketing, marketeers and companies

The globalization of economies poses considerable challenges to companies. Firms are no longer protected by local governments nor can they afford to ignore non domestic competitors. An understanding of the important competencies of international marketing managers can help understand why some companies go global as well as why they succeed or fail in international marketing. An exploratory study was conducted in Portugal to identify the competencies that managers perceive as more important for dealing with the complexities of export, international and global marketing. Some of my research subjects in IM are:

Obstacles and challenges in entering International markets
Entry modes
Born globals
Developing competences for international markets


Consumer behaviour
Consumer behaviour is a ever changing and challenging research area:

Time
The impact of time constraints on consumer behaviour is a very interesting subject which has not been sufficiently addressed by reserach in Marketing and consimer behaviour. This has been object of at least two calls for paper for special papers editions, which you can find below:

Special issue Journal of Consumer Policy
“Surprisingly little academic attention has been given to shifting patterns in time use in the past few decades, despite dramatic changes in time use. Since the 1980s, working time has declined in OECD countries by more than seven hours per week for both men and women, and, although total work (i.e. both paid and unpaid) is quite similar between genders, there is a gender-specific composition of this total work: women reduced their housework substantially, yet men increased theirs only marginally. Reduced working hours have also gone hand-in-hand with increases in leisure time. Additionally, big changes in the structure and timing of activities have taken place, e.g., individuals do not have as much uninterrupted time for one sole activity as they used to have in the past. Such changes do not only affect the allocation of time, but also private consumption in many areas. This, in turn, means a challenge for consumer policy.
This special issue of the Journal of Consumer Policy (JCP) focuses on understanding the causes and implications of these changing patterns of time allocation and consumption – from both an academic and a policy perspective. Relevant questions that can be addressed within this special issue are, for example:

Consumer aspects:
- Do we get financially richer - yet “time poorer”?
- What does this mean for the individual consumer?
- What has caused these changes in time allocation?

Policy aspects:
- What are the implications for consumer policy? Do, e.g., the “time-poor” pay more?
- Have policy measures influenced the way we allocate our time?
- Which policy instruments are needed to cope with the changes in time allocation?

Other aspects:
- Is there gender-specific behaviour with regard to time allocation and consumption?
- How can persistent gender differences in time use be explained?
- What are the effects of mother’s time structures on their children’s consumption
(e.g. children’s eating patterns, mass media consumption, etc.)?
- Does marketing / advertisements enhance gender differences in time use patterns?
The editors of this special issue welcome contributions reflecting different perspectives,
methodological approaches, international and cross-cultural contexts. While empirical papers are strongly encouraged, theoretical and conceptual contributions which address issues arising from time consumption and wider aspects of the time use debate within consumer policy research are particularly welcome.”

Special Issue on ‘Inter-temporal Choice’
Inter-temporal choice: neuronal and psychological determinants of economic decisions
Special Issue Editors:
Marc Wittmann (University of California San Diego),
Martin Paulus (University of California San Diego)
Inter-temporal choices involve a tradeoff between costs and benefits that occur over time. That is, decisions on options often involve short-term and long-term outcomes, e.g. spending money on a luxury product now or investing that money for the future. Inter-temporal decisions affect our whole life; they determine the success in achieving life goals, personal and career-related.
Therefore, investigations on inter-temporal decision making must cover fields from behavioural economics to psychology, medicine and neuroscience. Research studies assess consumer behaviour related to the choice of product delivery times, kids’ choices between a marshmallow now and two marshmallows in 10 minutes, or health-related decisions of patients in a clinical context. These investigations are all related to the underlying question of impulsivity and self-control (the ability to delay gratification).
Investigations have started to identify perceptual and neuronal mechanisms that determine intertemporal choices. In recent years, for example, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have begun to examine the neural correlates of inter-temporal decisions in humans, revealing distinct brain regions activated when subjects are more present-orientated and choose immediate options and when they are more patient and show self-controlled behavior. Here, the ongoing debate is whether this conceptualization actually can be confirmed that two distinct andcompeting brain systems underlie impulsive and self-controlled behavior. Moreover, the perception of time has recently become the focus of attention. Since individuals have to make decisions based on predictions of rewards on different time scales, the dimension of time is an unavoidable entity when making every-day decisions. That is, the subjective perception of time (as related to the delay of an outcome) influences choice behavior.


Services marketing

Marketing of Higher Education Institutions
Higher Education Institutions face increasingly dynamic and complex challenges. In particular their operating environment is undergoing major transformations such as changing demand patterns, intensifying global competition and declining in funding. Consequently, institutional attention is increasingly focused on attracting high quality (human) resources and students. Such context demands a deeper understanding of which sources prospective students resort to when applying to a Higher Education Institution (HEI), both at graduate and undergraduate level

Health institutions Marketing – Hospital satisfaction

Arts Marketing

Special issue call for papers from Marketing Intelligence and Planning
It is becoming increasingly evident through conference tracks and publications in general marketing and management journals that the area of arts marketing is growing, both in terms of academic members and wider importance in the marketing field (see for example Fillis, 2004; Holbrook, 2005; O'Reilly, 2005, Schroeder, 2005; Bradshaw and Holbrook, 2007).
The purpose of this Special Issue is to provide a showcase for cutting edge contemporary research in the field of arts marketing. Papers are particularly encouraged that contribute to the academic debate and also demonstrate practical application for arts marketing practitioners and artists. Specific topics might include the following, but papers of good quality on any appropriate arts marketing related issue would be welcome.
The nature of marketing and its fit with the arts
Marketing orientation and the arts
Strategic arts marketing issues
Marketing and consumption of all art forms regardless of their conventional categorisation (e.g. 'for' and 'not for profit'; high art and popular culture)
Arts branding
Researching arts audiences
Defining and delivering customer value in the arts
Creativity and innovation in the arts organisation
Marketing strategy: the artist and artistic organisation
International issues in the arts
Moving beyond the art vs. commerce debate
Co-creation of the arts
Performing identity: artist and audiences
Digital media and arts provision
Synergising academic and practitioner research in arts marketing
Moving beyond metaphorical application of the arts in marketing

References
Bradshaw, A and Holbrook, M (2007) Remembering Chet: Theorising the Mythology of the Self-Destructive Bohemian Artist as Self-Producer and Self-Consumer in the Market for Romanticism. Marketing Theory, 7(2) pp.115-136.
Fillis, I (2004) The Entrepreneurial Artist as Marketer - Lessons from the Smaller Firm Literature. International Journal of Arts Management, 7(1) 9-21
Holbrook, M (2005) Art vs Commerce As a Macromarketing Theme in Three Films from the Young-Man-With-A-Horn Genre. Journal of Macromarketing, 25(6) 21-31
O'Reilly, D (2005) Cultural Brands/Branding Cultures. Journal of Marketing Management, 21 (5-6), 573-588.
Schroeder, J (2005) The Artist and the Brand. European Journal of Marketing, 39(11-12) 1291-1305.