Major Module Marketing Seminar

Empirical Consumer Research Studies: Human-Machine Interactions

Seminar

Instructor: Dr. Martin Hirche
Date, Time & Room: see KLIPS

Content

The objective of this seminar is to impart in-depth knowledge on current issues in empirical marketing research related to consumer buying behavior under changing market conditions. The aim is to introduce students to empirical research from international scientific journals on the topic and to develop their research skills in preparation for important requirements of a master’s thesis. Depending on the number of course participants, students will form groups of 3-4 students. Students will be working in groups to prepare a scientific term paper. For this term paper students will review and synthetize relevant empirical literature on a specific topic and develop a conceptual framework and important hypotheses for future research. Finally, the seminar serves the further development of communicative skills. The active participation, interaction and the exchange of information during the seminar’s sessions are important prerequisites for the development of such skills. The seminar will conclude with each group’s presentation of the study and the submission of their term paper.

The seminar is aimed at students who are interested in working on marketing-specific topics, who want to learn how to apply research methods at a conceptual level, and who have a high level of motivation and a willingness to engage in teamwork. As students will have to conduct a theoretical study (i.e., systematic literature review and synthesis, development of a conceptual framework and hypotheses), an interest in analyzing and understanding empirical research is a requirement; experience in working with empirical studies in order to conceptualize important relationships is beneficial, but not a requirement.