Marketing Research in the Sharing Economy: Platform Businesses, Blockchain, and the Metaverse

Time and place: Tue 4th of April – Thu 6 th April 2023; Oulu Business School, University of Oulu, Finland, face-to-face course

Learning goal and objectives

The course gives an overview of marketing research in the sharing economy. Critically, the courses make a comparison of main theories and research methodology used across different sharing platforms, including platform businesses (i.e., the current sharing platform such as Airbnb), blockchain-enabled exchange (e.g., decentralized finance and NFTs), and the Metaverse (e.g., Decentraland and the Sandbox). The course also explores relevant and contemporary future research agendas. The learning goal is to not only support doctoral students’ own research but also offer a systematic “state-of-the-art” overview of the wide-ranging field of marketing research in the sharing economy.

Instruction and examination

The course is built on prior reading, a three-day block seminar on indepth discussion for marketing research in the sharing economy. The course teachers naturally also aim at communicating their key ideas and interpretations of marketing research in platform businesses (Day1), blockchain (Day 2), and the metaverse (Day 3) studies during the sessions, over and above the readings. In an ideal case, doctoral students must read the entire readings package in advance to ensure they are equipped with sufficient knowledge for engaging discussions. The course consists of three assessments: 1. QAQC Analysis, 2. Two-page daily group report and 10 minutes presentation, 3. A final individual report.

Credits: 6 ECTS

Grading: Fail/Pass

Admittance: 25 students are admitted to the course; application period: 1.9.2022-15.2.2023; notification of acceptance: To be sent via email by 1.3.2023

Application guidelines

Application by sending an email to the course coordinator ( teckming.tan@oulu.fi), with a CV and the details as below in the application form by 15.2.2023. There is no fee for participation, but students are required to pay their own travel and accommodation expenses.

Course application form:

Name:

Phone:

E-mail:

University:

Department:

Discipline/major:

Year in doctoral programme:

Research topic:

An extended abstract of research proposal (approximately 750 words): focuses on a. problem background, research gap, and research objective, b. core literature review and research framework, c. methodology and expected findings

CV (in another attachment): With a list of publications/proceedings/conferences and manuscript in progress.

Instructors

Associate Professor Dr. Teck Ming (Terence) Tan, Associate Professor in Marketing, Department of Marketing, Management and International Business, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu

Homepage: https://www.oulu.fi/en/researchers/teck-ming-terence-tan

Teck Ming Tan, ( teckming.tan@oulu.fi) holds D.Sc. (Marketing) from the University of Oulu, Oulu Business School (AACSB), Finland. He is an Associate Professor at the Oulu Business School. He is appointed as an Adjunct Professor (Docent) in the marketing field at the University of Helsinki. His research interests include blockchain, branding, sustainability, and sharing economy. He is an external advisor at the Helsinki Blockchain Center. He has been invited as a speaker at various international seminars related to the blockchain-based approach to marketing in the sharing economy. He will be visiting the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University from August 24 to December 31, 2023, to explore how blockchain technology in social movements changes corporations’ ethical strategies and the global image of the company. His blockchain marketing research has been published in the Journal of Academy of Marketing Science and Journal of Business Ethics. He also published in the Journal of Business Research, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, NA–Advances in Consumer Research, and others.

Professor Dr. Jari Salo, Professor of Marketing, Department of Economics and Management, University of Helsinki

Homepage: https://www2.helsinki.fi/en/people/people-finder/jari-salo-9370091

Jari Salo, holds D.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.) from the University of Oulu, Oulu Business School (AACSB), Finland. He is Professor of Marketing at the University of Helsinki, and an Adjunct Professor of Digital Marketing at the Aalto University School of Business and the Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia. He has over 200 scientific publications including books. Research topics include among others digital marketing (including social media and mobile marketing) industrial marketing, branding, consumer behavior, innovation, commercialization of innovation, sports marketing, and project marketing.

Assistant Professor Dr. Tero Huhtala. Assistant Professor of Marketing, Department of Marketing, Management and International Business, Oulu Business School, University of Oulu

Tero Huhtala, holds D.Sc. (Econ. & Bus. Adm.) from the University of Oulu, Oulu Business School (AACSB), Finland. He has eight years of experience in digital value creation research. Current areas of research interest include data-based value creation, blockchain, and the emerging metaverse. He has published in the Journal of Business Models, Journal of Innovation Management, Journal of Service Science Research, among others.

Course coordinator: Associate Professor Dr. Teck Ming (Terence) Tan.

Email: teckming.tan@oulu.fi