Marketing research group

Research classification (Frascati)
Sociology 5.4
Head of the research group
Keyword
customer experience
service marketing
urban studies
customer engagement
Overview
Research within the group spans four separatesets of projects, which are closely aligned withnovel learning and teaching.Consumption is a significant topic incorporatingconsumer behaviour theorisations with a focuson the experience pyramid model, consumerjourneys, cosmopolitanism, consumer ethnocentrism, ethical and sustainable consumption.Work on experience service design complements investigations into the digital divideand ageism in marketing. The sub-stream ofservice design is focused around the new dLabinitiative, building upon existing and forgingnew collaborations, including through the collaborative Service Design Conference.In services and relationship marketing, the investigations focus on customer service-relatedengagement, digital value co-creation, disciplining and compliance-based interactions betweenproviders and consumers. Empirical and conceptual studies from all four sub-streams of thisresearch area have appeared in top journals inthe area, and the Adjunct professor L. Hollebeekleading the area has attracted international recognition and awards, including Clarivate HighlyCited Researcher, SERVSIG Emerging ScholarAward, and Stanford University’s Top 2% ofResearchers worldwide. Critical examinationsof customer-provider relationships and serviceprovision have produced new, state-of-the-arttheories complementing research on the stakeholders’ interplay in service/product innovation.Urban and residential research stream focuseson transforming urban realities conceived within the interplay of socio-economic, cultural andspatial-material processes, as well as withinthe reciprocity of individual and institutionalstrategies. The interdisciplinary perspectiveintroduced in the analysis of processes observedin residential and public spaces incorporatestheoretical and methodological approaches applied in sociological, architectural, planning andbusiness studies. The latest research projectsencompass inquiries of, for example, residents’and property owners’ expectations towardssustainable development of heritage space inTallinn Old Town, or formation of citizens’ (incl.youth) preferences and choices at urban residential markets, including private rental markets.
Important results
Talk, T.; Ojamäe, L.; Paadam, K.; Alatalu, R. (2023). The „Venice Syndrome“ in Tallinn Old Town. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable Development. DOI: 10.1108/JCHMSD-03-2022-0046.