Browsing by Author "Tikkanen, Henrikki, Prof., Aalto University, Department of Marketing, Finland"
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- Breaking the Limits - Posthumanism, Consumption, and the Future of the Human
School of Business | Doctoral dissertation (monograph)(2017) Botez, AndreiIn the last couple of decades, a certain vibe made itself felt in both academic and popular circles. The fields of marketing, cultural and interpretivist consumer research (and other related ones, such as e.g. Organization Studies) are no exception. Bearing different names, that breeze quickly became a wind, today being mostly known as the Posthumanist, or the Transhumanist movement. The main aim of my PhD thesis is to introduce Christian theology as the main force that shapes and legitimizes the Poshumanist movement and to show the ways in which, in turn, this movement influences fields such as postmodern and critical marketing, cultural, and interpretive consumer research and, especially, the emerging field of Posthuman Consumer Research. Accordingly, my thesis contributes to the ongoing discussions within the field of Posthuman Consumer Research regarding the rise of the so-called ''cyborgian consumer''. By taking on the proposed approach, this research explores issues pertaining to the future of (biological and technological) identity, the commodity, markets, and consumption at large. Adding to the ongoing discussion, and despite recent research, my thesis does not approach technology and various contemporary philosophical paradigms (e.g. non-representationalism, post-structuralism, speculative realism) as the great disruptors and actors behind the inception of Poshumanism and the cyborg, but rather theology. Therefore, this research identifies and addresses an important oversight in the Posthuman Consumer Culture, i.e. the virtually complete absence of theological analyses. This creates an additional angle of research for the culturally-oriented consumer researchers interested in the subject, but not only. - Dominant designs in complex technological systems - A longitudinal case study of a telecom company 1980-2010
School of Business | Doctoral dissertation (monograph)(2015) Sievers, HenrikThe different processes used to innovate and produce successful products and services for companies and define service and even industry architectures –dominant designs— have received significant scholarly interest. This study sheds light on this process to understand the evolutionary character of dominant designs within complex technological systems. To do so, it provides longitudinal empirical study of a telecommunications industry and the Nordic case company Sonera from 1980-2010. The units of analysis are Sonera's major businesses, products and strategy that intertwine with industry. To understand the evolution of dominant designs in complex technological systems, theoretical discussion, the management and sociology of technology, an economics perspective, and dynamic capabilities are utilized. The findings identify the key sources of innovation and the processes that drive managers in a multi-product firm to manage its dominant designs successfully. The findings indicate that the likely sources of innovation (and their variations) lead to the rejection of old dominant designs and the emergence of new ones. A key finding is that these sources of innovation produce a shift to a customer/market orientation from a R&D and science orientation as the industry evolves into a more open and horizontal market form. At the same time, the role of the incumbent multi-product firm diminishes, and that of vendors and niche players strengthens. Moreover, the research identifies the most important building blocks that can lead to the successful creation of a new dominant design. Evidence of change in the relative roles or contributions of various building blocks was seen, depending on the overall life-cycle evolution of the industry and the specific organization. Finally, the role and nature of firm's products as complex technological systems for shaping the process and outcomes related to dominant designs was seen as important. Instead, new dominant designs emerge in systems characterized by industry convergence when the new technology aligns with the capabilities and incentives of the receiving unit. This study is a rare example of extensive longitudinal data being analyzed both at the company and an industry level in strategic marketing studies. The study thus contributes by creating a framework for the adaptation of dominant designs. The integration of dynamic capabilities, sensing, seizing, and transformation framework to ongoing industry evolution is especially valuable. - Essays on value creation in experiential marketplaces
School of Business | Doctoral dissertation (article-based)(2018) Koivisto, ElinaThis thesis broadens the scope for understanding the value of marketing events and trade shows through the lens of service-dominant logic and, more specifically, value co-creation. Indeed, despite the broad theoretical work on both experiential marketing as well as value co-creation, very few inquiries have examined these in conjunction, or complemented their arguments with empirical evidence. To address this, I argue that the empirical study of these experiential marketing contexts from the processual perspective of value co-creation enables a more holistic conceptualization of the event experience and its outcomes. This thesis comprises of an overview of theory and five essays. First, the introductory part provides a theoretical background for the studies by reviewing the theories of value creation and experiential marketing. Consequently, I argue that the outcomes of experiential marketing should be seen from a broader perspective that accounts for the variety of values created for different stakeholders, as well as the processes that contribute to these values. Moreover, this value stems from co-constructed experiences facilitated by the interaction between different actors. In this vein, I propose that this value co-creation can be typified in a two-dimensional matrix with the dimensions of value beneficiary and teleological structure. Subsequently, the five essays empirically explore these dimensions and related modes of value creation within experiential marketplaces. Essays I and III examine the the creation of organizational value, while Essay V adopts the perspective of an individual consumer. Moreover, from a teleological angle, Essays II and III share an emphasis on autotelic value co-creation, while Essay IV examines the co-creation of instrumental value. Conceptually, this dissertation contributes to the literature on value co-creation through the introduction of a new typology of co-created experiential values. Moreover, it provides further empirical support on the view that value is co-created through the interactions of different actors and their resources. From managerial perspective, this study provides organizers of experiential marketplaces such as trade shows, exhibitions, and events with new insights and approaches for designing and systematically analyzing the outcomes of experiences as well as tactics for engaging customers in co-creation. As a result, by studying these co-creation outcomes and processes, this thesis lays foundations for increasing the accountability of experiential marketing and provides insights for developing its practices as well as to refining the measures for its evaluation. Moreover, viewing these venues as platforms for interactions between different market actors directs the attention of event organizers, exhibitors, and attendees towards imagining more interactive participation practices. - Luxury value perceptions: a cross-cultural perspective
School of Business | Doctoral dissertation (article-based)(2020) Shukla, PauravThroughout history scholars have devoted significant attention to understand our fascination with luxury. Recently, consumer researchers have explored how and why we ascribe value to luxurious possessions. This thesis examines the key historical and current developments in regards to the construct of luxury and offers an integrative definition that takes into account the generic, trait and experiential aspects of luxury. The thesis further investigates the construct of value through a multi-disciplinary lens and provides an overview of the current debate. Moreover, integral to this thesis is the work carried out in the area of luxury value perception by Shukla (2011, 2012), Shukla and Purani (2012), and Shukla, Singh, and Banerjee (2015) that has resulted in operationalization and examination of luxury value perceptions in cross-cultural setting. Finally, based on the extant scholarly debate, the thesis identifies major themes and highlights critical issues and unanswered questions that would help propel the body of knowledge forward. - Negotiating Change in Marketing Systems - A Collection of Essays
School of Business | Doctoral dissertation (article-based)(2019) Gloukhovtsev, AlexeiThe majority of marketing literature – both academic and practitioner oriented – tends to focus on two key actors in the marketplace: the consumer and the producer. In particular, the literature foregrounds mutually beneficial processes of value creation that take place as the two parties engage in various exchanges and transactions. Although a fruitful endeavor, this transaction-oriented approach relegates to secondary status the plethora of other marketplace participants and members of society that also affect and are affected by the focal transaction. Indeed, any exchange between producers and consumers will not exist in a vacuum, but will influence (and be influenced by) myriad social and institutional processes, such as changing cultural, social, and regulatory norms and structures. This dissertation focuses precisely on these complex interrelationships. Over the course of three essays, I examine how market actors are influenced by, respond to, and shape the broader institutional and social context in which they are embedded. Using marketing systems as an enabling theory, I illustrate how markets are complex systems embedded in social and cultural environments. In marketing systems, change is seldom isolated and confined to a given part of the system, but rather has a ripple effect on other system participants and antecedents. Marketers, consumers, policymakers, and other system participants act and react to one another, each seeking to exert their influence on the marketing system with a particular goal or desired outcome in mind.