South Westphalia Employer Forge - the transformation and change network

For the first time, the transformation and change network "Arbeitgeberschmiede Südwestfalen" (South Westphalia Employer Forge) will form a pan-regional alliance to strengthen and further develop the region's cross-industry "employer attractiveness". Germany's strongest industrial region is to become the most sustainably attractive economic region in Germany for all generations. By communicating the strengths of the traditional family businesses and by really working on employer attractiveness, the project will create a unique strength and great appeal - in line with the region's slogan "Südwestfalen - Alles echt". The project pools the diverse expertise from the region and is open to all interested parties.

Partners: University of Siegen, Südwestfalen Agentur GmbH, South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences, Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences, agentur mark GmbH, Business Development Agency of the District of Siegen-Wittgenstein and Business Development Agency of the District of Soest GmbH

Duration: 01.01.2024 - 31.12.2026

Funding body: Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy of the State of NRW (EFRE/FTJ Program NRW, Call: Regio.NRW - Transformation)

Further information: https://arbeitgeberschmiede-swf.com.

Impulse lab "Mirror offer" at the University of Siegen:

The Chair of Marketing and Commerce at the University of Siegen is collaborating on the "Spiegelangebot" impulse lab. The aim of the "Mirror Offer" is to objectively evaluate companies in order to increase their attractiveness as an employer. Measures include internal and external evaluations, evaluation reports, analysis interviews, workshops and a scientific study. The findings are intended to help companies improve their employer brand and attract and retain skilled workers. The added value for the region lies in the identification of success factors and the sensitization of all companies to personnel and skills shortages. The participating companies are assessed according to objective criteria to determine the extent to which they are a good employer and can successfully market themselves as such both externally and internally.

Contact: Jan-Lukas Selter, 0271 - 740 2744, jan-lukas.selter@uni-siegen.de

Further impus laboratory at the University of Siegen:

Dr. Jens Jacobs from the central transfer office connectUS is in charge of the second impulse lab at the University of Siegen and acts as a pilot for South Westphalian SMEs.

Contact: Mirjam Theil, Mirjam.Theil@uni-siegen.de

EmKoSoMe

Young people should be enabled to make self-confident and reflective decisions by learning to critically question their own relationship with influencers in the social media context as well as their offers, advertisements and sponsorships.

Focus of the project

• Investigating the extent and specific techniques by which social media actors use emotions to establish asymmetrical relationships between themselves and consumers

• Identifying the psychological mechanisms used to elicit emotional responses and analyzing their impact on young consumers' purchasing behavior and prioritization

• Identify the most commonly addressed emotions (e.g. joy, surprise, fear, anger, pity or "fear of missing out") and their targeted use to influence brand perception and loyalty

• Investigating how these emotional strategies influence consumer trust and loyalty and whether they lead to increased willingness to buy and impulse purchases

Organized consumer participation

Be it in associations that "rescue" and redistribute leftover food in the fight against waste. Be it in self-organized community gardens in the neighbourhood, where plants are grown for personal consumption as an expression of consumer criticism. Be it in repair cafés and upcycling initiatives that see themselves as another form of critical consumer practice. Be it in associations in rural areas affected by emigration, where they are already increasingly (having to) take on an infrastructural substitute function in order to close gaps in supply. Or individual active consumers who "buycott" products and brands - consumer participation takes many forms. What they all have in common is that the activities carried out promote the more or less active participation of consumers in satisfying their needs and at the same time open up ways for them to help shape consumption practices. While all these forms of expression are constitutive for a democratic society, the first-mentioned examples in particular are examples of increasingly organized consumer participation, through which consumers not only contribute to their own satisfaction of needs and help shape society, but can also integrate themselves into society through collective activities.

This organized consumer participation manifests itself in both formal and non-formal, small and large, local and (inter)national organizational frameworks. And although it appears to be prospering in view of the many examples currently in existence, these organizations are often confronted with a wide variety of challenges in practice and are sometimes at risk of failing - or have already failed. But what factors inhibit or promote the (mis)success of organized consumer participation? How can these organizations help themselves? How can organizational consulting initiatives and politics support the establishment, consolidation and/or expansion of organized consumer participation? And what is already known theoretically, empirically and normatively about the (mis)success factors of organized consumer participation?

Based on the identification and analysis of general and type-specific (mis)success factors of organized consumer participation, the aim is to derive recommendations for action for both the organizations themselves, advisory institutions and the framework-creating consumer (education) policy, on the basis of which the establishment, perpetuation and/or expansion of organized consumer participation can be further developed.

Experimental workshop on rural consumer policy

Whether it's problems with online ordering, questions about insurance or pension provision or problems with building and housing: In many cases, you first need information on what your rights are as a consumer and how to get justice.

But how do consumers get this information? Do consumers living in rural areas have particular problems getting answers and help? How do existing digital services help consumers here and how should possible digital services help in the future?

On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV), Prof. Dr. Hanna Schramm-Klein is conducting the Rural Consumer Policy Experimental Workshop project. The aim is to derive recommendations for action for the federal government: how consumer protection and consumer information in rural areas should be designed with the help of digitalization.

Eight events are being held nationwide (seven in rural areas, one in a large city).

Children's purchasing skills

Children make or influence purchasing decisions at a young age - and are perceived and addressed by companies in this role. From the age of around one year, children have an influence on consumption and purchasing decisions: they articulate wishes and influence the purchasing decisions of others. Product features and price moderate the strength of this influence. Children usually make their own purchasing decisions from the age of six. According to the 2017 Children's Media Study, children between the ages of 6 and 13 have an average of €27 per month per child at their disposal through pocket money or additional income. Children use this money to buy products for their own use or specifically for other people. Which products children prefer depends on their gender and age.

As manufacturers and retailers try to persuade children to buy their products, pupils should learn to differentiate between the purposes of media messages and assess their impact on the target audience as part of media education. This applies in particular to television advertising, as there is a significant amount of advertising aimed directly at children and tailored to them in this medium. At the point of sale, a large number of products are offered that are specifically aimed at children as buyers through their packaging design, their haptics or their naming. Ultimately, however, children not only come into contact with marketing messages tailored directly to them, but also receive advertising messages and other marketing activities that are actually aimed at adults.

There are a number of studies on individual aspects that can be assumed to be associated with children's purchasing decisions. However, the question of the extent to which the individual skills in terms of purchasing competence affect children's purchasing decisions has not yet been investigated. Furthermore, neither the purchasing behavior nor the purchasing decision processes of (school) children have been comprehensively analyzed to date. In an initial qualitative study, the challenges faced by children in purchasing situations were identified and qualitative indications of the internal structure of purchasing competence were determined in order to develop the concept of purchasing competence. The dimensions identified in this way are now to be quantitatively validated in a larger sample and their significance for short-term behavior in the decision-making situation analyzed.

Digital voice assistants

As digitalization progresses, consumers are constantly being confronted with new technologies. As part of this development, the use of digital voice assistants is currently a particular focus. Large international companies such as Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and Samsung play a particularly important role and are involved in the development and expansion of digital voice assistants such as smart speakers (e.g. Amazon's Alexa or Google Home) or integrated voice applications in smartphones (e.g. Apple's Siri). The main features of this new technology lie primarily in elements of human-computer interaction and the tasks and services it performs for consumers. Although the number of current users is growing, as is the number of those who would like to use digital voice assistants in the future, the interactions between older consumers (over 60) and digital voice assistants in a consumer context have so far been largely unexplored. Due to special needs and a possible lower level of competence with regard to the use of information and communication technologies, an increase in consumer vulnerability compared to other consumer groups can be assumed here. For example, there are no findings to date on how older consumers use digital voice assistants for online shopping and where this may result in risks for them, what data is (consciously and unconsciously) released and whether there is actually any steering of consumption, which is often discussed in the media.

Such steering can take the form of a reduced pre-selection by digital voice assistants and is associated with a restriction on the free choice of products or the availability of certain variants. An overview of alternative products and prices is only possible to a limited extent or, in extreme cases, not at all due to the low level of transparency and control compared to online shopping on a computer or cell phone. On the other hand, purchasing and decision-making processes can be much simpler and much more convenient. Depending on the pre-selection and configuration of the systems with which the voice assistants communicate, particularly advantageous product and selection options for consumers can also be promoted, such as sustainable or particularly energy-efficient products. For older consumers with dietary restrictions in particular, digital voice assistants could be used to pre-select products according to a defined dietary guideline in order to support a healthier lifestyle. Especially if purchasing competence is limited due to certain competence deficits or if there are specific vulnerabilities, these can be reduced by introducing the interface of digital voice assistants. With the conscious willingness to reduce one's own private autonomy and privacy at this point, digital voice assistants can also offer individual benefits, e.g. with regard to health.

However, as there is still hardly any research on the exact use of digital voice assistants by older consumers and how to use them when shopping online, the need for such a research project becomes clear, as well as to identify the exact goals, but also barriers and dangers, for older consumers and to develop practicable solutions and measures to ensure safe online shopping with digital voice assistants. To this end, both qualitative and quantitative studies will be carried out at the Chair of Marketing and Retailing from November 2019 to October 2020 in order to derive explicit consequences and options for action, especially for older consumers, consumer policy and consumer education.

Private labels

The German food retail sector is characterized by intense competition, strong concentration tendencies and low sales profitability with growing sales areas. The product ranges are increasingly perceived by customers as interchangeable and many retail companies have relied on price-oriented strategies in the past in order to differentiate themselves from the competition.

In the search for ways out of this dilemma, many retailers are trying to differentiate themselves through their product range. In this context, own brands and private labels are accorded central importance. Until now, retailers' own brands were predominantly positioned in the lower price segment. However, changing consumer needs also demand higher quality standards from retailers' own brands. For this reason, premium-positioned private labels offer interesting development prospects for retailers' product range management. This development has been evident in the international environment for some time. For example, the retail companies Tesco (UK) and Coop (CH), based in the UK and Switzerland, established premium retail brands a few years ago with "Tesco Finest" and "Coop Fine Food".

For a long time, little attention was paid to the potential of premium private labels in German food retailing and it is only recently that premium-positioned private labels such as "REWE Feine Welt", "real Selection" or "Edeka Selection" have found their way into food retail product ranges. However, the expected success of premium retail brands has not yet materialized in the German food retail sector from a supplier perspective. This project therefore examines, among other things...

... how private labels and premium retail brands are perceived and evaluated by customers,

... which factors are important for the selection of private labels when making a purchase and

... which interrelationships exist between retailer brand and private label.

Multichannel touchpoints

The introduction and implementation of the Internet has brought about a change in society that has had and continues to have a significant impact on the retail landscape. The rapid growth of the online channel has given rise to new business models and a wide range of opportunities for interaction between providers and customers, thereby changing consumer behavior when preparing for, making and following up on purchases.

These new channels and customer contact points, such as social media or the mobile internet, influence the design of the entire marketing mix within a provider's multichannel marketing system. However, such a multichannel system can only be designed efficiently and effectively if it is known how customers use the new contact points, what functions these contacts have and how these contact points are used with traditional marketing channels (e.g. radio and television advertising, stationary sales outlets) in purchasing processes. This project therefore examines, among other things

- Which contacts are realized in a multi-channel marketing system in buying processes?

- What functions do these contacts have?

- What significance do the contacts have in the purchasing process?

- What correlations exist between the different contact points?

- Are more contact points in a multichannel system better?

- How do new channels affect the information and decision-making behavior of consumers?

- How can a provider guide its customers through its multichannel system along the purchasing process in a targeted manner?

Partners: REWE, Saturn, Thomas Cook

eMERGE

The Chair of Marketing is working together with several partners in the eMERGE demonstration project, which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development (BMVBS) as part of the "Model Regions for Electromobility" program and coordinated by NOW. The name eMERGE is derived from "electromobile model regions".

First-generation electromobility projects focused primarily on the technical application and everyday usability of charging infrastructure and vehicles; second-generation electromobility projects, on the other hand, focus on vehicles, infrastructure and business models.

In eMERGE, "electromobility" is considered, analyzed and further developed holistically, taking into account all sectors involved, from vehicles to energy, transport and finally users/customers. To this end, up to 175 smart for two electric drives will be used by customers - private and business customers - under real conditions in the Rhine-Ruhr and Berlin/Potsdam model regions and their use will be systematically evaluated.

Task of the Chair of Marketing:

The importance of analyzing user behavior arises from the fact that the market success of technological innovations is no longer determined solely by product sales, but is primarily determined by the actual use of the products by consumers. With regard to eMERGE, the following questions are of particular interest:

- Which customer groups exist beyond those that can be captured as innovators in the fleet test?

- What requirements and needs do customers have in terms of vehicles, energy and transportation in the context of controlled charging and tariff incentive systems?

- Which control mechanisms (tariffs) can be used and how do they work?

- What needs to be offered on the vehicle, energy and transport side to ensure that electric mobility is used by a sufficiently large group of consumers?

The answers to these questions provide a comprehensive insight into how the interface between car and charging infrastructure must be designed from the user's perspective and which tariff models can be used effectively. The integration of the vehicle, energy, transport and user perspectives enables a holistic view of the factors influencing users' decision-making processes. It is also necessary to consider the general perspectives of users with regard to the perception and use of electromobility, particularly in order to derive overall trade-off relationships between the main domains. These then provide a basis for deriving business area-related models.

Answers to the above-mentioned questions will be ensured by means of both qualitative and quantitative surveys as part of the fleet test (WP 800) and through further investigations as part of the project:

- Generation of user profiles on the basis of "stated preferences"

- Determination of benefit contributions and trade-offs through conjoint analyses in laboratory experiments

- Validation of the findings in field tests

- Determination of behavioral changes over time through periodic surveys, data loggers and logbooks.

Project key facts:

- Project duration: July 01, 2012 - June 30, 2015

- Project partners: Daimler AG, Fraunhofer FOKUS, PTV AG, TU Berlin, RWTH Aachen, University of Siegen, RWE Effizienz GmbH

- Model regions: Rhine-Ruhr and Berlin/Potsdam

- Vehicles: up to 175 smart fortwo electric drive

- Users: Private customers and companies (company fleets)

eMERGE2

Due to the many valuable results, the follow-up project "eMERGE II" will start after eMERGE. This enables a more detailed examination of specific issues based on the results already obtained from the predecessor project. In this way, business model approaches can be modeled and user behavior can be examined.

Based on the preliminary findings of eMERGE that customers with electric vehicles mainly drive short distances of less than 10 kilometers, the effects of this user behavior on the powertrains of electric vehicles will be investigated. For this reason, the customer load collectives are being determined in real driving conditions for the needs-based development and testing of powertrains. In future, the results can be incorporated into the development of electric drivetrains together with empirical values and from tests with endurance runners.

As part of eMERGE II, a vehicle fleet of up to 200 vehicles will be used in the model regions of Berlin-Potsdam, Stuttgart, Rhine-Ruhr and Rhine-Main, consisting of the B-Class Electric Drive and plug-in hybrids from Mercedes-Benz. Based on other vehicle types and different technical equipment, it can be assumed that the project participants have different usage motives than the smart fortwo electric drive from the previous project. The integration of plug-in hybrids into the study model also makes it possible to compare the usage behavior of another customer group with the behavior of customers with purely electric vehicles.

Project key facts:

- Project duration: January 01, 2015 - March 30, 2017

- Project partners: Daimler AG, FKFS, TU Berlin, RWTH Aachen, University of Siegen GmbH

- Model regions: Germany-wide

- Vehicles: up to 150 vehicles of the B-Class 250 e and up to 50 vehicles of the C-Class 350 e

- Users: Private customers and companies (company fleets)

Multi-channel retailing

Multi-channel systems have become an integral part of the current retail landscape. They link different operating and sales channels for customers and enable them to use one or more of these channels for their purchases, depending on the context and their needs.

Due to the new development of sales channels and the dynamics in the further development of these channels - with the focus on online channels - rethinking processes and restructuring of retail sales channel systems are required. Due to the new sales channels, which obey new principles, the adaptation of the systems cannot be realized through gradual changes alone. In this context, the fact that customers no longer use the channels sequentially, but often in parallel, plays a major role.

This requires an even more integrative view and design of the channels of retail companies, in the sense of cross-channel management, in order to enable a smooth transition between the alternative shopping channels for customers. This requires retailers to make significant changes to both the front-end and back-end of their multi-channel retailing systems.

The use of multi-channel systems in retail is associated with an increase in complexity at various levels of business processes and within the organizational structure. In particular, there is a risk of consumer disorientation, which can arise if different services are offered in the alternative sales channels.

Empirical studies show that the aforementioned risks occur in a large number of the multi-channel systems implemented to date. One of the main reasons for this is that the majority of these multi-channel systems have grown evolutionarily by adding new sales channels to existing operating and sales type portfolios, with the result that the introduction of new channels was only coordinated with the existing operating and sales types to a limited extent.

There can be significant differences between the objective design of multi-channel systems and their subjective perception by consumers. Consumer behavior can be described as a process that begins with consumers perceiving companies' multi-channel systems in a subjective and individual way. They "process" this perceived information about the multi-channel systems in a certain way, forming a certain level of trust and their personal attitude towards the multi-channel system. As a result of this process, consumer behavior can be anticipated.

Multichannel e-commerce

The relevance of the Internet as an information medium and shopping opportunity is constantly increasing. Looking at current developments in the field of e-commerce, it can be seen that alternative ways of accessing a retailer's online offering are playing an increasingly important role.

Mobile devices such as smartphones or tablet PCs in particular are increasingly being used in the purchasing process. Mobile shopping is growing steadily and is becoming increasingly important for companies in online distribution. However, it is not only the purchase via a mobile device that is decisive, but also its use in the pre-purchase and post-purchase phase, e.g. to call up product information via the mobile device before the purchase or to check the delivery status after an order.

Online shopping via internet-enabled televisions could soon establish itself as a further alternative access to online shopping. In the market for TV sets, integrated Internet access is gradually becoming the standard. Whether consumers will use the newly acquired back-channel capability of Internet-enabled televisions for online shopping is a relevant research question for both practitioners and academics. The importance and development of shopping solutions and usage concepts tailored to the capabilities of TV sets is also of interest. This results in an integrative field of research from the areas of marketing, media science and human-computer interaction.

The above examples show that consumers are increasingly using different end devices as part of the purchasing process and will do so more frequently in the future. As a result, online retailers must configure and coordinate alternative electronic sales channels (electronic channels or e-channels). Of particular relevance here is the fact that the e-channels differ from one another in terms of their usage situation and usage options, depending on the end device used.

How consumers perceive and evaluate the different options (e-channels) for shopping on the Internet has not yet been investigated by scientific research. Previous studies on online consumer behavior have often been limited to visits and purchases via a retailer's "traditional" website, thereby ignoring the fact that online purchases are made via different e-channels. Other studies on Internet purchasing behavior look at online purchasing behavior in general and therefore do not record whether consumers use different e-channels and whether the characteristics of the e-channels used have an influence on online purchasing behavior.

Although there are studies on individual e-channel formats, such as studies on mobile shopping, the channels have so far only been analyzed in isolation, without considering the influence and connection with other e-channels. Accordingly, these studies are limited by a "single-channel perspective" and neglect effects that arise from the offer and use of alternative e-channels. These so-called cross-channel effects are known from the field of "multichannel retailing". From a scientific point of view, it is therefore necessary to merge the theories and knowledge from the two areas of "e-commerce" and "multichannel retailing" into a new research area, "multichannel e-commerce". Both the perception and assessment of individual e-channels and the perception and assessment of a multichannel e-commerce system are of interest to academics and practitioners.

For academic research, it is also necessary to know whether existing measurement instruments for recording online consumer behavior are also suitable for validly recording online shopping via several e-channels. It can be assumed that the evaluation of constructs such as attitude, perceived benefit or satisfaction when shopping online is significantly influenced by the end device used. This results in the challenge and objective of further developing existing models and instruments in order to be able to use them in the area of multichannel e-commerce.

Sales optimization

A holistic sales analysis was carried out for an internationally active component manufacturer as part of a practical project. The central challenge was to optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of sales in the presence of diversified customer structures.

As a basis for a holistic sales analysis, an investigation of the market and competitive situation was first carried out. Problem areas in the areas of communication, decision-making authority, delivery deadlines, customer orientation, sales incentive system, controlling system and product portfolio were uncovered in in-depth interviews with the management and as part of employee interviews, and corresponding solutions were developed. In addition, core competencies derived from individual interviews were identified as competitive advantages that could be used to develop a new positioning strategy.

Another objective was to identify weaknesses and optimization potential within the existing sales organization. Based on a regional or product-oriented division and organization of sales, a differentiation and focus on customer groups was developed as a solution approach. This included the optimization of sales processes through to customer-oriented production management.

Finally, recommendations for reducing deficits in sales were developed and discussed with the management and sales employees. The focus was on greater customer orientation and a stronger consideration of customer values instead of primarily thinking in terms of turnover. This required a rethink in sales towards selling service benefits instead of concentrating on product performance. Recommendations were also made for the use of improved controlling methods.

Faculty marketing

The restructuring of the university in 2011 and the associated formation of faculties has also brought the positioning of the individual disciplines into the focus of the external image. As the Faculty of Economic Disciplines at the University of Siegen with almost 4700 students, it is therefore also important for Faculty III (School of Economic Disciplines, Business Information Systems, Business Law at the University of Siegen) to have an active and well-positioned faculty marketing program.

The target group of these undertakings are not only potential first-year students, citizens of the city of Siegen, but above all the students of the Schools. The conceptual design and implementation of suitable events is intended to promote active participation of students in everyday university life and thus increase their general identification with the university and the Schools.

In addition, the external image of Schools III is an important aspect of faculty marketing. Increased communication of the new Schools logo is therefore aimed at strengthening the positioning of the Schools III "brand". In line with Rector Burckhart's visualization of the university's profile, Schools III will thus make its contribution to highlighting its thematic diversity and communicating it in the spirit of the university.

Particularly in view of the planned move of Schools III to the Lower Castle, marketing is a major challenge and, if successfully implemented, can make a valuable contribution to better integrating the University of Siegen into the city.

In cooperation with the university committees, Schools III and student initiatives within our university, the Chair of Marketing is striving to successfully implement the aforementioned goals.

Regional marketing

In the intensified competition between regions and cities for attractive target groups, regional marketing is becoming increasingly important. Many regions are therefore creating brands to position their potential in the areas of residential and living space, leisure facilities, tourism or regional products. These actively managed measures are intended to increase the attractiveness of a region and attract and subsequently retain potential stakeholders.

For regions, the question therefore arises as to how residents can be attracted and retained. Initial approaches can be derived from previous research. For example, an empirical study on the motives for migration within Germany has shown that, in addition to the labor market, soft location factors such as the social environment, nature and landscape are particularly important when decisions are made to move or remain in a location. The increasing importance of soft location factors therefore also provides a specific task for regional marketing.

Long-term studies have been and are being carried out as part of the research at the Chair of Marketing, whereby external and internal stakeholders are taken into account in the context of this topic. These can be, for example, local companies as well as residents of the local region. In particular, topic-specific points are surveyed that are of interest and particular importance for regions in general.

Digital Natives' Traces

Looking at the phenomenon of "online social networks" from just one angle is clearly not enough. And yet most of the relevant research work deals with the topic exclusively from its specific perspective and only mentions other aspects peripherally. For this reason, four chairs of the School of Economic Disciplines, Business Information Systems and Business Law at the University of Siegen have joined forces and initiated the "Digital Natives' Traces" project. Digital Natives' Traces analyzes online social networks as data-driven platforms and examines the challenges and perspectives that arise from the perspective of the various disciplines involved.

Looking at the name of the project, the three areas "Digital", "Natives" and "Traces", which serve as analysis dimensions for various key topics, immediately catch the eye.

Digital addresses legal, business and information technology issues arising from the mediatization of social processes on the Internet - specifically the emergence of Web 2.0 applications.

Natives refers to topics relating to the use of online social networks by the "inhabitants" of the Internet. In this respect, the focus is on the individuals behind the data.

Traces analyzes findings on the creation and use of data traces on online social networks. The aim is to determine how worthy of protection they are for the individuals generating the data and what material value they have for the economic actors using the data, as well as what conflicts arise from this.

Digital Natives' Traces brings together and coordinates research on online social networks (OSN) from the perspective of various scientific disciplines. The common starting point is the different demands of the stakeholders on the platforms with regard to the protection and utilization of user data.

In addition to open information technology questions regarding the construction of privacy-enhancing OSNs, economic questions regarding the monetization of data in OSNs are of particular interest. Both aspects operate in an environment that is subject to legal regulations. The success of an OSN depends both on the technical implementation and on sustainable financing. Furthermore, OSNs and the implemented exploitation and data protection measures must be accepted by users and formulated in a comprehensible manner.

With the help of topic-specific workshops and at international conferences, the discourse is to be expanded on an (inter)national level: Here, experts on online social networks from a wide range of disciplines come together to exchange research findings on a platform that is unique and open in this form. In a transdisciplinary exchange, perspectives and challenges of the generation, protection and monetization of data from the perspective of consumer behaviour research and marketing, media law, computer science and e-business will be discussed controversially and possible solutions identified.

PoS study (displays)

There is much to be said for the use of promotions in retail. Studies show that the majority of all purchasing decisions, at least in the area of everyday consumer goods, are first made at the point of sale (POS). In addition, findings indicate that many shoppers enter the food market knowing that they will buy products and offers that they had not planned to buy. Sales promotions also play an important role here.

It is not only in recent years that it has often been emphasized in practice and science in this context that the majority of purchases are habitualized and not made on the basis of an active, conscious purchasing decision process. The question arises as to what extent sales promotion measures are actually able to influence these "automatic" processes and what concrete effects they have on the shopper. Despite the importance of this question, little research has been conducted into the influence of promotions on the purchasing process. The predominant determination of the promotion effect with the help of exit surveys of shoppers or an analysis of sales figures (scanner checkout data etc.) provide important insights into their sales effect, but a comprehensive understanding requires a consideration of the information and perception processes at the point of sale.

In the project Promotional Mechanics at the POS, which was funded by the Research Pool of the Academic Partnership, we analyzed the effect of sales promotions on the purchasing decision processes. In particular, these questions were answered:

- To what extent do different promotional mechanics (price promotion, secondary placement and display) have a differentiated effect on shoppers' purchasing behavior?

- What significance does the respective product category have for the effect of sales promotion measures?

- Can different behaviors be observed in test persons depending on whether the sales promotion is in a typical planned or impulse purchase category?