Digitalization & Big Data

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Digitalization & Big Data"

Raymond Dean
6 years ago
Views:

Digitalization & Big Data To coin or not to coin: Trust and Pricing of Cryptocurrencies The Bitcoin exchange rate is currently rated at 7.000 per Bitcoin.

The pricing and customer trust implications of an introduction of a Bitcoin payment option for established companies with traditional business models are not clear, despite the broad media attention

1 Digitalization & Big Data To coin or not to coin: Trust and Pricing of Cryptocurrencies The Bitcoin exchange rate is currently rated at per Bitcoin. According to the Handelsblatt, many long term investors are considering Bitcoin as a worthwhile investment, despite its volatility. The pricing and customer trust implications of an introduction of a Bitcoin payment option for established companies with traditional business models are not clear, despite the broad media attention on cryptocurrencies. This qualitative master thesis aims to understand the cryptocurrency phenomenon from a marketing perspective, building on data from expert interviews addressing pricing and customer trust issues in a cryptocurrency context. Implications with regard to the opportunities and challenges of the implementation of cryptocurrency-based business models shall be derived for research and practice. Narayanan, Arvind, Joseph Bonneau, Edward Felten, Andrew Miller, and Steven Goldfeder (2015), Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Technologies. New Jersey, USA: Princeton University Press. Böhme, Rainer, Nicolas Christin, Benjamin Edelman, and Tyler Moore (2015), Bitcoin: Economics, Technology, and Governance, Journal of Economic Perspective, 29(2), Extance, Andy (2015), Bitcoin and Beyond, Nature, 526(7571), Narayanan, Arvind and Andrew Miller (2017), Research for Practice: Cryptocurrencies, Blockchains, and Smart Contracts; Hardware for Deep Learning, Communications of the ACM, 60(5),

2 Page 2 Alexa, play Helene Fischer! Do Intelligent Virtual Assistants Affect Consumer Behavior? Intelligent virtual assistants (IVA), like Apple s Siri, Amazon s Alexa, or Google s Smart Home, allow consumers to easily get in contact with the respective company. With the help of IVAs, consumers can search for products of interest and directly order them via voice control. Despite the growing importance of this new sales channel, little research explores if and how IVAs affect consumer behavior. Based on a comprehensive literature review and own empirical research (e.g., expert interviews, experiment, or consumer survey) it is the goal of this thesis to explore how consumers use IVAs. Implications for theory and practice shall be provided. Kannan, P.K. and Hongshuang Li (2017), Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 34(1), Chung, Hyunji, Michaela Iorga, Jeffrey Voas, and Sangjin Lee (2017), Alexa, Can I Trust You?, Computer, 50(9), George Anders (2017), Alexa, Understand Me, MIT Technology Review, 120(5), Bigger is Not Always Better! The Barriers to Big Data Application A key consequence of the ubiquitous digitalization in many parts of our lives is that individuals leave digital footprints in a myriad of different systems. With every digital action, the remaining footprints become Big Data. Based on a comprehensive review of the literature, it is the aim of this thesis to evaluate the barriers to Big Data application from a firm-perspective. Qualitative data from expert interviews shall be used to validate and advance the findings from the literature review, before implications for theory and practice shall be derived. Wedel, Michel and P. K. Kannan (2016), Marketing Analytics for Data-Rich Environments, Journal of Marketing, 80 (6), Kannan, P.K. and Hongshuang Li (2017), Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 34(1), Ringel, Daniel M. and Bernd Skiera (2016), Visualizing Asymmetric Competition Among More Than 1000 Products Using Big Search Data, Marketing Science, 35 (3),

3 Page 3 Implications of Digitalization for Innovation Development Digitalization is an omnipresent phenomenon leading to dramatic changes in many industries. For example, the multitude of available data holds entirely new opportunities for companies in innovation development. However, it is unclear which resources and capabilities companies require to develop innovations effectively in an era of digitalization. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the implications of digitalization on innovation development based on a literature review and expert interviews. Moreover, critical resources and capabilities for companies should be identified, that enable companies to master digitalization in innovation development. Advisor: Markus Welle LaValle, Steve, Eric Lesser, Rebecca Shockley, Michael S. Hopkins, and Nina Kruschwitz (2011), Big Data, Analytics and the Path From Insights to Value, MIT Sloan Management Review, 52 (2), Sorescu, Alina (2017), Data-Driven Business Model Innovation, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 34 (5), Thieme, R. Jeffrey, Michael Song, and Roger J. Calantone (2000), Artificial Neural Network Decision Support Systems for New Product Development Project Selection, Journal of Marketing Research, 37 (4),

4 Page 4 The Democratization of Innovation Development Innovation as data refers to a decentralized, customer-led process in which customers use digital tools to develop innovations (Rindfleisch et al. 2017). IAD in form of information goods, such as software, is nowadays quite common. However, physical products are most of the time still developed and commercialized by companies. With the emergence of affordable 3D printers, customers can become innovators of physical products on their own. Nevertheless, it is unclear why and under which conditions customer engage in IAD. The aim of this is thesis to gain insights about the motives, drivers, and barriers for customer engagement in IAD. Type: Literature review and experiment or consumer survey Advisor: Markus Welle Bharadwaj, Neeraj and Charles H. Noble (2015), Innovation in Data-Rich Environments, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 32 (3), D Aveni, Richard A. (2013), 3-D Printing Will Change the World, Harvard Business Review, 91 (3), Rindfleisch, Aric, Matthew O Hern, and Vishal Sachdev (2017), The Digital Revolution, 3D Printing, and Innovation as Data, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 34 (5), The Implications of 3D Printing on Innovation Development An explorative Analysis In the era of big data, companies try to leverage the multitude of available data for innovation development. Based on insights, e.g. from online-shopping behavior of customers, companies develop and produce new products. Technologies, such as 3D printing, have the potential to turn this process upside down, as they enable customers to develop and produce new products on their own. This development could in turn lead to dramatic distortions for entire industries. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the implications of 3D printing and similar technologies on innovation development based on a literature review and expert interviews. Advisor: Markus Welle Bharadwaj, Neeraj and Charles H. Noble (2015), Innovation in Data-Rich Environments, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 32 (3), D Aveni, Richard A. (2013), 3-D Printing Will Change the World, Harvard Business Review, 91 (3), Rindfleisch, Aric, Matthew O Hern, and Vishal Sachdev (2017), The Digital Revolution, 3D Printing, and Innovation as Data, Journal of Product Innovation Management, 34 (5),

5 Page 5 Add-On Features and Product Upgrades Applying a Pay-Per-Use Principle: The Firm Perspective Digitization is on the rise and has an undeniable impact on the present and future of product design. Increasingly, companies are offering software-based extensions or digital add-ons with their traditional product offerings. For example, the electric car manufacturer Tesla promotes the possibility of booking temporary battery range extensions by means of a software upgrade, and Audi is working on a business model according to which customers will be able to digitally unlock optional extras as required. The aim of this thesis is to examine the firm capabilities needed for the implementation of digital add-on business models and to explore their consequences from a company perspective. Implications with regard to the opportunities and challenges of digital addon business models shall be derived for research and practice. Advisor: Sergej von Janda Balachander, Subramanian, Esther Gal-Or, Tansev Geylani, and Alex Jiyoung Kim (2017), Provision of Optional Versus Standard Product Features in Competition, Journal of Marketing, 81 (3), Bertini, Marco, Elie Ofek, and Dan Ariely (2009), The Impact of Add-On Features on Consumer Product Evaluations, Journal of Consumer Research, 36 (1), The Art of Predicting: Methods, Benefits, and Obstacles in Practice In recent years, technologies that employ techniques of machine learning, e.g., IBM s Watson, have become popular in the fields of engineering, computer-science, and information sciences. Many marketing models aim at the prediction of consumer behavior which can also be accomplished by employing machine learning. Therefore, this thesis aims at evaluating to what extent companies already use machine learning in this marketing context. Expected is a qualitative research design involving expert managers to investigate which approaches companies are currently using, and which advantages and disadvantages they have experienced, in order to derive implications for theory and practice. Wedel, Michel and P. K. Kannan (2016), Marketing Analytics for Data-Rich Environments, Journal of Marketing, 80 (6), Cui, Dapeng and David Curry (2005), Prediction in Marketing Using the Support Vector Machine, Marketing Science, 24 (4),

6 Page 6 Big Data: An Analysis of the Effects for Modern Marketing A key consequence of the ubiquitous digitalization in many parts of our lives is that individuals leave digital footprints in a myriad of different systems with every digital action. These footprints then create Big Data. This master thesis aims to evaluate the effects of Big-Data on modern marketing practice. A quantitative research design is proposed in order to examine, whether the use of Big-Data has affected marketing in companies and, if this is the case, to what extent and in which ways. The thesis shall then derive implications for theory and practice. Type: Literature review and survey Wedel, Michel and P. K. Kannan (2016), Marketing Analytics for Data-Rich Environments, Journal of Marketing, 80 (6), Ringel, Daniel M. and Bernd Skiera (2016), Visualizing Asymmetric Competition Among More Than 1000 Products Using Big Search Data, Marketing Science, 35 (3), The Digitalization of Marketing in Emerging Markets The commercial use of the internet and the rise of digital marketing began almost three decades ago. Today, practitioners and scholars highlight the increasing relevance of digital marketing channels and customer relations world-wide also in emerging economies in Africa, Latin America, or India. Digital technologies such as the Internet of Things, Smart Products, or Artificial Intelligence promise significant potential to transform consumers' lives in emerging economies when they become available to the masses. As emerging economies are fundamentally different from developed markets, it is important to understand the particular challenges and opportunities for firms in the digitalization of marketing in emerging market environments. Hence, it is the aim of this thesis to identify the antecedents and consequences of digital marketing in emerging economies from a firm perspective, building on a comprehensive literature review and data from expert interviews. Implications with regard to the challenges and opportunities of digital marketing in emerging economies shall be provided for academia and practice. Advisor: Sergej von Janda Kannan, P. K. and Hongshuang Li (2017), Digital marketing: A framework, review and research agenda, International Journal of Research in Marketing, 34 (1), Dadzie, Kofi Q., David K. Amponsah, Charlene A. Dadzie, and Evelyn M. Winston (2017), How Firms Implement Marketing Strategies in Emerging Markets: An Empirical Assessment of The 4A Marketing Mix Framework, Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 25 (3), Bang, Vasant V, Sharad L Joshi, and Monica C Singh (2016), Marketing strategy in emerging markets: a conceptual framework, Journal of Strategic Marketing, 24 (2),

Course Syllabus. Mode of Delivery Work Placement Corequisites Distance Learning N/A None

Course Syllabus. Mode of Delivery Work Placement Corequisites Distance Learning N/A None Course Syllabus Course Code Course Title ECTS Credits COMP-541DL Digital Currency Programming 10 Prerequisites Department Semester DFIN-511, DFIN-524 Computer Science Fall Type of Course Field Language