Prof. Dr. Reto Hofstetter
Professor of Digital Marketing
Dr. oec.
T +41 41 229 58 80
reto.hofstetter@unilu.ch
Frohburgstrasse 3, Room 4.B36
CV
Professor Reto Hofstetter received a PhD, MA, and BA in business administration and economics from the University of Bern Switzerland, and also a BA in computer science from the University of Applied Sciences of Bern.
Professor Hofstetter is currently a Professor of Marketing at the Faculty of Economics and Management of the University of Lucerne. Before Lucerne, he was Associate Professor at the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) and Assistant Professor at the University of St. Gallen. He visited the Wharton School and Stanford University as part of his research.
Professor Hofstetter’s current research focuses on digital consumer behavior, social media, influencer marketing, crowdsourcing, open innovation, digital self-presentation, -reporting and disclosure. His research has been published in top-tier academic journals, including the Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, Journal of Business Ethics, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Journal of Product Innovation Management or the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and has been featured by Forbes, Harvard Business Review, or National Geographic.
He teaches courses related to General Marketing, Digital Marketing, Pricing, Quantitative Marketing, Marketing Analytics and Data Science. His teaching was recently recognized by the Crédit Suisse Best Teaching Award.
Curriculum Vitae Reto Hofstetter (PDF)
Selected Publications
Clegg, M., Hofstetter, R., de Bellis, E. Schmitt, B. (2023). Unveiling the Mind of the Machine, Journal of Consumer Research. (Conditionally Accepted)
Hofstetter, R., Dahl, D. W., Aryobsei, S., Herrmann, A. (2021). Constraining Ideas: How Seeing Ideas of Others Harms Creativity in Open Innovation, Journal of Marketing Research. Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0022243720964429
Seele, P., Dierksmeier, C., Hofstetter, R., & Schultz, M. D. (2021). Mapping the Ethicality of Algorithmic Pricing: A Review of Dynamic and Personalized Pricing. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-23. Link: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-019-04371-w
Hofstetter, R., Rueppell, R., John, L. K. (2017), Temporary sharing prompts unrestrained disclosures that leave lasting negative impressions, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 114(45), 11902-11907. Link: https://www.pnas.org/content/114/45/11902.short
Shriver, S. K., Nair, H. S. Hofstetter, R. (2013), Social ties and user-generated content: Evidence from an online social network, Management Science, 59 (6), 1425-1443. Link: https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/mnsc.1110.1648
Miller, K.+ , Hofstetter, R.+ , Krohmer, H., Zhang, J. Z. (2011), How Should We Measure Consumers’ Willingness to Pay? An Empirical Comparison of State-of-the-Art Approaches, Journal of Marketing Research, 48(1), 172-184. (+ Equal contribution). Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1509/jmkr.48.1.172
Public Working Papers
Hofstetter, Reto, Gabriela Kunath, and Leslie K. John (2020), From Sweetheart to Scapegoat: Brand Selfie-Taking Shapes Consumer Behavior, Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 20-085, February 2020. Link: https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/from-sweetheart-to-scapegoat-brand-selfie-taking-shapes-consumer-behavior
Hofstetter, R., Nair, H., Misra, S. (2020), Can Open Innovation Survive? Imitation and Return on Originality in Crowdsourcing Creative Work. Stanford University Graduate School of Business Research Paper No. 18-11. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3133158
In the News
| Forbes | The Problem With Idea Competitions |
| Harvard Business Review | Bridging the Generational Divide |
| Harvard Business Review | The Problem with Innovation Contests |
| SRF | Werbung im Wandel |
| Neue Zürcher Zeitung | Diese Apps regieren die Welt |
| Bilanz | Reden statt tippen |
| Neue Zürcher Zeitung | Ämäson und Guugel losed jetzt mit |
| Forbes | Beware The Lasting Impression Of A Snapchat Selfie Or Instagram Story |
| Harvard Business Review | Rethinking Crowdsourcing |
| National Geographic | Can you solve the plastics problem? New prize invites ideas. |
Research
Research Priorities
- Digital Marketing
- User-Generated Content
- Digital Consumer Behavior
- Sharing on Social Media
- Influencer Marketing
- Digital Marketing Ethics
- Digital Self-Presentation, -reporting and -disclosure
- Crowdsourcing
- Open Innovation
- Voice User Interfaces
- Augmented/Virtual Reality
- Marketing Research Methodologies
- Survey/Marketing Research
Publications
- Nann, L., Finken, D., Zogaj, A., Reiser, S., & Hofstetter, R. (2023). What Do Consumers Think About Your Brand? Just Ask! Marketing Review St. Gallen, (01), 34–42. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7715945
- Zimmermann, J., Görgen, J., de Bellis, E., Hofstetter, R., & Puntoni, S. (2023). Smart Product Breakthroughs Depend on Customer Control. MIT Sloan Management Review.
- Clegg, M., Hofstetter, R., de Bellis, E., & Schmitt, B. (2023). Unveiling the Mind of the Machine. Journal of Consumer Research. (Conditionally Accepted).
- Bridging the Generational Divide. (2022). Harvard Business Review.
- Hofstetter, R., de Bellis, E., Brandes, L., Clegg, M., Lamberton, C., Reibstein, D., … Zhang, J. Z. (2022). Crypto-marketing: How non-fungible tokens (NFTs) challenge traditional marketing. Marketing Letters, 33, 705–711.
- Clegg, M., Hofstetter, R., Blohm, I., & Bravin, M. (2022). Human-Machine Creativity: How AI Can Influence Human Creativity in Open Innovation. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 6, 40–47.
- Hofstetter, R., Miller, K. M., Krohmer, H., & Zhang, Z. J. (2021). A de-biased direct question approach to measuring consumers’ willingness to pay. International Journal of Research in Marketing.
- Hofstetter, R., Dahl, D. W., Aryobsei, S., & Herrmann, A. (2021). Constraining Ideas: How Seeing Ideas of Others Harms Creativity in Open Innovation. Journal of Marketing Research.
- Hofstetter, R., Dahl, D. W., Aryobsei, S., & Herrmann, A. (2021). Featured in: The Problem with Innovation Contest Constraining Ideas: How Seeing Ideas of Others Harms Creativity in Open Innovation. Harvard Business Review.
- Hofstetter, R., Dahl, D. W., Aryobsei, S., & Herrmann, A. (2021). Featured in: The Problem with Innovation Contest Constraining Ideas: How Seeing Ideas of Others Harms Creativity in Open Innovation. Harvard Business Review France.
- Hofstetter, R., Dahl, D. W., Aryobsei, S., & Herrmann, A. (2021). Featured in: The Problem with Innovation Contest Constraining Ideas: How Seeing Ideas of Others Harms Creativity in Open Innovation. Harvard Business Manager Germany.
- Hofstetter, R., Miller, K. M., Krohmer, H., & Zhang, J. Z. (2020). A De-biased Direct Question Approach to Measuring Consumers’ Willingness to Pay. International Journal of Research in Marketing.
- Hofstetter, R., Dahl, D., Aryobsei, S., & Herrmann, A. (2020). Constraining Ideas: How Seeing Ideas of Others Can Harm or Help Creative Performances in Open Innovation. Journal of Marketing Research.
- Schultz, M., Seele, P., Hofstetter, R., & Dierksmeier, C. (2019). Mapping the Ethicality of Algorithmic Pricing: A Review of Dynamic and Personalzed Pricing. Journal of Business Ethics.
- Kunath, G., Pico, M., & Hofstettter, R. (2018). Erfolgreiches Influencer-Marketing-Management. Marketing Review St. Gallen.
- Should You Really Produce What Consumers Like Online? (2018). Journal of Product Innovation Management.
- Hofstetter, R., Zhang, J. Z., & Herrmann, A. (2017). Successive Open Innovation Contests and Incentives: Winner-Take-All or Multiple Prizes? Journal of Product Innovation Management.
- Hofstetter, R., Rueppell, R., & John, L. K. (2017). Temporary sharing prompts unrestrained disclosures that leave lasting negative impressions. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).
- Hofstetter, R., Zhang, J. Z., & Herrmann, A. (2017). The Hidden Pitfall of Innovation Prizes—Why winner-take-all prize structures increase churn among crowdsourcers. Harvard Business Review (Digital).
- Ott, T., Christen, M., Niederberger, T., Aebersold, R., & Hofstetter, R. (2015). A Semi-Supervised Learning System for Micro-Text Classification. Nonlinear Theory and Its Applications, IEICE NOLTA.
- Hofstetter, R., Miller, K., Krohmer, H., & Zhang, J. Z. (2013). How Do Consumer Characteristics Affect the Bias in Measuring Willingness to Pay for Innovative Products? Journal of Product Innovation Management.
- Shriver, S. K., Nair, H. S., & Hofstetter, R. (2013). Social ties and user-generated content: Evidence from an online social network. Management Science.
- Stadler, R., Kopitzki, D., Herrmann, A., Beck, L., & Hofstetter, R. (2012). Defaults als Navigationshilfen in Produktekonfiguratoren - ein Beispiel aus der Automobilindustrie. Marketing Review St. Gallen.
- Miller, K., Hofstetter, R., Krohmer, H., & Zhang, J. Z. (2011). How Should We Measure Consumers’ Willingness to Pay? An Empirical Comparison of State-of-the-Art Approaches. Journal of Marketing Research.
- Herrmann, A., Goldstein, D., Stadler, R., Landwehr, J. R., Heitmann, M., & Hofstetter, R. (2011). The Effect of Default Options on Choice - Evidence from Online Product Configurators. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services.
- Hofstetter, R., & Miller, K. (2009). Bessere Preisentscheidungen durch valide Messung der Zahlungsbereitschaft von Konsumenten. Marketing Review St. Gallen.
- Hofstetter, R., & Kunath, G. (2020). From Sweetheart to Scapegoat: Brand Selfie-Taking Shapes Consumer Behavior. Harvard Business School Working Paper.
- Hofstetter, R., Nair, H., & Misra, S. (2020). Can Open Innovation Survive? Imitation and Return on Originality in Crowdsourcing Creative Work. Stanford University Graduate School of Business Research Paper No. 18-11.
- A Copycat Penalty: Micro Evidence From an Online Crowdsourcing Platform. (2018).
- Hofstetter, R., Shriver, S., Nair, H., & Miller, K. (2009). Network Effects, User-Generated Content, and Social Ties: Evidence from an Online Social Network.
- Hofstetter, R. (2021). Step-by-Step Guide for Data Scraping. In Einhorn, M., Löffler, M., de Bellis, E., Herrmann, A. & Burghartz, P. (Eds.), The Machine Age of Customer Insight. Bingley BD16 1WA; UK: Emerald Publishing Limited.
- Herrmann, A., Hofstetter, R., & Beck, L. (2014). Big Data aus dem Produktkonfigurator: Entscheidungsunterstützung für Kunden und Basis für Customer Insights. In Brenner, W. & Hess, T. (Eds.), Wirtschaftsinformatik in Wissenschaft und Praxis: Festschrift für Hubert Österle. Berlin: Springer Verlag.
- Krohmer, H., Hofstetter, R., & Miller, K. (2013). Exakte Messung der Zahlungsbereitschaft von Kunden als Erfolgsfaktor des Preismanagements. In Kisgen, S., Dresen, A. & Faix, W (Eds.), International Management. Stuttgart: Steinbeis Edition.
- Klarmann, M., Miller, K., & Hofstetter, R. (2011). Methoden zur Preisfindung auf B2B Märkten. In Homburg, C. & Totzek, D. (Eds.), Preismanagement auf Business-to-Business Märkten. Wiesbaden: Gabler.
- Clegg, M., Lanz, A., & Hofstetter, R. (2020). Generationenkonflikt im Influencer-Marketing. Die Volkswirtschaft.
- Zimmermann, J. L., Clegg, M., de Bellis, E., & Hofstetter, R. (2020). Wenn sich Produkte selbständig machen – Handlungsempfehlungen zur Adoption von smarten Produkten. gfm-Forschungsreihe 3/20.
- Rohlfsen, F., Hofstetter, R., Finken, D., Ilg, L., Herger, P., de Carvalho, D., & Herrmann, A. (23 May 2023). Swiss Mobility Monitor 2022: selected insights (Swiss Consumer Studies) (p. 1). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7669974
- Finken, D., Imboden, N., Hofstetter, R., Campopiano, P., Schulz, M., & Hütte, I. (23 April 2023). Swiss Insurance Monitor 2022: selected insights (Swiss Consumer Studies) (p. 1). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7669938
- Zimmermann, J. L., Görgen, J., de Bellis, E., & Hofstetter, R. (23 March 2023). Smart Products Report 2022: selected insights (Swiss Consumer Studies) (p. 1). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7670154
- Funk, G., Hofstetter, R., Kälin, F., Jörg, D., Lopetrone, R., & Bruetsch, C. (4 April 2022). Voice First Barometer Schweiz 2020: Top 7 Insights (p. 1). Retrieved from https://www.unilu.ch/fakultaeten/wf/institute-zentren-forschungsstellen/institute-of-marketing-and-analytics/swiss-consumer-studies/
- Finken, D., Gorny, M., Hofstetter, R., Fankhauser, L., Waibel, R., & Schrötter, S. (4 October 2021). Swiss Augmented Reality Barometer 2021 (Swiss Consumer Studies) (pp. 1–72). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5159774
- Finken, D., Gorny, M., Hofstetter, R., Campopiano, P., Staats, K., & Jabs, N. (18 August 2021). Swiss Insurance Monitor 2021: selected insights (p. 1). https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5159772
- Zimmermann, J. L., Clegg, M., de Bellis, E., & Hofstetter, R. (4 February 2021). Smart Products Report 2020. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4282816
- Kunath, G., Hofstetter, R., Jörg, D., Maurer, M., & Lopetrone, R. (4 January 2021). Voice First Barometer Schweiz 2019. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4282834
- Clegg, M., Hofstetter, R., Schindler, L., Deubelbeiss, O., Lanz, A., Faltl, M., & & Tomczak, T. (4 December 2020). Swiss Influencer Marketing Report 2020. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4282836
- Kunath, G., Hofstetter, R., Jörg, D., & Demarchi, D. (2019). Voice Barometer Schweiz 2018.
- Pouly, M., & Berger, J. (2022). Does It Help to Be Creative on Social Media? A Machine Learning Approach to Examine Originality of Video Content from TikTok. In European Marketing Academy (EMAC) (Ed.), Proceedings of the European Marketing Academy Conference (EMAC). Budapest: Proceedings of the European Marketing Academy Conference (EMAC).
- Pouly, M., & Berger, J. (2022). Does It Help to Be Creative on Social Media? The Value of Originality for User-Generated Content on Social Media. In Society of Consumer Psychology (SCP) (Ed.), Proceedings of the Society of Consumer Psychology Conference. Nashville: Society of Consumer Psychology (SCP).
- Bravin, M., Clegg, M., Hofstetter, R., Pouly, M., & Berger, J. (2022). Does it help to be creative on Social Media? A Machine Learning Approach to examine Originality of user-generated Content from TikTok. In American Marketing Association (Ed.), AMA Educators Proceedings Volume 32. Las Vegas: AMA Educators Proceedings Volume 32.
- Pouly, M., & Berger, J. (2022). Does it help to be creative on TikTok? In ISMS Marketing Science Conference (Ed.), Proceedings of the Marketing Science Conference. Chicago: ISMS Marketing Science Conference.
- Nann, L., Funk, G., Hofstetter, R., & John, L. K. (2022). Share the Fame, Take the Blame: How Social Media Feedback Influences Brand Perceptions. In Association for Consumer Research (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research Vol. 50. Denver: Association for Consumer Research (ACR).
- Pouly, M., & Berger, J. (2022). Should You Really be Creative on Social Media? A Machine Learning Approach to Examine Originality of Video Content from TikTok. In Association for Consumer Research (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research Vol. 50. Denver: Association for Consumer Research (ACR).
- Association of Consumer Research (Ed.). (2021). Algorithm Transparency: How Unveiling Algorithms Influences Product Perception and Adoption. In Advances in Consumer Research Vol. 49. Duluth: Advances in Consumer Research.
- Finken, D., Hofstetter, R., Krishna, A., & von Wangenheim, F. (2021). Context Even Matters in Virtuality: Perception of Object Proximity and Ownership in Augmented Reality. In Advances in Consumer Research (Ed.), Association for Consumer Research (48th ed.). Seattle: Advances in Consumer Research Volume.
- Bravin, M., Clegg, M., Hofstetter, R., Pouly, M., & Berger, J. (2021). Does it help to be creative on Social Media? A Machine Learning Approach to Examine Originality of User-generated Content from TikTok. In Proceedings of Association of Consumer Research Conference (Ed.), Proceedings of Association of Consumer Research Conference. Seattle, Washington (USA): Association of Consumer Research Conference ACR North American Advances.
- Bravin, M., Clegg, M., Hofstetter, R., Pouly, M., & Berger, J. (2021). Should You Really Be Creative on Social Media? An Empirical Investigation of User-Generated Content From TikTok. In EMAC (Ed.), Proceedings of the European Marketing Academy, 50th. Madrid: EMAC.
- Association of Consumer Research (Ed.). (2021). Should You Really Be Creative on Social Media? An Empirical Investigation of User-Generated Content From TikTok. In Advances in Consumer Research Vol. 49. Duluth: Advances in Consumer Research.
- Finken, D., & Hofstetter, R. (im Druck). Too Close to Let Go: Psychological Distance and Consumers’ Tendency to Perceive Ownership for Products Presented in Augmented Reality. In European Marketing Academy Conference (Ed.), EMAC 2021 Annual Conference: Proceedings of the European Marketing Academy (Vol. 50). Madrid: European Marketing Academy Conference. Retrieved from http://proceedings.emac-online.org/pdfs/A2021-94732.pdf
- Clegg, M., Hofstetter, R., de Bellis, E., & Schmitt, B. (2021). Unveiling the Mind of the Machine: How Disclosing Algorithm Types Affects Consumers’ Adoption of Algorithm-Based Products. In EMAC (Ed.), Proceedings of the European Marketing Academy, 50th. Madrid: EMAC.
- Zimmermann, J., de Bellis, E., & Hofstetter, R. (2021). “Cleaning with Dustin Bieber: Nicknaming Autonomous Products and the Effect of Coopetition”. In American Psychological Association (Ed.), Proceedings of the American Psychological Association’s Conference on Technology, Mind, & Society. Washington, USA: American Psychological Association.
- Hofstetter, R., Nair, H., & Misra, S. (2020). Social Dynamics in Crowdsourcing: Imitation and Return on Originality in Online Design Contests. In INFORMS Marketing Science Conference (Ed.), INFORMS Marketing Science Conference. Durham, North Carolina, USA: INFORMS Marketing Science Conference.
- Miller, K., Hofstetter, R., Krohmer, H., & Zhang, J. Z. (2019). A De-biased Direct Question Approach to Measuring Consumers’ Willingess to Pay for New and Existing Products. In JPIM Research Forum (Ed.), Conference proceedings of JPIM Research Forum. Orlando, Florida: JPIM Research Forum.
- Hofstetter, R., Kunath, G., & John, L. . (2019). Brand Selfies: How Taking Self-Photos with Brands Shapes Consumer-Brand Relationships. In JCR (Ed.), Conference Proceedings of JCR Future of Brands Conference. New York: Columbia Business School.
- Hofstetter, R., Kunath, G., & John, L. K. (2019). Brand Selfies: Risks and Rewards of Consumer Taking Self-Photos with Brands. In AMA CBSIG 2019 Conference (Ed.), Conference Proceedings AMA CBSIG 2019. Bern: AMA CBSIG 2019 Conference.
- Hofstetter, R., Kunath, G., & John, L. K. (2019). Brand Selfies: Risks and Rewards of Consumer Taking Self-Photos with Brands. In Marketing Science Conference (Ed.), Conference Proceedings of Marketing Science Conference. Rome: Marketing Science Conference.
- Hofstetter, R., Kunath, G., & John, L. K. (2019). Brand Selfies: Risks and Rewards of Consumer Taking Self-Photos with Brands. In EMAC (Ed.), Conference Proceedings of EMAC. Hamburg: EMAC.
- Hofstetter, R., Kunath, G., & John, L. K. (2019). Brand Selfies: Risks and Rewards of Consumers Taking Self-Photos with Brands. In Society of Consumer Psychology Conference (SCP) (Ed.), Society of Consumer Psychology Conference (SCP). Savannah, Georgia, USA: Society of Consumer Psychology Conference (SCP).
- Hofstetter, R., Clegg, M., Schiestel, L., & Seele, P. (2019). Ethics of Personalized Pricing: A Habermasian Account of Transparency and Participation. In EMAC (Ed.), Conference Proceedings of EMAC. Hamburg: EMAC.
- Schiestel, L., Hofstetter, R., & Vogt, D. (2017). Setting the stage for the product: How visually embedding products into context can make you spend more. In EMAC (Ed.), Setting the stage for the product: How visually embedding products into context can make you spend more. Groningen: EMAC.
- Hofstetter, R., Rueppell, R., & John, L. K. (2017). Temporary Sharing, Enduring Impressions: Self-presentation in the Digital Age. In SJDM (Ed.), Society for Judgement and Decision Making (SJDM). Vancouver: SJDM.
- Morhart, F., Hofstetter, R., & Ramanathan, S. (2017). The Janus Face of Decadence: How Transgressive Luxury Consumption Triggers Contradictory Impulses in Observers. In SCP Boutique Conference (Ed.), SCP Boutique Conference on Motivation, Emotion, and How They Interact. New York, USA: SCP Boutique Conference.
- Hofstetter, R., Dahl, D., Aryobsei, S., & Herrmann, A. (2016). Creativity in Open Innovation Contests: How Seeing Others’ Ideas Can Harm or Help Your Creative Performance. In Advances in Consumer Research (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research. Berlin: Advances in Consumer Research.
- Schiestel, L. M., Hofstetter, R., & Vogt, D. (2016). Designed to exceed: How attribute presentation influences mental accounting in online product configuratiors. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Oslo: EMAC.
- Hofstetter, R., Aryobsei, S., & Herrmann, A. (2016). Should You Really Produce What Consumer Like Online? Empirical Evidence from an Online Innovation Community. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Oslo: EMAC.
- Morhart, F., Hofstetter, R., & Ramanathan, S. (2016). Sinful Consumers, Saintly Brands: Why Decadently Wasteful Consumption Makes Luxury Brands Seem More Precious. In Monaco Symposium on Luxury (Ed.), Monaco Symposium on Luxury. Monaco: Monaco Symposium on Luxury.
- Morhart, F., Hofstetter, R., & Ramanathan, S. (2016). Sinful Consumers, Saintly Brands: Why Decadently Wasteful Consumption Makes Luxury Brands Seem More Precious. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Oslo: EMAC.
- Rüppell, R., Hofstetter, R., & and Häubl, G. (2014). Intuition and Deliberation in Consumer Preference Measurement. In KU Leuven (Ed.), EMAC. Leuven: EMAC.
- Aryobsei, S., Hofstetter, R., & Dahl, D. (2014). The Dual Role of Prior Ideas in Driving Creative Performance in Open Ideation Contests. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Valencia: EMAC.
- De Bellis, E., Griffin, J., Hildebrand, C., Herrmann, A., & Hofstetter, R. (2013). Accentuating the Forest Instead of the Trees: Induced Global Processing in Mass Customization Systems. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Istanbul: EMAC.
- De Bellis, E., Griffin, J., Hildebrand, C., Hofstetter, R., & Herrmann, A. (2013). Can’t See the Forest For the Trees: Increased Local Processing in Mass Customization Systems. In Advances in Consumer Research (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research. Chicago, USA: Advances in Consumer Research.
- Hofstetter, R., Hildebrand, C., Herrmann, A., & Huber, J. (2013). Revealing Painful Truths: The Impact of Friends on Self-Reported Health Behavior. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Istanbul: EMAC.
- Hofstetter, R., Hildebrand, C., Herrmann, A., & Huber, J. (2013). Revealing Painful Truths: The Impact of Friends on Self-Reported Health Behavior. In ACP (Ed.), ACP. San Diego: ACP.
- Hofstetter, R., Hildebrand, C., Herrmann, A., & Huber, J. (2013). Revealing Painful Truths: The Impact of Friends on Self-Reported Health Behavior. In London Business School (Ed.), Theory and Practice in Marketing (TPM). London: London Business School.
- Hofstetter, R., Hildebrand, C., Herrmann, A., & Huber, J. (2013). Revealing Painful Truths: The impact of Friends on Self-Reports of Health-Related Behavior. In Advances in Consumer Research (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research. Chicago: Advances in Consumer Research.
- Hofstetter, R., Herrmann, A., & Zhang, J. (2012). Consecutive Open Innovation Contests. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Lisbon: EMAC.
- Hildebrand, C., Hofstetter, R., & Herrmann, A. (2012). Modeling Viral Marketing Dynamics in Social Networks - Findings From Computational Experiments with Agent-Based Simulation Models. In ICIS Conference (Ed.), ICIS Conference. Orlando, USA: ICIS Conference.
- Aryobsei, S., Hofstetter, R., & Herrmann, A. (2012). No Man Was Ever Wise by Chance/Innovation by Example-Design-Related Levers of Ideas’ Quality and Diversity in Ideation Contests. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Lisbon: EMAC.
- Aryobsei, S., Hofstettter, R., & Herrmann, A. (2012). On the Impact of Prior Ideas on Ideation Performance in Ideation Contests. In Advances in Consumer Research (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research. Duluth, Minnesota, USA: Advances in Consumer Research.
- Hofstetter, R., Blatter, D., & Miller, K. M. (2012). You Might Not Get What You Ask For: Evidence For and Impact of Non-Wtp Reporting in Willingness-To-Pay Surveys. In Advances in Consumer Research (Ed.), Advances in Consumer Research. Duluth, Minnesota, USA: ACR North American Advances.
- Malär, L., Hofstetter, R., Krohmer, H., Miller, K., & Zhang, J. (2011). Effectiveness and ROI of In-Game Brand Placements. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Ljubljana, Slovenia: EMAC.
- Hofstetter, R., Shriver, S., Scott, K., Nair, H. S., & Harikesh, S. (2011). Inducing User-Generated Content: Empirical Evidence on the Effect of Social Ties on Content Generation. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Ljubljana, Slovenia: EMAC.
- Blatter, D., Hofstetter, R., Krohmer, H., Miller, K., & Zhang, J. (2011). Price Raise or Quantity Decrease Choosing the Optimal Price Increase Strategy for Consumer Goods. In AMA Winter Conference (Ed.), AMA Winter Conference. Austin, Texas, USA: AMA Winter Conference.
- Shriver, S., Hofstetter, R., & Nair, H. (2011). Social Ties and User Generated Content: Evidence from an Online Social Network. In INFORMS (Ed.), INFORMS Marketing Science. Cologne: INFORMS Marketing Science.
- Hofstetter, R., Shriver, S., & Nair, H. (2011). Social Ties and User-Generated Content: Evidence from an Online Social Network. In University of Rochester (Ed.), 9th Annual Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME) Conference. New York: University of Rochester.
- Blatter, D., Hofstetter, R., & Miller, K. (2010). Improving the Direct Estimation of Demand by Adjusting for Incorrect Price-Statements. In AMA Winter Conference (Ed.), AMA Winter Conference. New Orleans, Louisana, USA: AMA Winter Conference.
- Miller, K., Hofstetter, R., Krohmer, H., & Zhang, J. (2009). How Should We Measure Consumers’ Willingness to Pay? An Empirical Comparison of State-of-the-Art Approaches. In AMA Summer Educators’ Conference (Ed.), AMA Summer Educators’ Conference. Chicago, USA: AMA Summer Educators’ Conference.
- Miller, K., Hofstetter, R., Krohmer, H., & Zhang, J. (2009). How Should We Measure Consumers’ Willingness to Pay? An Empirical Comparison of State-of-the-Art Approaches. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Nantes, France: EMAC.
- Blatter, D., Hofstetter, R., Krohmer, H., & Miller, K. (2009). Improving the Direct Estimation of Demand by Adjusting for Incorrect Price-Statements. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Nantes, France: EMAC.
- Hofstetter, R., Miller, K., Krohmer, H., & Zhang, J. (2009). Who Should We Ask When Measuring Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Product Innovations. In AMA Summer Educators’ Conference (Ed.), AMA Summer Educators’ Conference. Chicago, USA: AMA Summer Educators’ Conference.
- Hofstetter, R., Miller, K., Krohmer, H., & Zhang, J. (2009). Who Should We Ask When Measuring Consumers’ Willingness to Pay for Product Innovations? In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Nantes, France: EMAC.
- Miller, K., Krohmer, H., & Hofstetter, R. (2008). When Can We Measure Willingness to Pay Directly? An Empirical Study on the Role of Consumers’ Involvement in the Direct Elicitation of Reservation Prices. In AMA Winter Educators’ Conference (Ed.), AMA Winter Educators’ Conference. Austin, Texas, USA: AMA Winter Educators’ Conference.
- Krohmer, H., Leschnikowski, K., & Hofstetter, R. (2007). The Importance of Consumer Ethnocentrism for International Marketing: Conceptual Discussion and Results of a Cross-Cultural Study. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Reykjavik, Iceland: EMAC.
- Miller, K., Krohmer, H., & Hofstetter, R. (2006). Eliciting Consumers’ Willingness to Pay with Self-Explicated Approaches: Conceptual Discussion and Empirical Study. In EMAC (Ed.), EMAC. Athens, Greece: EMAC.
- Krohmer, H., Miller, K., & Hofstetter, R. (2006). Measuring Consumers’ Willingness to Pay with the Contingent Valuation Approach. In AMA Summer Educators’ Conference (Ed.), AMA Summer Educators’ Conference. Chicago, USA: AMA Summer Educators’ Conference.
Team
- Anita Bossard, administrative assistant
- Melanie Clegg, PostDoc & senior research assistant
- David Finken, doctoral candidate & research assistant
- Lucas Nann, doctoral candidate & research assistant
- Felix Schakols, doctoral candidate & research assistant
- Peter Giger, doctoral candidate & research assistant
- Alessio Levis, doctoral candidate & research assistant
- Gabriela Funk, external doctoral candidate
- Marc Bravin, external doctoral candidate (HSLU)
Written Works
Finding a topic
The chair maintains a topic list which is published on the website at the beginning of each term. The current topic list can be found here.
The topics relate to the fields of research of Prof. Hofstetter’s scientific assistants and serve as a guide. In the course of the work, the advertised topics are further narrowed down.
Own topic suggestions are possible, as far as they match the corresponding research focus of the assistant.
Central Points of Research:
- Digital consumer behaviour
- Crowdsourcing
- Creativity
- Pricing
- Self-presentation and -reporting
Applying for Topics
Students apply with a short motivation letter of max. 200 words and the current transcript of records for the desired topic. Multiple applications are possible, stating priorities (max. 3). The application letter should express your motivation for the topic and state your specific research question. Please write your application letter in either in German or English. Choose the language in which you intend to write your paper.
All applications must be submitted under specification of the subject number and the name of the supervising assistant (Lucas Nann, Peter Giger, Felix Schakols) by March 1 (in spring term) and by October 1 (in fall term) to the Chair of digital Marketing (digitalmarketing@unilu.ch) via email. Acceptance or rejection takes place within one week after the deadline (March 1 or October 1).
Please note that term papers/thesis at our chair may be of empirical nature (i.e. experimental). With the approval and agreement of the supervisor, conceptual papers can also be written.
Scientific Concept
After being accepted for a topic, students have about three weeks to write a rough scientific concept (=Forschungskonzept).
The deadline for submitting the rough scientific concept is April 1 (in spring term) and November 1 (in fall term). The concept will be sent to the respective supervisor via email.
The rough scientific concept outlines the research topic and includes a draft of the table of contents as well as a draft of the introduction, which already cites the most important literature sources. The rough concept comprises a maximum of 5 pages (more information on the rough concept under «Further Information and Materials»).
Concept Meeting
After submitting the rough concept, an appointment for a personal meeting is arranged in consultation with the supervisor. This meeting lasts approximately 15 - 30 minutes.
Supervising Relationship
Term paper: A maximum of two emails with questions will be answered during the processing time of the term paper. An additional personal meeting is not planned until further notice.
Bachelor’s thesis: The type of individual support (personal meetings, questions via email etc.) during the processing time of the bachelor’s thesis is discussed with the supervisor at the beginning.
Submission Regulations
Term paper: The deadline for submitting the term paper is July 1 (in spring term) and February 1 (in fall term). The term paper will be sent to the supervisor in electronic form (PDF; incl. registration form) by email.
Bachelor’s thesis: The deadline for submitting the bachelor’s thesis is December (for students following the “Start in spring semester” model curriculum) and May (for students following the “Start in fall semester” model curriculum). The exact dates for the submission of the bachelor’s thesis are published by the Dean’s Office. The bachelor’s thesis will be sent to the supervisor in electronic form (PDF and Word) via email. If required by the supervisor, the work must also be submitted in printed form. The bachelor's thesis needs to be sent to the dean's office in electronic form (PDF; including registration form) via email (wf-pruefungen@unilu.ch).
Further Information and Materials
Further information and tips on writing the rough scientific concept and a literature review as well as on literature research can be found in the general guidelines for term papers and bachelor’s thesis of the chair.
The following formal requirements of the chair apply to all papers at the chair (english version will be uploaded soon)
The elaboration of the paper also complies with the following requirements of the Faculty of Economics:
The master thesis is an empirical work. A mandatory prerequisite for writing an empirical master thesis at the Chair of digital Marketing is the attendance of the Research Seminar in Marketing, which is held in the fall semester. Attending the seminar parallel to writing the thesis is also possible.
Finding a topic: Students can find the current list of topics of the research assistants here. Students can suggest their own topics. However, topics should match the research assistants' focus. Topics are:
- Digital consumer behaviour
- Crowdsourcing
- Creativity
- Pricing
- Self presentation and reporting
- Crypto marketing
Currently we also offer a master thesis in cooperation with AdHash about the carbon footprint of the digital ad industry. You can find more information about this topic here.
Application: Students apply with a letter of motivation (max. 200 words) and the latest transcript of records for the desired topic. Multiple applications are possible with indication of priorities (max. 3). In the application, please indicate the topic number, the name of the supervising assistant and the type of thesis (Master's thesis). The application must also be accompanied by a curriculum vitae and current proof of performance. Please write your letter of application in the language (German or English) in which you would later like to write the thesis. The application including enclosures should be sent to the Chair of digital Marketing (digitalmarketing@unilu.ch).
Supervision: After acceptance of the application, the type of individual supervision (personal meetings, questions via e-mail, etc.) will be discussed with the supervisor during the processing time of the Master's thesis.
Submission: The deadline for submission of the Master's thesis is set by the Dean's Office (in December and May) and must be adhered to.