Research in Strategy and Marketing

Explore the research within the Department of Strategy and Marketing, based within the Business School.

Research areas

  • Entrepreneurship and Innovation

    The Entrepreneurship and Innovation (E&I) research group includes ten people, led by Stephan Manning:

    The group’s research focuses on three themes: Entrepreneurship and Sustainability; Small Businesses and Economic Development; consumption; Corporate Entrepreneurship and Collaborative Innovation.

    Entrepreneurship and Sustainability

    This theme focuses on the relationship between entrepreneurship and sustainability, both in terms of environmental protection and in the broader context of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Core contributors to this theme include (in alphabetical order): Vasiliki Bamiatzi, Steven Brieger, Shova Thapa Karki, Stephan Manning and Mirela Xheneti. Specifically, the research group studies topics such as entrepreneurship and resilience, circular economy entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, women entrepreneurship, and sustainable farming. In these areas, the group also collaborates with scholars in SPRU, IDS and Global Studies, and takes an active part in the Circular Economy Research Mobilization Group.

    Entrepreneurship and Sustainability themes include:

    • Transnational ecosystems supporting social entrepreneurship (Stephan Manning)
    • Resilience and sustainability of small firms (Shova Thapa Karki)
    • Entrepreneurship and the circular economy (Shova Thapa Karki & Mirela Xheneti)
    • Promoting high-skilled migrant entrepreneurship (Mirela Xheneti)
    • Effective promotion of sustainable cocoa farming (Stephan Manning)
    • Entrepreneurial emotions and well-being (Ngoc Luc)
    • Migration and gender aspects of entrepreneurship (Steven Brieger).

    Small Businesses and Economic Development

    This theme focuses on small businesses in the context of both regional and global economic development. Core contributors to this theme include (in alphabetical order): Hadi Fariborzi, Ngoc Luu, Stephan Manning, David Storey, and Mirela Xheneti. Specifically, the research group studies topics such as new venture survival and growth, interregional differences in entrepreneurship, social capital and entrepreneurial orientation, internationalization of new ventures, and entrepreneurial ecosystems. In these areas, the group also collaborates with scholars in Economics, International Business and other fields.

    Small Business and Economic Development themes include:

    • Performance of new ventures (David Storey)
    • Formal and informal entrepreneurship across countries (David Storey)
    • Evaluation of entrepreneurship policies (David Storey)
    • New venture growth in Japan (Mirela Xheneti)
    • Small venture growth in UK and Australia (Vassiliki Bamiatzi)
    • International entrepreneurship (Hadi Fariborzi, Stephan Manning).

    Corporate Entrepreneurship and Collaborative Innovation

    This theme focuses on the interplay between entrepreneurial initiatives and various forms of collaborative innovation, including open innovation. Core contributors to this theme include (in alphabetical order): Stephan Manning, Monica Masucci and Chris Storey. Specifically, the research group studies topics such as service innovation, open innovation, project entrepreneurship, project network organizations, crowdfunding, innovation value chains, responsible research and innovation, global multi-stakeholder innovation, and cross-sector partnerships. In these areas, the group also collaborates in particular with scholars at SPRU. In addition, Monica Masucci co-directs the Intrapreneurship Hub which focuses on how employees create new business opportunities.

    Corporate Entrepreneurship and Collaborative Innovation themes include:

    • How corporate ventures are evaluated and selected (Monica Masucci)
    • Human capital in the internal corporate venturing process (Monica Masucci)
    • Ecosystem actors and value creation in emerging ecosystems (Monica Masucci)
    • Inbound and outbound open innovation (Monica Masucci)
    • Innovation as source of competitive advantage in services (Chris Storey)
    • Webs of innovation value chains in additive manufacturing (Stephan Manning)
    • Building self-sustaining research and innovation ecosystems (Stephan Manning).
  • Marketing, Consumption and Innovation

    The mission of the Marketing, Consumption and Innovation (MC&I) research group is to develop a deeper knowledge of how organizations understand and deliver value to their customers, clients or users. The group has a particular focus on service and cultural sector organizations.

    It includes ten people, led by Michael Beverland:

    The group’s research is focused on two themes: consumption; marketing and innovation.

    Consumption

    This theme draws on the rich traditions of consumer psychology, consumer culture theory and behaviourism to explore issues of identity, service interaction, technology adoption and use, user experience, the normalization of harmful practices, and the improvement of consumer wellbeing. Specific topics include financial decision making, authentication and brand choice, identity and service conflict, and the role of new technologies in enhancing online experiences.

    Our group enjoys use of a newly-developed Behavioural Lab, links with scholars in psychology, consumption-focused courses, and engagement in communities such as Transformative Consumer Research. We cover a range of different topics, but our focus is always driven by an interest in behavior change.

    Primary researchers in this group include Michael Beverland, Achilleas Boukis, Maja Golf-Papez, Debbie Keeling, Marv Khammash, Ruxandra Luca, Dominik Piehlmeier, and Alexandra Polyakova.

    Consumption themes include:

    • How brands craft national identity (Michael Beverland)
    • Consumers’ experiences of authenticity (Michael Beverland)
    • Consumer work and reengagement with analog technology (Michael Beverland)
    • Animals and consumption (Michael Beverland)
    • Brand activism: walking the line of moral controversies (Achilleas Boukis)
    • New forms of shared luxury (Achilleas Boukis)
    • The role of cryptocurrencies’ visual brand identity in investors’ decision-making (Achilleas Boukis)
    • Understanding consumer threats in online settings (Achilleas Boukis)
    • Advances in digital technology and policy interventions to protect vulnerable consumers (Maja Golf Papez)
    • Understanding human over-reliance on technology (Maja Golf Papez)
    • Renegotiating the personalization-privacy paradox (Maja Golf Papez)
    • Understanding spokesperson’s credibility in the post-truth era (Maja Golf Papez)
    • The impact of learning on earning and motivating resellers to engage in enablement programmes (Debbie Keeling)
    • The dark side of engagement (Debbie Keeling)
    • Citizens’ perspectives and behaviours in health and wellbeing self-management (Debbie Keeling)
    • The dark side of social media (Marv Khammash)
    • The role of visual attention in product selection (Ruxandra Luca)
    • The harmful effects of visual disruptions in addictive online gambling behaviour (Ruxandra Luca)
    • Product package design and food consumption (Ruxandra Luca)
    • The impact of entrepreneur psychology on behaviour and innovation outcomes (Ngoc Luu & Xuan Huy Nguyen)
    • Overconfidence and behavioural finance (Dominik Piehlmaier)
    • Consumer emotions and entitlement (Alexandra Polyakova).

    Marketing and Innovation

    This theme focuses on a range of issues related to creating and delivering new value to users. With a cross-disciplinary approach leveraging design, consumer insights, marketing, operations, strategy, psychology and cultural studies, our research on innovation focuses on the role of design in enhancing organization outcomes, the intersection of branding and innovation, the process and practice of new product and new service development, capabilities for innovation, service innovation (development and launch), and the role of interfirm relationships in enhancing innovativeness.

    Primary researchers in this group include Michael Beverland, Achilleas Boukis, Marv Khammash, Ngoc Luu, Mariachiara Restuccia, and Chris Storey.

    Marketing and innovation themes include:

    • The role of design is shaping brand innovation and ambidexterity (Michael Beverland)
    • Managing marketplace authenticity through brands and innovation (Michael Beverland)
    • Design thinking and service disruption (Michael Beverland)
    • Exploring the paradox of craft innovation (Michael Beverland)
    • Consumer culture theory: insights for innovators (Michael Beverland)
    • Innovating for non-human customers (Michael Beverland)
    • Enacting stereotypes in the service encounter: A frontline-employee perspective (Achilleas Boukis)
    • The role of frontline employees in delivering the brand to consumers (Achilleas Boukis)
    • New services development (Achilleas Boukis & Chris Storey)
    • The impact of neuro-diversity on entrepreneurship (Marv Khammash)
    • Supplier development (Ngoc Luu)
    • New product development (Mariachiara Restuccia)
    • The value of marketing channel awards (Mariachiara Restuccia)
    • Customer involvement in new service development (Mariachiara Restuccia & Chris Storey
    • Innovation as a source of competitive advantage within service industries (Chris Storey).

    MC&I staff also contribute to several researcher mobilisation groups within the Business School, notably the Innovation and Project Management group.

  • International Business and Development

    Drawn from a need to reinforce our appreciation of how businesses not only can best respond to the variant institutional challenges and global crises, but also how they can have a meaningful impact upon them, the International Business and Development (IBD) Hub supports research on:

    • the impact that the institutional environments in home countries have upon firm strategies
    • how firms’ strategies impact on, and interact with, host countries.

    Our group conducts research on the interactions between large multinational enterprises (MNEs), small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), their partners in global value chains (GVCs), and the institutional environments within which they operate. We are one of the top centres of International Business research in the United Kingdom (Global Research Performance Database, 2017) while drawing upon the reputation of the University of Sussex as a renowned location for research on development studies (QS World University Rankings, 2019).

    Read more about this hub of research.

Our research outlook

We have a vibrant research culture. Our aim is to provide a stimulating intellectual forum for exchange, controversy and idea generation.

We’ve grown a lot in a short time and continue to develop.

Our academics publish extensively in international journals and participate frequently in international conferences.

If you want to study towards a PhD, and you think your interests match those of our academics, find out about PhD study in the Business School.

We’re also keen to hear from established academics who would like to be Visiting Scholars within our department for short periods.

Research Seminars

The Department of Strategy & Marketing host regular research seminars delivered by distinguished speakers. See our Business School Research Events for details of recent seminars.

Latest publications

These are the five most recent publications added to Sussex Research Online (SRO).

See the full list for the current calendar year.

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