Knowledge platform: Market Transformations

About our research

Markets are spaces where buyers and sellers exchange goods and services. They can be physical, digital, local and global.

Our research helps to transform markets for the benefit of their stakeholders and wider society. We focus on three key areas:

Consumer behaviour

Brand activism
Branding
Consumer emotions and relationships
Consumer culture and identity
Consumer socialisation
Consumption behaviour of families and younger consumers
Retail and leisure servicescapes
Sensory and interactive marketing
Sports fandom
Sports sponsorship and marketing
Technology consumption

Business-to-business marketing

Business buying decision-making
Business ecosystems
Crisis management
Forecasting methods
Organisational resilience
Relationships and networks in industrial marketing management

International business

Emerging markets
Industrial policy and foreign direct investment
Industrial policy in changing market structures
International trade
Multinational enterprise strategies and operations
State-business relationships and corruption
Sustainable business and development

Our impact

Governments and public bodies in the UK and abroad use our research. It’s also helping to deliver the United Nation’s sustainable development goals.

We work closely with practitioners to help them find innovative solutions to real-world problems. We do this through:

knowledge transfer partnerships
consultancy activities
invited speaking opportunities

Key publications
Allen, M.M.C., Wood, G., Demirbag, M. (2022) ‘Developing theoretically informed typologies in international business: why we need them, and how to do it.’ Journal of International Business Studies, 53(9) pp. 2133-2146.
Banister, E., Kerrane, B. ‘Glimpses of Change? UK fathers navigating work and care within the context of Shared Parental Leave.’ Gender, Work and Organization
Elmashhara, M. G., De Cicco, R., Silva, S. C., Hammerschmidt, M. & Silva, M. L. (2024). How Gamifying AI Shapes Customer Motivation, Engagement, and Purchase Behavior. Psychology & Marketing, 41, 134-150.
Fenton, A., Gillooly, L., Vasilica, C. (2023) ‘Female fans and social media: micro-communities and the formation of social capital.’ European Sport Management Quarterly, 23(2) pp. 370-390.
Gillooly, L., Medway, D., Warnaby, G., Roper, S. (2022) ‘‘To us it’s still Boundary Park’: fan discourses on the corporate (re)naming of football stadia.’ Social and Cultural Geography, 23(9) pp. 1275-1293.
Keegan, B.J., Iredale, S., Naudé, P. (2023) ‘Examining the dark force consequences of AI as a new actor in B2B relationships.’ Industrial Marketing Management, 115pp. 228-239.
Kerrane, B., Kerrane, K., Bettany, S., Rowe, D. ‘‘Othering’ the unprepared: exploring the foodwork of Brexit-prepping mothers.’ Gender, Work and Organization
Kerrane, B., Kerrane, K., Bettany, S. ‘Exploring the role UK grandfathers play in parenting culture: intermittent intensive grandfathering.’ Sociology,
Mir, M., Ashraf, R., Syed, T.A., Ali, S., Nawaz, R. ‘Mapping the service recovery research landscape: a bibliometric‐based systematic review.’ Psychology and Marketing,
Najafi-Tavani, S., Naudé, P., Smith, P., Khademi-Gerashi, M. (2023) ‘Teach well, learn better - Customer involvement and new product performance in B2B markets: the role of desorptive and absorptive capacity.’ Industrial Marketing Management, 108pp. 263-275.
Najafi Tavani, S., Zaefarian, G., Robson, M., Naude, P., Abbasi, F. (2022) ‘When customer involvement hinders/promotes product innovation performance: the concurrent effect of relationship quality and role ambiguity.’ Journal of Business Research, 145pp. 130-143.

Selected projects

Research: Consumer preparedness in difficult times

Investigating the effects of adversity on consumer preparedness and resilience.
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Developing smarter policies

Maximising the benefits of foreign investment in developed and developing countries.
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Shapemaster knowledge transfer partnership

Helping an ambitious British manufacturer to grow internationally through applied research.
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