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10 unexplored dissertation topics in marketing

benefits that they can gain from purchasing their products. It is designed to help sell a product or
service to consumers. Almost every company engages in marketing in one way or the other. You
may be expected to write a dissertation to acquire your Masters degree in Marketing.
Since your dissertation is one of the most important papers that you will write in your years in
school, it is important to take it seriously. Being able to successfully write your dissertation, may
be what gets your degree or what holds you back. Even though it is an important paper, dont let
it get you too flustered before you start. One of the main things to worry about which is the title
may end up being easier to decide upon than you think.
common topic poses a few problems. One is that other individuals may be taking out the same
resources as you are when you are doing your research. Another is that your paper can be
unfairly judged by another students work on the same topic. A third being that if your thesis is
the same as the three people ahead of you, you may have a bored audience before you even start
presenting it. So a good way to ensure that you have a unique topic is to find one that is

What are some unexplored dissertation topics?

What factors should a company explore before they take their business abroad?

What are the differences between marketing in a developed market versus marketing in a
developing market?

How should a company organize and manage its international activities?

How can companies build stronger relationships with their business customers?

How do market leaders keep their share of the market while continually working towards
getting a larger market share?

What marketing strategies should be used during the different product cycles?

During market recessions, how should marketers change their marketing strategies?

What are some major trends that are used by market intermediaries?

What are the some guidelines to follow when building a brand?

How can a company exploit publicity and public relations to build their brand?

These are some great topics to get you started. They are not the most popular topics, so you
should be the only student in your class with these topics.

7 Great Marketing Dissertation Topic Ideas You Probably Didn't Think Of

Marketing is a fascinating field with so many topics to choose from. If youre having
dissertation topic ideas to help you make up your mind.

The ethics of marketing

Marketing by its very nature has the ability to influence peoples behaviour. There
has been much debate about the morality of marketing unhealthy food to children
at schools. Is marketing unhealthy food to children at schools ethical, given the
obesity problem in children?
Marketing and the psychology of persuasion

The psychology of persuasion has played a large part in marketing for a very long
time. Indeed, marketing has been in the persuasion business since before the
psychology of persuasion, as a field, even existed. Has marketing moved beyond
the psychology of persuasion? Or will they always be inextricably linked?
Marketing across cultures

Marketing differs across cultures for various reasons, and some of these
differences are striking. How does marketing differ across the world? What are the
main reasons for these differences? Can investigating these reasons help lead to
better marketing strategies across the world?
Social media as the new marketing channel

Traditionally, marketing used various channels, such as print media, to get its
message to potential consumers. With the rise of social media, many people claim
that social media is the new channel for marketing. Is social media the new
marketing channel? Or are the more traditional marketing channels still holding
their own?
Brand loyalty

With so much choice available to consumers, brand loyalty becomes a lot more
difficult to establish. How important is brand loyalty in modern marketing? Are there
any new ways to improve brand loyalty and retain customers despite the large
variety of products available?
Marketing alcohol

The marketing of alcohol has long been a controversial issue, especially when it is
directed at young people. Does marketing alcohol to young people lead to increased
alcohol consumption? If so, does this have a lasting effect on their behaviour?
Product packaging and sales

For years it has been believed that product packaging has a major effect on
product sales, and companies have spent extremely large sums of money to
develop the perfect packaging for their products. Does packaging still have such a
major influence on product sales? Or are there other factors that have a larger
impact on product sales?

Postgraduate dissertation and thesis titles

Writing a dissertation or thesis is a fundamental part of postgraduate study. At The

University of Auckland, our supervisors can help you prepare and succeed in your
chosen research topic.
The University of Auckland Guide to Theses and Dissertations

dissertations and contains additional information about related policies and
procedures. Your department may also have their own guidelines and requirements
so you must consult your supervisor from the outset.

The latest guide is available from the University of Auckland's Theses and
dissertations website.

We have provided in the tables below lists of theses and dissertations completed by
past Marketing students. The tables include the title and name of the supervisor.

The University of Auckland Guide to Theses and Dissertations

BCom(Hons) dissertations
MCom theses
PhD theses

BCom(Hons) dissertations

Listed below are dissertations completed by past students, including title and the
name of the supervisor involved.
Student name




Greer Holford

The Coexistence of Positive and Negative States from Immersion within Brand

Margo Buchanan-Oliver

Donna Lam

Market Shaping with Rivals: An Exploration of Potential Collaborative Market

Shaping Opportunities for Direct Competitors

Suvi Nenonen

Eben Weng

An Exploration of Brand Narratives from an Evolutionary Psychological Perspective

Margo Buchanan-Oliver

Johnson Liu

The Role of Locus of Interaction in Explaining Players Intentions in Massively

Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs)

Laszlo Sajtos

Mark Trowill

An Exploration of the Effectiveness of Social Media to Assist Destination Brand

Recovery Following a Disaster

Denise Conroy

Brook McFarlane

Collective Co-Creation within the Open Source Software Community

Charlotta Windahl

Claire Gourley

What Makes Online Video Advertisements Go Viral?

Bodo Lang

Min Li

C2C Online Engagement and Consumer Decision-Making Process On Chinese Weibo

Sandra Smith

Donald Serra-Stacey

Constructing a Collaborative Network approach to National Branding

Rod Brodie

Kieran Jans

The Complexities of CSR and Brand in a Global Environment

Biljana Juric

Chenshijun Sun

An Exploration of Cyber Hoarding: Definitions, Propositions and Implications for

Marketing Research

Mike Lee

Nelson Annandale

Stimulating negative customer brand engagement

Sandy Smith

Suzanne ShuYing Chan

An Exploration of Nostalgic Brand Communities: The Case of Nike Air Jordan

Karen Fernandez

Parth Joshi

Customer BRAND engagement processes: Categorisation of customer blogging


Sandy Smith
Student name




Sargam Thammalla

Western Advertising to Eastern Consumers: How young Asian immigrants interpret

fashion advertising in New Zealand

Denise Conroy

Christopher Casey

Market proactivity: The role of Generative Learning

Kaj Storbacka

Melissa Wong

An Exploration of Immersion: Definitions, Propositions and Implications for Research

Margo Buchanan-Oliver

Holly Elizabeth Speer

Childhood obesity: the application of behaviour change theory to the prevention of

obesity in New Zealand children through the use of social media

Denise Conroy

Steven Gaston

Design thinking and the conceptualisation of markets

Charlotta Windahl

Aseka Kandaaddara

Getting in the Grooves of Nostalgia - Nostalgic Consumption: A Review and


Karen Fernandez

Esther Gao

Shock for Success: A new framework for interpreting Shock Advertising

Mike Lee

Wendy Yuan

Investigating the Extent to which Gamification in Surveys Improves Prediction of

Future Events

Catherine Frethey-Bentham

Jirah Milla

How Social Movements Delegitimate Industries

Suvi Nenonen

Emma Spratt

Enhancing SMEs Interactions: The Role of Network Pictures and Interaction


Kaj Storbacka

Juanting Kelly Huang

Examining the buffering effect of loyalty programs in the context of service failure

Laszlo Sajtos

Ashleigh Ilich

Status seeking sustainable consumers

Biljana Juric

Prabodha Kavindi Gunarathna

Understanding Self-Presentation via Vintage Fashion

Karen Fernandez

George Wilks

Value Co-Destruction in Online Innovation Contests

Biljana Juric

Wei-Kung Hsu

The influence of relationship factors in service failure: the interaction between

customer-firm and customer-employee relationship facet

Laszlo Sajtos

Student name



Aurelia Coirard
The Potential of Facebook as a Fundraising Tool for Disaster
Relief Non-Governmental Organizations.
Denise Conroy
Emma Fitzgerald

Image Portrayal in Technology Advertising.

Margo Buchanan-

Stephanie Guise
The Relationship Between Brand Forgiveness and Brand Equity
in a Service Brand Context.
Sandy Bennett
Oliver Haydon

Redefining Demarketing: The Conceptual and

Managerial Implications. Rick Starr

Lucy Hellaby

Dumped by the Brand: Consumer Responses to Brand

Cristel Russell

Robert Hollier
Consumer Complaint Behaviour: An Exploration into the Effect of
Relationship Bond. Laszlo Sajtos
Grant Honey
How Relationships Influence the Temporal Aspect of the
Consumer Forgiveness Process. Laszlo Sajtos
Joshua Jo
Avatars: Bridging Relationships and Motivations in the Context of
Virtual Consumption.
Cristel Russell
Aditya Komari
Psychopatic Traits and Misbehaviours: An Alternative Perspective
of Your Consumers.
Mike Lee
Chelsea Lung
Celebrity Forgiveness: The Motives and Moderating Factors for
Consumer Forgiveness Towards Celebrities. Cristel Russell
Deanaven Naidoo Co-Branding: Movie Star Alignment - An Examination of Movie
Star Alignment and Marketing Outcomes.
Laszlo Sajtos
Heidi Qin
Social Media in Marketing Tertiary Institutions to International Students:
An Application of Customer Engagement.
Rod Brodie
Ian Soon
Organisational Crises and the Development of Scandal Management
Laszlo Sajtos
Sarah Tang Brandscape: An Integrated Servicescape Model to Engage the
(Internal) Customer.
Sandy Bennett
Serafina Widyanti Exploring the Engagement Behaviour of Generation Y Mothers:
Implications for Marketing Infant-Care Products.
Rod Brodie

Daina Wilson
Customer Engagement and the New Media: Implications for the
Cosmetics Industry.
Rod Brodie
MCom theses

Listed below are theses completed by past students, including title and the name of
the supervisor involved.
Student name




Cameron Stringfield

Flexibility in New Product Development: Much more than Stages and Gates

Kaj Storbacka

Seo-Youn Ahn

Camping and Glamping: The Search for Authenticity

Mike Lee

Matthew Johnson

To switch or not to switch

Kaj Storbacka

Jinglu Zhang

An Exploration of Factors Influencing Consumers' Expectations of the Corporate

Social Responsibility of Multinational and Domestic Companies A Study of Chinese

Biljana Juric

Anas Khan

Exploring Customer Engagement Behaviours: Firm-Based Factors Driving Customer

Referrals in the Airline Industry
Kaj Storbacka
Student name

Emma Fitzgerald



Social media use for corporate communications

Margo Buchanan-Oliver

Amrita Lal

Customer Resource Integration in Blog-Based Product Reviews

Rod Brodie

Jessica Lee

Moviegoers' Interpretations of Product Placement in Different Movie Genres

Sandra Smith
Student name

Sherry Siganporia



Contrasting the role of ability and morality in online consumer impressions. An

extended cue diagnosticity approach

Laszlo Sajtos

Maria Munoz Granados

Destination Marketing after a disaster: Strategies for recovery

Laszlo Sajtos
Student name




Varun Bhardwaj

Sustainable Consumption: Meanings, Motives and Policies

Karen Fernandez

Bonita Yuen

Evaluating the Effectiveness of a Loyalty Programme from the Customer's

Perspective: A case study of the Qantas Frequent Flyer Programme

Laszlo Sajtos
Student name



Nina Brosius

The Case of Inorganic Collectors

Karen Fernandez

Lin Huang Extracting Value from Information Technology Customers in Business

Greg Brush
Vanisha Narsey
Faking It: Scandalicious Consumption and Ironic (Dis)
Engagement with "The Hills"
Cristel Russell
Wenyan Tang
Consumer Engagement Pracrices Online Luxury Brand
Communities: An Explorartory Study Biljana Juric
Siyuan Wu

Sacrificing Money to Save Time Mike Lee

PhD theses

the supervisor involved.
Student name

Andrew Zhu



Understanding Reciprocity in Chinese Social Media: Examining the Influence of

Social Capital and Emotion on Reciprocal Behaviour

Rod Brodie
Student name




Linda Hollebeek

Demystifying 'Brand Usage Engagement' in Social Networking Contexts:

Conceptualisation, Scale Development & Validation

Rod Brodie

Yuri Seo

Luxury Brands in Consumer Lives: Conceptualising and Exploring the Consumption

of Luxury Brand Meanings
Margo Buchanan-Oliver

Amabel Hunting

A Creator's Life: The Middle Way Approach to Living Sustainably

Denise Conroy

Angela Cruz

Counterfeit Crossings: How Acculturating Immigrants Negotiate Paradox in the

Consumption and Performance of Culture

Margo Buchanan-Oliver

Vanisha Narsey

Peeling Back the Curtain: Exploring the brand backstory

Karen Fernandez
Student name



Sandra Dawn Bennett
Brand Stories: A Narrative Approach to Exploring the
Service Brand Experience within an Organisation
Margo Buchanan-Oliver
Sandra Bulmer

Brands and the Construction of National Identity


Hounaida El Jurdi

Problem & Solution Framing

Karen Fernandez

Rick Starr
Videographic Research from the First-Person Perspective: An
Exploration of Authenticity
Karen Fernandez

A List Of Outstanding Dissertation Topics In Marketing

tasks can be to find an appropriate topic.

Consider the following:

Write about the influence that advertising has on the behavior of consumers
Write about the students can be targeted among the mobile phone industry
Write about how international marketing can use standardization
Write about the different elements in brand recognition
Write about the effectiveness of loyalty programs
Write about the impact that social media has currently on customer purchasing
Write about how to market traditionally male products to females
Write about the influence that cartoons have on children and what impact this
has by extension on parents and their buying choices

the topic, and also that the existing academic information does not contrast your

Thinking early really helps you to select your topic. If you start thinking over
potential topics as soon as your assignment is given to you, you will find that
planning and organizing your paper becomes easier, and you have a greater
amount of time on your hands.

Brainstorming is one of the best ways to find a good topic. You can use
brainstorming as part of your planning process, something that you use regularly
from the moment you are given the assignment until you are able to whittle down
the perfect idea. For this, you can try exercises such as free write sessions. For
these, your job is to set a timer for three to five minutes during which time your pen
does not leave the paper and you allow all of your thoughts to flow out. This is
incredibly beneficial because the brain only consciously holds on to about seven
thoughts at once and students might struggle to come up with an appropriate essay
theme if their brain is being clogged up by lists of other things to remember such as
a shopping list and the time of your next dentist appointment. But by writing
everything down, you clear the way for your subconscious mind to start creatively
mulling over potential ideas until you generate a list of things you like. When this
timer is up you will find that there is often one or two different ideas that continue
to pop up in your writing, a pattern which will serve as the direction for your topic.