Exploring the market society of tomorrow
The Department of Marketing and Strategy explores how markets are evolving and what the future market-based economy may look like. This includes how ongoing transformations affect firms, entrepreneurs, regulators, and consumers, as well as the broader consequences for society.
Key developments
This research is motivated by three long-term developments shaping contemporary market societies: climate change, geopolitical change, and digitalization.
Climate change
Climate change is altering the conditions for economic activity. It affects resource availability, reshapes industries such as energy, agriculture, and tourism, and drives new patterns of demand for products and services.
Geopolitical change
Geopolitical developments influence trust in institutions, reshape regulatory environments, and affect global labor markets through migration and shifting trade relations. These changes also give rise to new forms of economic coordination and competition.
Digitalization
Digital technologies transform how markets are created and organized. They enable new business models, automation, and improved decision-making, while also raising questions about power, data, privacy, and societal resilience.
Research themes
Against this background, the department’s research initiative examines how markets are shaped and reshaped, both by individual actors and through collective efforts. The aim is to understand these transformations and assess their implications for business and society.
The initiative is organized around three complementary themes:
Platform economy
Examining the role of digital platforms and how large platform companies shape markets, competition, and societal structures.
Market ecosystems
Understanding how firms develop strategies in increasingly interconnected and evolving ecosystems, particularly in relation to digitalization and sustainability.
Future of marketing
Exploring how marketing is changing in an environment shaped by influencers, algorithms, and behavioral interventions, and what this means for strategy and decision-making.
Approach
These research themes build on the department’s combined expertise in strategic management, market dynamics, and marketing. The work is developed in close interaction with external stakeholders, including companies, entrepreneurs, policymakers, consumer organizations, and NGOs.
Through this approach, the department contributes to a deeper understanding of how market societies evolve and how they can be shaped in responsible and sustainable ways.