Chair of
International Marketing

Prof. Dr. Robert Wilken, Chair Owner of the International Marketing Chair, Berlin campus, ESCPMarketing is facing major challenges in times of the climate crisis. Growth and consumption generally contribute significantly to the climate crisis, and marketing in turn promotes growth and consumption, at least according to traditional understanding. The traditional role of marketing is also being criticized in the context of ethical and political debates surrounding surveillance capitalism, which involves the imperative to collect data for the purpose of exploiting and modifying consumer needs. It is therefore urgently necessary to fundamentally rethink the role of marketing. We would like to take part in this important debate: Our teaching and research projects should increasingly contribute to an understanding of marketing that is geared towards sustainability goals. On the one hand, we examine the consumer side and answer questions such as the reasons that make such a transition to more sustainable behavior so difficult. On the other hand, we look at measures that companies can use to encourage consumers to adopt more sustainable behavior. Interestingly, price-related decisions in particular can play a role here. We regularly integrate our research findings into our courses so that students can engage with them critically. Our main goal is to provide students and thus the decision-makers of tomorrow with sustainable and sustainability-oriented inspiration.

- Prof. Dr. Robert Wilken

The team

From left to right: Kejiang Chen, Veronica Cacean, Prof. Dr. Robert Wilken

Teaching
We offer the following courses:

Bachelor in
Management (BSc)

  • Human Behaviour (elective)
  • International Management (elective)
  • The Art of Selling (elective)
Go to the programme

Master in
Management

  • Data-driven Marketing (core course)
  • Pricing (part of specialization "Selling to Customers")
Go to the programme

SALES 4.0
MSc in International Sales Management

  • Pricing (core course)
  • Selling and Negotiations (core course)
Go to the programme

EMBA
Executive MBA

  • Marketing (core course)
Go to the programme

Research

Research approach

According to Backhaus, we define marketing as the “management of comparative competitive advantages”. In our research projects, we look at both the company’s and the consumer’s perspectives. We analyse marketing-related problems in a manner that is theoretically sound and allows for empirical investigation. Recent research projects have adopted a behavioural perspective, emphasizing psychological foundations to understand human actions (e.g., consumers’ responses to marketing stimuli; sales people in business negotiations). Issues relating to the transition to sustainability are increasingly taking center stage.

Most of our projects seek to empirically test hypotheses and are hence quantitative in nature. Our goal is to provide companies with decision support that is scientifically substantiated, and to significantly contribute to the field of marketing research.

Research topics

Sustainable Consumption

Consumers often still find it difficult to make sustainable purchasing decisions. We are investigating potential reasons for this. We are also interested in understanding how and on the basis of which measures companies motivate consumers to adopt more sustainable purchasing behavior. Ultimately, the aim is to ensure that positive attitudes towards sustainable products are also reflected in such (purchasing) decisions.

Pricing

Excessively high prices often deter consumers from buying products or services, even if they correspond to their values. This is particularly the case when a consumer has to choose between a sustainable and a conventional product. Interestingly, price-related tactics can lead consumers to accept a higher price. Our recent research projects are interested precisely in this benefit communication through price-setting.

Business negotiations

On business markets, a negotiation is the most prominent way to handle transactions. We analyse contextual factors (in particular, those that relate to intercultural settings) and strategies that create favorable negotiation outcomes and hence offer support for improving sales productivity.

Quantitative methods

This research topic is about improving extant (mathematical, statistical) instruments to analyse marketing-related decision problems. We are particularly interested in contributing to willingness-to-pay (WTP) elicitation. Another field relates to the application of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to industrial services.

Focus on:
Last Publications

Monographs

Backhaus, K., Herbst, U., Voeth, M., Wilken, R. (2010): Allgemeine Betriebswirtschaftslehre – Koordination betrieblicher Entscheidungen. Springer-Verlag

Articles in peer-reviewed Journals

Nagler, H., Wilken, R., de Jong, A., Schmitz, C. (2018): A multilevel approach to the process of concession-making in price negotiations. In: Die Unternehmung, forthcoming.

Contributions to edited volumes

Wilken, R., Jacob, F. (2015): Vom Produkt- zum Lösungsanbieter, in: Backhaus, K., Voeth, M. (Eds.): Handbuch Business-to-Business Marketing, 2nd edition, SpringerGabler, pp. 147-164.

Working papers

Eisenbeiss, M., Wilken, R., Skiera, B., Cornelissen, M. (2015): What Makes Deal-of-the-Day Promotions Really Effective? The Interplay of Discount and Time Constraint with Product Type. SSRN Working Paper, available at papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2608404, 2015.

Publications
Find an overview

Display:
72 publications

Academic Articles

2024

WILKEN, R., S. RABAA, S. GEISENDORF

Does recalling energy efficiency measures reduce subsequent climate-friendly behavior? An experimental study of moral licensing rebound effects

ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS, vol. 217, 108051

Academic Articles

2024

WILKEN, R., J. SCHMITT, F. DOST, D. BÜRGIN

Does the presentation of true costs at the point of purchase nudge consumers toward sustainable product options?

MARKETING LETTERS

Academic Articles

2024

LODERER, A., K. MUEHLFELD-KERSTAN, R. WILKEN, A. MORITZ, V. SLOMSKI

The language barrier as a springboard towards (team) creativity: An exploratory study of foreign language use in teams

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS REVIEW, 33(2), 102247

Academic Articles

2023

LODERER, A., K. MUEHLFELD-KERSTAN, R. WILKEN

Implications of Foreign Language Use for Creative Self-Evaluation Bias and Creative Performance

MANAGEMENT REVUE, 34(3), 219-248

Chapters

2023

WILKEN, R., N. PRIME

Reflections on Frank Jacob’s Contributions to the Literature on Intercultural Business Negotiations

In: Serving the Customer: The Role of Selling and Sales, Aichner, Thomas Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden

Academic Articles

2022

RABAA, S., S. GEISENDORF, R. WILKEN

Why change does (not) happen: Understanding and overcoming status quo biases in climate change mitigation

ZEITSCHRIFT FUR UMWELTPOLITIK UND UMWELTRECHT, 2022(1), 100-134

Academic Articles

2022

WILKEN, R., E. STIMMER, D. BÜRGIN

Should retailers encourage couples to shop together?

JOURNAL OF RETAILING AND CONSUMER SERVICES, 69 (November), 1-16

Academic Articles

2022

BÜRGIN, D., R. WILKEN

Increasing Consumers’ Purchase Intentions Toward Fair‑Trade Products Through Partitioned Pricing

JOURNAL OF BUSINESS ETHICS, 181 (4), 1015-1040

Chapters

2022

DOST, F., R. WILKEN

A Behavioral Approach to Pricing in Commodity Markets: Dual Processing of Prices within and around Willingness-to-Pay Ranges

In: Commodity Marketing: Strategies, Concepts, and Cases., Enke, M., Geigenmüller, A., & Leischnig, A. Springer, 105-117

Academic Articles

2021

AICHNER, T., R. WILKEN, P. COLETTI

Country Image at Risk: Spillover Effects of Product-Harm Crises and the Role of Trust

JOURNAL OF GLOBAL MARKETING, 34 (2), 73-89

Team and contact

Prof. Dr. Robert Wilken, Chair owner, Chair International Marketing, Berlin Campus, ESCP

Prof. Dr. Robert Wilken

Chair Owner
rwilken@escp.eu
Kejiang Chen, Research Assistant and Phd Student, Berlin Campus, ESCP

Kejiang Chen

Research Assistant and Phd Student
Veronica Cacean - Research Department - External Research Grants & Programmes _ Berlin Campus, ESCP

Veronica Cacean

Research Department
External Research Grants & Programmes
vcacean@escp.eu
 

Alumni

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