Marketing and Consumption Research

About the research group

We are an ambitious, dynamic and supportive community of marketing and consumption research scholars united by our commitment to excellence and diversity. Our strength lies in our multifaceted approaches, embracing various research areas, methodologies, and analytical perspectives to address today's most pressing marketing challenges.

Our mission is to promote long-term business success while creating positive social and environmental sustainability through innovative cutting edge marketing research that benefits consumers, businesses, and society at large.

Latest updates

News 04.05.2026

Consumers want to know what they eat – Local food networks support sustainable consumption

Nainen lajittelemassa vaatteita kierrätykseen

Media release 03.02.2026

VTT, the University of Vaasa and Finnish companies are developing a new user-friendly collection solution for used clothing

Olohuone, jossa on puisia huonekaluja ja harmaa nojatuoli

News 09.12.2025

University of Vaasa involved in developing circular solutions for the European furniture industry

Show more news

Research projects

Project	Duration	Actors
Sustainable and responsible food province	09/2023 - 08/2025	Marketing and Communication, Marketing and Consumption Research
Organizing REKO	08/2023 - 07/2026	Marketing and Consumption Research, Marketing and Communication
Twin Revolution	04/2022 - 07/2024	Marketing and Communication, Marketing and Consumption Research
4everPack - Circular business from reusable packaking for fast moving consumer goods	08/2021 - 07/2023	Marketing and Consumption Research, Marketing and Communication
Citizens as agents of change in decarbonizing suburban and rural housing (DECARBON-HOME)	10/2020 - 09/2026	Marketing and Communication, Marketing and Consumption Research, Communication studies
Co-development of healthier reformulated successful food products in South-Ostrobothnia (orig. Terveellisemmäksi reformuloitujen menestysruokatuotteiden yhteiskehittäminen Etelä-Pohjanmaalla)	04/2020 - 03/2022	Marketing and Consumption Research, Marketing and Communication
FLEXIMAR, Novel marketplace for energy flexibility	04/2019 - 12/2020	Smart electric systems, VEBIC, Marketing and Consumption Research
SolarX – Maximizing PV integration capacity in energy and power systems	01/2019 - 04/2022	Smart electric systems, VEBIC, Marketing and Consumption Research, Technology and Innovations

Publications

Publication year	Publication	Authors
2026	Animals for Assistance to Humans	Rimppi, Anna-Mari; Syrjälä, Henna; Wünderlich, Nancy V.; Rötzmeier-Keuper, Julia
2026	Theorizing goods and services as practices: How they interrelate and cocreate and codestroy value	Sahhar, Yasin; Skålén, Per
2026	What Is the Role of Personas in Environmental Sustainability Studies? A Systematic Review of 36 Research Articles	Patil, Rajat; Salminen, Joni; Akhtar, Waleed; Shakeel, Shah Rukh; Jansen, Bernard J.
2026	AI-driven digital transformation in SMEs: pathways to resilience, value co-creation, and sustainable performance	Sohu, Jan Muhammad; Shaikh, Sonia Najam; Makhdoom, Quswah; Shakeel, Shah Rukh; Kherazi, Fatima Zahra
2026	Understanding Spatiotemporal-Aware Multimodal Conversational Search in the Outdoor Urban Space	Xu, Jiangnan; Seo, Suyeon; Salminen, Joni; Saker, Michael; Shin, Joongi; Chamberlain, Alan; Papangelis, Konstantinos; Kim, Dae Hyun
2026	Creating and Evaluating Personas Using Generative AI: A Scoping Review of 81 Articles	Amin, Danial; Salminen, Joni; Ahmed, Farhan; Tervola, Sonja M. H.; Sethi, Sankalp; Jansen, Bernard J.
2026	"Pathways to the Metaverse": Exploring the User Experience Mechanisms Driving Technology Acceptance in Virtual Lab Visits with an LLM-powered Avatar	Tu, Xinyi; Biondani, Francesco; Amin, Danial; Fabillar, Angelica; Xuan, Trang Thi Thu; Adeel, Huma Bano; Tervola, Sonja M.H.; Berlingeri, Carlo; Fummi, Franco; Salminen, Joni; Jansen, Bernard J.
2026	Large Language Models (LLMs) in Human-Computer Interaction: Using LLM-Generated Personas to Model Everything from Minority Views to Entire Ecosystems	Amin, Danial; Salminen, Joni; Jansen, Bernard J.; Kaate, Ilkka; Akhtar, Waleed
2026	Home care process interrupted: barriers to maintaining and repairing houses and apartments	Laitinen, Sara-Ellen; Kylkilahti, Eliisa; Syrjälä, Henna
2026	AI representing personas representing user groups: Applying the agency theory to examine interaction challenges of conversational personas as decision-making tools	Salminen, Joni; Jung, Soon-Gyo; Kaate, Ilkka; Xuan, Trang Thi Thu; Azem, Jinan Y.; Aldous, Kholoud Khalil; Amin, Danial; Jansen, Bernard J.

Research group leaders