It was a privilege to welcome Katrijn Gielens, Professor of Marketing at Tilburg University and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Retailing. A prominent scholar in retail dynamics, Professor Gielens recently shared her expertise with our Business Data Science (BDS) program as a guest lecturer in Marketing Science.
Professor Gielens’ research addresses the critical gap between social media engagement and actual sales performance. Her recent study investigates how investments in digital and influencer advertising translate into economic outcomes, specifically examining whether firm-coordinated campaigns yield different results than those coordinated by influencers themselves. Using data from a specialized toy brand in the Chinese market, the research explores the nuances of platform selection and the importance of message alignment between influencer content and official brand materials. The findings offer rigorous insights into how the strategic synchronization of content shapes consumer purchasing behavior in a digital-first economy.
