Department of Economics

Sustainable Business & Society

Research on sustainability is broadly understood in the department and relates to economic, ecological and social sustainability as well as sustainable communication. In order to answer research questions on sustainable and responsible business, there are various collaborations, such as internally with the Department of Energy and Environmental Management.

Topics that are researched by the employees are Sustainability education, energy law and the energy industry, compliance, sustainable economic processes (e.g. in controlling), sustainability reporting, business development, systemic SME management, circular business models (circular economy), entrepreneurship education & aspects of sustainability, emergent leadership in teams, political discourse, biographies and storytelling of entrepreneurs

CEE Business Relations

This research specialisation focuses on cultural, economic and scientific relations with countries in this geographical area. Research and the associated development of academic networks in this economic region are being intensified. Research focuses on topics such as the expansion of transcultural economic and scientific networks in order to address the challenges of entrepreneurial internationalisation processes.

Topics that are researched by the employees are Internationalisation processes of SMEs, EU election campaigns, political and business-specific communication in the CEE region, EU external relations, diversity, intercultural teams and intercultural work.

User and Consumer Research

In this research specialisation, employees focus on the user-friendliness and usability of applications or products as well as the general perception of an application or product. In addition to traditional qualitative and quantitative methods, we also use eye tracking, emotion measurement and other techniques for which we have specialised infrastructure (technical equipment and laboratories).

Topics that are researched by the employees are Consumer attitudes towards sustainability, wine marketing, sustainable communication, the effect of communication (language, facial expressions, etc.) in job interviews, storytelling in marketing communication, the fundamental effect of storytelling, pricing strategies in the wine industry, the importance of wine packaging elements (e.g. labels), quality assessments of wine consumers.