How important is "made in Germany"?

Researcher from Bayreuth receives the Wolfgang Wirichs Foundation Award for his doctorate on the importance of product information when buying online.

By Benedikt Brand · 13.03.2023

Dr. Benedikt Brand, a graduate and now research assistant at the University of Bayreuth, has studied additional information as an aid to purchase decisions in online retailing. In his dissertation "Extrinsic Information Cues for Mitigating Information Asymmetry in e-Commerce: A German-Chinese Perspective", which has now won an award, he investigates which information is relevant for which customer groups.

Online shopping offers numerous advantages for merchants and consumers worldwide. However, when shopping online, it is not possible to check products before buying (e.g. by feeling textiles). The frequent consequence: a large number of returns. In order to counteract this, the work carried out under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Daniel Baier at the Chair of Marketing & Innovation deals with various information signals that support customers in their purchase decisions. Such information signals can be, for example, online customer reviews, information about the country of origin (e.g. "made in Germany") or nowadays increasingly sustainability labels (e.g. the OEKO-TEX label).

Photo (c) Wirichs Stiftung/ Gunter Dreißig

Since the interaction of such information signals and information processing varies depending on the cultural background, the study was conducted from a German-Chinese perspective. The overarching research question was therefore: "How do different extrinsic information signals affect the online purchase of Chinese and German consumers in an e-commerce context?".

About the Award:

The Wolfgang Wirichs Förderpreis is awarded for projects that deal with innovations in retail and are developed or carried out at German-speaking universities, universities of applied sciences or educational institutions in retail or by junior retail staff with relevant vocational training who wish to gain further qualifications. (Person-related funding). In addition, non-profit corporations or corporations under public law that are dedicated to the training or further education of junior staff for the trade can be funded. (Institution-related promotion). The award promotes ongoing scientific work or practical projects that lead to novel problem solutions for trade practice. The choice of topic is free - what is important is the innovative approach of the work or project.

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