QUT offers a diverse range of student topics for Honours, Masters and PhD study. Search to find a topic that interests you or propose your own research topic to a prospective QUT supervisor. You may also ask a prospective supervisor to help you identify or refine a research topic.
Found 14 matching student topics
Displaying 1–12 of 14 results
Greenwashing
This project is exploring the regulation of greenwashing in Australia, and elsewhere. It is investigating the environmental, sustainability and climate claims made by companies in a variety of industries including energy, vehicles, household products and appliances, food and drink packaging, cosmetics, clothing and footwear. It is exploring the impact of misleading environmental and sustainability claims on consumers. It is compiling a database of disputes and controversies over greenwashing. This project is analysing various modes of regulation of greenwashing. It highlights …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Law
- Research centre(s)
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Centre for Behavioural Economics, Society and Technology
The human factors in self-service technology
Organisations are increasingly moving toward self-service technology (where consumers deliver services themselves using technological interfaces). While this increases organisational efficiencies, it has the potential to significantly impact customer engagement with the organisation. We're seeking a Masters or PhD student to investigate the human factors involved in self-service technology delivery: How do situational factors impact consumers' adoption of self-service technologies? What motivators and inhibitors impact self-service technology usage? Do consumers always respond appropriately within self-service environments? The successful applicant for this …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- School
- null
- Research centre(s)
- null
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Lab grown meat: uncovering consumer and industry perceptions and attitudes leading to developing marketing strategies for a new product category
This project will explore the current attitudes of Australian industry players, startups and consumers towards lab grown ‘real’ meats (ie chicken, beef etc - not vegetarian products). It aims to give projections regarding behaviour when a new product is launched and how to develop suitable marketing recommendations on how to launch, branding, costs, who would actually buy this new product, and creating demand for these products.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
The use of chatbots for mental healthcare and emotional wellbeing
According to the World Health Organization, depression is the leading cause of disability, with 300 million globally suffering from it while fewer than half of those affected receive treatment. New Apps aim to help users manage their mental state, from meditation apps to more therapeutic platforms like Joyable. And a new Facebook Messenger chatbot called Woebot tries to help people with depression and other mental disorders through education and mood tracking. The focus of this research is to investigate consumers’ …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
Dopamine Dressing: Do brightly coloured outifts make us happier?
The theory of “enclothed cognition” suggests the systematic influence that clothes have on the wearer's psychological processes.Researchers have found the diverse impact that clothes can have on the wearer. It is proposed that enclothed cognition involves the co-occurrence of two independent factors—the symbolic meaning of the clothes and the physical experience of wearing them. For example, research has found physically wearing a lab coat increased selective attention compared to not wearing a lab coat, and wearing a lab coat described …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
The Martyrdom Effect: why we hurt to give
Most theories of motivation and behaviour consider pain and effort to be deterrents. In contrast to this widely held belief, researchers have identified that the prospect of enduring pain and exerting effort for a cause can promote contributions to the cause. Specifically, research has shown that willingness to contribute to a charitable or collective cause increases when the contribution process is expected to be painful and effortful rather than easy and enjoyable.This project extends this theory to a shopping context. …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
Not included: Taxes, Fees and Surcharges - Consumer reactions to partitioned prices in online retail
Not included: Taxes, Fees and Surcharges - Consumer reactions to partitioned prices in online retailPartitioned pricing, which refers to the practice of diving prices into a base price and surcharges such as taxes, shipping or handling fees is increasingly popular (Greenleaf et al., 2016; Choi et al., 2019). Yet at the same time it is a practice that divides practitioners, where some online retailers partition their prices while others opt not to. Scientific insights on this issue are in its …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
Consumer reactions to voice-based AI
Artificial intelligence increasingly allows marketers to manipulate video and audio materials in a manner that has been restricted to still pictures in the past. Yet little is known about how consumers engage with and react to marketing content that consumers know has been manipulated in this fashion. For instance, for whom, when and why do interactions with voice-based AI (e.g. Google Duplex, Healed through A.I.) reduce purchase intentions. Building on research from interpersonal interactions (Lechner & Mathmann, 2020) and motivational …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
Understanding authenticity seeking in the purchase of indigenous art and souvenirs
There is a growing and substantial body of knowledge concerning tourists' perception of authenticity for indigenous art and souvenirs. Such products have significant impact on local economies.For tourists and visitors, indigenous art and souvenirs are mementos of their travel experiences and help tourists appreciate cross-cultural differences. However, more and more, these products are becoming mass-produced objects where the satisfaction of tourists and the profit motives of retailers are given priority. From the demand side, there are many motives for souvenir …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
Exploring the attributes that influence the purchase of indigenous art and souvenirs
What attributes influence a consumers' intention to purchase indigenous art and souvenirs? Research has suggested ‘perception of authenticity’ motivate some consumers to seek out and purchase such products. However, authenticity may relate to the marker/artist, aesthetics of the design, or material use. These attributes are identified through the extant literature in indigenous art and souvenirs. The purpose of this research project is to determine what influences perceptions of authenticity, leading to purchase intention.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
Regulatory mode and the endowment effect
Consumers often demand a higher price for items they own, than what they would be willing to pay to buy the same item (Kahneman et al., 1990). This effect is commonly known as the endowment effect. While the endowment effect is well established (e.g. Bar-Hillel & Neter, 1996; Chan, 2015; Horowitz & Mcconnell, 2002), and some studies have attempted to explain it by considering the effects of psychological ownership (Kirk et al., 2015), there are still questions about when, for …
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
Travellers' perceptions of short break holiday destinations
Brisbane residents are spoiled by choice of short break holiday destinations within a comfortable drive. This topic offers participation in an ongoing project monitoring perceptions held by Brisbane residents (since 2003) of the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Northern NSW, Fraser Coast and Bundaberg North Burnett. For each of these destinations, the Brisbane market represents the largest source of visitors, and understanding consumer perceptions represents important marketing research for the destination marketing orgnisations.
- Study level
- PhD, Master of Philosophy, Honours
- Faculty
- Faculty of Business and Law
- School
- School of Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
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