Winners of the eight edition (2022)

The results of the eight edition of the competition in the name of Professor Roman Głowacki

for the best master's and bachelor's thesis

in the field of marketing, commerce and consumption

organized by the Polish Scientific Society of Marketing

 

Master's thesis

In the category of Master's theses, the competition was won by

Małgorzata Korzeniewska, MA Dark Patterns in Polish E-commerce in the Fashion Industry​, Kozminski University, supervisor: Magdalena Krzyżanowska, PhD

The following students were distinguished:

Martyna Fira, MA Budowanie zaangażowania konsumentów w serwisach społecznościowych na przykładzie marek produktów spożywczych, Warszaw School of Economics; supervisor: professor Małgorzata Bombol, PhD

Michał Krom, MA Analiza działań komunikacyjnych i ich efektów w kampanii prezydenckiej Joe Bidena w 2020 roku, Kozminski University, supervisor: Karolina Małagocka, PhD

Valeriya Kovalenko, MA The influence of inclusivity on brand awareness and brand image on the Polish market, Kozminski University, supervisor: Krzysztof Chmielewski, PhD

 

Bachelor's thesis

In the category of Bachelor's theses, the competition was won by:

Mateusz Kiljańczyk​, BA Mem internetowy jako narzędzie komunikacji marketingowej w mediach społecznościowych, University of Warsaw, supervisor: Agnieszka Kacprzak, PhD

The following students were distinguished:

Michał Latkowski​, BA Wpływ mnogości wyborów na doświadczenie konsumenckie, University of Warsaw, supervisor: Michał Ścibor-Rylski, PhD

Jakub Marszałek​, BA Hamowanie retroaktywne w sytuacji przeciążenia informacyjnego konsumentów w przestrzeni internetowej, Cracow University of Economics, supervisor: Katarzyna Sanak-Kosmowska, PhD.

 

Małgorzata Korzeniewska, MA, graduate of English Philology with a specialisation in linguistics at University of Warsaw and of the Master in Management with a specialisation in Digital Marketing at the Kozminski University. During her Bachelor’s studies she received the Rising Stars IA UW award, and during Master’s studies she received the Kozminski University Rector's Scholarship and the Gold Scholarship of the Kozminski Foundation. In her first year of Master's studies, Małgorzata was also selected to pursue a Double Degree program with KEDGE Business School in France, which she will finish next year. Currently she works in Paris as a Marketing Team Manager in a French-American SaaS company.

 

Summary

Małgorzata’s Master’s Dissertation aimed to gain comprehensive knowledge about the use of dark patterns in Polish e-commerce in the fashion industry. Moreover, the goal was to analyse whether there is a statistically significant correlation between dark pattern use and website popularity, and site size. 

To fulfill these goals, firstly, the 51 most popular websites from this industry were audited to comprehend the prevalence of dark patterns and classify the types used. Then, the Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient was utilised to analyse the data in terms of any significant relationships between the variables. 

The research findings show that dark patterns are widely prevalent in the Polish e-commerce fashion industry, with instances found on 96% of the audited websites. Concerning the test for correlations, no statistically significant relationships were found between any of the variables. 

This research is significant as it further develops the understanding of dark patterns, which are still not a very common topic among researchers. Moreover, it depicts the use of dark patterns in the largest Polish e-commerce sector, thus providing more insights into this industry. Finally, these research findings and discussion aim to motivate managers to move away from utilising dark patterns in their business strategies.

 

 

Mateusz Kiljańczyk, BA, student of the first year of the Master’s degree in the field of Management and the Bachelor’s degree in the field of Applied Sociology and Social Anthropology at the University of Warsaw. He defended his Bachelor's degree thesis in management in 2022 at the same university. Scientifically interested in the issues of marketing communication, brand management and consumption. Hobbyist of psychology and philosophy.

 

Summary

The thesis concerns the issue of the use of Internet memes as a marketing communication tool in social media. The issue’s subject of effectiveness of this kind of communication is an important field of study due to the important role of memes in digital culture. Although, internet memes are a significant part of Internet culture, At the same time there are only a few studies raising an issue of using Internet memes in marketing communication. In order to verify the hypothesis of this research paper, an online survey was conducted. The survey also included elements of an experiment. The total number of participants in the study was 153, of which 72 participants formed the experimental group and 81 the control group.

The independent variable in the experimental part of the survey were brands' images using internet memes, which were published on their social media profiles. The results of the conducted research let the author draw a conclusion about the lack of statistically significant influence of internet memes on the brand personality and on the sympathy for it. However, the results proved higher effectiveness of this kind of communication, which doesn't differ between genders and age groups. The differentiating factor was, however, the consumer's level of interest in the internet memes. The results of this study should be useful for managers, who may derive from the paper some guidance about using internet memes in online marketing communication, knowing the preferences of the target group. The main constraint of the study is non-representativeness of the research sample.