Academic projects

There are academic projects going on and degrees taken within VaasaEMG all the time. Most of these projects are done along one's main occupation. VaasaEMG is delighted to do doctoral and master's theses in cooperation with companies operating at the energy industry. In case your company has some kind of disquisition task in which you are hoping to cooperate with a thesis writer, please do not hesitate to contact VaasaEMG staff and we will find out whether we can find a suitable person to do the work in question at that moment.

VaasaEMG members that are responsible in these research projects:

Merja Pakkanen – doctoral thesis
Martti Muroma – doctoral thesis
Nea Aspholm - master's thesis 

Consumer’s inertia at the electricity market (Doctoral thesis)

Merja Pakkanen

The residential electricity market was already deregulated in Finland in 1998 but just around 20 % of the households are estimated to have switched their supplier (autumn 2007) since deregulation. Switching the electricity supplier may bring significant financial savings to the consumer. Switching is also technically very easy (at least in principle) and there are no risks involved in switching, regarding eg. the continuance of the electricity delivery. Why consumers, then, do not switch their electricity supplier?

Many consumers have a rational reason for not switching, for example the insignificance of the benefit that could be achieved. Some consumers, on the other hand, are satisfied with their current electricity supplier and, thus, do not want to have a change. However, as argued in this piece of work, genuine customer loyalty is quite rare at this industry, and most of the consumers are somewhat “in the middle” (undecided) and have not made a decision to one direction or another. A consumer may not be against switching but just has not got around to do it, due to eg. a lack of awareness, time and interest. This research particularly concentrates on the term of consumer inertia (inefficiency, dawdling, unwillingness, passivity…) at the electricity market – what inertia actually is in the electricity market context and how it could it be broken. How could these consumers be influenced through marketing means?

The final thesis will be written in Finnish. The research is done gradually along with the main occupation, and therefore it is difficult to estimate the completion time. So far the research has been funded by Etelä-Pohjanmaan Kulttuurirahasto, Evald ja Hilda Nissin Säätiö, Vaasan Kauppakamariosasto, Kauppias Gustaf Svanljungin Lahjoitusrahaston Säätiö and Vaasan Kauppakamariosasto.

Electricity suppliers’ marketing strategies at the deregulated electricity market (Doctoral thesis)

Martti Muroma

Description to be added later.

Adoption of innovation: hybrid cars entering the Finnish market (Master’s thesis)

Nea Aspholm

Issues such as global warming as well as natural catastrophes that are a result of the climate change have stood out more and more in different kinds of media. The decreasing oil resources worldwide have also made people think. Various solutions are being considered so that a future crisis could be avoided. Innovations are created. The problem is how to make consumers adopt new products.

In this research the environmentally friendlier hybrid cars and their market in Finland will be studied. At least so far hybrids have not been a big success. The ultimate goal of this research is to find out the reason why these cars do not seem to create an interest among Finnish consumers. Salient in this research is to create an understanding of the kinds of prejudices and attitudes consumers have towards hybrids and by what kinds of marketing means these could be affected. The research is done in collaboration with a major Finnish car dealer chain.

The thesis will be written in Finnish. The research is expected to be completed by autumn 2008.

The Master's Theses previously conducted within VaasaEMG:

Peltola, Tuomas (2008). Green brands on electricity market in Finland and Sweden . University of Vaasa.

Närvä, Teemu (2008). Hinnoittelustrategiat Suomen sähkömarkkinoilla. University of Vaasa.

Hernesniemi, Lotta (2007). Vaihtokäyttäytyminen sähkömarkkinoilla. University of Vaasa.

Ndzibah, Emmanuel (2006). Product strategies of Finnish photovoltaic technology manufacturers for Africa . University of Vaasa .

Korpi-Hallila, Mariia (2006). Sources affecting electricity supplier switching from a relationship viewpoint. A multiple case study in the Dutch, Flemish and Finnish markets. University of Vaasa.

Bönsch, Constance (2003), “Kundentzufriedenheits- und Loyalitätsanalysen als Informatsionsgrundlage för Markteintritts- und Marktbearbeitungsstrategien im Energiesektor - eine Analyse unter besonderer Berücksichtigung von Lenderkontexten - “. Leipzig School of Management, Germany, in co-operation with the University of Vaasa .

Hallivuori, Helena (2001). "Sähköyhtiöiden mainosten tyylistä ja rakenteesta". University of Vaasa.

Demianets, Deanna (2000). "Use of Electronic Commerce to Improve Service Quality in the Consumer Electricity Market". University of Vaasa.

Turtia, Mika (2000). “Tarjonnan erilaistaminen avautuneilla sähkömarkkinoilla - tavoitteena asiakkaiden tyytyväisyys ja uskollisuus”. University of Vaasa. 

Riisiö, Katja (1999). “Sähköyhtiöiden strateginen käyttäytyminen Suomen vapailla kuluttajasähkömarkkinoilla”. University of Vaasa.