Dr. Verena Wieser

 

Vita:

Dr. Verena Wieser is an Assistant Professor of Branding at the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. She has more than 15 years of experience in research, teaching, mentoring, and project management in the areas of responsible branding, consumer culture theory research, and qualitative methodology. In addition to her academic skills, Verena has gained practical management experience in international sports event management and educational program management. As a graduate of the International Business Administration Program at the University of Innsbruck (with a year abroad at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada), she continues to expand her intercultural networks and competences in various workshops and research stays (e.g., at SDU Odense, Denmark, and Bayes Business School, London). True to her core values of curiosity, creativity, and commitment, she strives to inspire students and marketing and branding professionals in a dynamically changing business world and provide them with practical guidance for their professional projects and careers.

Research:

Verena’s research focuses on responsible branding and consumption, person branding, and leisure branding and consumption. Together with her co-authors, she has published in renowned journals such as the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Service Research, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, and the Journal of Business Research. She is an expert in qualitative methods, particularly interview techniques, ethnography, and netnography, and is committed to promoting Consumer Culture Theory research in business research. Verena has served as an ad hoc reviewer for renowned journals and as a track co-chair at international academic conferences (e.g., CCT Conference 2025) and co-chair of local academic conferences (e.g., Brand Camp 4). She is also co-chair of a Central European doctoral workshop on qualitative methods funded by the European Union's Erasmus+ program.

Selected Publications

Leisure Branding

“We truly love what we do”: The Tribal Consumer Inside Passionate Service Employees
Riehle, Ramona; Wieser, Verena; Hemetsberger, Andrea (2025) In: Journal of Service Research 27/4, S. 559 - 578. (Weblink) (DOI)

Value Cocreation at Sport Events
Grohs, Reinhard; Wieser, Verena E.; Pristach, Matthias (2020) In: European Sport Management Quarterly 20/1, S. 69 - 87. (Weblink) (DOI)

Person Branding

Charismatic Entrainment: How Brand Leaders and Consumers Co-Create Charismatic Authority in the Marketplace
Wieser, Verena E.; Luedicke, Marius K.; Hemetsberger, Andrea (2021) In: Journal of Consumer Research 48/4, S. 731 - 751. (Weblink) (DOI)

The Iconization of Greta Thunberg: The Role of Myths in Co-Creating a Person Brand
Wieser, Verena; Brugger, Teresa (2022) In: Markovic, Stefan; Gyrd-Jones, Richard; von Wallpach, Sylvia; Lindgreen, Adam: Research Handbook on Brand Co-Creation. Theory, Practice and Ethical Implications. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar, ISBN 978-1-83910-541-8, 10.4337/9781839105425, S. 374 - 380. (Weblink) (DOI)

Responsible Branding

Social Responsibility
Wieser, Verena; Hemetsberger, Andrea (2024) In: Gollnhofer, Johanna; Hofstetter, Reto; Tomczak, Torsten; (eds.): Elgar Encyclopedia of Consumer Behavior. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar (= Elgar Encyclopedias in Business and Management series), ISBN 978-1-80392-626-1, S. 287 - 290. (Weblink) (DOI)

Protest Thetoric´s Appeal: How Moral Entrepreneurs Recruit the Media into Moral Struggles
Wieser, Verena E.; Hemetsberger, Andrea; Lüdicke, Marius K. (2019) In: Research in the Sociology of Organizations 63, S. 151 - 166. (Weblink) (DOI)

Public Brand Auditing: A Pathway to Brand Accountability
Gabl, Sabrina; Wieser, Verena; Hemetsberger, Andrea (2017) In: Özçaglar-Toulouse, Nil; Rinallo, Diego; Belk, Russel W.: Consumer Culture Theory. Annual Consumer Culture Theory Conference held in Lille, France in July 2016. Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing (= Research in Consumer Behavior, 18), ISBN 978-1-78635-496-9, S. 147 - 167. (Weblink) (DOI)

Doing well while doing good? An integrative review of marketing criticism and response
Stoeckl, Verena; Luedicke, M (2015) In: Journal of Business Research 68/12, S. 2452 - 2463. (Weblink) (DOI)

Awards and Grants (Selection):

EU Erasmus+ program for cooperation partnerships in higher education [consortium member],
Awarded To: WU Vienna, University of Innsbruck, Prague University of Economics and Business, Stiftung Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)
For “Boosting Research Innovation through Doctoral Group Exchange in Business Studies”

OeAD-GmbH - Agentur für Bildung und Internationalisierung (Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation), Aktion Österreich - Tschechien (Wissenschafts- und Erziehungskooperation)
Awarded To: Chytková, Zuzana; Luedicke, Marius K.; Wieser, Verena
For “Advancing Qualitative Research in Business Studies: An International Doctoral Workshop on Qualitative Methods.”
 

Outstanding Author Contribution in the 2017 Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence
Awarded To: Gabl, Sabrina; Hemetsberger, Andrea; Wieser, Verena
For: 'Public Branding Auditing: A Pathway to Brand Accountability' in
Nil Özçaglar-Toulouse, Diego Rinallo, Russel W. Belk (ed.) Consumer Culture Theory (Research in Consumer Behavior, Volume 18) Emerald Group Published Limited, 147 - 167 (2016).

Young scholars support fund 2016 of the University of Innsbruck
Awarded to Wieser, Verena
For “Overcoming Fear, Failure and Frustration: A Video-graphic Analysis of the Consumption Skill Acquisition Experience” (co-authored with Niklas Woermann)

The Franco Nicosia ACR Best Competitive Paper Award presented by the Jagdish Sheth Foundation
Awarded To: Verena Stoeckl
For: Stoeckl, Verena (2014), “Lonely Rebel or Pioneer of the Future? Towards an Understanding of Stakeholder Framing of Activist Brands”; 42nd Association for Consumer Research Conference in Baltimore, USA.

Teaching and Practical Experience:

 

Market Research (Qualitative Methods), Intercultural Brand Building, Ethics in Marketing, Strategic Marketing and Branding, Scientific Research
Masters’ Program Marketing and Branding, University of Innsbruck, Austria

Value Creation and Value Delivery Processes, Strategy and Marketing
Bachelors’ Program Management and Economics, University of Innsbruck, Austria

Research Seminar
Bachelors’ Program: Sport- und Eventmanagement, Private University Schloss Seeburg, Austria

Supervisor of bachelor, diploma, and master theses

Coordinator of business projects, guest lecture series and company visits
E.g., SCOTT Sports, Recheis, Swarovski Optik, Lindner Traktoren, Hilti AG, BOE, EKIZ
Coordinator of the Brand Venture Talks XX and XIX
Member and former coordinator of the Marketing Club “Freundeskreis Innsbrucker Marketer”

Project Management Experience
FIFA Women's World Cup 2011, German Football Federation, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
UEFA Euro 2008, Salzburg, Austria/Nyon, Switzerland
London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games, London, UK
Swarovski Business Unit Architecture, Wattens, Austria (Euromobil)
ATP Generali Open Kitzbühel; Kitzbühel Tourismus, Austria (Intern)
WKÖ, Office Atlanta, USA (Volunteer)

Educational Program Management Activities:

 

Masters’ Program Associate Dean of Studies
Master Marketing and Branding (2023-2025)
Master in Strategic Management (2020-2021)

Co-chair and track co-chair of the scientific conferences and workshops
Co-Chair of the Central European doctoral workshop series “Boosting Research Innovation through Doctoral Group Exchange in Business Studies,” funded by the EU Erasmus+ Program
Track Co-Chair (Working Papers) for the Consumer Culture Theory Conference 2025, London
Co-Chair of “Brand Camp 4” and “Brand Camp 5,” Obergurgl, Austria