In our Future Consumer Studio, future-oriented topics that shape society take center stage. Each semester, we dedicate ourselves to a single overarching theme and explore it from multiple perspectives. To do so, we collaborate with experts from a wide range of domains, including other departments at WU, other universities, industry practitioners, entrepreneurs and start-ups, policymakers, and researchers from a breadth of fields. Future Consumer Studio serves as a collaborative hub that brings together diverse voices, synthesizes insights, and integrates knowledge to derive implications for the future consumer.
The program follows an innovative pedagogical philosophy grounded in exploration, empirical inquiry, the development of analog artefacts, workshops, and “Arbeitsinseln” designed to foster creativity, reflection, and interdisciplinary thinking, while also cultivating future‑oriented skills such as resilience and agility in a fast‑changing environment.

We work with diverse, multicultural teams to reflect the international nature of today’s business environment. The language of the course is English to ensure that everyone can participate fully and to foster multilingual and intercultural communication. Students learn to collaborate across cultural boundaries and reflect on how culture shapes both consumer behavior and team dynamics.

At the end of this course, students should:

1. Have gained knowledge about the course of a research project

2. Have first hands-on experience in marketing research

3. Have some experiences in using qualitative and/or quantitative research methods

4. Have gained knowledge in how to plan and manage an empirical investigation

5. Have gained experiences in deriving customer insights relevant for various stakeholders

6. Be able to collaborate effectively in diverse, multicultural teams and reflect on how cultural perspectives influence consumer behavior and research processes

7. Be able to use AI as a sparring partner when developing a study design, conducting pretests and distilling the research insights into a synthetic persona.

Minimum attendance: 80%

Attendance in the first session and the presentations is mandatory!

Group work, presentation, discussion, coaching

Discovery phase:

• 30%

Empirical phase:

• 60%

Peer evaluation (individual): 10%

In order to successfully complete the course, ALL parts must be provided!

Failure to provide a part leads to immediate exclusion from the course (assessment: fail)!

Grading:

100-90: Excellent (1)

89,99-80: Good (2)

79,99-70: Satisfactory (3)

69,99-60: Sufficient (4)

59,99-0: Fail (5)

This course can only be taken after having successfully completed course 1.

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