Public Defence: Muhammad Adeel Riaz

Muhammad Adeel Riaz will defend his PhD degree in Marketing Management. The thesis explores how digital platforms create marketing value by enabling different possibilities for action for users, and how these can be leveraged by businesses and consumers.

17 Apr

Practical information

  • Date: 17 April 2026
  • Time: 10.00 - 15.00
  • Location: Vestfold, Auditorium A1-36 Horten and Zoom
  • Download calendar file
  • Organizer: USN School of Business

    • Link to digital participation (Zoom).

    Meeting ID: 667 4780 5202

    Password: 825067

    Programme

    10:00 Trial lecture: "Brand management in times of geopolitical conflict"

    12:00 Public defence: "Understanding Digital Platform Benefits for Marketing: An Affordance Perspective"

    Assessment committee

    • First opponent: Professor Moutaz Haddara, Kristiania University of Applied Sciences
    • Second opponent: Professor Gülen Sarial Abi, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
    • Administrator: Associate Professor Are Branstad, University of South-Eastern Norway

    Supervisors

    • Principal supervisors: Professor emeritus Per Egil Pedersen, University of South-Eastern Norway and associate professor Marius Rohde Johannessen, University of South-Eastern Norway
    • Co-supervisor: Associate professor Kristin Bentsen, University of South-Eastern Norway
    • Co-supervisor: Professor Tor Helge Aas, University of Agder
Any questions?

Muhammad Adeel Riaz is defending his dissertation for the degree philosophiae doctor (PhD) at the University of South-Eastern Norway.Disputant

 

He has completed the doctoral programme in Marketing Management at the USN School of Business.

All interested are welcome to the trial lecture and public defence.

Summary

Digital platforms such as social media, online marketplaces, and sharing services have become central to how businesses and consumers interact. This doctoral research shows that the value of these platforms in marketing does not only come from their features, but from the opportunities for action they create for users.

The study develops a new framework that explains how these opportunities emerge, how users take advantage of them, and what outcomes they produce. The findings show that the same platform can create very different benefits depending on how users perceive and use it. For example, platforms can enable trust, visibility, collaboration, and community-building, which in turn influence brand engagement, customer loyalty, and business performance.

Through three interconnected studies, the research demonstrates that platform value is not fixed, but depends on the interaction between technology, users, and context. A case study of an online community illustrates how these dynamics create outcomes such as stronger brand legitimacy, higher engagement, and increased social visibility.

The results provide practical insights for businesses on how to design and use digital platforms more effectively, and for policymakers on how platform ecosystems shape economic and social value. Overall, the research offers a new way of understanding digital marketing in an increasingly platform-driven economy.