Start of funding 01.07.2018

Blockchain Technology from a Consumer/User Perspective: An Interdisciplinary Empirical Investigation

Prof. Dr. Björn Ivens
University of Bamberg
Department of Marketing and Sales

Prof. Dr. Bhaskar Krishnamachari
University of Southern California, Los Angeles
Department of Computer Science and Electrical Engineering



The blockchain concept describes a distributed ledger/database that is governed and maintained autonomously in the digital space without any central authority. Offering a unique combination of characteristics and advantages, blockchain technology has sparked high awareness in academia. Though, to-date, academic research on blockchain technology approaches the topic from a very tech-focused angle, not putting emphasis on exploring how consumers/users can benefit from blockchain technology. Therefore, this project has the objective to investigate perceptions, opportunities, and limitations of blockchain technology from the perspective of consumers/users. In an interdisciplinary research setting at the intersection of marketing, computer science, and electrical engineering, the goal is to conduct empirical investigations among (potential) consumers/users of blockchain applications.

Final report:
After in person meetings in Los Angeles, a quantitative research study was conducted by the research partners in a joint effort. The main goal of the research study was to investigate the use of blockchain technology in a digital application that was hit by a transgression in the digital space. In this regard, much emphasis was put on analyzing the attitudes of user towards the afflicted digital platform. In detail, the research study was led by the research question if and to what extent blockchain technology was able to help restore brand trust in the afflicted application after a digital transgression occurred. First results of the comprehensive research study are published in a research paper, available in the proceedings of the Hawaii International Conference on Systems Sciences (HICSS) 2020. Additional analyses of the data as well as a continuation of the research cooperation are planned for 2020+.

Research paper:
Martin Fleischmann, Bjoern S. Ivens, and Bhaskar Krishnamachari, "Blockchain Technology as a Means for Brand Trust Repair – Empirical Evidence from a Digital Transgression," Proceedings of the 53rd Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Wailea, USA, 2020.