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CALL FOR PAPERS - Colloquium on European Research in Retailing – CERR 2026
Marketing Myopia Reloaded: Rediscovering Retail’s Core
01 – 03 July 2026 | Johannes Kepler University Linz (JKU), Austria
Retail is being reinvented – algorithm by algorithm, app by app, store by store. Yet as we digitalise, automate, and optimise, a fundamental question remains: Are we still seeing the people behind the process? In an era of AI, robotics, and platform retailing, CERR 2026 invites researchers to re-centre the human being in the retail equation.
Our theme, 'Marketing Myopia Reloaded', builds on Theodore Levitt’s timeless question: What business are we really in? We invite contributions that challenge current tech-centrism, and instead explore how technologies – from AI to automation – can act as meaningful tools, not ends in themselves. We are not anti-tech. We are pro-human, pro-purpose, and pro-impact.
This year’s colloquium brings together academics and professionals to reflect on what we call “Re-Novation”: the human-centred renewal of retail. Retail is, and always will be, a people’s business – in the supply chain, at the point of sale, and along the entire customer journey. We ask: What is the core of retail today? Where do passion, emotion, and irrationality still matter?
Join us in Linz for a three-day exchange at the heart of Europe – in a city of contrasts and curiosity – as we collectively rediscover the human side of retail in a digital age.
Suggested Topics (but not exclusively)
• Consumer and Shopper Behaviour: Emotions, irrationality, experience design
• Technology with Purpose: AI, robotics, and automation as enablers, not masters
• Retail Ethics & Responsibility: Data privacy, fairness, accessibility, inclusion
• Omnichannel & Platform Retailing: UX, livestream shopping, digital trust
• Re-Novation and Cultural Meaning: Nostalgia, branding, reinterpretation of tradition
• Retail Strategy & Supply Chains: Alignment of marketing, logistics, and tech
• Frontline Empowerment: Employee experience in tech-rich environments
• Retail Education: Teaching for purpose, inclusion, and innovation
• Sustainability in Retail: Circular models, conscious consumption, green logistics
We Welcome Submissions That Are: (1) Conceptual or empirical, (2) Theoretical or practice-oriented, (3) Interdisciplinary and critical, (4) Grounded in current or emerging retail phenomena
Submission Details
We welcome full papers and extended abstracts. All submissions will undergo double-blind peer review. Accepted contributions will be included in the conference programme and considered for a Special Issue in the International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management.
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