Carlos Diaz Ruiz is an Assistant Professor (Tenure-Track) at the Department of Marketing. His research revolves around marketing strategy, market-shaping, and consumer culture. As a business anthropologist, he uses in-depth research methods such as ethnography to design consumer-led marketing strategies.
Dr. Diaz Ruiz was born and raised in Mexico City and completed his Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Finland. His dissertation explored how market research firms build actionable insights. His research unveiled how they distinguish the insights their clients implement by interviewing dozens of insights specialists in multiple countries. The dissertation has been published as academic papers in Marketing Theory, Industrial Marketing Theory, Industrial Marketing Management, and the International Journal of Market Research. The market research industry recognized this contribution, including me in ESOMAR's Insights250 list for 2022.
Dr. Diaz Ruiz was faculty member at KEDGE Bordeaux in France. Later, he joined the University of Auckland in New Zealand as a Lecturer and was promoted to Senior Lecturer.
Before entering academia, Dr. Diaz Ruiz worked as a consumer insights consultant to major companies in Latin America. Through his work, he advised organizations in diverse industries to identify and act upon consumer trends.
As an educator, he uses his research and industry experience to teach university students courses like qualitative research, strategic branding, consumer culture, and user innovation. One of his interests is to develop teaching methods in close collaboration with insights agencies to help train the next generation of insights professionals. His teaching approach is designed with industry professionals considering the requirements of marketing agencies.
As a business academic, he has published over a dozen scholarly articles in well-respected, peer-reviewed scientific journals, including the Journal of Business Research, the Journal of Marketing & Public Policy, Marketing Theory, the European Journal of Marketing, and Industrial Marketing Management. My research interest lately has been in consumer engagement online with disinformation and conspiracy theories. For instance, my work studying flat-earth misinformation on YouTube; has been featured in news media.
Carlos Diaz Ruiz held faculty positions at Hanken School of Economics (Finland), Aalto University (Finland), KEDGE Business School (France), and the University of Auckland (New Zealand). At Hanken, Carlos Duiaz Ruiz is Assistant Professor in Marketing since 2022. he supervises bachelor and master thesis students, so please contact him if you are interested in discussing a topic.
Carlos Diaz Ruiz developed and taught multiple courses in Consumer Culture, Consumer Insights, Branding Strategy, Marketing Strategy, and Market Research.
