Ekaterina (Kati) Panina (she/her) is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Marketing with a PhD from the Turku School of Economics, defended in 2022. Her research focuses on advancing sustainable business practices and enhancing customer experience through human-centered approaches. She is actively involved in several research projects, including DESINEX and CIRCEX, which explore circular economy experiences, and COMMA, which investigates cybersecurity value creation in industrial contexts.

In addition to her research, Kati teaches basic marketing courses and is developing a course in her area of expertise. She supervises bachelor, master, and doctoral theses and is an Omaopettaja for Marketing majors.

Her professional background includes freelance and entrepreneurial work in technical translations, graphic design, market/user research, and web analytics for small businesses, organizations, and municipalities.

Communication languages: Finnish, English, Russian

I am passionate about advancing socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable business practices. My research adopts a human-centered approach, starting from real-world experiences—such as experiences of circularity, vulnerability, or uncertainty—and building towards broader explanations that reveal underlying issues and offer pathways to solutions. I integrate (customer) experience and journey concepts with various literature streams, primarily using qualitative research methods and explorative, theory-building approaches.

By investigating these relevant human experiences, I aim to challenge traditional, profit-driven marketing research norms and instead focus on how businesses can better serve people and the planet.

My work spans diverse contexts, including omnichannel retailing, sharing economy platforms, circular services, and industrial solutions. My doctoral research examined strategic customer experience management in B2B contexts, exploring how employing target experiences contributes to differentiation in industrial markets. In my postdoctoral research, I am exploring how human experiences can be integrated into circular economy practices to enhance stakeholder engagement and participation (DESINEX, CIRCEX), as well as studying individual experiences of cybersecurity and risk within the context of digital servitization of industrial equipment (COMMA).

In addition to leading my own research, I actively co-author papers on related topics and contribute to collaborative projects that delve into various aspects of my research interests. With a growing interest in experience design, I am keen to collaborate with service designers and interdisciplinary teams to explore how thoughtful design and research can drive positive societal and environmental impact.

I have been a responsible teacher in several bachelor-level marketing courses. Currently, I am responsible for the basics of marketing course (MAY Markkinoinnin perusteet) and web analytics course in a self-directed learning format (MA32 Adobe Analytics for Business). I also have experience in supervising students' thesis work at the bachelor, master, and doctoral levels.