Kaan Varnali, Ph.D.
Behavioral Scientist | Researcher | Consultant
@ California, USA
I am a behavioral scientist focusing on customer experience. I help organizations better understand their goals and transform into sustainable people-centric ecosystems. I apply lessons from behavioral sciences to redesign organizational processes and develop customer acquisition and retention strategies. I have worked with a number of firms ranging from multinational banks and telecommunications companies to digital start-ups in improving their marketing, customer experience management and market research capabilities. I have vast experience in strategic consultancy, research design and execution, and corporate training.
Industry Experience
Self-employed Consultant, Trainer & Board Member
Founder (2022 to ...)
Industry: Executive Training
For programs in Turkish: www.davranisbilimi.com
Offering online training programs and educational content on business applications of behavioral sciences.
Courses are relevant to professionals from a variety of business disciplines, such as marketing, customer experience (CX), business analytics, growth management, strategy, service and product design, market reseach, employee experience (EX), and brand management.
Strategic Advisor (2018 to ... )
Industry: Market research
Independent Consultant & Professional Trainer (2006 - ... )
Worked with dozens of firms on a contractual basis on a variety of topics, such as BBVA Garanti Bank, Is Bankasi, Ipsos, Nestle, Futurebright, Pierre-Fabre, Turkcell, Turk Telekom, Fiat, Fibabanka, Turkiye Finans, Sanovel, Cloud4Feed.
Professor of Marketing (2010 to 2022)
Industry: Higher Education
CEO (2019 to 2020)
Industry: Mobile services and mobile marketing
Board Member (2016 to 2018)
Industry: Media and events
Board Member (2016 to 2018)
Industry: Mobile services and mobile marketing
Research
Behavioral Modeling, Experimental Studies, Journey Mapping, (N)etnography
Customer Experience Design
Customer experience is a subjective, dynamic, and highly context dependent phenomenon. As experiences are co-created along many direct and indirect contacts, customers rarely recognize the enabling structure behind them; instead perceive each experience as a complex and unitary feeling. From the lenses of complexity theory, I investigate how customer experience unfolds along a journey, which perpetually goes through a process of unanticipated re-configuration and self-organization.
Prior works published in: Journal of Business Research, Journal of Services Marketing, Service Industries Journal
Marketing Communications in Digital Environments
Marketing communications landscape has transformed into a highly data and algorithm driven platform business. The use of mobile devices and targeted ads are the hallmarks of this new communications environment. My research in this domain focuses on the factors that drive consumer behavior primarily in the contexts of mobile marketing and online behavioral targeting. Apart from publishing several articles in top-tier academic journals, I have also co-authored one of the pioneering books on mobile marketing, entitled "Mobile Marketing: Fundamentals & Strategy", published by McGraw-Hill in 2010.
Prior works published in: Electronic Commerce Research & Applications, International Journal of Information Management, Journal of Marketing Communications
Social Psychology on Social Media and Advertising
Social media exerts a dramatic effect on how humans perceive themselves and others, which reflects on their subsequent behaviors, such as voting, socializing, information gathering, brand engagements, and consumption. From the lenses of social psychology, I have been investigating several of these behaviors. This domain of inquiry also introduced me to Netnography. I authored the first book on social media research in Turkish, which has been endorsed by the founder of Netnography, Prof. Robert Kozinets.
Prior works published in: Information, Communication & Society, International Journal of Communication, Social Behavior & Personality
Case Studies in the Industry
Case studies are crucial to provide a real-life context to theoretical issues. I have had the chance to work with a number of organizations to apply my academic work on digital marketing communications to real-life situations. I studied Garanti Bank’s social media communication strategies, one of the biggest retail banks in Turkey, a BBVA subsidiary. I worked with the mobile marketing team in Turkcell, the top mobile carrier in Turkey, and with the Mobile Marketing Association (MMA) in London to write case-studies and industry reports.
Prior works published in: Emerald Emerging Market Case Studies, Springer Strategic Marketing Cases in Emerging Markets
Highlights from Publications
See GoogleScholar for the complete publication list and recent updates
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles
Varnali, K. & Cesmeci C. (2021). Customer responses to service failures on social media. Journal of Services Marketing. DOI: 10.1108/JSM-11-2020-0484
Ozcelik, A.B., Varnali, K. and Burnaz, S. (2021), A holistic framework for patient experience: 5P model. International Journal of Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Marketing.
Ozcelik, A.B. & Varnali, K. (2019). Effectiveness of online behavioral targeting: a psychological perspective. Electronic Commerce Research & Applications, 33, 1-11.
Varnali, K. (2019). Online behavioral advertising: an integrative review. Journal of Marketing Communications, 1-22.
Varnali, K. (2019). Understanding customer experience from the lenses of complexity theory. The Service Industries Journal, 39(11-12), 820-835.
Levi, E., Varnali, K., & Tosun, N.B. (2017). The match-up hypothesis revisited: a social psychological perspective. International Journal of Communication, 11, 278-300.
Kasnakoglu, B. T., Yilmaz, C., & Varnali, K. (2016). An asymmetric configural model approach for understanding complainer emotions and loyalty. Journal of Business Research, 69(9), 3659-3672.
Yilmaz, C., Varnali, K., & Kasnakoglu, B. T. (2016). How do firms benefit from customer complaints?. Journal of Business Research, 69(2), 944-955.
Varnali, K., & Toker, A. (2015). Self-disclosure on social networking sites. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal, 43(1), 1-13.
Varnali, K., & Gorgulu, V. (2014). A social influence perspective on expressive political participation in Twitter: The case of #OccupyGezi. Information, Communication & Society, 18(1), 1-16.
Varnali, R., & Varnali, K. (2014). Information Technology and Non-traditional Work Arrangements: Employee Preferences. İktisat, İşletme, Finans, 29 (339), 27-48.
Aslanbay, Y. & Varnali, K. (2014). Co-creating a future of happiness. Society, 51(6), 665-669.
Varnali, K., Yilmaz, C. & Toker, A. (2012) Predictors of attitudinal and behavioral outcomes in mobile advertising. Electronic Commerce Research & Applications, 11 (6), 570-581.
Varnali, K. (2012). SMS advertising: How message relevance is linked to the attitude toward the brand? Journal of Marketing Communications, 1-13.
Toker, A., Varnali, K., & Yilmaz, C. (2011). Mobile Marketing at Turkcell: Turkey’s Leading Mobile Operator. Emerald Emerging Market Case Studies, 1(1), 1-12.
Varnali, K., & Toker, A. (2010). Mobile marketing research: the-state-of-the-art. International Journal of Information Management, 30, 144-151.
Books
Varnali, K. (2017). Musteri Deneyimi (Customer Experience). Istanbul: Kapital Medya MediaCat Yayinlari. [In Turkish]
Varnali, K. (2013). Dijital Kabilelerin Izinde: Sosyal Medyada Etnografik Arastirmalar (In the Footsteps of the Digital Tribes: Conducting Ethnographic Research on Social Media). Istanbul: Kapital Medya MediaCat Yayinlari. [In Turkish]
Varnali, K. (2012). Dijital Tutulma: Pazarlama Iletisimi ve Insan (The Digital Eclipse: Marketing Communications and People). Istanbul: Kapital Medya MediaCat Yayinlari. [In Turkish]
Varnali, K., Toker, A. & Yilmaz, C. (2010). Mobile Marketing: Fundamentals & Strategy. New York: McGraw-Hill. [In English]
Book Chapters
Varnali, K., Ersoy, E., Tanriverdi, S.G., & Terzi, E. (2017). Managing Social Media Communications at Garanti Bank. In A. Adhikari & S. Roy (eds.), Strategic Marketing Cases in Emerging Markets. Springer.
Varnali, K. (2015). Müşteri Şikayetleri Yönetiminin Marka Başarısı ile İlişkisi (The Relationship Between Customer Complaint Management and Brand Success). In M. Arslan (ed.), Masamızda Marka Sohbetleri. Istanbul: Beta Yayinlari.
Toker, A., Varnali, K., & Yilmaz, C. (2011). Mobile Marketing at Turkcell: Turkey’s Leading Mobile Operator. Emerald Emerging Market Case Studies, 1(1), 1-12.
Varnali, K. (2012). Mobile Social Networks: Communication & Marketing Perspectives. In I. Lee (ed.), Strategy, Adoption and Competitive Advantage of Mobile Services in the Global Economy. Hershey: IGI Global.
Varnali, K. & Yilmaz, C. (2010). Exploring the Mobile Consumer. In I. Lee (Ed), Encyclopedia of E-Business Development and Management in the Global Economy (768-778). Hershey: IGI-Global.
Teaching
Courses taught in various universities.
Graduate Level Courses
Undergraduate Level Courses
Academic Administrative Experience
Contact
E-mail: contact@kaanvarnali.com | Linkedin
Kaan Varnali © 2023