Marcel Hauck successfully defended his doctoral thesis entitled “Effects of Algorithmic and Editorial Recommendations on Users in Public Service Media Video-on-Demand Systems” at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz on June 14, 2024. Since July 3, 2024, he is now officially allowed to use his doctorate.
Dr. Hauck defended his dissertation in front of his first advisor Prof. Dr. Franz Rothlauf (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz), his second advisor Prof. Dr. Sven Pagel (Mainz University of Applied Sciences), and the other reviewers Prof. Dr. Birgit Stark and Prof. Dr. Andranik Tumasjan (also Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz). Marcel Hauck researched the use and impact of artificial intelligence in the fields of marketing and media communication. In the field of marketing communication, he investigated the digital visibility of companies together with the collaborating company loci GmbH Deutschland. In the field of media communication, he researched the effects of algorithmic and editorial recommendations on users in public media libraries.
Prof. Dr. Sven Pagel emphasizes that the doctorate, funded by the European Regional Development Fund (EU ERDF) and the Ministry of Science and Health of Rhineland-Palatinate, was able to create and publish both scientific and practice-oriented knowledge. “Dr. Marcel Hauck’s work demonstrates the appeal of cooperative doctorates between universities and universities of applied sciences.”
Prof. Dr. Franz Rothlauf also praised the renewed successful cooperation between Johannes Gutenbery University Mainz and Mainz University of Applied Sciences. He is pleased that he was able to successfully support Hauck throughout the entire doctoral process and accompany him on his way to becoming an independent scientist.
Marcel Hauck is the 14th doctoral student to complete his doctorate at the School of Business. It took him five years to complete the cooperative doctorate, which he managed alongside his career and family life with two children. His academic career began in the winter semester of 2013 with a Bachelor’s degree in Media, IT & Management at the School of Business. He then completed a Master’s of Science in Media Informatics; he graduated with distinction from both programs. During this time, he was a research assistant and team leader for Applied AI in the Information Systems and Media Management (WIMM) research group at Mainz University of Applied Sciences.
Since 2023, the 37-year-old has been working for ARD Online as a Recommender Expert. To put it in simpler terms, this means that Dr. Hauck is responsible for developing the recommendation systems for the ARD Mediathek and ARD Audiothek. He is also a substitute professor at the School of Business. “I am very happy that I was able to investigate socially relevant topics in a practical way in my research,” says the newly qualified doctor, who is proud to be making a small contribution to science and practice with his doctorate.
