In collaboration with PREMIUM Filmtheater (German-wide cinema chain, e.g., ASTOR Film Lounge im ARRI München)
📌 Key facts
- Literature-Driven Exploration: Study a variety of dynamic pricing models from academic and business literature to understand their foundations and best practices.
- Global Perspective: Examine how dynamic pricing is adopted across different regions—Germany, EU, US, and Asia (especially China)—to spot cutting-edge trends and unique market nuances.
- Software Landscape: Identify real-world software solutions and tools that cinemas and entertainment venues already use for dynamic pricing, outlining their features and constraints.
- Quantitative Simulation: Develop and run a simulation model to estimate the potential revenue or attendance impact of various pricing strategies, leveraging data from a major German cinema chain.
- When: Ideally start before April 2025, but flexible scheduling is possible.
- How to apply: Send an email (details at the end) with your CV, grade report, and a short bullet-style thesis proposal.
💡 Background
Dynamic pricing has transformed industries from hospitality and airlines to sports events. In the entertainment sector—especially cinema—it’s still an emerging frontier:
- Evolving Customer Behavior: With diverse entertainment options (streaming, VR, etc.), cinemas must refine ticket pricing to remain competitive.
- Academic vs. Practical Gaps: While research offers many theoretical pricing models, real-world adoption can face technology, regulatory, and consumer acceptance hurdles.
- Global Trends: Different regions exhibit different consumer behaviors and regulatory environments- what works in the US may not work in Germany or China, but learning from those markets can spark new ideas.
🎯 Goals
Your thesis or project will combine thorough literature review, real-world case studies, and data-driven experimentation:
- Evaluate Pricing Strategies
- Collect academic research and industry reports on dynamic pricing models (e.g., peak/off-peak pricing, demand-based, segmentation-based)
- Compare theoretical models’ predictions vs. actual outcomes from case studies across Germany, the EU, the US, and Asia/China
- Software & Tools Review
- Investigate current market offerings—from specialized cinema-pricing tools to broader revenue management software
- Assess each tool’s algorithmic complexity, ease of integration, and real-world success metrics
- Trends & Market Analysis
- Identify emerging patterns: Are subscription-based models on the rise? Do real-time analytics dominate?
- Discuss regulatory or cultural nuances that shape pricing adoption in different geographies
- Quantitative Simulation
- Develop a model simulating potential revenue or attendance changes under different pricing schemes
- Incorporate real data from the partnering German cinema chain to ensure realistic scenarios
- Compare key performance indicators (KPIs)—like occupancy rates and profit margins—across various strategies
- Actionable Recommendations
- Propose a roadmap for implementation: how the cinema chain can pilot, roll out, or refine new pricing tactics
- Offer best practices for aligning pricing with customer satisfaction and brand perception
🎓 Profile
We’re looking for a driven student (Bachelor’s, Master’s, or EMBA) who is excited to merge academic insight with hands-on industry application:
- Academic Fields: Management & Technology, Data Science, Operations Research, Informatics, Economics, or related
- Methodological Toolkit: Familiarity with data analysis, statistical modeling, or basic programming (Python/R)
- Cultural/Global Perspective: Interest in comparative studies and understanding how local contexts shape technological adoption
📄 Requirements to work
We encourage you to reach beyond academia and share your findings with industry stakeholders:
- Slide Deck: Summarize core insights and present them to the cinema chain’s executives
- LinkedIn Content: Two short posts offering highlights of your research to spark broader discussion
Please note that these deliverables are not officially required.
📝 How to Apply
If you are interested, please contact Philipp Lemanczyk by submitting your CV(s) and grade report(s). Please also briefly outline your tentative research focus (research question, data and methods, possible outcomes with a tentative outline all in a Word or PDF - bullet points only)
We're greatly looking forward to hearing more about you!
📬 Contact
Philipp Lemanczyk (Chair for Strategy and Organization)
Please add the following subject in your email: “Application-Automated-Startup” and your name
🦾Who We Are
Philipp Lemanczyk is a PhD student at the Chair for Strategy and Organization focusing on Information Systems and Entrepreneurship research. Before embarking on his PhD journey, he worked at McKinsey & Company as a consultant focusing on strategy, organizational & digital transformation, and M&A. He holds a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, a B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering, and a B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from TU Darmstadt.
The Chair for Strategy and Organization is focused on research with impact. This means we do not want to repeat old ideas and base our research solely on the research people did 10 years ago. Instead, we currently research topics that will shape the future. Topics such as Agile Organisations and Digital Disruption, Blockchain Technology, Creativity and Innovation, Digital Transformation and Business Model Innovation, Diversity, Education: Education Technology and Performance Management, HRTech, Leadership, and Teams.. We are always early in noticing trends, technologies, strategies, and organisations that shape the future, which has its ups and downs.