February 4, 2021
With its Thesis Award, the Supply Chain Network BVL (Bundesvereinigung Logistik) honors outstanding bachelor's and master's theses in the field of logistics. Two graduates of Jacobs University Bremen recently received the award: Yousuf Farooq and Valeria Núñez Alfaro. Both studied Industrial Engineering and Management at the international university and both dealt with sustainability in their bachelor’s theses.
In his final thesis, Yousuf Farooq investigated the significance of sustainability-related advertising. Sustainability is an important purchase criterion, but consumers often react skeptically to corresponding advertising. This is especially true when companies have been caught "greenwashing", thus only pretending to manufacture environmentally friendly products. According to the paper, large companies are generally viewed more critically than small ones. Women turn out to be more skeptical than men. And reservations are most pronounced toward certain industries, such as the oil industry. Another finding of the student: Particularly critical consumers often prefer companies that don't advertise sustainability aggressively. The work was supervised by Hendro Wicaksono, Professor of Industrial Engineering at Jacobs University, whose research group conducts research on sustainable supply chains, among other topics. Yousuf Farooq is pursuing a career in data analytics. "My studies taught me how to extract knowledge from data and use it to benefit companies and society," said the 22-year-old.