Staff Profile

Profile

Varqa Shamsi Bahar is a Lecturer in Digital Marketing at Newcastle University Business School. Varqa has over 10 years’ experience in teaching marketing courses at both postgraduate and undergraduate levels. His teaching involves innovative techniques including design thinking and team-based learning. Varqa’s research is underpinned by his passion to study digital marketing. He specialises in (i) digital platform & omnichannel management, (ii) disinformation on social media, (iii) consumer uprising against brands and (iv) crisis management. His research has been published in the international journals Industrial Marketing Management and Tourism Management.

Before joining academia, Varqa worked in the fast-moving consumer goods and social media industry. He gained valuable experience in managing market leading and market challenging brands in a socially responsive, ethical and authentic way. These managerial experiences played a crucial role in shaping his values in research and teaching. Varqa is a strong advocate of responsible research in marketing. He believes that research must not only solve business problems but also address issues concerning society and the environment. Further, teaching must equip students with the skill sets to hit the ground running as they enter industry. More critically, teaching should guide students to develop the ability to make strategic decisions that consider the firm and its stakeholders and, moreover, society and the environment.

Qualifications and Certifications

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Marketing, The University of Auckland, New Zealand

• Masters in Marketing Management, The University of Hull, United Kingdom

• Bachelors in Business Administration (BBA), Major in Marketing, American International University, Bangladesh

Languages

• English (Fluent)

• Bengali (Native)

• Farsi (Conversational)

Main expertise

Varqa Shamsi Bahar’s main research interests focus on the following themes:

• Digital platform & omnichannel management
• Disinformation
• Consumer uprising against brands
• Crisis management

Varqa specialises in qualitative research work including the following methodologies:

• Case study
• Grounded theory
• Netnography

Postgraduate modules

• Module leader and lecturer: NBS 8519 & NBS 8919 - Digital Marketing (10 credits)

Undergraduate modules

• Lecturer: MKT 3012 - Digital Marketing (20 credits)

Main Expertise

• Design thinking

• Team-based learning

• Online and blended learning

• Large and small class teaching

Supervision

• Postgraduate dissertation

• Articles

  • Bahar VS, Nenonen S, Starr Jr RG. On the same boat but singing a different tune: Coopetition between hotels and platforms close to customers. Industrial Marketing Management 2022, 107, 52-69.
  • Bahar VS, Nenonen S, Starr Jr RG. Coopetition with platforms: Balancing the interplay of cooperation and competition in hospitality. Tourism Management 2022, 88, 104417.
  • Bahar VS, Nenonen S, Starr Jr RG. From channel integration to platform integration: Capabilities required in hospitality. Industrial Marketing Management 2021, 94, 19-40.

• Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstract)

  • Bahar VS, Hasan M. How do influencers use falsehoods to establish credibility on social media?. In: UK Academy of Information Systems (UKAIS 2023). 2023, Kent, United Kingdom: UK Academy for Information Systems.

• Report

  • Bahar VS. Hotels and multi-sided platforms: Coopetition and platform integration [PhD Thesis]. Auckland, New Zealand: The University of Auckland, 2022.