An inaugural lecture is a formal lecture given by a newly appointed professor or teaching professor to mark their official start in the role. It is an opportunity to present their research and academic journey to colleagues, students, and the public.

About Professor Klemens Knöferle

Trained as a musicologist, Klemens earned a PhD in Marketing from the University of St. Gallen, completed postdoctoral research in Experimental Psychology at Oxford, and has been at BI since 2013, with a research stay at the University of Michigan along the way. His research explores how people’s senses, the environments they inhabit, and their social worlds shape decisions and experiences. His work has been published in leading international journals, and he also consults across retail, food, automotive, and creative industries. His teaching emphasizes close collaboration with business and frequent feedback to students. In his inaugural lecture, Klemens traces his boundary-bridging journey from music and sensory marketing to the study of bodily states, discussing how external sensory cues and internal physiological signals shape consumer behavior — and what this means for marketers and consumer well-being.