Staff profile

Varqa Shamsi Bahar is as Assistant Professor in Marketing at Durham University Business School. Varqa’s intellectual project involves exploring the role of marketing and technology in solving business and social problems. His research has been published in the international journals Industrial Marketing Management, Information Technology & People and Tourism Management. He is a recipient of the British Academy Small Research Grant in 2024. Varqa holds a Fellowship from the UK Higher Education Academy and has expertise and experience in teaching marketing at the postgraduate and undergraduate levels, including supervising students pursuing their PhD, MSc, and BSc degrees. His teaching involves innovative techniques including design thinking and marketing simulations.

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 planet.

• Digital platform management
• Disinformation research
• Activism
• Crisis informatics

Journal Article

• Bahar, V. S., & Hasan, M. (online). #Fakefamous: How do influencers use disinformation to establish long-term credibility on social media?. Information Technology & People, https://doi.org/10.1108/itp-05-2023-0421
• Bahar, V. S., Nenonen, S., & Starr Jr, R. G. (2022). On the same boat but singing a different tune: Coopetition between hotels and platforms close to customers. Industrial Marketing Management, 107, 52-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2022.09.020
• Bahar, V. S., Nenonen, S., & Starr Jr, R. G. (2022). Coopetition with platforms: Balancing the interplay of cooperation and competition in hospitality. Tourism Management, 88, 104417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2021.104417
• Bahar, V. S., Nenonen, S., & Starr, R. G. (2021). From channel integration to platform integration: Capabilities required in hospitality. Industrial Marketing Management, 94, 19-40. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2021.02.003