Publications
Publications
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- All HBS Web
(713)
- Faculty Publications (229)
- January 2005 (Revised June 2005)
- Case
Zipcar: Influencing Customer Behavior
By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar
At Zipcar, customers share the use of cars and, as a result, rely on each other for their service experience. Customers are required to keep the car clean and the gas tank full and to return the car on time. Told from the perspective of two customers: Sal Fishman, who... View Details
- 2005
- Article
Early Decisions: A Regulatory Framework
By: John Beshears, James J. Choi, David Laibson and Brigitte C. Madrian
We describe a regulatory framework that helps consumers who have difficulty sticking to their own long-run plans. Early Decision regulations help long-run preferences prevail by allowing consumers to partially commit to their long-run goals, making it harder for a... View Details
- July 2004 (Revised October 2018)
- Case
Opium and Entrepreneurship in the Nineteenth Century
By: Geoffrey Jones, Elisabeth Koll and Alexis Gendron
This case examines the role of Jardine Matheson, a trading company founded by two Scottish merchants, in the opium trade between India and China during the nineteenth century. The two Opium Wars fought between Western powers and China, which sought to stop opium... View Details
- January 2004
- Background Note
Why Developers Don't Understand Why Consumers Don't Buy
Looks at the psychological biases developers bring to the new product development process. Identifies three reasons why developers may do a poor job of identifying the demand for an innovative, new concept or product: (1) the self-selection bias, (2) differing initial... View Details
- December 2003 (Revised May 2004)
- Case
Sears Auto Centers (A) (Abridged)
By: Lynn S. Paine
In the early 1990s Sears faced and allegations by the California Department of Consumer Affairs that the company's auto repair centers had been overbilling customers and making unnecessary repairs. Top management must evaluate the problem and come up with a plan to... View Details
- December 2003 (Revised April 2004)
- Case
Sherif Mityas at A.T. Kearney (A): Negotiating a Client Service Predicament
By: Ashish Nanda
Sherif Mityas, recently promoted as project manager at A.T. Kearney, faced a client service challenge in his very first project experience. Mityas had been working closely for six weeks with the management team of the U.S. subsidiary of a Japan-headquartered consumer... View Details
- November 2003 (Revised April 2004)
- Background Note
Why Consumers Don't Buy: The Psychology of New Product Adoption
Looks at the consumer psychology of new product adoption. Identifies a key reason why consumers do not adopt innovations as quickly as developers think they should--an irrational resistance to behavioral change. Identifies strategies for firms to manage and overcome... View Details
- October 2003 (Revised February 2004)
- Case
Cape Wind
By: John T. Gourville and Kerry Herman
Cape Wind has proposed placing a 170-tower wind farm, with each tower more than 400-feet tall, in Nantucket Sound. Not surprisingly, public reaction is mixed. Some view the wind farm as clean, renewable energy. Others view it as an eyesore and a desecration of a valued... View Details
- May 2003
- Background Note
How to Induce Retailers to Reduce Stockouts?
By: V.G. Narayanan
Describes how the lack of incentive alignment between retailers and their vendors can lead to stockouts. Also describes various means to reduce incentive misalignment and hence stockouts. View Details
- January 2003 (Revised September 2007)
- Background Note
A Note on Racing to Acquire Customers
Examines factors that motivate a firm's race to acquire customers in newly emerging markets and explores conditions under which racing strategies are likely to yield attractive returns. Provides a definition of racing behavior, introduces the notion of an optimal level... View Details
- August 2002 (Revised January 2003)
- Case
Siebel Systems: Anatomy of a Sale, Part 1
By: John A. Deighton and Das Narayandas
How does a $2 million software sale happen? This case traces efforts by Siebel Systems to sell lead management software to discount broker Quick & Reilly. The buying process is mapped out over four years. Covers in detail the last six months—from Siebel's initial... View Details
- August 2002 (Revised February 2003)
- Case
Siebel Systems: Anatomy of a Sale, Part 2
By: John A. Deighton and Das Narayandas
How does a $2 million software sale happen? This case traces efforts by Siebel Systems to sell lead management software to discount broker Quick & Reilly. The buying process is mapped out over four years. Covers in detail the last six months--from Siebel's initial... View Details
- August 2002 (Revised February 2005)
- Case
Gillette Company (B): Leadership for Change
By: Rosabeth M. Kanter and James Weber
Describes the actions and behavior of a new CEO in his first days and weeks as he sets expectations for his top management team and introduces processes and disciplines to begin the turnaround of a global consumer products company. View Details
- October 2001 (Revised March 2002)
- Background Note
Implicit Predictors of Consumer Behavior
By: Gerald Zaltman, Nancy Puccinelli, Kathryn A. Braun and Fred W Mast PHD
An important distinction is drawn in psychology between explicit and implicit knowledge. Explicit knowledge refers to consciously held beliefs about an individual or object that often draws on the remembering of experiences in the past. In contrast, implicit knowledge... View Details
- winter 2001
- Article
Interpreting Consumer Perceptions of Advertising: An Application of the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique
By: Robin A. Coulter, Gerald Zaltman and Keith S. Coulter
- December 2000 (Revised March 2001)
- Background Note
Strategic Use of Music in Marketing, The: A Selective Review
By: Gerald Zaltman and Nancy Puccinelli
Summarizes selected research on music and its impact on mood and shopping behavior, and its impact on the communication of ideas. View Details