Publications

12 Jan 2015
News

Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria Visits Asia

August 1988 (Revised November 1989)
Case

Reebok International Ltd.

By: John A. Quelch

Reebok executives are reviewing the company's advertising and promotion programs for the second half of 1988. These include sponsorship of the 1988 Summer Olympics and a rock concert tour organized by Amnesty International. In addition, Reebok is launching a new... View Details

Keywords: Marketing Strategy; Music Entertainment; Advertising Campaigns; Sports; Advertising Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry

Article

All Eyes on Them: A Field Experiment on Citizen Oversight and Electoral Integrity

By: Natalia Garbiras-Díaz and Mateo Montenegro

Can information and communication technologies help citizens monitor their elections? We analyze a large-scale field experiment designed to answer this question in Colombia. We leveraged Facebook advertisements sent to over 4 million potential voters to encourage... View Details

Keywords: Social Influence; Electoral Behavior; Election Outcomes; Economics; Economy; Governance; Government and Politics; Social Media; Social Marketing; Society; Political Elections; Advertising

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2016
Case

Advanced Leadership Pathways: Harvey Freishtat and Conversations about End-of-Life Care

By: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Ai-Ling Jamila Malone and Oludamilola Aladesanmi

Former law firm chairman/CEO Harvey Freishtat was actively involved in the formation of The Conversation Project, a national public engagement campaign to promote earlier end-of-life care discussions among loved ones and then with providers to ensure that end-of-life... View Details

Keywords: Health Care Education; Health Care Reform; Health Care Policy; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Leadership; Health Industry

2017
Working Paper

Will a Five-Minute Discussion Change Your Mind? A Countrywide Experiment on Voter Choice in France

By: Vincent Pons

This paper provides the first estimate of the effect of door-to-door canvassing on actual electoral outcomes, via a countrywide experiment embedded in François Hollande's campaign in the 2012 French presidential election. While existing experiments randomized... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Political Elections; France

March 2018
Case

GoFundMe: The Giving Layer of the Internet

By: Scott Duke Kominers and Allison M. Ciechanover

By 2017, GoFundMe is the world’s largest social fundraising platform. Gross donation volume is growing rapidly, yet the number of monthly campaign starts is relatively flat. The CEO contemplates a variety of growth initiatives. View Details

Keywords: Growth and Development Strategy; Expansion; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Technology Industry

10 Jun 2017
News

How big data helped secure Emmanuel Macron’s astounding victory

September 2000 (Revised November 2000)
Case

GetConnected.com

By: Rajiv Lal, Nilanjana R. Pal and Jodi L. Prins

Describes the situation faced by GCI.com in April 2000, soon after raising $12 million for their new venture. After hiring an advertising agency, management needs to decide on the nature of the advertising campaign to target the right set of customers with the right... View Details

Keywords: Advertising Campaigns; Business Startups; Business or Company Management; Marketing Strategy; Market Entry and Exit; Corporate Strategy; Web Services Industry

2023
Working Paper

Translating Information into Action: A Public Health Experiment in Bangladesh

By: Reshmaan Hussam, Kailash Pandey, Abu Shonchoy and Chikako Yamauchi

While models of technology adoption posit learning as the basis of behavior change, information campaigns in public health frequently fail to change behavior. We design an information campaign embedding hand-hygiene edutainment within popular dramas using mobile... View Details

Keywords: Handwashing; Public Health; Health; Information; Behavior; Change

June 2013 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Governance and Sustainability at Nike (A)

By: Lynn S. Paine, Nien-hê Hsieh and Lara Adamsons

Two members of Nike's executive team must decide what sustainability targets to propose to Nike's CEO and to the corporate responsibility committee of Nike's board of directors. Set in 2012, the case traces the evolution of Nike's approach to environmental and social... View Details

Keywords: Nike; Hannah Jones; Mark Parker; Phil Knight; Philip Knight; Eric Sprunk; Jill Ker Conway; Phyllis Wise; Don Blair; Sustainable Business And Innovation; SB＆I; Flyknit; DyeCoo; Footwear; Athletic Footwear; Apparel; Athletic Apparel; Sustainability; Greenpeace; Detox Campaign; Dirty Laundry; Water; Water Use; Water Pollution; Water Resources; Corporate Responsibility Committee; Judgment; Board Of Directors; Board Committees; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Footwear Industry; Decision Choices and Conditions; Decisions; Ethics; Fairness; Globalized Firms and Management; Multinational Firms and Management; Globalized Markets and Industries; Governance; Corporate Accountability; Corporate Governance; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Innovation Leadership; Innovation Strategy; Goals and Objectives; Management Practices and Processes; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Performance; Alignment; Supply Chain; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Judgments; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Asia; China; United States; Oregon; Portland

This paper provides the first estimate of the effect of door-to-door canvassing on actual electoral outcomes, via a countrywide experiment embedded in Francois Hollande’s campaign in the 2012 French presidential election. While existing experiments randomized... View Details

17 Oct 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Persuasion by Populist Propaganda: Evidence from the 2015 Argentine Ballotage

Keywords: by Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani, and Ernesto Schargrodsky

April 1994 (Revised March 1997)
Case

Planet Reebok (A)

By: John A. Quelch

Reebok International Ltd. is preparing to launch its first global advertising campaign for "Planet Reebok" in three European countries--France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Planet Reebok was recently launched in the United States during the 1993 Superbowl. The... View Details

Keywords: Globalization; Advertising Campaigns; Brands and Branding; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Sports Industry; France; Germany; United Kingdom

30 Jan 2014
Video

Cold Call

The Air War Versus The Ground Game: An Analysis of Multi-Channel Marketing in U.S. Presidential Elections

This study jointly examines the effects of television advertising and field operations in U.S. presidential elections, with the former referred to as the “air war” and the latter as the “ground game.” Specifically, the study focuses on how different campaign... View Details

28 Nov 2013
News

The Truth About Online Rumors in China

Jim Matheson

Jim joined the HBS Faculty in 2019 and teaches the EC courses Entrepreneurial Finance and Tough Tech Ventures and is a faculty affiliate of the Business & Environment Initiative. He is an active investor, and Board director & advisor for... View Details

2017
Working Paper

Voter Mobilization and Trust in Electoral Institutions: Evidence from Kenya

By: Benjamin Marx, Vincent Pons and Tavneet Suri

Voter mobilization campaigns face trade-offs in young democracies. In a large-scale experiment implemented in 2013 with the Kenyan Electoral Commission (IEBC), text messages intended to mobilize voters boosted participation but also decreased trust in electoral... View Details

Keywords: Political Participation; Electoral Institutions; Field Experiment; Voting; Political Elections; Behavior; Trust; Kenya

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January 23, 2023
Article

Digital Public Health Interventions at Scale: The Impact of Social Media Advertising on Beliefs and Outcomes Related to COVID Vaccines

By: Susan Athey, Kristen Grabarz, Michael Luca and Nils Wernerfelt

Public health organizations increasingly use social media advertising campaigns in pursuit of public health goals. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of about $40 million of social media advertisements that were run and experimentally tested on Facebook and... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Public Health; Vaccines; Social Media; Advertising; Power and Influence; Health Care and Treatment