grocery - Publications - Faculty & Research

03 Jan 2017
Research & Ideas

5 New Year's Resolutions You Can Keep (With the Help of Behavioral Science Research)

of the common contracts people sign with themselves each year. If you have resolved to eat healthier, try ordering your groceries a week in advance of delivery. Internet delivery services make it all too easy to give into food cravings... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

17 Oct 2016
HBS Case

Business Solutions That Help Cut Food Waste

As much as 40 percent of food grown in the United States for human consumption is wasted. Source: Eivaisla After decades of wasteful food practices, where perfectly good food is discarded even as poverty keeps many families hungry, solutions are starting to come... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Food & Beverage

10 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: First Look: October 10

Abstract We study the effect of small windfalls on consumer-spending decisions by examining the purchasing behavior of a sample of online grocery shoppers over the course of a year. We compare the purchases customers make when redeeming a... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

13 Feb 2013
Research & Ideas

5 Weight Loss Tips From Behavioral Economists

Business scholars increasingly hinge their hypotheses on sociological and psychological studies, seeking a true handle on what motivates executives, employees, consumers, and policymakers. For instance, the following studies suggest several simple weight-loss tips. TIP... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

29 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles and Research Papers of 2014

How Grocery Bags Manipulate Your Mind People who bring personal shopping bags to the grocery store to help the environment are more likely to buy organic items—but also to treat themselves to ice cream and... View Details

11 Sep 2000
Research & Ideas

Riding the Internet Fast Track

customer will buy his or her next car from them, and at that, a second purchase could well be years away. While many firms are clearly bent on getting big fast, some competitors are adopting a get-it-right-first strategy instead. One such company, Streamline.com, a... View Details

Keywords: by Peter Jacobs

19 Feb 2018
Sharpening Your Skills

Amazoned: Is Any Industry Safe?

Today, Amazon participates in so many industries that it takes a small army of researchers at HBS to track them all: retailing, cloud computing, book stores, grocery stores, digital consumer products, commercial real estate,... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

24 Feb 2014
Research & Ideas

Busting Six Myths About Customer Loyalty Programs

discuss each of these myths in turn. Size Of The Reward Loyalty programs do not really work in grocery stores because the rewards that grocery retailers can afford to offer are too small. They cannot offer... View Details

Keywords: by Marcel Corstjens & Rajiv Lal; Retail; Consumer Products

05 May 2010
What Do You Think?

Is Denial Endemic to Management?

Microsoft became dominant in software for PC operating systems; and the belief by entrepreneurs and investors alike that online grocery orders to the long-gone Webvan, the largest single start-up during the Internet bubble, would become a... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

01 Apr 2008
First Look

First Look: April 1, 2008

behavior of a sample of online grocery shoppers over the course of a year. We compare the purchases customers make when redeeming a $10-off coupon they received from their online grocer with the purchases the same customers make when... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

27 Sep 2024
Research & Ideas

Charting 'Cheapflation': How Budget Brands Got So Pricey

expensive brands, and only when inflation surged, not before or after,” the researchers write. Why? Cavallo and Kryvtsov find evidence of an increase in the relative demand for cheaper products, as consumers shifted their spending from high to low-priced varieties in... View Details

Keywords: by Ana Elena Azpúrua

15 Feb 2000
Lessons from the Classroom

Delivering Information Services: A 30-Year Perspective

example of a non-high-tech company we study is H.E. Butt Grocery Company. This is a large, very successful privately held chain in southern Texas that has used technology to combat some of the threats of its competitors, including... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

06 Sep 2005
Research & Ideas

When Product Variety Backfires

adequately considered whether or when this is true. In a sense, they have a very blunt tool that they are overusing. Second, there is a constant battle for shelf space in most grocery stores. If you are Quaker Oats, you would like to have... View Details

Keywords: by Poping Lin; Consumer Products

19 Jun 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, June 19, 2018

broad sell-off in the shares of grocery retailers and suppliers. Behind the precipitous declines lay recognition that Amazon’s bold move into brick and mortar assets offered transformational opportunities. Amazon could gain expertise in... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

12 Nov 2015
Research & Ideas

Can Consumers be Trusted with Their Own Health Care?

Consumers today have more control than ever over the way they choose goods and services—from browsing freely at grocery stores to managing their own financial assets. Perhaps consumers should also have a greater sense of empowerment when... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Health

02 Apr 2008
Research & Ideas

Four Companies that Conquered America

retailer, to enter the U.S. market with the new Fresh & Easy chain of discount grocery stores. Avoiding geographies where Wal-Mart is entrenched, Tesco has so far opened 50 stores in the growth markets of California, Nevada, and... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

17 Mar 2022
Research & Ideas

Navigating Tradeoffs: How Purpose Becomes a Company's ‘Lighthouse in the Storm’

afford groceries is the reason we see so much plastic in grocery aisles today. “Despite our best efforts, Gotham Greens is a small company with limited influence in the packaging sector. Changing the... View Details

Keywords: by Ranjay Gulati

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Initiative Summit: Big Messages, Small Screens, Many Choices

is, if the app is the way we interact with the brands, how do you get me to be one of your favorite apps?" Gupta said that a successful app must provide obvious, unique value—and meet consumers where they live. As an example, he cited the View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

19 Mar 2008
Research & Ideas

Finding Success in the Middle of the Market

offers consumers three options—good, better and best—in most high turnover product categories. In addition, Tesco doesn't just sell groceries through one-size-fits-all supermarkets. Recognizing the need to shape as well as respond to an... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch; Auto; Retail

16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Brand Power from Wedgwood to Dell: Part One

Heinz went door to door, or grocery store to grocery store, saying, 'What do you think about these pickles?' Field walked the floors of his Chicago department store observing customer reactions to... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Publications