Publications

March 2022
Article

When Less Is More: Consumers Prefer Brands that Donate More in Relative versus Absolute Terms

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Anne V. Wilson and Leslie K. John

When trying to make a good impression on consumers through charitable giving, is it better for brands to maximize the overall dollars they donate or how much they give in relative terms; for example, the proportion of profits? Across five studies we show that consumers... View Details

Keywords: Cause-related Marketing; Charitable Donations; Generosity; Altruism; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior

September 2022
Article

The Limits of Inconspicuous Incentives

By: Leslie K. John, Hayley Blunden, Katherine Milkman, Luca Foschini and Bradford Tuckfield

Managers and policymakers regularly rely on incentives to encourage valued behaviors. While incentives are often successful, there are also notable and surprising examples of their ineffectiveness. Why? We propose a contributing factor may be that they are not... View Details

Keywords: Motivation and Incentives; Behavior

13 Mar 2019
Research & Ideas

Ignore This Advice at Your Own Peril

co-written by HBS doctoral candidate Hayley Blunden, Harvard University post-doctoral fellow Jennifer M. Logg, and HBS professors Alison Wood Brooks, Leslie K. John, and Francesca Gino. “In asking a co-worker for advice, you have this... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

26 May 2015
Research & Ideas

Corporate Field Researchers Share Tricks of the Trade

her rationale for taking her research to the field. "I didn't believe and still don't believe that I could address these questions outside of a company context," she said. "Where else could I track creativity in the wild?" Leslie Perlow,... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

17 Apr 2013
Research Event

Conference Challenges Gender Conventions

status-quo defenders and supporters when implementing change in the workplace. Instead, supporters must be allowed what Kellogg calls "relational spaces"—places to discuss issues and concerns they may not feel comfortable talking about when defenders are... View Details

Keywords: by Maggie Starvish

2024
Working Paper

The Revised-Is-Quality Heuristic: Why Consumers Prefer Products Labeled as Revised

By: Ximena Garcia-Rada, Leslie K. John, Ed O’Brien and Michael I. Norton

From downloading never-ending updates to tracking ever-newer releases, consumers today are surrounded by revised products that purport to have improved upon their predecessors. Seven experiments examine when and why consumers rely on a “revised-is-quality”... View Details

Keywords: Product Change; Versioning; Expectancy Effects; Heuristics; Intuitive Processing; Product Marketing; Change; Perception; Consumer Behavior

SSRN

October 2021
Case

Dallin and Elizabeth Anderson

By: Leslie A. Perlow and Matthew G. Preble

Dallin Anderson (MBA 2002) and Elizabeth Anderson discuss their their lives in detail, sharing the ups-and-downs of their lives as a couple. View Details

Keywords: Personal Development and Career; Relationships

Educators

April 16, 2019
Article

Research Confirms: When Receiving Bad News, We Shoot the Messenger

By: Leslie John, Hayley Blunden and Heidi Liu

Most jobs require us at some point to deliver bad news—whether it be a minor revelation such as a recruiter telling a prospective employee that there’s no wiggle room in salary, or something major, like when a manager must fire an employee. We dread such discussions... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Perception; Judgments

Register to Read

June 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Case

Back to the Roots

By: Elizabeth A. Keenan and Leslie K. John

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

Back to the Roots (BTTR) is a start-up with a social mission to “undo food”—to reconnect people to where their food comes from. In late 2017, Back to the Roots cofounders... View Details

Keywords: Organic Food; Startup; Crowdfunding; Sustainability; Transparency; Entrepreneurship; Business Startups; Product Development; Product Marketing; Growth and Development Strategy; Decision Making; Food; Food and Beverage Industry

Educators

Purchase

December 2017 (Revised January 2020)
Supplement

The Campbell Home (C)

By: Leslie K. John and Matthew G. Preble

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

Campbell siblings Thomas and Sally are faced with selling their childhood home. They need to make several difficult consequential decisions, all the while navigating their... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Negotiation Process

Purchase

May 2017
Article

Psychologically Informed Implementations of Sugary-Drink Portion Limits

By: Leslie John, Grant Donnelly and Christina Roberto

In 2012, the New York City Board of Health prohibited restaurants from selling sugary drinks in containers larger than 16 ounces. Although a state court ruled that the Board of Health did not have the authority to implement such a policy, it remains a legally viable... View Details

Keywords: Nutrition; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Public Administration Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; New York (city, NY)

October 2013 (Revised March 2015)
Supplement

Kiehl's Since 1851: Pathway to Profitable Growth (B)

By: Robert J. Dolan and Leslie K. John

Email mking@hbs.edu for a courtesy copy.

View Details

Purchase

Article

Effects of Description of Options on Parental Perinatal Decision-Making

By: Marlyse F. Haward, Leslie K. John, John M. Lorenz and Baruch Fischhoff

Objective: To examine whether parents' delivery room management decisions for extremely preterm infants are influenced by (a) the degree of detail with which options-comfort care (CC) or intensive care (IC)-are presented or (b) their order of presentation. Methods: 309... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Values and Beliefs; Personal Characteristics; Attitudes; Motivation and Incentives; Family and Family Relationships; Health Care and Treatment

31 Mar 2002
What Do You Think?

Is This the Decade of the Investor?

carry out their responsibility to represent the best interests of investors, who will?—James Heskett But Dr. Leslie Levy suggests that before we jump to conclusions, perhaps more information is needed. In particular, we should isolate the... View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett

23 May 2017
First Look

First Look at New Ideas and Research: May 23, 2017

in press Journal of Experimental Psychology: General Pseudo-Set Framing By: Barasz, Kate, Leslie John, Elizabeth A. Keenan, and Michael I. Norton Abstract—Pseudo-set framing—arbitrarily grouping items or tasks together as part of an... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

February 2020
Article

Tales of Two Motives: Disclosure and Concealment

By: Leslie John, Michael L. Slepian and Diana Tamir

We posit that the desire to disclose personal information, and the desire to conceal it, are related yet distinct psychological motives. People often wish to conceal information, such as embarrassing aspects of the self. Yet people also seek to reveal information, such... View Details

Keywords: Disclosure; Privacy; Information; Motivation and Incentives

2003
Working Paper

Contextualizing Ties Among Teammates: A Multi-Level Exploration

By: Leslie Perlow, Jody Hoffer Gittell and Nancy Katz

May, 2019
Article

Who Would You Like to Work With?: Use of Individual Characteristics and Social Networks in Team Formation Systems

By: Diego Gomez-Zara, Matthew Paras, Marlon Twyman, Jacqueline N. Lane, Leslie A. DeChurch and Noshir Contractor

People and organizations are increasingly using online platforms to assemble teams. In response, HCI researchers have theorized frameworks and created systems to support team assembly. However, little is known about how users search for and choose teammates on these... View Details

Keywords: Team Formation; Groups and Teams; Recruitment; Networks; Diversity