Publications

March 2016
Article

To Groupon or Not to Groupon: The Profitability of Deep Discounts

By: Benjamin Edelman, Sonia Jaffe and Scott Duke Kominers

We examine the profitability and implications of online discount vouchers, a relatively new marketing tool that offers consumers large discounts when they prepay for participating firms' goods and services. Within a model of repeat experience good purchase, we examine... View Details

Keywords: Voucher Discounts; Groupon; Experience Goods; Repeat Purchase; Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Communications

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2014
Working Paper

~To Groupon or Not to Groupon: The Profitability of Deep Discounts

By: Benjamin G. Edelman

We examine the profitability and implications of online discount vouchers, a relatively new marketing tool that offers consumers large discounts when they prepay for participating firms' goods and services. Within a model of repeat experience good purchase, we examine... View Details

Keywords: Voucher Discounts; Groupon; Experience Goods; Repeat Purchase; Online Advertising; Price; Profit; Marketing Strategy; Retail Industry

SSRN

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August 2014 (Revised December 2015)
Case

Showrooming at Best Buy

By: Thales Teixeira and Elizabeth Anne Watkins

Best Buy is a consumer electronics retailer with nearly 2,000 stores worldwide. In 2012, the rising popularity of price-matching apps for mobile phones made price differences between retailers transparent, online and offline. Shoppers' desire to test electronics... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Price; Consumer Behavior; Applications and Software; Mobile and Wireless Technology; Retail Industry; Electronics Industry

January 2014 (Revised January 2017)
Case

Nivea (A)

By: Karim R. Lakhani, Johann Fuller, Volker Bilgram and Greta Friar

The case describes the efforts of Beiersdorf, a worldwide leader in the cosmetics and skin care industries, to generate and commercialize new R&D through open innovation using external crowds and "netnographic" analysis. Beiersdorf, best known for its consumer brand... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Innovation Management; Crowdsourcing; Big Data; Innovation Strategy; Innovation and Management; Knowledge Management; Knowledge Sharing; Research and Development; Social and Collaborative Networks; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Analytics and Data Science; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

17 Jan 2024
HBS Case

Psychological Pricing Tactics to Fight the Inflation Blues

have to be careful about how and what they charge.” Amid fierce online competition among companies that know consumers can compare prices with a few clicks, the ultimate goal of psychological pricing is to... View Details

Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

05 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Raise Their Prices: Because They Can

including whether the move to online sales during this time period spurred consumers to pay more for products. While they saw some categories were more affected by online... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

September 1995 (Revised December 1997)
Case

Philip Morris: Marlboro Friday (A)

By: Alvin J. Silk and Bruce Isaacson

On April 2, 1993 Philip Morris USA launched an elaborate integrated program of consumer and retail promotions of unspecified duration that effectively slashed the retail price of its flagship brand, Marlboro, by 20% in the U.S. market. This program represented a major... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Price; Marketing Strategy; Market Participation; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; United States

2022
Working Paper

E-commerce During COVID: Stylized Facts from 47 Economies

By: Joel Alcedo, Alberto Cavallo, Bricklin Dwyer, Prachi Mishra and Antonio Spilimbergo

We study e-commerce across 47 economies and 26 industries during the COVID-19 pandemic using aggregated and anonymized transaction-level data from Mastercard, scaled to represent total consumer spending. The share of online transactions in total consumption increased... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Health Pandemics; Spending; Internet and the Web; Global Range; Analysis; E-commerce

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29 Nov 2022
Research & Ideas

How Much More Would Holiday Shoppers Pay to Wear Something Rare?

it.” You Might Also Like: How Paid Promos Take the Shine Off YouTube Stars (and Tips for Better Influencer Marketing) Burgers with Bugs? What Happens When Restaurants Ignore Online Reviews Dog Eat Dog:... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

January 2011 (Revised April 2012)
Case

BBVA Compass: Marketing Resource Allocation

By: Sunil Gupta and Joseph Davies-Gavin

BBVA Compass, the 15th largest commercial bank in the U.S., is a part of the BBVA Group of Spain, the second largest bank in Spain with $755 billion in assets. In December 2010, Frank Sottosanti, Chief Marketing Officer of BBVA Compass, was reviewing the marketing... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Resource Allocation; Marketing Channels; Marketing Strategy; Performance Evaluation; Banking Industry; United States

June 2016 (Revised January 2018)
Case

Airbnb, Etsy, Uber: Growing from One Thousand to One Million Customers

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Morgan Brown

By 2016, two-sided online platforms (or marketplaces) were pervasive among the highest growing internet startups around. These marketplaces sought to match suppliers of assets for rent, physical products or services with customers demanding them. Among the most notable... View Details

Keywords: Airbnb; Etsy; Uber; Growth Hacking; Two Sided Markets; Digital Platforms; Marketing; Digital Marketing; Growth Management; Service Industry

July 2021
Article

Consumers—Especially Women—Avoid Buying from Firms with Higher Gender Pay Gaps

By: Tobias Schlager, Bhavya Mohan, Katherine DeCelles and Michael I. Norton

We document a unique driver of consumer behavior: the public disclosure of a firm’s gender pay gap. Four experiments provide causal evidence that when firms are revealed to have gender pay gaps, consumers are less willing to pay for their goods, a reaction driven by... View Details

Keywords: Pay Gap; Perceived Wage Fairness; Purchase Intention; Gender; Wages; Fairness; Perception; Consumer Behavior

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December 2010
Case

Digital Divide

By: Sunil Gupta

In November 2010, Charles Henry, chief marketing officer of a major consumer packaged goods company, was trying to convince his senior managers to enhance the digital presence of the company's brands by significantly increasing their online marketing budget. However,... View Details

Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting; Digital Marketing; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Information Technology

January–February 2018
Article

Ads That Don't Overstep: How to Make Sure You Don't Take Personalization Too Far

By: Leslie John, Tami Kim and Kate Barasz

Data gathered on the web has vastly enhanced the capabilities of marketers. With people regularly sharing personal details online and internet cookies tracking every click, companies can now gain unprecedented insight into individual consumers and target them with... View Details

Keywords: Digital Marketing; Customization and Personalization; Information; Customers; Attitudes

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23 Jul 2013
First Look

First Look: July 23

Restaurant Hygiene Inspections and Online Reviews By: Kang, Jun Seok, Polina Kuznetsova, Yejin Choi, and Michael Luca Abstract—Restaurant hygiene inspections are often cited as a success story of public... View Details

Keywords: Anna Secino

10 Jan 2011
Research & Ideas

Is Groupon Good for Retailers?

Explain the theoretical model you describe in your paper and how it can help retailers decide whether a voucher service like Groupon makes sense for them. A: We present a model of online discount vouchers that [offer deals] to View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising; Technology

July 2012 (Revised July 2014)
Case

Warby Parker: Vision of a 'Good' Fashion Brand

By: Christopher Marquis and Laura Velez Villa

In its third year of existence and poised to double its workforce, Warby Parker attributed its success to an innovative approach in the eyewear industry and to the company culture that supported it. With a mission combining social and business goals, the company had... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Innovation; Business And Society; Social Responsiblity; Organizational Behavior; Social Entrepreneurship; Growth Management; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Brands and Branding; Organizational Culture; Marketing Strategy; Innovation and Invention; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Health Industry; United States

June 2022
Case

Zalando: Becoming the Starting Point for Fashion

By: Antonio Moreno, Leela Nageswaran, Emilie Billaud and Federica Gabrieli

Born in 2008 as a small startup selling flip flops, by mid-2021 Zalando had turned into an online fashion company with an assortment of more than 4,500 international brands, 45 million active customers, and a presence in 23 European markets. An essential component in... View Details

Keywords: Transition; Customer Value and Value Chain; Digital Platforms; Distribution; Order Taking and Fulfillment; Infrastructure; Logistics; Service Operations; Strategy; Business Strategy; Fashion Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; Distribution Industry; Retail Industry; Service Industry; Shipping Industry; Technology Industry; Europe