Publications

August 2024 (Revised January 2025)
Case

Barbie: Reviving a Cultural Icon at Mattel

By: Elie Ofek, Ryann Noe and Sarah Mehta

The 2023 release of the live-action film Barbie, and its accompanying marketing blitz, incited a worldwide Barbie craze. Suddenly Barbie was everywhere, a celebrated icon reinstated at the forefront of cultural conversation. This goodwill stood in contrast to... View Details

Keywords: Brands and Branding; Media; Intellectual Property; Business Strategy; Entertainment; Gender; Public Opinion; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Retail Industry; United States

Educators

September 2019
Article

Bill McKibben’s Influence on U.S. Climate Change Discourse: Shifting Field-Level Debates Through Radical Flank Effects

By: Todd Schifeling and Andrew J. Hoffman

This article examines the influence of radical flank actors in shifting field-level debates by increasing the legitimacy of preexisting but peripheral issues. Using network text analysis, we apply this conceptual model to the climate change debate in the United States... View Details

Keywords: Government Legislation; Climate Change; Public Opinion; Power and Influence; Policy; United States

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04 Mar 2016
Research & Ideas

Is E-commerce at Risk in Apple's Security Dispute with the FBI?

The FBI has ordered Apple’s help unlocking an alleged terrorist’s iPhone. The company has opposed the request and turned to the court of public opinion for help with a verdict. As a House Judiciary Committee... View Details

Keywords: Re: Sunil Gupta; Technology

Web

Labor Practices | Baker Library | Bloomberg Center | Harvard Business School

Skip to Main Content Exhibition Homepage Exhibition Introduction The Founding of U.S. Steel and the Power of Public Opinion The Intersection of Public Relations and Photography... View Details

2023
Working Paper

The Irredeemability of the Past: Determinants of Reconciliation and Revenge in Post-Conflict Settings

By: Kristen Kao, Kristin Fabbe and Michael Bang Petersen

In the aftermath of violent conflict, identifying former enemy collaborators versus innocent bystanders forced to flee violence is difficult. In post-conflict settings, internally displaced persons (IDPs) risk becoming stigmatized and face difficulties... View Details

Keywords: Conflict and Resolution; War; Refugees; Moral Sensibility; Behavior; Public Opinion; Lawfulness; Iraq

May 2024
Teaching Note

AI Wars

By: Andy Wu and Matt Higgins

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 723-434. In 2024, the world was looking to Google to see what the search giant and long-time putative technical leader in artificial intelligence (AI) would do to compete in the massively hyped technology of generative AI popularized over... View Details

Keywords: AI; Trends; AI and Machine Learning; Public Opinion; Technological Innovation; Competitive Advantage; Technology Industry

May 1999
Background Note

Note on Behavioral Pricing

By: John T. Gourville

The note introduces the behavioral or psychological aspects of consumer price acceptance. Begins by reviewing the traditional economic approach to product pricing and consumer price acceptance--namely, that consumers should be willing to purchase anytime a product's... View Details

Keywords: Customer Satisfaction; Decisions; Fairness; Price; Marketing Strategy; Behavior; Perspective; Public Opinion

Educators

01 Sep 2007
News

Giving New Ventures a Boost

proposed a plan for Judicial Intelligence, a suite of computer-based tools that will help litigators strategically analyze the opinions of judges they will face in court. In the social enterprise track, a team from Harvard’s School of... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

28 Mar 2023
Blog Post

Meet Professor Elisabeth Paulson: A Conversation on Life, Research, and Teaching

your research that can positively support public and non-profit organizations? My research uses data and analytics to design or improve tools (e.g., policy interventions) that will contribute to social good. Broadly speaking, to... View Details

March 2025
Article

Limited Accountability and Awareness of Corporate Emissions Target Outcomes

By: Xiaoyan Jiang, Shawn Kim and Shirley Lu

Firms are increasingly announcing targets to reduce their carbon emissions, but it is unclear whether firms are held accountable for these targets. Here we examine emissions targets that ended in 2020 to investigate the final target outcomes, the transparency of target... View Details

Keywords: Carbon Emissions; Goals and Objectives; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Corporate Accountability; Environmental Sustainability; Public Opinion

2019
Working Paper

Persuasive Propaganda During the 2015 Argentine Ballotage

By: Rafael Di Tella, Sebastian Galiani and Ernesto Schargrodsky

We study a propaganda campaign sponsored by the government against the main political challenger in the days preceding the 2015 Argentine runoff presidential election. Subjects in the treatment group watched an “ad” initially aired during soccer transmissions that was... View Details

Keywords: Propaganda; Persuasion; Voting; Political Elections; Government and Politics; Communication Strategy; Power and Influence; Public Opinion; Argentina

20 Feb 2019
News

Dean Nohria: Business Schools have a Vital Role in Teaching Trust

In a recent opinion piece in The Financial Times, Dean Nitin Nohria outlines the School’s commitment to educating leaders who are “deeply committed to values and ethics.” “Business schools—including HBS—must teach students how to be... View Details

19 Feb 2010
News

The MBA Oath Debate

recent opinion piece in the Financial Times, HBS student Andrew Sridhar (MBA 2010) cited what he calls “troubling” aspects of the oath. For example, he doesn’t buy the professionalization analogy with oaths in law, medicine, or the... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

July, 2024
Article

Consumer Protection in an Online World: An Analysis of Occupational Licensing

By: Chiara Farronato, Andrey Fradkin, Bradley Larsen and Erik Brynjolfsson

We study the demand and supply implications of occupational licensing using transaction-level data from a large online platform for home improvement services. We find that demand is more responsive to a professional's reviews than to the professional's... View Details

Keywords: Occupational Licensing; Consumer Protection; Perception; Experience and Expertise; Public Opinion; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Demand and Consumers

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