Publications

Find at Harvard

Read Now

September 1992 (Revised July 1994)
Case

MEM Company, Inc.: English Leather

By: Frank V. Cespedes and Laura Goode

In 1992, the president of MEM (a producer of personal care products, including men's fragrances) considered a redeployment of field sales efforts and changes in sales compensation policies. Any changes, moreover, must consider the context of strategic decisions... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Brands and Branding; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Distribution Channels; Business Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

05 May 2022
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Raise Their Prices: Because They Can

School. Despite the steady increase, shoppers still bought their favorite breakfast cereals, paper towels, and other consumer goods during the decade and a half before the pandemic began, write MacKay, Georgetown University’s Nathan... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

14 Jul 2014
Research & Ideas

Pay Attention To Your ‘Extreme Consumers’

for consumers—and selling a lot more razor blades. Such hidden opportunities can become even more apparent by investigating "extreme consumers," since they can overemphasize thoughts and behaviors that all View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

14 Feb 2018
HBS Seminar

Ruomeng Cui, Emory University

2019
Working Paper

Status Pivoting: Coping with Status Threats through Motivated Trade-off Beliefs and Consumption across Domains

By: Dafna Goor, Anat Keinan and Nailya Ordabayeva

Prior research established that status threat leads consumers to display status-related products such as luxury brands. While compensatory consumption in the domain of the status threat (e.g., products associated with financial and professional success) is the most... View Details

Keywords: Status and Position; Luxury; Consumer Behavior

February 2002 (Revised April 2011)
Case

The Future of Hybrid Electric Vehicles

By: John T. Gourville, Alice Tzou and David Lane

Set in 2002, this case looks at the potential for hybrid electric vehicles in the United States. Looks at the pressures on the automotive industry to produce a commercially viable, environmentally friendly vehicle and the consumer behavior surrounding purchase of those... View Details

Keywords: Technological Innovation; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Environmental Sustainability; Technology Adoption; Auto Industry; United States

19 Sep 2013
News

Q & A with Professor John Deighton

13 May 2024
Research & Ideas

Picture This: Why Online Image Searches Drive Purchases

In a visual world, most online retailers still rely on consumers to define and enter their own search keywords. But using images to help shoppers sharpen their queries could push them to buy more, spend more, and feel happier about their... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products; Consumer Products

27 Feb 2024
Research & Ideas

Why Companies Should Share Their DEI Data (Even When It’s Unflattering)

studies, the team investigated how consumers respond when companies voluntarily disclose that data, since sharing those numbers with the public is optional. Maya Balakrishnan and Jimin Nam, doctoral students at HBS, wrote the study with... View Details

Keywords: by Shalene Gupta

March 2021 (Revised January 2023)
Background Note

The Pandemic's Impact on the U.S. Food System

By: José B. Alvarez and Natalie Kindred

This note is intended not as a comprehensive account but as a starting point for discussion about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. food system. Written in late 2020, the note describes, in part through the voices of industry leaders, how the pandemic... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Agribusiness; Risk and Uncertainty; Risk Management; Leadership; Change Management; Safety; Health; Health Pandemics; Disruption; Adaptation; Supply Chain; Supply Chain Management; Consumer Behavior; Retail Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Transportation Industry; United States

2011
White Paper

Brands Are People Too! Harnessing the Power of Brand Warmth and Competence

By: Chris Malone, Jill Avery and S. T. Fiske

Research in customer behavior has revealed that the way humans respond to brands is simply an extension of the way they instinctively perceive, judge, and behave towards one another. Understanding how consumers judge brands using social processes akin to those used in... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Management; Customer Relationship Management; CRM; Brand Positioning; Brand Equity; Customers; Customer Focus and Relationships; Customer Satisfaction; Brands and Branding; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Products Industry

Read Now

25 Aug 2018
News

The Other Amazon Effect: How Prices Have Become Less Insulated From Supply Shocks

Mandi Nerenberg

Mandi is a doctoral student in Organizational Behavior at Harvard Business School. She is interested in the impact of how gender and racial dynamics shape workplace evaluations. Her research explores gender biases in interpersonal professional contexts,... View Details

July 1993 (Revised September 1994)
Case

Goodyear: The Aquatred Launch

By: John A. Quelch

After many years of R&D, Goodyear has developed the Aquatred, an innovative new tire. However, the tire industry has matured and evolved, raising questions concerning the Aquatred's ability to gain support from Goodyear's independent tire dealers. Students must use... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Consumer Behavior; Distribution Channels; Brands and Branding; Innovation and Invention; Auto Industry; Rubber Industry; United States

September 2010 (Revised January 2012)
Case

OPOWER: Increasing Energy Efficiency through Normative Influence (A)

By: Amy J.C. Cuddy, Kyle Todd Doherty and Maarten W. Bos

The case profiles OPOWER, an energy efficiency software company that applies Cialdini's principles of social influence to successfully encourage consumers to reduce their energy usage. OPOWER was co-founded in 2008 by two young Harvard graduates, Dan Yates and Alex... View Details

Keywords: Mathematical Methods; Applications and Software; Attitudes; Entrepreneurship; Energy Conservation; Power and Influence; Growth and Development Strategy; Energy Industry; United States

September 2015
Case

Eco7: Launching a New Motor Oil

By: John Quelch and Sunru Yong

Aaron Jonnerson, vice president of marketing at the automotive division of Avellin, must make marketing mix decisions for the launch of Eco7, a new environmentally-friendly motor oil. The company's performance has been mediocre, shareholder pressure is increasing, and... View Details

Keywords: Distribution Channels; Environmental Sustainability; Product Launch; Transportation; Energy Sources; Auto Industry