Messaging - Publications - Faculty & Research

02 Apr 2012
Research & Ideas

Do Online Dating Platforms Help Those Who Need Them Most?

Piskorski with information about its members, covering user demographics such as age, gender, height, and body type. The data also included usage patterns—how users learned about one another's profiles, how many profiles they viewed on average, and how many... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Technology

03 Jul 2018
What Do You Think?

Should CEO Satya Nadella Cancel Microsoft’s Contract with ICE?

stressed the importance of developing “that deeper sense of empathy and compassion for everything around you” and finding “meaning in our work work that will improve other people’s lives.” These were significant departures from the View Details

Keywords: by James Heskett; Computer; Technology

03 Dec 2007
Research & Ideas

Authenticity over Exaggeration: The New Rule in Advertising

the "consumer" label altogether. It's too limiting. Deighton cites Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign, a multiphase effort with an underlying theme that subverts traditional beauty product messages of aspiration and perfection. In one ad,... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Publishing; Advertising

27 Dec 2010
Research & Ideas

HBS Faculty on 2010’s Biggest Business Developments

networks is to middle managers, who may become obsolete when layers of managers are no longer needed to convey messages up and down the organization.” A year ago many people poked fun at Facebook as a place where kids shared their latest... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

16 Jul 2014
HBS Case

Marketing Obamacare

segment consumers into four different groups: Confident Rejecters, Cautious Optimists, Stoic Skeptics, and Stressed and Strained. The agency then created different messages for each one—for example, emphasizing affordability for the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Health

31 Jan 2005
Research & Ideas

Rethinking Marketing’s Conventional Wisdom

their parents own. So BMW, knowing that it's a fashion brand, is trying to manage different and multiple brand messages for different audiences, using the Internet and various other forms of distribution. Q: What else about marketing... View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons; Service

28 Feb 2011
Research & Ideas

The Importance of ‘Don’t’ in Inducing Ethical Employee Behavior

is for companies to frame goals in terms of promotion, and what we show here is that this might actually lead to cheating as a side effect.” The dichotomy raises an important question: If employees are generally focused on the benefits of getting things done, will they... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

28 Jul 2003
Research & Ideas

It’s India Above China in New World Order

commercial arena. India has been particularly unreceptive—except until very recently—to embracing the diaspora. Q: How is your message about the pace of India and China being received by economists, policy specialists, or business people?... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

02 Jun 2014
Research & Ideas

Excerpt: ‘A Social Strategy’

entailed setting up a corporate page on Facebook, getting people to "Like" it, and then broadcasting messages to those fans with the expectation of receiving a response (in the form of either feedback or increased sales). Companies have... View Details

24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

The Climate Needs Aggressive CEO Leadership

Corporations are facing great uncertainty. For the world to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, the United States eventually will have to put a price on carbon dioxide emissions, as has been done by Europe, parts of Canada, and California. To plan for the... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Toffel & Auden Schendler; Energy; Utilities

16 Sep 2013
Research & Ideas

Earnings Calls That Get Lost in Translation

questions. The calls are high stakes — a top executive with a murky message can cause share demand to dry up, or worse, a drop in the stock price, faster than you can say, "Outlook is uncertain." Imagine, then, the challenge for... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

15 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

Lessons Not Learned About Innovation

money." What's the central message here? A: In 2002, Arrow Electronics attempted a new Internet venture, Arrow.com. The group was granted perks not given to others, and this did not go unnoticed by the sales group, which was already... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Mar 2016
First Look

March 1, 2016

incidences by firms. The data cover two field experiments run by a large stock-photography agency. We find that substantially reducing the requested amount generates a small increase in the settlement rate. However, for the same reduced request, a View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

24 Nov 2014
Research & Ideas

Corrupting Silence: Companies Must Speak Up Against Bribes

get a call from a consultant who knows all about your impending bid and offers to help. The clear message is you are not going to win unless you use me." “The thing that struck me is how little information there is on corruption because... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

06 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Conducting Layoffs: ’Necessary Evils’ at Work

them the news is empathic and caring. However, the message must also be delivered in a clear and direct way. In an effort to be compassionate, and out of a desire not to appear hard-hearted, it is all too easy to try to sugarcoat the... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

17 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

Advertising Symbiosis: The Key to Viral Videos

Old Spice's Twitter campaign. In 2010, Procter & Gamble launched a campaign where Facebook and Twitter users were encouraged to send messages to Isaiah Mustafa, the strapping spokesman for Old Spice who markets the idea that if men... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

12 Nov 2008
Research & Ideas

The Marketing of a President

donors and volunteers but all citizens. From the imaginative campaign logo to the thirty-minute infomercial, Obama's communications were professional without being slick, attention-getting without being in-your-face. Fourth, Obama reached out to all citizens. He... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

09 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

The Manager’s Guide to Communicating with Customers Collection

to craft a more effective message to, and to get lucrative insights from, the shopping public would be well advised to listen to what Underhill and Zaltman have to say. Following are some of their communication secrets. Examine the View Details

Keywords: by Richard Bierck; Retail

17 Jun 2016
Op-Ed

Companies Need to Start Marketing Security to Customers

undercut a positive message about a product's benefits with safety warnings. That might make you feel uncomfortable and even dissuade you from buying the brand. You might instead buy a competitive product that doesn't flag safety issues... View Details

Keywords: by John A. Quelch; Entertainment & Recreation

28 Apr 2014
Research & Ideas

Football Stars Debate ‘The Social Capital of the Savvy Athlete’

"a sorry receiver," followed by a message for Crabtree: "Don't you ever talk about me!" Twitter members reacted forcefully and en masse, to the point that major news networks published stories with headlines like... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Sports

Publications