Publications

2010
Working Paper

The Unbundling of Advertising Agency Services: An Economic Analysis

By: Mohammad Arzaghi, Ernst R. Berndt, James C. Davis and Alvin J. Silk

We address a longstanding puzzle surrounding the unbundling of services occurring over several decades in the U.S. advertising agency industry: What accounts for the shift from bundling to unbundling of services and the slow pace of change? Using Evans and Salinger's... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Change; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost; Price; Analytics and Data Science; Surveys; Marketing Strategy; Media; Service Operations; Agency Theory; Mathematical Methods; Advertising Industry; United States

Web

Health Care - Faculty & Research

in which agents recruited by a public health organization to sell condoms are randomly allocated to four groups. Agents in the control group are hired as volunteers, whereas agents in the three treatment groups receive, respectively, a... View Details

17 Apr 2014
News

Striking a Balance

Alvin J. Silk The struggle to balance career and family was all too familiar to the late Diane Doerge Wilson, whose memory is being honored with an HBS professorship funded... View Details

04 May 2010
First Look

First Look: May 4

and Why? Authors:Stephen Leider and Alvin E. Roth Publication:Journal of Transplantation 10 (May 2010): 1221-1227 Abstract The shortage of transplant kidneys has spurred debate about legalizing monetary payments to donors to increase the... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

2013
Article

How Concentrated Is the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services Industry? Myth vs. Reality

By: Alvin J. Silk and Charles King III

We analyze changes in concentration levels in the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services industry using data from the U.S. Census Bureau's quinquennial Economic Census and the Service Annual Survey. These data, heretofore largely ignored, allow us to redress some of... View Details

Keywords: Concentration Levels; Data; U.S. Census Bureau’s Quinquennial Economic Census And The Service Annual Survey; Measurement Problems; Herfindahl-Hirschman Index; Concentration Ratios; Advertising; Advertising Industry; North and Central America

2008
Working Paper

Economic Factors Underlying the Unbundling of Advertising Agency Services

By: Mohammad Arzaghi, Ernst R. Berndt, James C. Davis and Alvin J. Silk

This paper addresses a longstanding puzzle involving the unbundling of services that has occurredover more than two decades in the U.S. advertising agency industry: How can the shift from the bundling to the unbundling of services be explained and what accounts for the... View Details

Keywords: Transformation; Framework; Service Operations; Decisions; Relationships; Price; Diversification; Geography; Cost; Advertising Industry; United States

2008
Working Paper

The Internalization of Advertising Services: An Inter-Industry Analysis

By: Sharon Horsky, Steven C. Michael and Alvin J. Silk

The common perception appears to be that vertical integration of advertising services is more the exception than the rule in the U.S. advertising industry. This study investigates the extent of such outsourcing and examines inter-industry variation in the use of... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Cost; Analytics and Data Science; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques; Service Operations; Creativity; Perception; Vertical Integration; Information Technology; Advertising Industry; United States

March 1996 (Revised November 1997)
Case

Dewar's (A): Brand Repositioning in the 1990's

By: Alvin J. Silk and Lisa Klein Pearo

Dewar's, a major brand of Scotch whisky, produced by United Distillers of the U.K., and the U.S. leader in the Scotch category with a 15% market share, faced a declining market among traditional consumers of distilled spirits. Given the growing societal, legal, and... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Customers; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Market Participation; Strategic Planning; Opportunities; Consumer Products Industry; Food and Beverage Industry; United Kingdom; United States

Educators

24 Mar 2009
First Look

First Look: March 24, 2009

Stockholder Consumption Risk and Asset Returns Authors:Christopher J. Malloy, Tobias J. Moskowitz, and Annette Vissing-Jørgensen Publication:Journal of Finance (forthcoming) Abstract We provide new evidence... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

02 Sep 2008
First Look

First Look: September 3, 2008

Exercise of Leadership, a New Model Authors:Werner Erhard, Michael C. Jensen, Steve Zaffron, Kari L. Granger Abstract This paper is the (pre-course) introduction document to an experimental course developed by the authors and taught at... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

01 Dec 1999
News

The Message and the Media: Advertising's Brave New World

professor Ernest R. Berndt), HBS professor Alvin J. Silk looks at both internal and external forces affecting the industry, with particular attention to the impact of the... View Details

Keywords: Peter K. Jacobs

2020
Working Paper

Aggregate Advertising Expenditure in the U.S. Economy: What's Up? Is It Real?

By: Alvin J. Silk and Ernst R. Berndt

The two components of the advertising industry—the creative sector that develops and produces messages, and the communications sector that transmits messages via various media—have each been greatly affected by advances in creative design and communications... View Details

Keywords: Economy; Advertising; Spending; Media

15 Oct 2008
First Look

First Look: October 15, 2008

Working PapersEconomic Factors Underlying the Unbundling of Advertising Agency Services Authors:Mohammad Arzaghi, Ernst R. Berndt, James C. Davis, and Alvin J. Silk Abstract... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 1994 (Revised October 1995)
Background Note

Notes on Stratified Sampling Design

By: Alvin J. Silk

April 1994
Background Note

Notes on Factor Analysis

By: Alvin J. Silk

March 1994 (Revised April 1994)
Background Note

Notes on Thurstone Scaling

By: Alvin J. Silk

August 1993 (Revised May 1994)
Case

American Airlines' Value Pricing (A)

By: Alvin J. Silk

In April 1992, American Airlines launched "Value Pricing" -- a radical simplification of the complex pricing structure that had evolved over more than a decade following deregulation of the U.S. domestic airline industry. American expected that the new pricing... View Details

Keywords: Price; Marketing Channels; Consumer Behavior; Performance Expectations; Value Creation; Aerospace Industry

Educators

February 1990 (Revised August 1990)
Background Note

Questionnaire Design and Development

By: Alvin J. Silk

An introduction to the design of questionnaires administered in surveys undertaken in management and social science research. Outlines a multistep process for developing a questionnaire. View Details

Keywords: Questionnaires

Educators