Publications

19 Dec 2022
Research & Ideas

What Motivates People to Give Generously—and Why We Sometimes Don't

surprisingly difficult. Much later, in the second year of her PhD program, she discovered the field of behavioral economics and folded her non-academic interests into her research. For his part, Zlatev arrived at his PhD in business... View Details

Keywords: by Jen McFarland Flint, HBS Alumni Bulletin

29 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Are You Paying a Tip--or a Bribe?

Holden Professor of Organizational Behavior at Stanford, and Daniella Kupor, a doctoral student at Stanford. "It is generally considered a good-natured prosocial thing to tip, but bribing is considered to be antisocial and... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

Fall 2024
Article

The Problem of Good Conduct Among Financial Advisers

By: Mark Egan, Gregor Matvos and Amit Seru

Households in the United States often rely on financial advisers for investment and savings decisions, yet there is a widespread perception that many advisers are dishonest. This distrust is not unwarranted: approximately one in fifteen advisers has a history of... View Details

Keywords: Personal Finance; Behavioral Finance; Trust; Financial Services Industry

Read Now

January 2021 (Revised March 2021)
Case

THE YES: Reimagining the Future of E-Commerce with Artificial Intelligence (AI)

By: Jill Avery, Ayelet Israeli and Emma von Maur

THE YES, a multi-brand shopping app launched in May 2020 offered a new type of buying experience for women’s fashion, driven by a sophisticated algorithm that used data science and machine learning to create and deliver a personalized store for every shopper, based on... View Details

Keywords: Data; Data Analytics; Artificial Intelligence; AI; AI Algorithms; AI Creativity; Fashion; Retail; Retail Analytics; E-Commerce Strategy; Platform; Platforms; Big Data; Preference Elicitation; Preference Prediction; Predictive Analytics; App Development; ＂Marketing Analytics＂; Advertising; Mobile App; Mobile Marketing; Apparel; Online Advertising; Referral Rewards; Referrals; Female Ceo; Female Entrepreneur; Female Protagonist; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis; Creativity; Marketing Strategy; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior; Demand and Consumers; Forecasting and Prediction; Marketing Channels; Digital Marketing; Internet and the Web; Mobile and Wireless Technology; AI and Machine Learning; E-commerce; Digital Platforms; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; United States

November 2006
Case

Organics: Coming Center Stage?

By: James E. Austin and Reed Martin

The organics movement has certainly come a long way. From hippie farming communes and a scattering of natural food stores in the 1960s, organics outgrew its origins as a counterculture curiosity of the 1970s to become the fastest growing segment of the food industry in... View Details

Keywords: Food; Supply and Industry; Consumer Behavior; Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Food and Beverage Industry; United States

01 Oct 2012
Research & Ideas

Better by the Bundle?

Sales can soar when companies bundle products together into one cheaper package—Happy Meal, anyone? Yet a buyer's affinity for such deals comes with a big caveat, according to new research: These groupings are often successful only if the View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

01 Jun 2023
HBS Case

A Nike Executive Hid His Criminal Past to Turn His Life Around. What If He Didn't Have To?

At age 32—feeling far removed from the violent street crimes that had consumed his teens and 20s—Larry Miller just knew he was nailing a job interview with a senior partner at Arthur Andersen. That is, until he came clean about his... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Apparel & Accessories

05 Sep 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, September 5, 2017

forthcoming Journal of Financial Economics The Effects of Media Slant on Firm Behavior By: Baloria, Vishal P., and Jonas Heese Abstract—The media can impose reputational costs on firms because of its important role as an information... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

27 Jun 2005
Research & Ideas

Asian and American Leadership Styles: How Are They Unique?

Wall Street than is yet common in Asia. Wall Street has strong expectations about the behavior and performance of executives and about succession. There is less freedom of action for executives and boards in America than in Asia. In Asia,... View Details

Keywords: by D. Quinn Mills

Research Summary

Understanding Customers

In conventional business case studies, protagonists almost never have the option of stepping back to seek a new understanding of the customer. But to be effective in practice, managers need both the self-assurance and ability to initiate and pursue, with rigor and... View Details

Research Summary

Overview

My research is at the intersection of organizational strategy, global sustainability governance, and social change. It explores the diffusion of sustainability standards to non-traditional sectors (e.g. jewelry, cannabis, plastics, pets) and the relationship between... View Details

04 Dec 2018
First Look

New Research and Ideas, December 4, 2018

link: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=55322 forthcoming Journal of Financial Economics Governance Through Shame and Aspiration: Index Creation and Corporate Behavior By: Chattopadhyay, Akash, Matthew D. Shaffer, and... View Details

Keywords: Dina Gerdeman

17 Apr 2022
Book

How to Avoid the 'Ethical Slide' That Leads Companies Astray

while the book was in process. Today, strong ethics are a central issue for business leaders, knowing consumers are drawn to companies that do the right thing while steering clear of businesses that break ethical boundaries, Nelson says.... View Details

Keywords: by Lane Lambert

13 Oct 2015
First Look

October 13, 2015

contribution rates differ between employees hired before versus after the Roth introduction, which means that the amount of retirement consumption being purchased by 401(k) contributions increases after the Roth introduction. A survey experiment suggests two View Details

July – August 2010
Article

Are You Ignoring Trends That Could Shake Up Your Business?

By: Elie Ofek and Luc Wathieu

Virtually all managers in consumer businesses recognize major social, economic, and technological trends. But many do not consider the profound ways in which trends--especially those that seem unrelated to their core markets--influence consumers' aspirations,... View Details

Keywords: Trends; Innovation and Invention; Knowledge Use and Leverage; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Product Development

Find at Harvard

18 Sep 2017
Research & Ideas

'Likes' Lead to Nothing—and Other Hard-Learned Lessons of Social Media Marketing

marketers are feeling pressure to show ROI.” Still, since those first Facebook ads were posted in 2004, social media has proven itself a valuable tool for helping companies create consumer perceptions about particular brands (Old Spice)... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Advertising; Technology

04 Jun 2013
First Look

First Look: June 4

http://ssrn.com/abstract=1625503 iPosture: The Size of Electronic Consumer Devices Affects Our Behavior By: Bos, Maarten W., and Amy J.C. Cuddy Abstract—We examined whether incidental body posture, prompted... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

18 Feb 2009
First Look

First Look: February 18, 2009

challenging goals can powerfully drive behavior and boost performance. Advocates of goal setting have had a substantial impact on research, management education, and management practice. In this article, we argue that the beneficial... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

February 2018 (Revised October 2019)
Technical Note

The Art and Science of Brand Valuation

By: Jill Avery

Brand valuation, the art and science of calculating the economic value accruing to a firm from its use of an intangible brand asset, yields frustratingly inconsistent, discrepant, and, therefore, controversial results. While it is widely accepted that brands are... View Details