Publications

March 1999 (Revised December 2001)
Background Note

Analyzing Consumer Perceptions

By: Robert J. Dolan

Describes the perceptual mapping techniques in a non-technical fashion. The procedure is useful for the depiction of the structure of the market. Discusses alternative methods, presents examples of each, and shows how the maps can be used in marketing decision making. View Details

Keywords: Industry Structures; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior

Research Summary

Overview

Professor Santana studies consumer judgment and decision making within the domain of behavioral pricing and the subjective value of money. With respect to behavioral pricing, her current projects are focused on how consumers think, feel, and behave in response to... View Details

Keywords: Judgment And Decision Making; Behavioral Pricing; Consumer Behavior

December 2020
Article

Consumer Reactance to Promotional Favors

By: Marco Bertini and Aylin Aydinli

Promotional favors are an increasingly popular but seldom researched form of price promotion where the receipt of the saving by consumers depends on an action on their part that is nonmonetary in nature, such as completing a questionnaire, posting a review, or making a... View Details

Keywords: Promotional Favors; Conditional Discounts; Psychological Reactance; Price Promotions; Pricing; Marketing; Price; Consumer Behavior

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16 Jan 2006
Research & Ideas

Adam Smith, Behavioral Economist?

be that they should weigh carefully the costs of breaking trust and of risking reputation. The formal study of behavioral economics exactly relates psychological factors to economic behavior, and even more recently has been exploring the... View Details

Keywords: by Ann Cullen

28 Oct 2009
Lessons from the Classroom

HBS Begins Teaching Consumer Finance

MBA programs in America and the top five in Europe. While some offer banking courses, and others offer behavioral courses, none had a course that was specifically about consumer finance. Here at HBS, we have... View Details

Keywords: by Roger Thompson; Financial Services; Education

06 Apr 2009
Research & Ideas

Cheers to the American Consumer

litany of reasons why America spawns so many entrepreneurs. There is barely an acknowledgment of what Amar Bhide (HBS MBA '79) has appealingly termed "the venturesome consumer." Yet this willingness to adopt new products, new processes and new services more... View Details

Keywords: by John Quelch

November 2003 (Revised April 2004)
Background Note

Why Consumers Don't Buy: The Psychology of New Product Adoption

By: John T. Gourville

Looks at the consumer psychology of new product adoption. Identifies a key reason why consumers do not adopt innovations as quickly as developers think they should--an irrational resistance to behavioral change. Identifies strategies for firms to manage and overcome... View Details

Keywords: Product Launch; Consumer Behavior; Social Psychology

05 May 2008
Research & Ideas

Connecting with Consumers Using Deep Metaphors

problems. Lindsay Zaltman: I have been exploring new ways to leverage the power of deep metaphors in other research methods. For instance, I have been developing an applied ethnographic approach that allows us to see how deep metaphors influence the View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Consumer Products

2018
Article

Overcoming Barriers to Time-Saving: Reminders of Future Busyness Encourage Consumers to Buy Time

By: A. V. Whillans, Elizabeth W. Dunn and Michael I. Norton

Spending money on time-saving purchases improves happiness. Yet, people often fail to spend their money in this way. Because most people believe that the future will be less busy than the present, they may underweight the value of these purchases. We examine the impact... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Choice; Sharing Economy; Opportunity Cost; Time-as Money; Well-being; Time Management; Happiness; Perception; Behavior

2011
Article

The Consumer Psychology of Mail-in Rebates

By: John T. Gourville and Dilip Soman

Consumers who buy a product intending to use an accompanying mail-in rebate often do not redeem the rebate. To explain this behavior, we argue that consumers use an anchoring and adjustment approach to predicting the likelihood of redeeming a rebate. In keeping with... View Details

Keywords: Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Sales; Motivation and Incentives

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March 2006
Course Overview Note

Consumer Marketing: Rethinking the Core

By: Youngme E. Moon

Outlines the structure and content of an advanced MBA course entitled Consumer Marketing: Rethinking the Core. The course, which is part of the second-year curriculum at the Harvard Business School, focuses on a reexamination of several fundamental marketing paradigms... View Details

Keywords: Marketing; Consumer Behavior

January 2005 (Revised June 2005)
Case

Zipcar: Influencing Customer Behavior

By: Frances X. Frei and Hanna Rodriguez-Farrar

At Zipcar, customers share the use of cars and, as a result, rely on each other for their service experience. Customers are required to keep the car clean and the gas tank full and to return the car on time. Told from the perspective of two customers: Sal Fishman, who... View Details

Keywords: Information Technology; Governance Controls; Behavior; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Consumer Behavior; Leasing; Transportation Industry; Service Industry; United States

March 2023
Article

Giving-by-proxy Triggers Subsequent Charitable Behavior

By: Samantha Kassirer, Jillian J. Jordan and Maryam Kouchaki

How can we foster habits of charitable giving? Here, we investigate the potential power of giving-by-proxy experiences, drawing inspiration from a growing trend in marketing and corporate social responsibility contexts in which organizations make charitable... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Behavior

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March 2006
Background Note

Influencing Customer Behavior in Service Operations

By: Frances X. Frei and Amy C. Edmondson

Explores ways in which service firms can influence the behavior of their customers. Drawing from research on employee motivation and applying it to customer motivation, the note describes two levels of managerial control: instrumental control, which shapes behavior... View Details

Keywords: Customers; Governance Controls; Consumer Behavior; Service Operations; Emotions; Motivation and Incentives; Power and Influence; Service Industry

1981
Article

A Consumer Based Approach for Establishing Priorities in Consumer Information Programs: Implications for Public Policy

By: Rohit Deshpandé and S. Krishnan

Although there exists substantial research on the style and format of consumer information programs, little attention has been devoted to the critical issue of whether consumers need new information at all. A conceptual approach to systematically assess this... View Details

Keywords: Information; Consumer Behavior; Research

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11 Aug 2014
HBS Case

The Business of Behavioral Economics

specializing in the burgeoning field of behavioral economics. "Standard economic theory suggests that as long as people understand the full consequences of their actions, they tend to act in their self interest," says John. "If they want... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Food & Beverage; Health

Article

Consumer Behavior, Retailer Power and Performance in Consumer Goods Industries

By: M. E. Porter

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Performance; Goods and Commodities; Supply and Industry; Consumer Products Industry

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February 2013
Article

Commitment and Behavior Change: Evidence from the Field

By: Katie Baca-Motes, Amber Brown, Ayelet Gneezy, Elizabeth A. Keenan and Leif D. Nelson

Influencing behavior change is an ongoing challenge in psychology, economics, and consumer behavior research. Building on previous work on commitment, self-signaling, and the principle of consistency, a large, intensive field experiment (N = 2,416) examined the effect... View Details

Keywords: Behavior; Marketing