Consumer Behavior - Publications - Faculty & Research

06 Oct 2020
Sharpening Your Skills

18 Tips Managers Can Use to Lead Through COVID's Rising Waters

potentially have a role for everyone in which they feel they can contribute to overcoming the uncertainty, overcoming the crisis. Community. All of us live in communities. so it’s extremely important that we set an example, model View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

Web

Marketing Awards & Honors - Faculty & Research

2008 Association for Consumer Research (ACR) Conference on Gender, Marketing, and Consumer Behavior for the paper entitled "Defending the Markers of Hegemonic Masculinity:... View Details

March 31, 2023
Article

What Is the Optimal Pattern of a Customer Journey?

By: Julian De Freitas

Even though customer experience (CX) leaders are becoming increasingly focused on optimizing their firms’ customer journeys, they face a clear challenge: Which touchpoints along the journey should they invest in? That is, which moments when the customer interacts with... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Customers; Brands and Branding

Citation

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12 Mar 2013
First Look

First Look: March 12

But there's a growing consensus that ads don't work on mobile devices; consumers just don't like them. Instead of creating tiny banner ads, smart marketers will turn to apps to reach customers and engage them. Effective apps will do one... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

25 Oct 2010
HBS Case

Tesco’s Stumble into the US Market

depends on enough consumers changing behavior to buy a higher proportion of their groceries on a more frequent basis. This could work in inner-city locations where younger shoppers might buy their evening... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Retail

November 2019
Article

When and Why Defaults Influence Decisions: A Meta-analysis of Default Effects

By: Jon M. Jachimowicz, Shannon Duncan, Elke U. Weber and Eric J. Johnson

When people make decisions with a pre-selected choice option—a “default”—they are more likely to select that option. Because defaults are easy to implement, they constitute one of the most widely employed tools in the choice architecture toolbox. However, to decide... View Details

Keywords: Choice Architecture; Defaults; Default Effects; Decision Making; Behavior; Analysis

Citation

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December 2009
Article

Media Markets and Localism: Does Local News en Español Boost Hispanic Voter Turnout?

By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Joel Waldfogel

Since the dawn of broadcasting, and especially in the past decade, Americans have turned their attention from local to more distant sources of news and entertainment. While the integration of media markets will raise the private welfare of many consumers, critics of a... View Details

Keywords: Voting; Ethnicity; Behavior; Local Range; Journalism and News Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

Citation

Find at Harvard

20 Jan 2023
News

Free Spirits

(In medieval Europe, it was consumed daily because the presence of alcohol made it a safer alternative to water.) And the recipe has remained largely unchanged. To make either low- or no-alcohol beer, one begins with a batch of full-test... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality

01 Aug 2017
First Look

First Look at New Research and Ideas, August 1

Abstract—Objective: Assess whether a commitment contract informed by behavioral economics leads to persistent virologic suppression among HIV-positive patients with poor antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence. Design: Single-center pilot... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

February 2002 (Revised October 2005)
Case

BMWFilms

By: Youngme E. Moon and Kerry Herman

Jim McDowell, VP of marketing at BMW North America, is debating how to follow up the success of his latest marketing campaign, "BMWFilms." This campaign features five short films for the Internet, directed by some of the hottest young directors in Hollywood. By all... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Internet and the Web; Marketing Strategy; Film Entertainment; Innovation and Invention; Auto Industry; North and Central America

Citation

Educators

Purchase

2023
Working Paper

The Benefits of Revealing Race: Evidence from Minority-owned Local Businesses

By: Abhay Aneja, Michael Luca and Oren Reshef

Is there latent demand to support Black-owned businesses? To explore, we analyze a new feature that made it easier to identify Black-owned restaurants on a large online platform. We find that labeling restaurants as “Black-owned” increased customer engagement and... View Details

Keywords: Black-owned Businesses; Race; Prejudice and Bias; Ownership; Knowledge Dissemination; Digital Platforms; Consumer Behavior; Food and Beverage Industry

Citation

SSRN

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17 May 2022
Cold Call Podcast

Delivering a Personalized Shopping Experience with AI

Keywords: Re: Jill J. Avery

20 Oct 2011
Research & Ideas

Getting the Marketing Mix Right

the right mix between them—the ideal brew needed to achieve sales and market share goals. The trick is that each marketing effort affects consumer behavior in different ways, and also prompts different types... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

26 May 2015
First Look

First Look: May 26

serve as the glue across functions and business units. But without clarity about strategy and the ability to articulate strategy, people can only pick up random, disconnected cues about priorities, and alignment is then hit-and-miss, especially when it comes to linking... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

Myra M. Hart

Myra Hart's research focus is high potential entrepreneurship. She has taught MBA and executive programs, co-chaired the entrepreneurship unit, and led several HBS initiatives. As a founding memberView Details

Keywords: consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products; consumer products

2008
Simulation

Pricing Simulation: Universal Car Rental

By: John T. Gourville

This web-based simulation presents an engaging context in which students develop their knowledge of pricing by managing a rental car operation (Universal) in Florida and improve regional performance by developing a pricing strategy. The simulation involves three... View Details

Keywords: Competition; Consumer Behavior; Price; Profit; Renting or Rental; Auto Industry; Service Industry; Miami; Orlando; Tampa

Citation

05 Aug 2013
Research & Ideas

To Buy Happiness, Purchase an Experience

Video directed and produced by Joanie Tobin Conventional wisdom says that money can't buy happiness. Behavioral science begs to differ. In fact, research shows that money can make us happier—but only if we spend it in particular ways. In... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel

23 Jun 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovative Ways to Encourage Personal Savings

have legs—and whether they generate new savings. On the credit side, I think the presentation of information to credit card borrowers may influence the way they use their credit. We are currently working on a field experiment to see if providing information to View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Financial Services

22 Feb 2022
News

Breaking News

environment has very different economics. Local news outlets that once relied on monopoly-pricing power on the print side, and to a certain extent on the circulation side, just don’t have that in the digital media space. With a shift in View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint; illustration by Dana Smith; News, Library, Internet, and Other Services; Information

June 2022 (Revised August 2022)
Case

Dollar Tree: Breaking the Buck

By: Jill Avery and Marco Bertini

For thirty-five years, Dollar Tree, a discount retail chain selling general merchandise, had held its fixed price point steady, pricing all of its household items, food, stationery, books, seasonal items, gifts, toys, and clothing that made up its diverse and... View Details