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- All HBS Web
(1,667)
- People (1)
- News (248)
- Research (1,289)
- Events (3)
- Multimedia (2)
- Faculty Publications (756)
- 17 Mar 2021
- Research & Ideas
Beyond Pajamas: Sizing Up the Pandemic Shopper
that attract consumers to retailers’ websites. Companies typically have to balance the popularity of these policies in a competitive market with the high costs of managing returns, including shipping and restocking fees that cut into... View Details
- 06 Mar 2017
- Research & Ideas
Why Comparing Apples to Apples Online Leads To More Fruitful Sales
Online, consumers are more likely to buy when a product grouping display contains like items. Source: Mik22 In online retail displays, items pictured next to your product may make or break a decision to buy that product, according to... View Details
- 28 Jul 2016
- Op-Ed
Where is TripAdvisor for Doctors?
85 percent of consumers make a purchase after reading such online reviews. But in the world of doctors, nothing compares in assisting consumers to make decisions that are arguably more involved emotionally... View Details
- 19 Nov 2018
- Sharpening Your Skills
E-Santa: Is Retail Ready for Digital Christmas?
brick-and-mortar retail, specifically in the form of large-scale shopping malls, is still the dominant venue for consumer purchases in the developed world. Large-Scale Demand Estimation with Search Data This study proposes a practical and... View Details
- 12 Oct 2011
- Research & Ideas
Creating Online Ads We Want to Watch
30-second consumer product advertisements. Out of 28 ads, 14 were chosen because they were decidedly provocative; the researchers expected them to evoke either joy or surprise in the viewers at different points in the brief plot. The... View Details
- 31 May 2023
- Research & Ideas
With Predictive Analytics, Companies Can Tap the Ultimate Opportunity: Customers’ Routines
haven’t made a service part of their routines, the authors find. These findings come as companies such as Procter & Gamble, Adidas, and McDonald’s are trying to collect more consumer data to hone their marketing messages. With... View Details
- 25 Aug 2003
- Research & Ideas
Should You Sell Your Digital Privacy?
It's a startling idea: Instead of relying on regulators to protect our privacy against telemarketers, data miners, and consumer companies, we should capitalize on the value of our personal information and get something of value in return.... View Details
- 17 Sep 2001
- Research & Ideas
Why E-commerce Didn’t Die With the Fall of Webvan
Times were hard for Webvan this year. Like other online grocers and delivery services that hit the screen in 2001—among them, Homegrocer, Kozmo, and Streamline—Webvan finally called it quits in July after two years in business. Webvan may be gone, but the forces that... View Details
- 13 Jun 2018
- Sharpening Your Skills
That Costs HOW Much?
graphicola Price is important to consumers not just because it determines whether they can afford to purchase that purse or patio set. The cost of an item sets the buyer's expectations as to how the product or service will perform and... View Details
- 04 Dec 2000
- What Do You Think?
Have We Overdone Deregulation and Privatization?
Summing Up Let's hear it for deregulation, at least its long-term effects. It's well worth the short-term disruptions and consumer confusion. That's the near-unanimous judgement of those of you responding to my recent piece on the... View Details
Keywords: by James Heskett
- 26 Feb 2014
- Research & Ideas
How Grocery Bags Manipulate Your Mind
those who bring their own bags are more likely to buy indulgent items like ice cream and cookies. Moreover, consumers tend to place a higher value on both organic products and decadent treats when they bring their own bags than when they... View Details
- 13 Mar 2017
- Research & Ideas
Hiding Products From Customers May Ultimately Boost Sales
once, or if she sees them a few at a time throughout the season? “In product categories where the consumer is likely to purchase several products, the value of concealment tends to be positive” The answer depends on the product category,... View Details
- 10 Nov 2008
- What Do You Think?
How Much Can You Ask of Your Customers?
so that volunteers (often customers, but also others) can easily contribute content (opinions and ratings for Zagat guides), "stuff for sale" (eBay online marketplace), behavioral data (Google's search engine algorithm), and... View Details
Keywords: by Jim Heskett
- 11 Dec 2006
- Research & Ideas
Fixing Price Tag Confusion
The price tag is evolving. It wasn't long ago that potential buyers had only to contemplate a single figure on a price tag—Mattress $799. But increasingly consumers are being presented with "partitioned" prices. Look at your monthly cable... View Details
- 07 May 2018
- Research & Ideas
Why Online Retailers Should Hide Their Best Discounts
to adapt it to an online environment,” says Ngwe. Their study gauges the effect of so-called search frictions that make it harder to find discounted items or require additional clicks by consumers to find bargains. “We want to see how... View Details
- 17 Nov 2020
- In Practice
How Retailers Can Thrive in a Shopping Season Like No Other
American retailers are heading into a holiday shopping season unlike any other as the spiraling COVID-pandemic and limp economy threaten consumer spending. We asked Harvard Business School faculty members—in particular, authors of recent... View Details
- 12 Sep 2012
- Research & Ideas
The Unexpected Link Between Cadavers and Careers
explains Michel Anteby, an associate professor in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School who cowrote the paper with Filiz Garip of Harvard University, Paul V. Martorana of Wagner College, and Scott Lozanoff of the... View Details
- 10 Aug 2015
- Research & Ideas
Why a Federal Rule on CEO Pay Disclosure May Get You In Trouble With Customers
check. In sheer terms of gaining favor among consumers, a firm with a high CEO-to-worker pay ratio must offer a substantial 50 percent discount to keep up with a firm that maintains a low pay ratio. This is among the key findings in the working paper Paying Up for Fair... View Details
- 15 Apr 2013
- Research & Ideas
Solving the Search vs. Display Advertising Quandary
these investments motivated consumers to plunk down their credit cards or fill out an application for a service. That's why the Internet has been such a godsend to companies, says Sunil Gupta, the Edward W. Carter Professor of Business... View Details
- 21 Aug 2013
- Research & Ideas
To Buy Happiness, Spend Money on Other People
Now, Consume Later (delayed consumption leads to increased enjoyment); and Invest in Others (spending money on other people makes us happier than spending it on ourselves). Recently we featured a video illustrating the emotional benefits... View Details
Keywords: by Carmen Nobel