Consumer Behavior - Publications - Faculty & Research

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

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

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Advertising

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

22 Feb 2000
Research & Ideas

The Mind of the Market: Extending the Frontiers of Marketing Thought

might serve the study of consumer behavior. An HBS professor since 1991, Zaltman's work actually cuts across a number of boundaries. He's a co-director (with Stephen M. Kosslyn, Professor of psychology at Harvard University) of the Mind... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

Article

Households' Willingness to Pay for 'Green' Goods: Evidence from Patagonia's Introduction of Organic Cotton Sportswear

By: Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Michael Crooke, Forest L. Reinhardt and Vishal Vasishth

To shed light on individuals' willingness to pay for "green" goods (i.e., goods that are supposed to have lower adverse environmental impacts either in production or in use), we study data from the introduction by Patagonia, Inc., of organic cotton sportswear in the... View Details

Keywords: Spending; Consumer Behavior; Environmental Sustainability; Consumer Products Industry

Citation

Find at Harvard

29 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Creating the Perfect Super Bowl Ad

question whether ads, including the over-the-top Super Bowl spots, have become too entertaining, says Thales S. Teixeira, an assistant professor in the Marketing unit at Harvard Business School. In upcoming research, Why, When and How Much to Entertain View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Advertising; Media & Broadcasting

October 1971 (Revised June 1985)
Case

Fisher-Price Toys, Inc.

Reviews new product introduction and pricing decisions for a riding toy designed for preschool children. Designed to provide background in buyer behavior, market analysis, and corporate strategy. View Details

Keywords: Corporate Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Product Launch; Consumer Products Industry

Citation

Educators

Purchase

09 Jun 2015
Sharpening Your Skills

Sharpening Your Skills: Social Media

Using social media to advance your marketing is a potentially powerful and low-cost tool. But the risk is potentially powerful, too—allowing consumers to co-create your brand is enough to induce night sweats in any marketer. From our... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty; Advertising

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

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Retail

02 Apr 2015
Research & Ideas

Digital Initiative Summit: Big Messages, Small Screens, Many Choices

is, if the app is the way we interact with the brands, how do you get me to be one of your favorite apps?" Gupta said that a successful app must provide obvious, unique value—and meet consumers where they live. As an example, he cited the... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

28 Jan 2013
Research & Ideas

Helping Yelp Create More Accurate Reviews

Each week, millions of consumers visit crowd-sourced review websites in search of recommendations for everything from taco stands to car dealers. Among the influential leaders in the field is Yelp.com, which in the third quarter of 2012... View Details

Keywords: by Kim Girard; Food & Beverage

08 Jan 2007
What Do You Think?

Neuro Economics: Science or Science Fiction?

assess the impact of this work. Dick Meza said that "it will have to run the gauntlet of peer reviews and further research ." Lorenzo Ferlazzo observed that "the current lack of standardized insights into behavioral stimuli... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Heskett

16 Sep 2014
Research & Ideas

Has Apple Reinvented the Watch?

especially from a consumer health and wellness standpoint. It's where we know the health care industry is moving. Q: Apple has always been known for innovative design. Have they succeeded to do that with the Apple Watch? A: Several of the... View Details

Keywords: Re: Ryan L. Raffaelli; Electronics; Retail; Health

27 Jul 2009
Research & Ideas

Social Network Marketing: What Works?

the research with HBS Working Knowledge. Sarah Jane Gilbert: Your research attempted to answer this question: Do friends within a social network influence online buying behaviors of others in the group? What did you discover? Sunil Gupta:... View Details

Keywords: by Sarah Jane Gilbert; Advertising; Publishing; Retail

17 Jun 2013
Research & Ideas

Advertising Symbiosis: The Key to Viral Videos

expenditures. Advertisers can get the most bang for the buck if they post their videos on YouTube and then motivate consumers to disseminate the ads for them, via email or social media. Getting an ad to go viral is among the cost-saving... View Details

Keywords: by Carmen Nobel; Advertising

15 Dec 2014
Research & Ideas

Deconstructing the Price Tag

When a company sets a price for a product, shoppers typically have no idea what it costs to produce that item. But it turns out that consumers reward efforts to lay out these figures—to deconstruct the price tag. In fact, new research... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Retail

16 Dec 2015
Research & Ideas

Why ‘Sleep on It’ No Longer Sounds Like Great Advice

On It? The Effects of Overnight Sleep on Subjective Preference-Based Choice, forthcoming in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making. Sleeping on a decision may not lead to a happy outcome. ©iStock/vadimguzhva In order to test their... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding; Retail

01 Dec 2014
News

Faculty Q&A: The New Brand Manager: You

Now that customers have more of a voice in the consumer-brand relationship, some brands have suffered loud criticism for recent business decisions. How can brands avoid that pitfall? I’m not sure consumer criticism is always necessarily... View Details

Keywords: April White

01 Dec 2015
News

Faculty Q&A: The Price Is Right

What intrigued you about the pay-what-you-want (PWYW) model? It’s very unusual for a firm or a seller to completely relinquish pricing power to their customers. Typically consumers encounter a price, and then they decide whether or not... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna

30 May 2024
News

Women’s Association Goes Nationwide; Connecticut Club Hosts Beshears

still time to register; interested alumnae can find details at the HBS Women’s Association website. Connecticut Club Explores Behavioral Economics with HBS Professor John Beshears The HBS Club of Connecticut hosted HBS Professor John... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

Publications