Publications

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March 2018
Article

How Context Affects Choice

By: Raphael Thomadsen, Robert P. Rooderkerk, On Amir, Neeraj Arora, Bryan Bollinger, Karsten Hansen, Leslie John, Wendy Liu, Aner Sela, Vishal Singh, K. Sudhir and Wendy Wood

Due to its origins in the literature on judgment and decision-making, context effects in marketing are construed exclusively in terms of how choices deviate from utility maximization principles as a function of how choices are presented (e.g., framing, sequence,... View Details

Keywords: Decision Making; Decision Choices and Conditions; Situation or Environment; Consumer Behavior

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2016
Article

Buying to Blunt Negative Feelings: Materialistic Escape from the Self

By: Grant Edward Donnelly, Masha Ksendzova, Ryan Howell, Kathleen Vohs and Roy F. Baumeister

We propose that escape theory, which describes how individuals seek to free themselves from aversive states of self-awareness, helps explain key patterns of materialistic people’s behavior. As predicted by escape theory, materialistic individuals may feel dissatisfied... View Details

Keywords: Materialism; Escape; Self; Negative Emotions; Self-awareness; Emotions; Consumer Behavior; Identity; Motivation and Incentives

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25 Mar 2019
News

Rent The Runway Joins the Unicorn Club

milestone, CEO Jennifer Hyman (MBA 2009), told Forbes that the company “has created a new consumer behavior of dynamic ownership and clothing rental has become an essential utility in our members’ lives.”... View Details

Keywords: Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade

01 Apr 1999
News

Africa Business Club Discusses Continent's Opportunities

for reversing the brain-drain phenomenon, highlighting career opportunities on the continent in areas such as commercial and investment banking; manufacturing; consumer services; oil, gas, and mining; agribusiness; and entrepreneurial... View Details

04 Sep 2019
News

Ask the Expert: Bounce Back

which we can build a richer, more accurate profile for users of any age. That allows us to personalize messages more precisely, which is exactly what consumers want. They get irritated by offers that clearly aren’t for them—like the... View Details

Keywords: Jen McFarland Flint

March 2007 (Revised March 2007)
Case

Burt's Bees: Leaving the Hive

Rapid growth is pushing Burt's Bees' natural personal care products into mass distribution channels, with products and brand elements that are less quirky, more commercial than they used to be. Indeed, CEO John Replogle believes that by focusing on efficacious,... View Details

Keywords: Growth Management; Consumer Behavior; Asset Pricing; Entrepreneurship; Distribution Channels; Product Development; Brands and Branding; Beauty and Cosmetics Industry; United States

July 2002
Case

Introducing ... The XFL!

By: Susan M. Fournier, Stephen A. Greyser and Seth Schulman

When the XFL professional football league debuted on February 3, 2001, it generated a Nielsen rating of 10.1, higher than any nationally televised program in a Saturday evening time slot. The next week, ratings plummeted, and by week nine the XFL game earned the title... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Forecasting and Prediction; Product Positioning; Consumer Behavior; Product Development; Culture; Commercialization

Profile

Eryn Schultz

months into my new job, and I’ve been able to apply so much of what I learned in school in both my internship and my current job – things ranging from how incentives influence behavior to how to manage a P&L. In addition, the friends... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Products; Consumer Products

September 2022 (Revised November 2023)
Case

Wordle

By: Karen G. Mills, Christina Wallace, Ebehi Iyoha, Gabriella Elanbeck and Morgane Herculano

After sourdough bread, countertop chive gardens, and vaccine selfies came a pandemic-era trend that everyone seemed to be in on: one daily chance to guess a five-letter word and crow about your success on social media via little green and yellow squares. From a... View Details

Keywords: Games; Innovation; General Management; Mergers and Acquisitions; Trends; Entrepreneurship; Bids and Bidding; Consumer Behavior; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Technology Industry

Web

SimplyAnalytics | Baker Library

subscription also allows access to Experian Simmons Local for market research data and D&B for business demographics. SimmonsLOCAL is also included with consumer behavior data for all of America's 210 media... View Details

02 Feb 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Last Place Aversion in Queues

Keywords: by Ryan W. Buell; Retail

December 2000 (Revised March 2001)
Background Note

Strategic Use of Music in Marketing, The: A Selective Review

By: Gerald Zaltman and Nancy Puccinelli

Summarizes selected research on music and its impact on mood and shopping behavior, and its impact on the communication of ideas. View Details

Keywords: Communication Intention and Meaning; Music Entertainment; Marketing Strategy; Consumer Behavior; Behavior

October 2003 (Revised February 2004)
Case

Cape Wind

By: John T. Gourville and Kerry Herman

Cape Wind has proposed placing a 170-tower wind farm, with each tower more than 400-feet tall, in Nantucket Sound. Not surprisingly, public reaction is mixed. Some view the wind farm as clean, renewable energy. Others view it as an eyesore and a desecration of a valued... View Details

Keywords: Change Management; Renewable Energy; Consumer Behavior; Problems and Challenges; Natural Environment; Behavior; United States

01 Dec 2007
News

Where Are the Innovators in Health Care?

providers, abetted by legislators and insurance companies, have made it virtually impossible for them to succeed. Unlike any other U.S. industry, consumers do not set prices, yet they provide all the money through taxes for government... View Details

Keywords: Regina E. Herzlinger; Health, Social Assistance; Management

November 2005 (Revised August 2006)
Background Note

When Investing and Social Objectives Meet

By: Gregory S. Miller, Vincent Marie Dessain and Anders Sjoman

Introduces students to a group of investors and stakeholders who evaluate firms at least partially on factors other than eventual investment payoff. Focuses on investors who evaluate and attempt to impact firms' ethical, corporate governance, or other "societal"... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Investment; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Business and Shareholder Relations