consumer behavior - Publications - Faculty & Research

01 Dec 2016
News

Research Brief: So Many Sites, So Little Time

Shane Greenstein (photo by Russ Campbell) Shane Greenstein (photo by Russ Campbell) Understanding how people spend their time online is essential for any organization hoping to capture and keep consumer eyeballs—yet what we know about... View Details

01 Mar 2012
News

Speak English, Please!

proficient in English, or risk demotion. “I was simply astonished,” said one engineer interviewed after the announcement. “Many Rakuten employees are allergic to English.” At Rakuten, an online shopping mall that does not sell to View Details

Keywords: Kim Girard; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

13 May 2014
News

Inside Africa

look like when she was an investment banker. Originally from Los Angeles, Clarke is a “triple-winner” at Harvard, having earned her undergraduate, law, and business degrees from the University. While interest in such areas as constitutional law, public protection, and... View Details

Keywords: Constantine von Hoffman

25 Aug 2015
News

Sunset in the East?

But China will not become a land without farmers or rural industries overnight, and those hundreds of millions of people will need to access the social safety net that allows them to consume if the domestic market is to continue to grow... View Details

Keywords: Administration of Economic Programs; Government; Real Estate; Health, Social Assistance

01 Sep 2005
News

Predictable Surprises

a huge and growing debt owed by the airlines, and it’s only a matter of time before those frequent-flier miles disappear. That’s something consumers can do right now, but most of the other problems we touch on are far less easily acted... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; Business Schools & Computer & Management Training; Educational Services

01 Mar 2017
News

Swimming with the Stream

(Above: photo by Christina Gandolfo) When Kiran Gandhi (MBA 2015) thinks about marketing her music, she thinks about it in consumer product terms. A feminist activist and former drummer for Grammy-nominated artist M.I.A., she wants her... View Details

Keywords: Dan Morrell

01 Dec 2014
News

Forecasting ’15

the scenes for a while. Almost everyone I know in the food packaging and grocery industry is a health nut. People are becoming more aware of their health and have a growing desire to find a way to eat and feel better. That will change things in the industry.” View Details

Keywords: Food Services and Drinking Places; Hospitality; Ambulatory Health Care Services; Health, Social Assistance

01 Mar 2004
News

Drug Imports a Hot Topic at Alumni Health-Care Conference

differences between consumers in the United States and Europe was just one of the topics covered at the fourth annual European Business Conference, presented November 21 and 22 by students of the HBS European Club. Other panels considered... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

01 Mar 2014
News

No Small Beer

The biggest thing in the beer business these days is the little guy. Research firm Technomics reported that the craft beer and premium import market rose almost 15 percent in 2012, with an "upward trajectory" that continued in 2013. And beer makers are looking to meet... View Details

Keywords: Morrell, Daniel; craft beer; Food and Beverage Stores; Retail Trade

01 Jun 2009
News

Crisis and Creativity

fundamental decisions for any business: where to play, how to deliver, and how to win. Where to Play. Entrepreneurs must target downturn needs such as superior value relative to existing players or provide good substitutes for the necessities that View Details

Keywords: Bhaskar Chakravorti

01 Dec 2003
News

Selling Digital Privacy

If regulation won’t stop privacy invasion, what will? HBS professor John Deighton has an answer that involves convincing companies to pay us consumers to use our private information. Instead of relying on regulators to protect our privacy... View Details

Keywords: Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

01 Sep 2011
News

Coming Full Circle

doctoral degree. “It was made clear that choosing academia requires a great deal of perseverance,” she comments. “It’s a long and difficult transition from being a consumer to a producer of knowledge, but it’s also stimulating and... View Details

Keywords: Julia Hanna; Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools; Educational Services

26 Feb 2021
News

Latinx on Boards; High-Tech Reforestation

more than 30 years of experience in VC, worldwide streaming channel development, digital media, and consumer products. “This is about using science and technology to address the climate crisis, in this case, using drones to reforest in a... View Details

Keywords: Margie Kelley

01 Dec 1996
News

On Eve of Transition, Alumni Conference Set for Hong Kong

widespread belief that Greater China which encompasses the People's Republic of China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong is a huge, open market of 1.2 billion consumers who will buy anything that any business has ever wanted to sell. That is not the... View Details

Keywords: Elaine Gottlieb

25 Aug 2022
News

Action Plan: Fired Up

indie-music enthusiasts whose lifestyles were in sync with the company’s small, young workforce, he notes, “We didn’t have to wonder what our consumers would like; we shared their passions.” When he accepted the job at the... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; company culture; barbecue; entertaining; food; marketing; brand

01 Dec 2014
News

These Walls Can Talk

developers and device makers to build on. Although the industry is still in the process of developing standards so more devices can communicate, technology isn’t the biggest hurdle for SmartThings and competitors like Google-owned Nest and Apple’s HomeKit. “The first... View Details

Keywords: April White

20 Mar 2019
News

Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire

circle to promote innovation, collaboration, and overall behavior change. Henderson explained that businesses attempting to cooperate pushes regulation, which in turn creates incentive for innovation. Hwang offered a call to action:... View Details

Keywords: Allison Webster; Transit and Ground Passenger Transportation; Transportation

01 Dec 2011
News

Li & Fung's Global Footprint

When they returned to Hong Kong from the United States in the 1970s to work side by side with their father, the company’s future was uncertain. Under the brothers’ guidance, Li & Fung today is a global leader in consumer goods design,... View Details

Keywords: Roger Thompson; Miscellaneous Manufacturing; Manufacturing; Wholesale Trade

29 Jan 2019
News

Gloria Steinem and Diane Paulus Take Center Stage

Ademosu, (GMP 14, 2013), Managing Director and CEO of Credit Direct Limited. Ademosu led the team that launched Credit Direct Limited, the first and largest non-bank structured consumer lending business in Nigeria. Since its inception in... View Details