Publications

Educators

2007
Other Unpublished Work

Effects of Inventory on Demand for Rentals in the Home Video Market

By: Ioannis Ioannou, Julie Mortimer and Richard Mortimer

Retailer inventory decisions can greatly influence observed demand for a product by affecting, among other things, product availability (stock-outs) and product visibility in the store. These inventory decisions are affected by numerous factors including vertical... View Details

Keywords: Decisions; Demand and Consumers; Supply Chain Management; Competition; Contracts; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; United States

April 2018
Article

Consumers Avoid Buying from Firms with Higher CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios

By: Bhavya Mohan, Tobias Schlager, Rohit Deshpandé and Michael I. Norton

We document a novel driver of consumer behavior: pay ratio disclosure. Swiss corporation performance data gathered during a legally mandated pay ratio referendum reveals that salient high pay ratios are associated with decreased firm sales (Pilot Study). An... View Details

Keywords: Pay Ratio; Wage Fairness; Purchase Intention; Customers; Wages; Fairness; Consumer Behavior

2024
Working Paper

Platform Information Provision and Consumer Search: A Field Experiment

By: Lu Fang, Yanyou Chen, Chiara Farronato, Zhe Yuan and Yitong Wang

Despite substantial efforts to help consumers search in more intuitive ways, text search remains the predominant tool for product discovery online. In this paper, we explore the effects of visual and textual cues for search refinement on consumer search and purchasing... View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; E-commerce; Decision Choices and Conditions; Learning; Internet and the Web

2010
Working Paper

A Behavioral Model of Demandable Deposits and Its Implications for Financial Regulation

By: Julio J. Rotemberg

A model is developed that rationalizes contracts that give depositors the right to obtain funds on demand even when depositors intend to use these funds for consumption in the future. This is explained by depositor overoptimism regarding their own ability to collect... View Details

Keywords: Banks and Banking; Insurance; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Policy; Consumer Behavior; Financial Services Industry

2013
Dissertation

Designing Freemium: A Model of Consumer Usage, Upgrade, and Referral Dynamics

By: Clarence Lee, Vineet Kumar and Sunil Gupta

Abstract. Over the past decade "freemium" (free + premium) has become the dominant business model among internet start-ups for its ability to acquire and monetize a large install-base with limited marketing resources. Freemium is a hybrid strategy where a firm offers... View Details

Keywords: Discrete-Continuous Choice Dynamic Structural Models; Bayesian Estimation; Word-of-Mouth; Digital Services; Freemium; Entrepreneurship; Business Model; Motivation and Incentives; Marketing Strategy; Internet and the Web; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Reference Programs; Business Startups

1998
Chapter

Configuring a Supply Chain to Reduce the Cost of Demand Uncertainty

By: J. H. Hammond, Marshall L. Fisher, Walter Obermeyer and A. Raman

Keywords: Supply Chain Management; Cost Management; Demand and Consumers; Risk Management; Risk and Uncertainty

May 1997
Teaching Note

Consumer Behavior Exercise (A) - (F) (TN)

By: John A. Deighton and Susan M. Fournier

Teaching Note for (9-596-039)--(9-596-044). View Details

Keywords: Consumer Behavior

April 2022
Article

Consumers Value Effort over Ease When Caring for Close Others

By: Ximena Garcia-Rada, Mary Steffel, Elanor F. Williams and Michael I. Norton

Many products and services are designed to make caregiving easier, from premade meals for feeding families to robo-cribs that automatically rock babies to sleep. Yet, using these products may come with a cost: consumers may feel they have not exerted enough effort.... View Details

Keywords: Effor; Caregiving; Close Relationships; Symbolic Meaning; Signaling; Relationships; Consumer Behavior; Perception

2010
Chapter

Consumer Policy: Business and the Politics of Consumption

By: Gunnar Trumbull

Keywords: Demand and Consumers; Policy

2021
Working Paper

CEO Activism, Consumer Polarization, and Firm Performance

By: Young Hou and Christopher W. Poliquin

CEOs are increasingly engaging in activism on controversial social and political issues that do not directly affect their businesses. Simultaneously, the general public is increasingly polarized. We examine how CEO support for gun control after two mass shootings... View Details

Keywords: CEO Activism; Guns; Polarization; Non-market Strategy; Social Issues; Leadership; Consumer Behavior; Performance

December 2012
Article

Defending the Markers of Masculinity: Consumer Resistance to Brand Gender-Bending

By: Jill Avery

I study the Porsche Cayenne SUV launch to ethnographically analyze how men consuming a gendered brand respond to perceived brand gender contamination. Consumers' communal gender work in a Porsche brand community is analyzed to uncover brand gender contamination's... View Details

Keywords: Brands; Brand Building; Brand Equity; Brand Management; Brand Positioning; Marketing; Brands and Branding; Marketing Strategy; Product Marketing; Consumer Behavior; Gender; Identity; Customer Focus and Relationships; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry

2005
Chapter

Consumer Identity Motives in the Information Age

By: John Deighton

Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Motivation and Incentives; Identity; Behavior

September–October 2019
Article

How Purchase Probability Scales Can Shed Light on Consumer Purchase Intentions

By: Rene Befurt and Alvin J. Silk

Market researchers generally, and survey experts specifically, study consumers to learn about their behavior: What are consumers’ opinions, attitudes, thoughts, and actions at the various stages of the buying process? Especially in litigation cases, these and other... View Details

Keywords: Purchase Intentions; Buying Process; Consumer Behavior; Surveys

2020
Working Paper

Consumers Punish Firms That Cut Employee Pay in Response to COVID-19

By: Bhavya Mohan, Serena Hagerty and Michael Norton

Two experiments, including one incentive compatible study, examine the impact of cutting pay for executives versus employees in response to COVID-19 on consumer behavior. Study 1 explores the effect of announcing cuts or no cuts to CEO and employee pay, and shows that... View Details

Keywords: Employee Furloughs; CEO Pay Cuts; Pay Ratios; Purchase Intention; Health Pandemics; Employees; Wages; Executive Compensation; Consumer Behavior

SSRN

May 2021
Teaching Note

American Airlines' Value Pricing (Abridged)

By: Sunil Gupta and Alvin J. Silk

Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 519-019. View Details

Keywords: Consumer Marketing; Market Segmentation; Pricing; Pricing Strategy; Demand Analysis; Competition; Marketing; Segmentation; Price; Strategy; Demand and Consumers; Analysis; Air Transportation Industry

February 2021
Article

How Transparency into Internal and External Responsibility Initiatives Influences Consumer Choice

By: Ryan W. Buell and Basak Kalkanci

Amid growing calls for transparency and social and environmental responsibility, companies are employing different strategies to improve consumer perceptions of their brands. Some pursue internal initiatives that reduce their negative social or environmental impacts... View Details

Keywords: Sustainable Operations; Corporate Social Responsibility; Operational Transparency; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Operations; Environmental Sustainability; Consumer Behavior; Perception

SSRN