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- All HBS Web
(1,719)
- People (1)
- News (249)
- Research (1,281)
- Events (3)
- Multimedia (2)
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- January 2004
- Background Note
Why Developers Don't Understand Why Consumers Don't Buy
Looks at the psychological biases developers bring to the new product development process. Identifies three reasons why developers may do a poor job of identifying the demand for an innovative, new concept or product: (1) the self-selection bias, (2) differing initial... View Details
- 10 Jan 2024
- Research & Ideas
Technology and COVID Upended Tipping Norms. Will Consumers Keep Paying?
percent or less for bad service. That was the expectation up until COVID.” However, “post-COVID,” as businesses came back from pandemic-induced lockdowns, consumer behavior shifted. “Consumers started to... View Details
Keywords: by Anna Lamb, Harvard Gazette
- 13 Jan 2003
- Research & Ideas
The Subconscious Mind of the Consumer (And How To Reach It)
about consumer behavior and in using that knowledge to benefit consumers. These firms include McNeil Consumer Health Care, McCann-Erickson, Procter & Gamble, Hallmark, Bank... View Details
Keywords: by Manda Mahoney
- 25 Oct 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
'Be Careless with That!' Availability of Product Upgrades Increases Cavalier Behavior Toward Possessions
- 2011
- Working Paper
Observation Bias: The Impact of Demand Censoring on Newsvendor Level and Adjustment Behavior
By: David F. Drake
In an experimental newsvendor setting we investigate three phenomena: Level behavior — the decision-maker's average ordering tendency; adjustment behavior — the tendency to adjust period-to-period order quantities; and observation bias — the tendency to let the degree... View Details
Drake, David F. "Observation Bias: The Impact of Demand Censoring on Newsvendor Level and Adjustment Behavior." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 12-042, December 2011.
- 2008
- Working Paper
Consumer Demand for Prize-Linked Savings: A Preliminary Analysis
By: P. Tufano, Nick Maynard and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve
This paper reports on a small-scale survey of the potential American demand for prize-linked savings accounts, an account that awards prizes as part of the saving product's return. In October 2006, Centra Credit Union launched a prize-linked savings pilot. As part of... View Details
Keywords: Saving; Income; Consumer Behavior; Personal Finance; Investment Return; Banks and Banking; Clarksville
Tufano, P., Nick Maynard, and Jan-Emmanuel De Neve. "Consumer Demand for Prize-Linked Savings: A Preliminary Analysis." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 08-061, February 2008.
- 2019
- Book
The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power
By: Shoshana Zuboff
In this masterwork of original thinking and research, Shoshana Zuboff provides startling insights into the phenomenon that she has named surveillance capitalism. The stakes could not be higher: a global architecture of behavior modification threatens human nature in... View Details
Keywords: Consumer Profiling; Consumer Behavior; Forecasting and Prediction; Information Technology; Power and Influence; Ethics; Society; Transformation
Zuboff, Shoshana. The Age of Surveillance Capitalism: The Fight for a Human Future at the New Frontier of Power. New York: PublicAffairs, 2019.
- November 1999 (Revised December 1999)
- Case
Safe Food Act, The: A Consumer Group's Perspective
By: Ray A. Goldberg, Carin-Isabel Knoop and Hal Hogan
The Center for Science in the Public Interest is taking a position on creating a new safety leadership vehicle in the U.S. government. How should it plead its cause? What are the position merits and faults? View Details
Keywords: Food; System; Consumer Behavior; Government and Politics; Safety; Leadership; United States
Goldberg, Ray A., Carin-Isabel Knoop, and Hal Hogan. "Safe Food Act, The: A Consumer Group's Perspective." Harvard Business School Case 900-013, November 1999. (Revised December 1999.)
- June 2016
- Teaching Note
Filene's Basement: Inside a Fired Customer's Relationship
By: Jill Avery and Susan Fournier
How, in a business climate in which building relationships with customers has dominated both managerial thought and marketing budgets, could Filene's Basement have fired a loyal customer, one who was formally and informally recognized as a best customer? This case... View Details
- 16 Jun 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Paying Up for Fair Pay: Consumers Prefer Firms with Lower CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios
- 2014
- Other Teaching and Training Material
Marketing Reading: Creating Customer Value
By: Sunil Gupta
This Reading explores how firms can create value for their customers. The goal of any business is to delight customers by understanding its customers' needs and to provide products and services to meet those needs. As a result, it is critical to understand what... View Details
Keywords: Consumer Behavior; Consumer Marketing; Customer Experience; Network Effects; Service Profit Chain; Total Customer Value
Gupta, Sunil. "Marketing Reading: Creating Customer Value." Core Curriculum Readings Series. Boston: Harvard Business Publishing 8176, 2014.
- 23 Mar 2015
- Research & Ideas
It’s Called ‘Price Coherence,’ and It’s Surprisingly Bad for Consumers
Consumers often have the following choice: Either buy something directly from a retailer, or buy it indirectly through an intermediary, which partners with the retailer to attract more buyers. Think purchasing a plane ticket straight from... View Details
- Working Paper
AI in Disguise—How AI-generated Ads' Visual Cues Shape Consumer Perception and Performance
By: Yannick Exner, Jochen Hartmann, Oded Netzer and Shunyuan Zhang
Generative AI’s recent advancements in creating content have offered vast potential to transform the advertising industry. This research investigates the impact of generative AI-enabled visual ad creation on real-world advertising effectiveness. For this purpose, we... View Details
Keywords: Digital Marketing; AI and Machine Learning; Advertising; Consumer Behavior; Advertising Industry
Exner, Yannick, Jochen Hartmann, Oded Netzer, and Shunyuan Zhang. "AI in Disguise—How AI-generated Ads' Visual Cues Shape Consumer Perception and Performance." SSRN Working Paper Series, No. 5096969.
- Article
Inviting Consumers to Downsize Fast-Food Portions Significantly Reduces Calorie Consumption
By: Janet Schwartz, Jason Riis, Brian Elbel and Dan Ariely
Policies that mandate calorie labeling in fast-food and chain restaurants have had little or no observable impact on calorie consumption to date. In three field experiments, we tested an alternative approach: activating consumers' self-control by having servers ask... View Details
Keywords: Food; Labels; Consumer Behavior; Interpersonal Communication; Motivation and Incentives; Health Industry; Food and Beverage Industry
Schwartz, Janet, Jason Riis, Brian Elbel, and Dan Ariely. "Inviting Consumers to Downsize Fast-Food Portions Significantly Reduces Calorie Consumption." Health Affairs 31, no. 2 (February 2012): 2399–2407.
- March 2022
- Article
When Less Is More: Consumers Prefer Brands that Donate More in Relative versus Absolute Terms
By: Elizabeth A. Keenan, Anne V. Wilson and Leslie K. John
When trying to make a good impression on consumers through charitable giving, is it better for brands to maximize the overall dollars they donate or how much they give in relative terms; for example, the proportion of profits? Across five studies we show that consumers... View Details
Keywords: Cause-related Marketing; Charitable Donations; Generosity; Altruism; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Brands and Branding; Consumer Behavior
Keenan, Elizabeth A., Anne V. Wilson, and Leslie K. John. "When Less Is More: Consumers Prefer Brands that Donate More in Relative versus Absolute Terms." Marketing Letters 33, no. 1 (March 2022): 31–43.
- August 2015
- Article
Cost Conscious? The Neural and Behavioral Impact of Price Primacy on Decision-Making
By: Uma R. Karmarkar, Baba Shiv and Brian Knutson
Price is a key factor in most purchases, but it can be presented at different stages of decision making prior to a purchase. We examine the sequence-dependent effects of price and product information on the decision-making process at both neural and behavioral levels.... View Details
Keywords: fMRI; Retail Promotion; Purchase Decisions; Price; Value; Decision Choices and Conditions; Consumer Behavior; Product Marketing; Retail Industry
Karmarkar, Uma R., Baba Shiv, and Brian Knutson. "Cost Conscious? The Neural and Behavioral Impact of Price Primacy on Decision-Making." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 52, no. 4 (August 2015): 467–481.
- September 2023
- Article
Consuming Contests: The Effect of Outcome Uncertainty on Spectator Attendance in the Australian Football League
By: Patrick Ferguson and Karim R. Lakhani
Contests that non-contestants consume for entertainment are a fixture of economic, cultural and political life. We exploit injury-induced changes to teams' line-ups in a professional sports setting to examine whether individuals prefer to consume contests that have... View Details
Ferguson, Patrick, and Karim R. Lakhani. "Consuming Contests: The Effect of Outcome Uncertainty on Spectator Attendance in the Australian Football League." Economic Record 99, no. 326 (September 2023): 410–435.
- 2018
- Working Paper
Ethical Hedonism? How Consumers' Prosocial Behavior Varies Along the Utilitarian-Hedonic Product Spectrum: Evidence from a Survey Experiment
By: Kristin Sippl
The marketing literature classifies products along a spectrum from utilitarian (e.g. rice) to hedonic (e.g. cannabis), and additionally using terms such as “luxury” and “illicit.” Research in business ethics has proposed a counter-intuitive mismatch between ethics and... View Details
Sippl, Kristin. "Ethical Hedonism? How Consumers' Prosocial Behavior Varies Along the Utilitarian-Hedonic Product Spectrum: Evidence from a Survey Experiment." Working Paper, September 2018. (Work in Progress.)
- 2016
- Book
Consumers, Corporations, and Public Health: A Case-Based Approach to Sustainable Business
By: John A. Quelch
The public health footprint associated with corporate behavior has come under increased scrutiny in the last decade, with an increased expectation that private profit not come at the expense of consumer welfare.
Consumers, Corporations, and Public... View Details
Consumers, Corporations, and Public... View Details
Keywords: Consumer; Corporate Culture; Public Health; Consumer Behavior; Marketing Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Health; Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Supply Chain Management; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry; Asia; Oceania; North and Central America; Middle East; Latin America; Europe
Quelch, John A. Consumers, Corporations, and Public Health: A Case-Based Approach to Sustainable Business. New York: Oxford University Press, 2016.
- Article
Consumers' Misunderstanding of Health Insurance
By: George Loewenstein, Joelle Y. Friedman, Barbara McGill, Sarah Ahmad, Suzanne Linck, Stacey Sinkula, John Beshears, James J. Choi, Jonathan Kolstad, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, John A. List and Kevin G. Volpp
We report results from two surveys of representative samples of Americans with private health insurance. The first examines how well Americans understand, and believe they understand, traditional health insurance coverage. The second examines whether those insured... View Details
Keywords: Behavioral Economics; Simplification; Insurance; Consumer Behavior; Health Care and Treatment; Cognition and Thinking; Insurance Industry; Health Industry; United States
Loewenstein, George, Joelle Y. Friedman, Barbara McGill, Sarah Ahmad, Suzanne Linck, Stacey Sinkula, John Beshears, James J. Choi, Jonathan Kolstad, David Laibson, Brigitte C. Madrian, John A. List, and Kevin G. Volpp. "Consumers' Misunderstanding of Health Insurance." Journal of Health Economics 32, no. 5 (September 2013): 850–862.