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Show Results For
- All HBS Web
(1,558)
- People (3)
- News (238)
- Research (1,099)
- Events (2)
- Multimedia (3)
- Faculty Publications (721)
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- December 2005 (Revised February 2019)
- Case
Brighter Smiles for the Masses--Colgate vs. P&G
By: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis Yao and Filipa Azevedo Jorge
In 2000, Procter & Gamble Co. introduced Crest Whitestrips, a new, revolutionary product that allowed consumers to whiten their teeth at home. With Whitestrips, P&G created an entire new category in oral care, worth $460 million in 2002. Whitestrips sent P&G's main... View Details
Keywords: Competitive Advantage; Competitive Strategy; Advertising; Product Launch; Patents; Price; Performance Effectiveness; Consumer Products Industry
Oberholzer-Gee, Felix, Dennis Yao, and Filipa Azevedo Jorge. "Brighter Smiles for the Masses--Colgate vs. P&G." Harvard Business School Case 706-435, December 2005. (Revised February 2019.)
- 20 Aug 2018
- Research & Ideas
Bargain Hunters Beware: A Store's 'Original Price' Might Not Be After All
PeopleImages Sale! Even the word is enough to send a flutter through the hearts of certain shoppers, who salivate in anticipation of scoring a discount off a product’s original price. Few consumers stop to think, however, that the only... View Details
- June 2024
- Article
Information Spillovers in Experience Goods Competition
By: Zhuoqiong Charlie Chen, Christopher Stanton and Catherine Thomas
When experience goods compete, consuming one product can be informative about value for similar untried products. We study a two-period model of duopoly competition in markets that have this feature and where firms can price discriminate between consumers based on... View Details
Chen, Zhuoqiong Charlie, Christopher Stanton, and Catherine Thomas. "Information Spillovers in Experience Goods Competition." Management Science 70, no. 6 (June 2024): 3923–3950.
- October 2021 (Revised February 2023)
- Case
Ant Group (A)
By: Krishna G. Palepu, Feng Zhu, Susie L. Ma and Kerry Herman
In 2004, Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba created Alipay, an app to facilitate payments on its e-commerce sites. As Alibaba grew, so did Alipay, until Alipay spawned its own ecosystem of financial technology products and services under the name of Ant Group. By 2020,... View Details
Keywords: Payment Systems; Information Technology; Value Creation; Network Effects; Strategy; Disruptive Innovation; Initial Public Offering; Technology Industry; Financial Services Industry; China
Palepu, Krishna G., Feng Zhu, Susie L. Ma, and Kerry Herman. "Ant Group (A)." Harvard Business School Case 122-003, October 2021. (Revised February 2023.)
- April 2020
- Case
Promoting Land and Nature Jerky
By: John A. Quelch and Katherine B. Hartman
Kathy Ayers, Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Land and Nature (L&N) Jerky Company, needs to make a recommendation about L&N's 2020 promotional spending. L&N's CEO, Tim Ryan, wants her to calculate different scenarios using historical data to determine... View Details
Keywords: Advertising; Spending; Marketing Communications; Marketing Strategy; Product Positioning; Food and Beverage Industry
Quelch, John A., and Katherine B. Hartman. "Promoting Land and Nature Jerky." Harvard Business School Brief Case 920-563, April 2020.
- 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.
- January 2025
- Teaching Note
Vytal: Packaging-as-a-Service
By: George Serafeim, Michael W. Toffel and Stacy Straaberg
Teaching Note for HBS Case No. 124-007. The Germany-based startup Vytal operated the largest digital-native reusable packaging-as-a-service network globally, having raised nearly €15 million, established a large network of restaurant partners, and prevented the use of... View Details
Keywords: Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Invention; Business Growth and Maturation; Growth and Development Strategy; Business Startups; Resource Allocation; Risk Management; Adoption; Strategy; Performance Productivity; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Supply Chain; Distribution; Entrepreneurship; Climate Change; Business Model; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Profit; Financing and Loans; Expansion; Green Technology Industry; Service Industry; Retail Industry; Germany; Europe
- 2018
- Working Paper
Shipping Fees and Product Assortment in Online Retail
By: Chaoqun Chen and Donald Ngwe
Shipping fees are an important aspect of online retail for both consumers and sellers. A common fee structure is contingent free shipping, in which consumers are granted free shipping for basket sizes above a minimum value and are charged a flat fee for orders below... View Details
Keywords: Shpping Fee; E-commerce; Multi-category Demand; Search Costs; Shipping Membership; Spending; Consumer Behavior; Retail Industry
Chen, Chaoqun, and Donald Ngwe. "Shipping Fees and Product Assortment in Online Retail." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 19-034, September 2018.
- December 1993 (Revised June 2000)
- Case
Kochman, Reidt + Haigh, Inc.
By: Richard S. Ruback and Roy Burstin
A small company faces the dilemma of how to finance growth (i.e., internally generated cash flows vs. outside financing sources). An innovative concept positions the company in promoting a niche within the kitchen-cabinet industry and in looking for an optimal way of... View Details
Keywords: Cash Flow; Business Growth and Maturation; Entrepreneurship; Corporate Finance; Growth and Development Strategy; Consumer Products Industry; Consumer Products Industry
Ruback, Richard S., and Roy Burstin. "Kochman, Reidt + Haigh, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 294-056, December 1993. (Revised June 2000.)
- September 1995 (Revised December 1997)
- Case
Philip Morris: Marlboro Friday (A)
By: Alvin J. Silk and Bruce Isaacson
On April 2, 1993 Philip Morris USA launched an elaborate integrated program of consumer and retail promotions of unspecified duration that effectively slashed the retail price of its flagship brand, Marlboro, by 20% in the U.S. market. This program represented a major... View Details
Keywords: Competition; Price; Marketing Strategy; Market Participation; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; United States
Silk, Alvin J., and Bruce Isaacson. "Philip Morris: Marlboro Friday (A)." Harvard Business School Case 596-001, September 1995. (Revised December 1997.)
- April 1993 (Revised December 1994)
- Case
American Express TRS Charge-Card Receivables
By: Andre F. Perold and Kuljot Singh
American Express (TRS) Co. is considering a proposal to securitize a portion of their consumer charge-card receivables portfolio. In the past, they have relied exclusively on a captive finance subsidiary, Credco, to perform this function. The proposed securitization... View Details
Keywords: Credit Cards; Restructuring; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Management; Financial Strategy; Debt Securities; Travel Industry
Perold, Andre F., and Kuljot Singh. "American Express TRS Charge-Card Receivables." Harvard Business School Case 293-120, April 1993. (Revised December 1994.)
- May 2020 (Revised July 2020)
- Case
Justice-as-a-Service at RightNow
By: Shikhar Ghosh and Amir Reza Rezvani
The case examines the focus of an early stage company, and how an unexpected external incidence can threaten or void the business model. It encompasses issues such as minimal viable product, defining and pivoting a business model, organizational requirements for a... View Details
Keywords: Legacy Business; Teams; Startup; Business Models; Pivot; Entrepreneurship; Law; Venture Capital; Business Startups; Business Model; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Strategy; Legal Services Industry; Germany
Ghosh, Shikhar, and Amir Reza Rezvani. "Justice-as-a-Service at RightNow." Harvard Business School Case 820-117, May 2020. (Revised July 2020.)
- September 2020
- Article
Relaxing Household Liquidity Constraints Through Social Security
By: Sylvain Catherine, Max Miller and Natasha Sarin
More than a quarter of working-age households in the United States do not have sufficient savings to cover their expenditures after a month of unemployment. Recent proposals suggest giving workers early access to a small portion of their future Social Security benefits... View Details
Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Personal Finance; Employment; Welfare; Insurance; Government Legislation
Catherine, Sylvain, Max Miller, and Natasha Sarin. "Relaxing Household Liquidity Constraints Through Social Security." Art. 104243. Journal of Public Economics 189 (September 2020).
- October 2011 (Revised November 2011)
- Case
Verengo Solar Plus!
By: William A. Sahlman, Joseph B. Lassiter III and Liz Kind
In the three years since Bishop and Button purchased Verengo in a leveraged buyout (LBO), the company had gone through dramatic changes. Initially a residential windows and insulation firm, after the economic recession of 2008 the company switched gears and began... View Details
Keywords: Venture Capital; Private Equity; Growth Management; Restructuring; Renewable Energy; Corporate Entrepreneurship; Corporate Finance; Product Development; Energy Industry; California
Sahlman, William A., Joseph B. Lassiter III, and Liz Kind. "Verengo Solar Plus!" Harvard Business School Case 812-049, October 2011. (Revised November 2011.)
- 14 Jun 2004
- Research & Ideas
The Big Money for Big Projects
provides strong prima facie evidence that firms have recognized the value of financing capital assets through project companies. Even though it is very costly and time consuming to use project finance, the... View Details
- 05 Apr 2017
- Research & Ideas
For Women Especially, It Pays to Know What Car Repairs Should Cost
offer a price concession if asked to do so by a woman than by a man. “We show that the price a consumer expects to pay can alter the negotiation of consumers with individual firms directly by changing the... View Details
- Article
Two-Sided Platforms: Product Variety and Pricing Structures
By: Andrei Hagiu
This paper provides a new modeling framework to analyze two-sided platforms connecting producers and consumers. In contrast to the existing literature, indirect network effects are determined endogenously, through consumers' taste for variety and producer competition.... View Details
Keywords: Pricing Structure; Indirect Network Effects; Product Variety; Price; Network Effects; Two-Sided Platforms; Product; Renting or Rental; Competition
Hagiu, Andrei. "Two-Sided Platforms: Product Variety and Pricing Structures ." Journal of Economics & Management Strategy 18, no. 4 (Winter 2009).
- October 2011
- Article
Fair Pricing
By: Julio J. Rotemberg
This paper explores the consequences of supposing that consumers see a firm as fair if they cannot reject the hypothesis that the firm is somewhat benevolent towards them. When consumers can reject this hypothesis, some become angry, which is costly to the firm. The... View Details
Rotemberg, Julio J. "Fair Pricing." Journal of the European Economic Association 9, no. 5 (October 2011).
- 2006
- Working Paper
The Effect of Dividends on Consumption
By: Malcolm Baker, Stefan Nagel and Jeffrey Wurgler
Classical models predict that the division of stock returns into dividends and capital appreciation does not affect investor consumption patterns, while mental accounting and other economic frictions predict that investors have a higher propensity to consume from stock... View Details
Baker, Malcolm, Stefan Nagel, and Jeffrey Wurgler. "The Effect of Dividends on Consumption." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 12288, June 2006. (First Draft in 2005.)
- 2007
- Working Paper
The 'Fees → Savings' Link, or Purchasing Fifty Pounds of Pasta
By: Michael I. Norton and Leonard Lee
Many consumers have had the experience of entering discount membership clubs to make a few purchases, only to leave with enough pasta to outlast a nuclear winter. We suggest that the presence of membership fees can lead consumers to infer a "fees → savings" link,... View Details
Norton, Michael I., and Leonard Lee. "The 'Fees → Savings' Link, or Purchasing Fifty Pounds of Pasta." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 08-029, November 2007.