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  • All HBS Web  (96)
    • News  (17)
    • Research  (67)
    • Events  (2)
    • Multimedia  (1)
  • Faculty Publications  (38)

Show Results For

  • All HBS Web  (96)
    • News  (17)
    • Research  (67)
    • Events  (2)
    • Multimedia  (1)
  • Faculty Publications  (38)
Page 1 of 96 Results →
  • September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
  • Technical Note

Algorithmic Bias in Marketing

By: Ayelet Israeli and Eva Ascarza
This note focuses on algorithmic bias in marketing. First, it presents a variety of marketing examples in which algorithmic bias may occur. The examples are organized around the 4 P’s of marketing – promotion, price, place and product—characterizing the marketing... View Details
Keywords: Algorithmic Data; Race And Ethnicity; Promotion; "Marketing Analytics"; Marketing And Society; Big Data; Privacy; Data-driven Management; Data Analysis; Data Analytics; E-Commerce Strategy; Discrimination; Targeting; Targeted Advertising; Pricing Algorithms; Ethical Decision Making; Customer Heterogeneity; Marketing; Race; Ethnicity; Gender; Diversity; Prejudice and Bias; Marketing Communications; Analytics and Data Science; Analysis; Decision Making; Ethics; Customer Relationship Management; E-commerce; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States
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Israeli, Ayelet, and Eva Ascarza. "Algorithmic Bias in Marketing." Harvard Business School Technical Note 521-020, September 2020. (Revised July 2022.)
  • September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
  • Exercise

Artea (D): Discrimination through Algorithmic Bias in Targeting

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli
This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The... View Details
Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Discrimination; Algorithmic Data; Bias; Advertising; Race; Gender; Marketing; Diversity; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States
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Ascarza, Eva, and Ayelet Israeli. "Artea (D): Discrimination through Algorithmic Bias in Targeting." Harvard Business School Exercise 521-043, September 2020. (Revised July 2022.)
  • September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
  • Teaching Note

Algorithmic Bias in Marketing

By: Ayelet Israeli and Eva Ascarza
Teaching Note for HBS No. 521-020. This note focuses on algorithmic bias in marketing. First, it presents a variety of marketing examples in which algorithmic bias may occur. The examples are organized around the 4 P’s of marketing – promotion, price, place and... View Details
Keywords: Marketing; Race; Ethnicity; Gender; Diversity; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making; Ethics; Customer Relationship Management; Retail Industry; Technology Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United States
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Israeli, Ayelet, and Eva Ascarza. "Algorithmic Bias in Marketing." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 521-035, September 2020. (Revised July 2022.)
  • September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
  • Exercise

Artea (C): Potential Discrimination through Algorithmic Targeting

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli
This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The... View Details
Keywords: Targeting; Algorithmic Bias; Race; Gender; Marketing; Diversity; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States
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Ascarza, Eva, and Ayelet Israeli. "Artea (C): Potential Discrimination through Algorithmic Targeting." Harvard Business School Exercise 521-037, September 2020. (Revised July 2022.)
  • Article

Mitigating Bias in Adaptive Data Gathering via Differential Privacy

By: Seth Neel and Aaron Leon Roth
Data that is gathered adaptively—via bandit algorithms, for example—exhibits bias. This is true both when gathering simple numeric valued data—the empirical means kept track of by stochastic bandit algorithms are biased downwards—and when gathering more complicated... View Details
Keywords: Bandit Algorithms; Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Mathematical Methods; Theory
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Neel, Seth, and Aaron Leon Roth. "Mitigating Bias in Adaptive Data Gathering via Differential Privacy." Proceedings of the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) 35th (2018).
  • September 29, 2023
  • Article

Eliminating Algorithmic Bias Is Just the Beginning of Equitable AI

By: Simon Friis and James Riley
When it comes to artificial intelligence and inequality, algorithmic bias rightly receives a lot of attention. But it’s just one way that AI can lead to inequitable outcomes. To truly create equitable AI, we need to consider three forces through which it might make... View Details
Keywords: AI and Machine Learning; Prejudice and Bias; Equality and Inequality
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Friis, Simon, and James Riley. "Eliminating Algorithmic Bias Is Just the Beginning of Equitable AI." Harvard Business Review (website) (September 29, 2023).
  • Article

Eliminating Unintended Bias in Personalized Policies Using Bias-Eliminating Adapted Trees (BEAT)

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli

An inherent risk of algorithmic personalization is disproportionate targeting of individuals from certain groups (or demographic characteristics such as gender or race), even when the decision maker does not intend to discriminate based on those “protected”... View Details

Keywords: Algorithm Bias; Personalization; Targeting; Generalized Random Forests (GRF); Discrimination; Customization and Personalization; Decision Making; Fairness; Mathematical Methods
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Ascarza, Eva, and Ayelet Israeli. "Eliminating Unintended Bias in Personalized Policies Using Bias-Eliminating Adapted Trees (BEAT)." e2115126119. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 119, no. 11 (March 8, 2022).
  • 29 Sep 2023
  • News

Eliminating Algorithmic Bias Is Just the Beginning of Equitable AI

  • March 2024
  • Case

Unintended Consequences of Algorithmic Personalization

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli
“Unintended Consequences of Algorithmic Personalization” (HBS No. 524-052) investigates algorithmic bias in marketing through four case studies featuring Apple, Uber, Facebook, and Amazon. Each study presents scenarios where these companies faced public criticism for... View Details
Keywords: Race; Gender; Marketing; Diversity; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Customization and Personalization; Technology Industry; Retail Industry; United States
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Ascarza, Eva, and Ayelet Israeli. "Unintended Consequences of Algorithmic Personalization." Harvard Business School Case 524-052, March 2024.
  • September–October 2021
  • Article

Frontiers: Can an AI Algorithm Mitigate Racial Economic Inequality? An Analysis in the Context of Airbnb

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Nitin Mehta, Param Singh and Kannan Srinivasan
We study the effect of Airbnb’s smart-pricing algorithm on the racial disparity in the daily revenue earned by Airbnb hosts. Our empirical strategy exploits Airbnb’s introduction of the algorithm and its voluntary adoption by hosts as a quasi-natural experiment. Among... View Details
Keywords: Smart Pricing; Pricing Algorithm; Machine Bias; Discrimination; Racial Disparity; Social Inequality; Airbnb Revenue; Revenue; Race; Equality and Inequality; Prejudice and Bias; Price; Mathematical Methods; Accommodations Industry
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Zhang, Shunyuan, Nitin Mehta, Param Singh, and Kannan Srinivasan. "Frontiers: Can an AI Algorithm Mitigate Racial Economic Inequality? An Analysis in the Context of Airbnb." Marketing Science 40, no. 5 (September–October 2021): 813–820.
  • September 2020 (Revised July 2022)
  • Exercise

Artea (B): Including Customer-Level Demographic Data

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli
This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and targeting. Parts (B),(C),(D) Introduce algorithmic bias. The... View Details
Keywords: Targeting; Algorithmic Bias; Race; Gender; Marketing; Diversity; Customer Relationship Management; Demographics; Prejudice and Bias; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States
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Ascarza, Eva, and Ayelet Israeli. "Artea (B): Including Customer-Level Demographic Data." Harvard Business School Exercise 521-022, September 2020. (Revised July 2022.)
  • September 2020 (Revised June 2023)
  • Supplement

Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea Teaching Note

By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli
Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea Teaching Note 521-041. This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on A/B testing analysis and... View Details
Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Algorithmic Data; Bias; Advertising; Race; Gender; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States
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Ascarza, Eva, and Ayelet Israeli. "Spreadsheet Supplement to Artea Teaching Note." Harvard Business School Spreadsheet Supplement 521-705, September 2020. (Revised June 2023.)
  • September 17, 2021
  • Article

AI Can Help Address Inequity—If Companies Earn Users' Trust

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Kannan Srinivasan, Param Singh and Nitin Mehta
While companies may spend a lot of time testing models before launch, many spend too little time considering how they will work in the wild. In particular, they fail to fully consider how rates of adoption can warp developers’ intent. For instance, Airbnb launched a... View Details
Keywords: Artificial Intelligence; Algorithmic Bias; Technological Innovation; Perception; Diversity; Equality and Inequality; Trust; AI and Machine Learning
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Zhang, Shunyuan, Kannan Srinivasan, Param Singh, and Nitin Mehta. "AI Can Help Address Inequity—If Companies Earn Users' Trust." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (September 17, 2021).

    Eliminating unintended bias in personalized policies using Bias Eliminating Adapted Trees (BEAT) - PNAS

    An inherent risk of algorithmic personalization is disproportionate targeting of individuals from certain groups (or demographic characteristics such as gender or race), even when the decision maker does not intend to discriminate based on those... View Details

    • 18 Oct 2022
    • Research & Ideas

    When Bias Creeps into AI, Managers Can Stop It by Asking the Right Questions

    algorithm generates fair outcomes. As the algorithm sorts through information to optimize its objective, BEAT detects and eliminates bias at key points in the training process.... View Details
    Keywords: by Rachel Layne
    • March 2021
    • Supplement

    Artea (A), (B), (C), and (D): Designing Targeting Strategies

    By: Eva Ascarza and Ayelet Israeli
    Power Point Supplement to Teaching Note for HBS No. 521-021,521-022,521-037,521-043. This collection of exercises aims to teach students about 1)Targeting Policies; and 2)Algorithmic bias in marketing—implications, causes, and possible solutions. Part (A) focuses on... View Details
    Keywords: Targeted Advertising; Targeting; Algorithmic Data; Bias; A/B Testing; Experiment; Advertising; Gender; Race; Diversity; Marketing; Customer Relationship Management; Prejudice and Bias; Analytics and Data Science; Retail Industry; Apparel and Accessories Industry; Technology Industry; United States
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    Ascarza, Eva, and Ayelet Israeli. "Artea (A), (B), (C), and (D): Designing Targeting Strategies." Harvard Business School PowerPoint Supplement 521-719, March 2021.
    • 2023
    • Working Paper

    The Limits of Algorithmic Measures of Race in Studies of Outcome Disparities

    By: David S. Scharfstein and Sergey Chernenko
    We show that the use of algorithms to predict race has significant limitations in measuring and understanding the sources of racial disparities in finance, economics, and other contexts. First, we derive theoretically the direction and magnitude of measurement bias in... View Details
    Keywords: Racial Disparity; Paycheck Protection Program; Measurement Error; AI and Machine Learning; Race; Measurement and Metrics; Equality and Inequality; Prejudice and Bias; Forecasting and Prediction; Outcome or Result
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    Scharfstein, David S., and Sergey Chernenko. "The Limits of Algorithmic Measures of Race in Studies of Outcome Disparities." Working Paper, April 2023.
    • 2023
    • Chapter

    Marketing Through the Machine’s Eyes: Image Analytics and Interpretability

    By: Shunyuan Zhang, Flora Feng and Kannan Srinivasan
    he growth of social media and the sharing economy is generating abundant unstructured image and video data. Computer vision techniques can derive rich insights from unstructured data and can inform recommendations for increasing profits and consumer utility—if only the... View Details
    Keywords: Transparency; Marketing Research; Algorithmic Bias; AI and Machine Learning; Marketing
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    Zhang, Shunyuan, Flora Feng, and Kannan Srinivasan. "Marketing Through the Machine’s Eyes: Image Analytics and Interpretability." Chap. 8 in Artificial Intelligence in Marketing. 20, edited by Naresh K. Malhotra, K. Sudhir, and Olivier Toubia, 217–238. Review of Marketing Research. Emerald Publishing Limited, 2023.
    • December 2024
    • Article

    Public Attitudes on Performance for Algorithmic and Human Decision-Makers

    By: Kirk Bansak and Elisabeth Paulson
    This study explores public preferences for algorithmic and human decision-makers (DMs) in high-stakes contexts, how these preferences are shaped by performance metrics, and whether public evaluations of performance differ depending on the type of DM. Leveraging a... View Details
    Keywords: Public Opinion; Prejudice and Bias; Decision Making
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    Bansak, Kirk, and Elisabeth Paulson. "Public Attitudes on Performance for Algorithmic and Human Decision-Makers." PNAS Nexus 3, no. 12 (December 2024).

      The Limits of Algorithmic Measures of Race in Studies of Outcome Disparities

      We show that the use of algorithms to predict race has significant limitations in measuring and understanding the sources of racial disparities in finance, economics, and other contexts. First, we derive theoretically the direction and magnitude of measurement... View Details
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