Consumer Behavior →
- 06 Dec 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Assortment Rotation and the Value of Concealment
Assortment rotation is the retailing practice of changing the assortment of products offered to customers throughout a selling season. It is used by both brick-and-mortar and online retailers as a strategy for gaining competitive advantage. This paper studies assortment rotation in product categories such as apparel, accessories, and toys, where consumers typically make multiple purchases during a season. The authors identify and explain a new reason for retailers to frequently rotate their assortment: Consumers may purchase more products throughout the selling season if a retailer conceals a portion of its full product catalog from consumers by rotating its assortment. Aside from its scholarly contributions, the paper provides practical insights to retailers to guide their assortment rotation strategy decisions.
- 09 Nov 2016
- Op-Ed
6 Lessons from Donald Trump's Winning Marketing Manual
Donald Trump's upset election win offers six lessons for marketers looking to beat the odds and overcome powerful competitors, says John A. Quelch. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 25 Oct 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
'Be Careless with That!' Availability of Product Upgrades Increases Cavalier Behavior Toward Possessions
Contrary to the notion that consumers highly value and care for their possessions, this research demonstrates that consumers may become careless toward owned products when they know there are appealing upgrades coming. Such carelessness is driven by consumers’ strong desire to justify decisions. The findings suggest opportunities for marketers and designers because planned obsolescence might benefit upgrade-minded consumers by making it easier for them to damage or detect functional flaws in owned products.
- 14 Sep 2016
- Research & Ideas
Web Surfers Have a Schedule and Stick to It
Note to web marketers: Consumers won't carve out more time to visit your site. So how do you attract them? Start by understanding their online habits, reports new research by Shane Greenstein and colleagues. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 24 Aug 2016
- Research & Ideas
Behavioral Economists Can Make You a Healthier Consumer and Smarter Marketer
Video What’s behind the decisions we make, especially when it comes to eating well and losing weight? Can companies motivate employees to make healthier decisions? Leslie John discusses "interventions" to help people make better decisions when it comes to their health. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 28 Jul 2016
- Op-Ed
Where is TripAdvisor for Doctors?
Would you give your doctor a poor rating just as you might flunk a bad meal or hotel? What if you needed that physician's services again? John A. Quelch discusses why it's difficult to create a TripAdvisor for doctors. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 11 May 2016
- Research & Ideas
Fix This! Why is it so Painful to Buy a New Car?
Car-buying sends shivers up the backbones of American consumers, so why hasn’t the industry stepped up to create a better experience? Leonard Schlesinger, Jill Avery, and Ryan Buell tell their own war stories and talk about how the battle might yet be won. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Dec 2015
- Research & Ideas
Why ‘Sleep on It’ No Longer Sounds Like Great Advice
When we have a tough decision to make, we're often encouraged to lie down and clear our heads for the night. But surprising research from Uma R. Karmarkar and colleagues indicates that "sleeping on it" won't help us make the most confident choices. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 21 Nov 2015
- HBS Case
HBS Cases: Stella McCartney Combines High Fashion with Environmental Values
Fashion designer Stella McCartney is the subject of a recent case study by Anat Keinan showing that luxury and sustainability need not be mutually exclusive. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 10 Aug 2015
- Research & Ideas
Why a Federal Rule on CEO Pay Disclosure May Get You In Trouble With Customers
The SEC is expected to adopt a rule requiring every public firm to disclose the ratio of the CEO's salary to the median salary of the firm's employees. And it turns out that customers prefer shopping from retailers with low pay ratios, according to new research by Bhavya Mohan, Michael Norton, and Rohit Deshpandé. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Jul 2015
- Research & Ideas
Name Your Price. Really.
Is it worthwhile for retailers to experiment with "pay what you want" pricing? Shelle Santana unmasks the surprising logic behind how much customers will pay, and when. One finding: sellers can dramatically change what some buyers are willing to pay. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 16 Jun 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Paying Up for Fair Pay: Consumers Prefer Firms with Lower CEO-to-Worker Pay Ratios
The pay ratio of CEOs to average workers has long been a question of interest to both employees and investors. It also matters to consumers, as shown by new research conducted by the authors of this paper. A firm with a high (1000 to 1) ratio needs to offer a 50 percent discount in order to garner as favorable consumer impressions as a firm with a low (5 to 1) pay ratio. Even if pay ratio disclosure does not become legally mandated, these results suggest that firms with low pay ratios relative to competitors may wish to begin to disclose this information voluntarily. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 09 Jun 2015
- Sharpening Your Skills
Sharpening Your Skills: Social Media
Sharpening Your Skills culls the HBS Working Knowledge archive to deliver insights around important business topics. This week: developing a social media strategy. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 22 Apr 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Is No News (Perceived as) Bad News? An Experimental Investigation of Information Disclosure
Truth-in-advertising laws stipulate that companies cannot provide misleading or incorrect information to customers. Even so, businesses typically decide how much or what kind of information to disclose to buyers. When a business chooses not to disclose information, customers must then infer whether no news is good news or bad news. Through a series of experiments, this paper shows that consumers systematically underestimate the extent to which no news is bad news, and sellers take advantage of this by strategically withholding unfavorable information. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
- 02 Apr 2015
- Research & Ideas
Digital Initiative Summit: Big Messages, Small Screens, Many Choices
How do companies profit from the fact that mobile users are more engaged than ever? Panelists discuss "Monetization in a Mobile World." Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 23 Mar 2015
- Research & Ideas
It’s Called ‘Price Coherence,’ and It’s Surprisingly Bad for Consumers
In many markets, a product is offered at the same price regardless of whether it is sold directly by a retailer or through an intermediary. Research by Ben Edelman and Julian Wright uncovers the hidden costs for consumers. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 17 Dec 2014
- Research & Ideas
How Our Brain Determines if the Product is Worth the Price
Are consumers more likely to buy if they see the price before the product, or vice versa? Uma Karmarkar and colleagues scan the brains of shoppers to find out. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Dec 2014
- Research & Ideas
Deconstructing the Price Tag
A new study by Bhavya Mohan, Ryan Buell, and Leslie John has an important conclusion for retailers: Explaining what it costs to produce a product can potentially increase its sales. Open for comment; 0 Comments.
- 15 Oct 2014
- Research & Ideas
Apple Pay’s Technology Adoption Problem
Apple wants to convert your iPhone into a digital wallet with Apple Pay. Professors Benjamin Edelman and Willy Shih assess its chances for success and wonder if consumers have a compelling reason to make the switch. Closed for comment; 0 Comments.
Why Comparing Apples to Apples Online Leads To More Fruitful Sales
The items displayed next to a product in online marketing displays may determine whether customers buy that product, according to a new study by Uma R. Karmarkar. Open for comment; 0 Comments.