Marketing Topics

• Reports

  Ugly Food, Negative Feelings: Why Consumers Won’t Pay More for Unattractive Produce

  Aug 9, 2018 Lauren Grewal, Jillian Hmurovic, Cait Lamberton, and Rebecca Walker Reczek, 2018, 18-123-08

  Four experiments show that consumers systematically devalue unattractive produce because of altered (negative) self-perceptions. But simple cues can have a big impact: An intervention strategy aimed at boosting self-esteem increased willingness to pay by 22.4%, mitigating food waste and protecting the bottom line.

• Reports

  Atypicality and Cultural Success

  Jan 25, 2018 Jonah Berger and Grant Packard, 2018, 18-101-01

  Why do some things catch on and others don't? This study of thousands of songs showed that atypicality may be key: A 16% increase in lyrical differentiation was associated with a one-position improvement in chart ranking.

• Reports

  Detecting Fictitious Consumer Reviews: A Theory-Driven Approach Combining Automated Text Analysis and Experimental Design

  Oct 4, 2017 Ann Kronrod, Jeffrey K. Lee, and Ivan Gordeliy, 2017, 17-124-10

  Increasingly, managers of digital platforms depend on consumer trust and on an abundance of authentic user-generated content. This novel method leverages linguistic theory, experiment-driven data sampling, and automated text analysis to identify potentially fictitious product reviews.

• Reports

  Crisis Management Strategies and the Long-term Effects of Product Recalls on Firm Value

  Sep 19, 2017 Yan Liu, Venkatesh Shankar, and Wonjoo Yun, 2017, 17-121-09

  The first study to investigate how crisis management strategies affect long-term shareholder returns concludes that firms should do the right thing when faced with product harm crises. Analyses of 280 recalls show that voluntary initiation, post-recall remedial efforts, and demonstration of brand commitment are best for long-term firm value as well as for consumers.  

• Articles

  Is Service Transition a Silver Bullet for B2B Firms?

  Aug 07, 2017

  When it makes sense to invest—and when it doesn't