HEC Paris Marketing Research Camp 2025

Organizers: Craig ANDERSON and Arnd VOMBERG (Marketing Department)

Building X, Room X13

 9:30  Welcome coffee

10:00 Talk 1: Sundar Bharadwaj: Professor of Marketing at University of Georgia

Title

Research Examining the Role of Marketing in Climate Action and Sustainability

Abstract

In this talk, I will present results from four studies that examine the impact of sustainability marketing strategies on consumer response, firm growth, and financial market value. In study one, we view climate change as a business opportunity and examine the effect of climate marketing strategy on firm value. Study 2 presents the effect of carbon emission labeling on consumer choice and willingness to pay. Study 3 presents the results of sustainable new product offerings on financial market response, In Study 4, I examine the sources of growth of sustainable new products. Cumulatively, the studies examine the value created by sustainable marketing strategies utilizing a variety of data and methods.

11:00 Coffee break

11:30 Talk 2: Avni Shah: Associate Professor of Marketing in the Department of Management at the University of Toronto

Title

Pain of Payment Influences Search and Choice Overload Propensity

Abstract

Does the anticipated pain of payment associated with making a purchase from a choice set affect how consumers search across attributes? If so, do changes in the pain associated with payment subsequently alter the likelihood that consumers will experience choice overload effects (i.e., purchase likelihood, post-purchase satisfaction)? Using field and lab experiments, we find that pain of payment can moderate choice overload effects. Reducing the pain of payment—via payment mode or price—reduces the amount of time spent searching across options. We also find that this reduction in search cost, increases the likelihood of purchasing in larger choice sets and increases post-purchase satisfaction ratings, effectively mitigating choice overload effects. This work provides a better understanding of factors that influence when and why choice overload effects may occur: An increasing choice set size alone may not always produce choice overload effects but rather may be due in part to an interaction between the size of the choice set and the (anticipated) pain of payment when purchasing. Thus, pain of payment may serve as a cue of how much one should search or engage in a maximization to find the right alternative.

12:30 End of morning sessions

12:45 Lunch at Best Western

14:30 Talk 3: Stephan Seiler: Professor of Marketing and Economics at Imperial College

Title

Causal Inference With Endogenous Price Response

Abstract

We study the estimation of causal treatment effects on demand when treatment is randomly assigned but prices adjust in response to treatment. We show that regressions of demand on treatment or on treatment and price lead to biased estimates of the direct treatment effect. The bias in both cases depends on the correlation of price with treatment and points in the same direction. In most cases including an endogenous price control reduces bias but does not remove it. We show how to test whether bias from an endogenous price response arises and how to recover an unbiased treatment effect (holding price constant) using a price instrument. We apply our approach to the estimation of the impact of feature advertising across several product categories using supermarket scanner data and show that the bias when not instrumenting for price can be substantial.

15:30 Coffee break

16:00 Talk 4: Rachel Gershon: Assistant Professor of Marketing at UC Barkeley

Title

Less is More (Natural): The Effect of Ingredient Quantity Framing on Consumer Preferences

Abstract

Despite the ubiquity of ingredient quantity information in the marketplace, prior literature has yet to examine whether ingredient quantity shapes consumer choice. We present and test a novel framework that charts when, why, and how this pervasive ingredient quantity information influences consumers’ food decisions. Across 19 preregistered studies, we find that consumers are often more interested in food products framed as containing few (vs. many) ingredients, even when the same ingredient list is displayed across products. This preference stems from the perception that fewer ingredients indicate lower processing levels, especially when the processing history of a product is not available. As a result, a product with fewer ingredients is perceived as more natural and is thus preferred. We also build an overarching theoretical framework that illuminates when ingredient quantity information can have opposing effects on consumer behavior: When consumers’ common goal to consume natural products is overshadowed by other consumption goals (e.g., the goal to seek indulgent or unique products), a product framed as containing more ingredients can become more preferred. This research uncovers how ingredient quantity information biases consumers’ perceptions and daily food product decisions, and it provides easily implementable guidance for marketers seeking to increase consumers’ likelihood of purchasing their products. 

17:00 End of afternoon sessions

17:30 Cocktail and dinner at Best Western