All companies have jumped on the sustainability bandwagon, if not out of genuine concern for the environment, at least because the new generation of consumers cares – and votes with their wallets. Even the luxury sector – but can it truly be green? Not for Millennials the world over: they believe the materialism embedded in the luxury sector's DNA is at odds with sustainability. Paradoxically, it doesn't mean they won't buy luxuries at all, according to a surprising global study by two HEC Paris researchers.
By Anne Michaut , Jean-Noël Kapferer
Uncertainty is an invisible trap, set to blind our capacity to avoid nonsense and create actual intelligence. Why invisible? Because uncertainty is powered by what we do not know, which is particularly difficult to become aware of. Anne-Sophie Chaxel, HEC Paris Associate Professor of Marketing and expert in cognitive biases, gives three objectives to keep in mind to embrace uncertainty, along with practice tool boxes to create intelligence.
Today, social media such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, have become primary sources of information. They are also vehicles for fake news and disinformation. During a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, how should social media be mastered and employed in a responsible way? HEC Paris Associate Professor of Marketing, Kristine de Valck, has been studying the role of social networks in the marketplace since 1999. She explains.
Why different countries have made very different decisions to fight the coronavirus? What are the potential consequences of such crisis on the psychology of the population? In this interview, Anne-Sophie Chaxel, HEC Paris Associate Professor of Marketing specialized in consumer behavior and decision-making, explains the different approaches of governments toward their responsibility, and the biases behind non-optimal behaviors and decisions. She also shares her recommendation regarding decision-making processes.
When the clock in our minds ticks loudly, it changes not only our perspective of the time remaining in our lives, but also how we process information. A trio of researchers investigated how thinking about the concept of time can affect our decision making. This unique piece of research could explain biases in hiring, voting, and many other contexts.
By Anne-Sophie Chaxel
When buying products, consumers often look at information written by other consumers on the internet. In other words, they turn to electronic word of mouth (eWOM). Marketers can take steps to generate, support, and amplify eWOM and so influence consumers’ decision-making process. A trio of researchers have laid out an eWOM roadmap to help marketers and academics understand its inner workings and enhance its effects.
By Kristine De Valck , Ana Babić Rosario
This research studies people’s tendency to seek or avoid choice closure with past consumer decisions. Consumers achieving choice closure come to see a decision as finished and resolved. Past research has shown that this sense of choice finality can be externally triggered without consumers being aware of it, for example by asking them to close a menu after selecting one of the featured food items. The current research asks the following questions: What is the effect of choice closure on consumers’ satisfaction following decisions with negative or positive outcomes? Do consumers correctly predict the effect of choice closure on their satisfaction? The answer to these questions allows us to offer insights for marketers and sales people on when and how to use choice-closure triggers as means to enhance satisfaction with the outcome of a decision they have made.
By Yangjie Gu
How can herding and social media word-of-mouth increase the demand online? In this interview, Xitong Li, Associate Professor of Information Systems at HEC Paris, unveils his latest research co-authored by Lynn Wu of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, revealing what they have found from Groupon’s combination of both techniques.
The potential impact of climate change raises concerns with consumers and governments throughout the world. Dealing with these climate concerns is key to the survival of businesses in the marketplace, and ultimately the survival of the planet. Daniel Halbheer, Associate Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris, shares his and his co-authors' research findings on the role of marketing decisions in addressing climate change when juggling the pressures of consumers and governments, through tools such as carbon footprinting and pricing.
By Daniel Halbheer
In this article we share testimonials from our professors about their personal experience with online education.
