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
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.
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
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.
How do young adults feel about television streaming and how does this feeling affect their watching of television series? How do those consumers embrace and protect themselves from the possibilities of ATAWAD (anytime, anywhere, any device) TV watching?
Corporate diversification can be risky and costly, but the results of two researchers' latest study suggest that customer-centered companies may have a key advantage when it comes to such organizational change. Exclusive interview with Assistant Professor John Mawdsley (HEC Paris) on his and Professor Deepak Somaya’s latest research.
By John Mawdsley
Luxury is a three faceted word. It refers first to a concept, very subjective thus always hotly debated. It is also a very lucrative macro-economic sector that has been growing over the last 25 years. Finally, it also designates a very specific strategy, distinct from other strategies such as a fashion strategy, a premium strategy or a masstige strategy. Any company can adopt a luxury strategy even if it does not produce the classical goods or services traditionally associated with the luxury sector. Apple is a typical example.
Consuming can boost self-worth feelings, but might adversely impact consumer well-being. Our new research published in Journal of Consumer Research shows that consumption of certain products can restore feelings of self-worth that have been damaged for whatever reason. However, this boost or restoration effect is diminished by overt marketing tactics like slogans or taglines that make products’ link to the hurt self-identity aspect overly explicit.
By L. J. Shrum , Dr. Nimish Rustagi
Can studying fake news be good? At least two professors at HEC Paris think so. Ludovic François and Dominique Rouziès explain why and how in their recent Harvard Business Review article entitled “The Real Story of the Fake Story of One of Europe’s Most Charismatic CEOs”. In this article they recount how HEC Paris offered a seminar to teach students how to manage corporate crisis by using the internet. In the process, the seminar taught the students the impact of fake news. Here is the story.
