In description
This summer’s eruption of violence in the UK has renewed searching questions on the role social media plays in our society. It has also accelerated calls for new or revamped regulation of the country’s social media platforms, encapsuled in the UK’s Online Safety Act. But online violence and brutalization do not confine themselves to politicized and stigmatized communities. HEC Professor Kristine de Valck has explored, with fellow academics Olivier Sibai (University of Bath) and Marius K. Lüdicke (WU Vienna), the presence of direct, cultural, and structural violence in an online community that few researchers would imagine: the British electronic dance music community. Kristine shares her decade-long research on one such leisure-oriented community, on a phenomenon also observed on Reddit, Twitch and Discord platforms. She suggests ways to mitigate such online brutalization of consumers.
By Kristine De Valck
For luxury retail brands, selling their goods in other businesses’ stores may be an effective way of reaching more customers. But the employees at these stores might play a bigger role in the success of these distribution partnerships than expected, write Dominique Rouziès of HEC Paris and her co-authors Moumita Das Gyomlai of Ohio University, Michael Ahearne of the University of Houston, and Jean-Noël Kapferer of INSEEC U in their recent paper.Key findings:Salespeople in non-owned stores are important for selling luxury brands.Luxury can thrive in non-luxury environments if the store employees are engaged and perceive a strong fit between the store's brand and the luxury brand.To enhance this brand fit and improve sales performance in non-owned stores, luxury brands should invest in brand-specific training and communicate a clear rationale for the partnership.
By Dominique Rouziès
Online reputation matters in the food industry. With every star earned on Tripadvisor, for example, a popular eatery can attract more customers, bolster revenue and expand its business. What’s more, new research by HEC Professor of finance François Derrien and co-authors Alexandre Garel (Audencia Business School), Arthur Romec (TBS Business School) and Jean-Philippe Weisskopf (EHL Hospitality Business School) have confirmed there is a causal link between a restaurant’s ratings and its ability to service additional debt, making it easier for lenders today to identify successful restaurants and drive their growth.
By François Derrien
Central bankers have recently been under considerable pressure. They responded to the recent surge in inflation with rate hikes that not only raised concerns about economic growth but also increased the cost of issuing new public debt, constraining fiscal policy and potentially making some public debt unsustainable.
By Eric Mengus
It’s well known that people are a company’s greatest asset. But how does interpersonal collaboration make a business successful? And what drives these collaborations? Instead of just valuing individuals, companies must recognize the connections between them, say John Mawdsley and Olivier Chatain of HEC Paris and Philipp Meyer-Doyle of INSEAD. They show how forming work teams depends on client relationships, client status, and resource availability.
By John Mawdsley , Olivier Chatain
Many studies have attempted to estimate the potential effects of technological change on employment and the labor market in France. In March 2024, Emmanuel Macron received the first report from the Committee on Generative Artificial Intelligence, which partly utilizes the recent study by HEC economics professor Antonin Bergeaud. The report concludes that jobs directly replaceable by AI would only represent 5% of the jobs in a country like France, and automation could affect between 10% and 20% of workers, with a high prevalence among managers. In this article, we present the results of these analyses in context.
By Antonin Bergeaud
It can be hard for microbusinesses to undertake digital transformation initiatives. A recent study by Shirish C. Srivastava of HEC Paris, along with co-authors Anuragini Shirish of Institut Mines-Télécom Business School and Niki Panteli of Royal Holloway University of London and Norwegian University of Science and Technology, examined how microbusiness owner-managers in Ireland are getting the support they need to undertake digital transformations – and how it could apply to the wider global community.
By Shirish Srivastava
There’s a debate amongst online retailers over trade-offs between the value of tracking cookies and their impact on customer privacy. However, little is known about the effects of limiting cookie duration. Klaus Miller, Assistant Professor of Quantitative Marketing at HEC Paris, and Bernd Skiera, Professor of Electronic Commerce at Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, examine the value of cookies over time and what it means for advertisers and regulators.
By Klaus Miller
2024 marks 20 years since the birth of social media. Since then, it has become a major communication force in the lives of teenagers - a 2024 Pew survey claims that 93% of American youth use it, for example. Unsurprisingly, research on its impact has followed suit. But just how reliable are the conclusions in this new field of studies? In April 2024, HEC Professors Tina Lowrey and L.J. Shrum co-authored a research paper with their former doctoral student Elena Fumagalli (H18), showing conflicting findings on the negative and positive effects of social media on youth. They warn against major policies and lawsuits founded on inconclusive studies and contradictory scientific research. Professors Lowrey and Shrum share with Breakthroughs their study to try to make sense of a subject matter inflaming public debate. Extracts.
By Tina M. Lowrey , L. J. Shrum
Lobbying can be a powerful tool for social change, but paradoxically, it is also what is holding us back from making progress, be it on climate or social justice. It’s time for a new kind of lobbying, argues Alberto Alemanno, Professor of EU Law at HEC Paris. He describes a new movement of nonprofits, philanthropies and progressive companies that are reclaiming lobbying as a legitimate form of political innovation, capable of redistributing power across society.
By Alberto Alemanno
