Shocking images get our attention, but the effects might be more nuanced than marketers realise, say Professors L.J. Shrum of HEC Paris and Elena Fumagalli of INCAE Business School, Costa Rica. Their recent paper on ‘shockvertising’ explores the subtle ways in which powerful negative images influence consumers.
By L. J. Shrum
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
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
In Europe, nearly 80% of diaper packaging depicting a sleeping baby show unsafe sleeping positions – that’s the shocking finding from Professor Anne Laure Sellier of HEC Paris and her colleagues from across Europe.
By Anne Laure Sellier
The linear “take-make-waste” business model is a recipe for killing the planet. With global circularity at 7.2 %, supply chains create enormous amounts of waste, a vital driver of the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Recent research by Daniel Halbheer (HEC Paris) and his colleagues Stefan Buehler (University of St. Gallen) and Rachel Chen (UC Davis) shows how going circular by recycling end-of-life products can improve profit and reduce the corporate waste footprint.
By Daniel Halbheer
How long does it take to form a new habit, whether starting a yoga routine or flossing after brushing teeth? A wide-ranging study by Anastasia Buyalskaya from HEC Paris, Hung Ho of the University of Chicago, Xiaomin Li and Colin Camerer of California Institute of Technology, and Katherine L. Milkman and Angela L. Duckworth of the University of Pennsylvania, applies machine learning to answer that question. Three key facts: Machine learning: The study uses large datasets and machine learning to uncover the diverse contextual variables influencing habit formation. Debunking the 21-days myth: There is actually not a fixed timeframe to establish new habits. Context matters: Certain variables had very little effect on the formation of a habit, whereas other factors turned out to matter a lot.
By Anastasia Buyalskaya
Most companies value the benefits of branding: customer loyalty, easier sales, premium pricing. But what does brand equity mean for the employee experience? How can businesses balance the advantages and possible drawbacks of strong brands? Dominique Rouziès, Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris, and colleagues Myriam Ertz of LaboNFC, at UQAC (Canada), and Emine Sarigöllu¨ of LaboNFC, at McGill University (Canada), set out to answer these questions by understanding the social mechanics driving employee attitudes towards their employer’s brands.
Sales is an occupation known for its high turnover rates. How do employers value a salesperson’s experience, and does it matter whether they have hopped between industries and firms? Dominique Rouziès, Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris, and her co-authors Bertrand Quélin and Michael Segalla (HEC Paris), Ali Reza Keshavarz (School of Business, Maynooth University) and Francis Kramarz (CREST-ENSAE), dug deeper to find out what experience means for a sales professional’s compensation levels and career prospects.
By Dominique Rouziès , Bertrand Quélin , Michael Segalla
