Baba Shiv finds that people who are lonely prefer products that the majority don't prefer — but only in private.
Choices that make people happy are complex according to research coauthored by business school Professor Jennifer Aaker. Factors include how old the subject is, his or her view of time, and is she focused on the present or the future?
Baba Shiv's research reveals why hypothetical questions aren't as innocent as they seem.
To increase revenue, social networking sites need to give their most active users reason to post more information and make more friends, according to Harikesh Nair of the Graduate School of Business and his co-researchers.
Eliminating sales quotas boosts company profits says Professor Harikesh Nair. In one case, the new sales compensation plan without quotas resulted in a 9% improvement in overall revenues, which translates to about $1 million of incremental revenues per month.
Ask consumers to study the price of an expensive foreign car. Then ask them whether a "foreign product," such as a meal in an Italian restaurant, seems expensive. According to research coauthored by Christian Wheeler of the Stanford Graduate School of Business the idea that foreign is expensive may transfer from the car to other goods.
When consumers get mild doses of negative information about a product or service, news about the blemish may actually strengthen their positive impression say researchers. This finding could affect online ads or even face-to-face sales processes say Baba Shiv and Zakary Tormala of the Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Fast fashion-designing products that capture the latest consumer trends, and then spending extra money to get them to market quickly, can be well worth the extra expense, increasing profits exponentially, says Stanford Graduate School of Business Professor Robert Swinney, coauthor of a recent study.
Forget Suze Orman. Time, Not Money, Is Your Most Precious Resource. Spend It Wisely.
Silicon Valley is populated with people who fear sitting on the bench while someone else scores with a great idea, says Professor Baba Shiv. How people approach failure is a key to success, he argues.
