The Carlson School Excellence in Marketing

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Building Bridges Bright. Bold. The Carlson School’s interdisciplinary approach to marketing is bringing creative new ideas into focus with rigorous research. Practitioners, policy-makers, academic peers, and curious, motivated students all benefit from the cutting-edge marketing insights that emerge from research at the Carlson School.

The Institute for Research in Marketing helps disseminate this research into the wider community. We reach out to marketing executives, govern-ment officials, students and alumni, and the press through conferences, a speaker series, and the commissioning of topical white papers. We also build enduring relationships with practitioners that lead to the real-world adoption of our faculty members’ work. Through an advisory board of leading executives from international firms, the Institute invites practi-cal marketing experience back into the school. Advisory board members’ knowledge of best practices and their grasp of pressing marketing issues help blend rigor with relevance in the scholarly research conducted by Carlson School faculty.

The Institute provides both a venue and support for dialogue, helping Carlson School marketing faculty generate thought-provoking insights about companies, consumers, and communities.

Putting Research into Practice Research at the Carlson School is not only rigorous, it’s timely and relevant. Practitioners and policy-makers seek out our faculty’s insights and apply their findings to real-world problems.

> Professor Barbara Loken co-edited the National Cancer Institute monograph The Role of Media in Promoting and Reducing Tobacco Use. In the monograph, Loken and her colleagues present conclusive evidence that tobacco marketing and the depiction of smoking in movies promote youth smoking. They also demonstrate that current quit campaigns may be ineffective or even counter-effective. Loken has spoken to audiences in Washington, D.C., Mumbai, India, and other venues across the world, urging a new approach to smoking cessation.

> Associate Professor Kathleen Vohs, a well-known consumer psychologist, recently participated in a Capitol Hill symposium on the convergence of consumer behavior and healthcare. Vohs has earned a number of honors, including a McKnight Presidential Fellowship and the inaugural SAGE Young Scholars award, with her creative studies on will power, self-control, and the physical and psychological effects of money.

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> Professor and Department Chair George John and Associate Professor Om Narasimhan, along with Carlson School doctoral alum Xinlei Chen, used the 2002 acquisition of Gatorade by PepsiCo to explore the relative merits of switching marketing channels, finding a practical methodology for assessing the unobservable costs, and total impact of a channel switch. Consistent with the authors’ analysis but contrary to press predictions, Gatorade has not switched to a “direct- to-store delivery” distribution model.

> Professor Akshay Rao and Carlson School doctoral alum William Hedgcock are among the vanguard of neuromarketing researchers looking inside the consumer mind. Using leading-edge fMRI technolo-gy, these experts are examining cerebral activity while consumers make decisions. Seeing this process in action may help educate buyers faced with tough choices and show retailers how to make the consumer’s decision problem easier.

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Leading the ConversationMarketing research at the Carlson School is provocative and impactful. Our work is framing the national and international conversation on a wide variety of topics ranging from types of distribution channels to how politi-cal candidates should frame their messages. International media outlets look to our faculty for their insights and expert opinions. From cognitive neuroscience and persuasion to brand dilution, materialism, and shopping environments, our professors provide commentary on developing stories and offer perspectives on their own research that is relevant and appli-cable to practitioners. Carlson School faculty have become go-to experts for highly respected news organizations like The Economist, The New York Times, BusinessWeek, TIME Magazine, National Public Radio, CNN, and the BBC.

Akshay Rao on the “decoy effect” and retailing in The Economist. “The Way the Brain Buys.” December 18, 2008.

Kathleen Vohs’s experiments on unconscious priming and the effects of money, reproduced for the BBC1 science show “Bang! Goes the Theory.” “Bang! Goes the Theory: Unconscious Priming.” August 17, 2009.

Joseph Redden on recalling variety to battle boredom in an MSNBC article. “Stuck in a Rut? Call on Memory for a Good Time.” June 16, 2009.

Vladas Griskevicius on “conspicuous conservation” and consumer behavior in TIME Magazine. “Competitive Altruism: Being Green in Public.” June 3, 2009.

Serving the DisciplineCarlson School marketing faculty are internationally known as prolific scholars. They contribute to the discipline of marketing through their academic leadership. Carlson School marketing faculty also serve on the editorial boards of some of the premier peer-reviewed marketing journals in the world, including the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Marketing. As board members, their principal task is to evaluate and certify the methodological correctness, theoretical sufficiency, and substantive importance of manuscripts submitted to the journals.

Institute for Research in Marketing Staff

Rebecca D. Monro, MBA Associate Director

Letta Wren Christianson Program Coordinator

Marketing Faculty

Professor Rohini Ahluwalia PhD, The Ohio State University

Professor Mark E. Bergen PhD, University of Minnesota Carolyn I. Anderson Professorship in Business Education Excellence

Assistant Professor Tony Haitao Cui PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Assistant Professor Jane E.J. Ebert PhD, Harvard University

Assistant Professor Vladas Griskevicius PhD, Arizona State University

Associate Professor Robert Hansen PhD, University of Wisconsin

Professor Michael J. Houston PhD, University of Illinois Ecolab-Pierson M. Grieve Chair in International Marketing Associate Dean of International Programs

Professor Deborah Roedder John PhD, Northwestern University Curtis L. Carlson Chair in Marketing

Professor George John PhD, Northwestern University General Mills/Paul S. Gerot Chair in Marketing Marketing Department Chair

Professor Barbara Loken PhD, University of Illinois

Professor Joan Meyers-Levy PhD, Northwestern University Holden-Werlich School-Wide Professor of Marketing

Assistant Professor Prokriti Mukherji PhD, University of Southern California

Associate Professor Om Narasimhan PhD, University of Southern California

Professor Akshay R. Rao PhD, Virginia Tech General Mills Chair in Marketing Director, Institute for Research in Marketing

Assistant Professor Joseph P. Redden PhD, University of Pennsylvania

Professor Kenneth J. Roering PhD, University of Iowa

Professor Robert W. Ruekert PhD, University of Wisconsin Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs

Assistant Professor Carlos J. Torelli PhD, University of Illinois

Associate Professor Kathleen D. Vohs PhD, Dartmouth College McKnight Land-Grant Professor McKnight Presidential Fellow

1. “Context Effects from Bodily Sensations: Examining Bodily Sensations Induced by Flooring and the Moderating Role of Product Viewing Distance,” Joan Meyers-Levy, Rui (Juliet) Zhu*, and Lan Jiang, Journal of Consumer Research (forthcoming).

2. “The Length of Product Line in Distribution Channels,” Yunchuan Liu and Tony Haitao Cui, Marketing Science (forthcoming).

3. “The Effect of Need for Uniqueness on Word of Mouth,” Amar Cheema and Andrew M. Kaikati*, Journal of Marketing Research (forthcoming).

4. “Going Green to Be Seen: Status, Reputation, and Conspicuous Conservation,” Vladas Griskevicius, J. M. Tybur, and B. Van den Bergh, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (forthcoming).

5. “Understanding the Role of Trade-ins in Durable Goods Markets: Theory and Evidence,” Raghunath S. Rao*, Om Narasimhan, and George John, Marketing Science (forthcoming).

6. “Emotional Persuasion: When the Valence Versus the Resource Demands of Emotions Influence Consumers’ Attitudes,” Loraine Lau-Gesk and Joan Meyers-Levy, Journal of Consumer Research (forthcoming December 2009).

7. “Variety Amnesia: Recalling Past Variety Can Accelerate Recovery from Satiation,” Jeff Galak, Joseph P. Redden, and Justin Kruger, Journal of Consumer Research (forthcoming December 2009).

8. “Learning from a Service Guarantee Quasi-Experiment,” Xinlei Chen, George John, Julie M. Hays*, Arthur V. Hill, and Susan E. Geurs, Journal of Marketing Research (forthcoming October 2009).

9. “Forecasting and Backcasting: Predicting the Impact of Events on the Future,” Jane E.J. Ebert, Daniel T. Gilbert, and Timothy D. Wilson, Journal of Consumer Research (forthcoming October 2009).

10. “When Should Original Equipment Manufacturers Use Branded Component Contracts with Suppliers?” Mrinal Ghosh* and George John, Journal of Marketing Research (forthcoming October 2009).

11. “The Presence of Variety Reduces Perceived Quantity,” Joseph P. Redden and Stephen J. Hoch, Journal of Consumer Research (forthcoming October 2009).

12. “Sex in Advertising: Gender Differences and the Role of Relationship Commitment,” Darren W. Dahl, Jaideep Sengupta, and Kathleen D. Vohs, Journal of Consumer Research (August 2009).

Lighting the Way Researchers at the Carlson School have ideas with impact. Our original and cutting-edge work is published in the top journals, cited by academic peers, and acted upon by thoughtful practitioners around the world. With 27 articles published or forthcoming in the most respected, peer-reviewed marketing journals in 2009 alone, our faculty continue to be among the most productive group of scholars in the world, lighting the way for new research in the field.

> More information on the latest research from the Carlson School’s marketing faculty can be found at carlsonschool.umn.edu/marketinginstitute/recentresearch

13. “An Evolutionary Perspective on Humor: Sexual Selection or Interest Indication?” Norman P. Li, Vladas Griskevicius, Kristina M. Durante, Peter K. Jonason, Derek J. Pasisz, and Katherine Aumer, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (July 2009).

14. “Microbes, Mating, and Morality: Individual Differences in Three Functional Domains of Disgust,” Joshua M. Tybur, Debra Lieberman, and Vladas Griskevicius, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (July 2009).

15. “Fear and Loving in Las Vegas: Evolution, Emotion, and Persuasion,” Vladas Griskevicius, C.R. Mortensen, J.M. Sundie, R.B. Cialdini, and D.T. Kenrick, Journal of Marketing Research (June 2009).

16. “Could Ralph Nader’s Entrance and Exit Have Helped Al Gore? The Impact of Decoy Dynamics on Consumer Choice,” William Hedgcock*, Akshay R. Rao, and Haipeng (Allan) Chen*, Journal of Marketing Research (June 2009).

17. “Aggress to Impress: Hostility as an Evolved Context-Dependent Strategy,” Vladas Griskevicius, Joshua M. Tybur, Steven W. Gangestad, Elaine F. Perea, Jenessa R. Shapiro, and Douglas T. Kenrick, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (May 2009).

18. “Self-Affirmation and Self-Control: Affirming Core Values Counteracts Ego Depletion,” Brandon J. Schmeichel and Kathleen D. Vohs, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (April 2009).

19. “It’s Time to Vote: The Effect of Matching Message Orientation and Temporal Frame on Political Persuasion,” Hakkyun Kim*, Akshay R. Rao, and Angela Lee, Journal of Consumer Research (April 2009).

20. “When Brand Personality Matters: The Moderating Role of Attachment Styles,” Vanitha Swaminathan, Karen M. Stilley, and Rohini Ahluwalia, Journal of Consumer Research (April 2009).

21. “Acts of Benevolence: A Limited-Resource Account of Compliance with Charitable Requests,” Bob M. Fennis, Loes Janssen, and Kathleen D. Vohs, Journal of Consumer Research (April 2009).

22. “Field Dependency and Brand Cognitive Structures,” Sharon Ng* and Michael J. Houston, Journal of Marketing Research (April 2009).

23. “Trade-off Aversion as an Explanation for the Attraction Effect: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study,” William Hedgcock* and Akshay R. Rao, Journal of Marketing Research (February 2009).

24. “Aristotle’s Anxiety: Choosing Among Methods to Study Choice,” William Hedgcock* and Akshay R. Rao, Journal of Marketing Research (February 2009).

25. “The Influence of Self-View on Context Effects: How Display Fixtures Can Affect Product Evaluations,” Rui (Juliet) Zhu* and Joan Meyers-Levy, Journal of Marketing Research (February 2009).

26. “Radical Innovation Across Nations: The Pre-eminence of Corporate Culture,” Gerard J. Tellis, Jaideep C. Prabhu, and Rajesh K. Chandy, Journal of Marketing (January 2009).

27. “Values as Predictors of Judgments and Behaviors: The Role of Abstract and Concrete Mindsets,” Carlos J. Torelli and Andrew Kaikati*, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (January 2009).

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* Current or former Carlson School doctoral student

Assistant Professor Jane Ebert’s teaching and research focus on consumer goals and behavior, particularly as they are affected by time.

In Ebert’s most recent publication in the Journal of Consumer Research, she created four studies with her co-authors Daniel Gilbert (Harvard) and Timothy Wilson (University of Virginia). Ebert has people use one of two different prediction methods called “forecasting” and “backcasting” to anticipate how an event like a purchase might make them feel. When forecasting, decision-makers predicted their future feelings by first imagin-ing how they’d feel if an event occurred, then imagining how that feeling might change over time. Using backcasting, however, subjects first imagined their feelings in a future period, and then considered the effects of a more current event.

The backcasters, Ebert learned, were more optimistic about their purchase decisions. “People make a lot of decisions based on how they think their choice will make them feel. We found that we could easily change a consumer’s expectations of those feelings,” Ebert observes. Having made even a subtle change to hypothetical travel ad copy so that it encouraged backcasting by invoking a customer’s feelings before giving a product pitch, Ebert found the buyers expected to like the trip more.

Ebert is enthusiastic about the directions her future consumer behavior research might take. “I find research on timing fascinating. Its role in the errors consumers make and what they come to regret, and, more broadly, when decisions with future consequences are ‘better’ or ‘worse’ than ones involving more immediate consequences, and when, whether, and how consumers can improve their decision making—these are all intriguing research topics,” she says.

Jane EbertThinking Ahead

Academic Highlights:

Bringing Research to Life

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Vlad Griskevicius Going Green

Most of us think of peer pressure as a bad thing, but when it comes to the environment, Assistant Professor Vlad Griskevicius thinks it might just be the key to unlocking beneficial behavior. Social norms are, Griskevicius shows, low-cost and effective marketing “levers.”

In a recently published Journal of Consumer Research article, Griskevicius and his co-authors designed two simple experiments with hotel towel reuse programs to highlight this effect. Traditional placards outlining a hotel towel reuse program were already fairly effective with guests, but when the researchers rephrased the signage to appeal to social norms, the results were striking.

“By subtly and tastefully informing guests that the major-ity of other guests—and, in particular, ‘guests in this room’ —reused their towels at least once during their stay, “we spurred a 10–14% increase in towel reuse across studies.” Griskevicius, a social psychologist by training, notes that he simply hoped to examine the motivation of pro-social behavior in a real consumer setting, but, “considering that many hotel guests never even read the cards in their hotel rooms,” he was amazed at the team’s clear results. It made a big difference to emphasize just how common the “common good” was.

Taking his research in another direction, Griskevicius has begun to study a phenomenon he calls “conspicuous conservation.” In a forthcoming article, Griskevicius and his co-authors consider whether sustainability marketing needs to address the fact that many consumers may, in fact, be “going green to be seen.” If that’s the case, researchers say, tailoring market appeals to highlight both environ-mental and social status benefits may spur the adoption of “green” products and technologies.

Elda Macias ’06 Executive MBA

Several years ago, Elda Macias, now director of market segments at Ameriprise Financial, had decided that she wanted to expand her career horizons. And the more she heard about the Carlson School’s Executive MBA program, the more it appealed to her. “I was really impressed by Carlson, especially after I had a chance to talk with former students. In the end, choosing the Carlson School Executive MBA program was the best decision I could have possibly made.”

As a student, Macias found that the diversity of her high caliber classmates was itself an advantage of Carlson’s executive program. “The faculty were able to tap into the broad experience of our student group. We had such a wide variety of backgrounds, with people in the military, manu-facturing, HR, and small business owners. The opportu-nity to focus and learn to work together, to go through an intense program and build a lasting network among the Executive MBA students, those were huge benefits.”

Eventually, Macias landed her current position at Ameri-prise Financial. “It was absolutely the job I wanted at the time I wanted it—the perfect job.”

Now in corporate marketing for the financial planning leader, Macias works to identify groups of consumers who are underserved by the financial services industry and tailor programs to their distinct needs. She focuses, in particular, on market segments such as women and the LGBT community. “In this capacity, I put the lessons from my Carlson School finance and marketing strategy classes into action. I’m working from a marketing perspective on how to speak to these unique consumers, but also how to train Ameriprise financial advisors to understand and find solutions for the specific needs of each group.”

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Alumni in Action

The Carlson School helped me form a marketing strategy perspective that lets me speak both to my group at Ameriprise and to our unique customers.

Daniel Marple ’04 MBA

In his role as director of shopper marketing with ConAgra Foods, Daniel Marple works with retailers to develop insight-driven marketing solutions that speak directly to shoppers. Marple credits his participation in the Carlson Brand Enterprise (CBE) with helping him quickly understand the dynamics and strategic priorities of an innovative venture. “My time in the CBE taught me to approach a company from an external perspective, pull together my analysis, and then confidently express my opinion on the best strategy. For Carlson School students—and their future employers—that experience is a huge advantage.”

Recently, Marple helped ConAgra, one of the leading branded and commercial food products companies in the U.S., create an exclusive marketing campaign for its retail partner SUPERVALU. Marple’s team determined that SUPERVALU’s shoppers were looking for products that offered a combination of affordability, convenience, and family appeal. They used extensive customer research to develop “Save Tonight,” a comprehensive marketing cam-paign tailored to the needs of the SUPERVALU shopper.

“Shopper marketing has become a critical way for ConAgra to drive business results with our retail partners,” Marple shares. “And our efforts are paying off, winning marketing awards and customer loyalty.”

Because of his Carlson School training, Marple feels confident building collaborative campaigns, even as the competitive landscape changes. “ConAgra realizes that consumer value is beyond price alone, and I try to convey that value in our marketing campaigns. I enjoy that I can bring my brand management experience to bear every day as ConAgra discovers insights and creates growth initia-tives with our customers.”

My time in the Carlson Brand Enterprise taught me to approach a company from an external perspective, pull together my analysis, and then confidently express my opinion on the best strategy.

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Connecting with PractitionersThe Institute for Research in Marketing’s Advisory Board is made up of senior level marketing executives from national and international firms. These talented practitioners help ensure the relevance and rigor of the Carlson School’s research in marketing and provide guidance on the most urgent topics in the marketplace. As the Institute evolves, our board has come to represent an array of industries and services, and we welcome fresh partnerships with top-level corporations and thought-leaders.

Real Business, Real Beauty Philippe Harousseau, Unilever

Philippe Harousseau, vice president of brand development (skin) for Unilever North America, is enthusiastic about his new role as Unilever’s representative to the Institute for Research in Marketing’s advisory board. “These collaborations are extremely valuable; academics and practitioners are comple-mentary by nature,” he says. “As practitioners, we tend to be focused on immediate impact and our business objectives. Scholars, though, are more detached from instant results, and they can apply their vast assets—their brainpower—to help us understand why things happen as they do.”

Harousseau offers, as an example of the value of university research in the marketplace, the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, to which he contributed as marketing director for Dove in the U.S. “We had learned from academics who were experts in self-esteem that the common idea of ‘beauty’ was very narrow—too narrow to include most women. And that was completely contrary to our view of the world.” The Campaign for Real Beauty, Harousseau says, brought life to the Dove brand mission. “Dove got to ‘walk the talk,’ trying to broaden definitions of beauty, encourage women to take care of them-selves, and commit to improving young girls’ self-esteem.”

Through his involvement with the Carlson School, Harousseau is now looking to our faculty for breakthrough marketing insights like those that informed the Dove campaign. Unilever is even supporting a forthcoming Institute for Research in Marketing White Paper. “My work with the advisory board,” Harousseau concludes, “exposes me to top-notch research that can help drive my company’s actions and give me a better understanding of our impact in the marketplace.”

Bryan Maach Vice President, Market Research & Analysis Cisco Systems, Inc.

Kate Whittington Director, Guest Insights Target

Philippe Harousseau Vice President, Brand Development, Skin Unilever

Jim Hield Vice President of Marketing Services Cargill

Kal Patel Executive Vice President, Emerging Business Best Buy Co., Inc.

Scott Wallace Senior Vice President, Marketing G&K Services

Vivian Milroy Callaway Vice President, Center for Learning and Experimentation General Mills

James S. Henney Senior Vice President, Enterprise Marketing– Customer Insights Wells Fargo

Carla Kennedy Vice President, Product Line Management Seagate Technology

Julie Moore Vice President and General Manager, Vehicle Care Ecolab

Steve Michaelson Chief Marketing Officer SUPERVALU

JoAnn Fernandez Global Vice President, Marketing 3M Consumer and Office

Diane Harper Vice President, Customer/Channel-Insights Kraft Foods

Erik Andersen Senior Vice President, Customer Loyalty GfK Custom Research North America

Jim Schroer Carlson Marketing

Academic Representative to Advisory Board:

Robert Ruekert Professor, Associate Dean Undergraduate Programs Marketing & Logistics Management

Advisory Board

Kenneth Coyle Executive Director, Consumer Insights AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals

David Mucha Vice President, Market Intelligence UnitedHealthcare

Institute for Research in Marketing Carlson School of Management University of Minnesota

321 Nineteenth Avenue South, Suite 3-150 Minneapolis, MN 55455-0438 612-626-7940 carlsonschool.umn.edu/marketinginstitute

mktginst@umn.edu

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