Carbon Competence: People Overwhelming Make Incorrect Sustainability Choices
New research finds most consumers want to make sustainable choices to help mitigate the climate crisis, but lack the knowledge to reliably do so
New research finds most consumers want to make sustainable choices to help mitigate the climate crisis, but lack the knowledge to reliably do so
New research from Professor Oded Netzer and his colleagues reveals that political polarization in the United States extends beyond obvious political indicators, spilling over to other aspects of our lives, like our brand preferences and purchases. Their work reveals more about this increasingly divided marketplace and its implications for both brands and consumers.
Research from Columbia Business School Reveals How Consumers Perceive Pricing Set by Algorithms
In online advertising, advertisers purchase ad placements by participating in a long sequence of repeated auctions. One of the most important features that advertising platforms often provide and advertisers often use is budget management, which allows advertisers to control their cumulative expenditures. Advertisers typically declare the maximum daily amount they are willing to pay, and the platform adjusts allocations and payments to guarantee that cumulative expenditures do not exceed budgets.
Christopher Mayer is the Paul Milstein Professor Emeritus of Real Estate at Columbia Business School. His research explores a variety of topics in real estate and financial markets, including housing cycles, mortgage markets, debt securitization, and commercial real estate valuation. Dr. Mayer is also CEO of Longbridge Financial, an innovative reverse mortgage company focused on delivering responsible home equity products to older Americans to help finance retirement.
Gita V. Johar (PhD NYU 1993; MBA Indian Institute of Management Calcutta 1985) has been on the faculty of Columbia Business School since 1992 and is currently the Meyer Feldberg Professor of Business. Professor Johar received the Distinguished Alumnus award from IIMC in 2019. She served as the school’s inaugural Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from 2019 to 2021, Faculty Director of Online Initiatives from 2014 to 2017, Senior Vice Dean from 2011 to 2014, and as the inaugural Vice Dean for Research from 2010 to 2011.
Kristen Lane is a faculty member in the Marketing Division at Columbia Business School. Her research focuses on the psychology of (mis)information. Specifically, her work examines the social and identity-based processes that drive what people read, believe, and share online. Her findings inform efforts to understand and reduce the spread of misleading and deceptive information.
Professor Selden teaches debt markets and lectures on shareholder value creation for business groups around the world. A recipient of grants from the National Science Foundation and the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics, Selden has analyzed models of portfolio allocation and preference determination. His current research focuses on linking sales and marketing efforts to a corporation’s share price. He is also applying his findings to Executive Education programs.
Vicki Morwitz is the Bruce Greenwald Professor of Business and Professor of Marketing at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business. Professor Morwitz earned a B.S in applied mathematics and computer science from Rutgers University, an M.S. in operations research from Polytechnic Institute of New York (now NYU’s Tandon School), and an M.A. in statistics and a Ph.D. in marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Columbia, she served on the faculty of the Stern School at NYU for 28 years.
Professor Schmitt is Robert D. Calkins Professor of International Business at Columbia Business School. He researches, teaches, and advises corporations on branding, innovation, creative strategy, and customer experience.
With nearly 90 academic publications, over 50 students, half a dozen patents, and nearly 10 million online followers, Moran Cerf is one of the leaders in the research and applications of neuroscience in business.
Cerf holds a PhD in neuroscience (Caltech), an MA in Philosophy, and a BSc in Physics (Tel-Aviv University. He has taught leadership and marketing at NYU and the Kellogg School of Management, where he was a professor of neuroscience and business for nearly a decade.
Dr. Mohamed Hussein is a faculty member in the Marketing Division at Columbia Business School. Using survey experiments, conjoint analysis, and natural language processing techniques, he studies the psychology of persuasion, politics, and the intersection of the two. Dr. Hussein’s research has been published in top-tier academic journals, including the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, and Personality and Social Psychology Review.
Melanie Brucks is interested in creativity and innovation. Her research focuses on the processes involved in generating and selecting innovative ideas and on the cognitive and behavioral consequences of technological innovations. Her findings help marketers better design ideation activities to maximize productivity and fuel innovation.
Before joining Columbia, Melanie Brucks received a PhD in Marketing from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Rajeev Kohli is the Ira Leon Rennert Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. His research interests are in mathematical models of non-compensatory choice, product design and recommendation systems. He has published papers in leading journals in marketing, operations research, discrete mathematics and mathematical psychology. He has also served on the editorial boards of leading journals including Management Science and Operations Research.
Dr. Mohamed Hussein is a faculty member in the Marketing Division at Columbia Business School. Using survey experiments, conjoint analysis, and natural language processing techniques, he studies the psychology of persuasion, politics, and the intersection of the two. Dr. Hussein’s research has been published in top-tier academic journals, including the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, and Personality and Social Psychology Review.
Professor Ran Kivetz is a tenured professor at Columbia University Business School, where he holds the Philip H. Geier, Jr. Professorship of Marketing. Professor Kivetz is a leading expert in the areas of behavioral economics, decision-making, marketing, customer behavior, incentives, and innovation. His experience in these fields includes over twenty years of research, management, consulting, and teaching. His latest research explores political science and political psychology through the lens of behavioral economics and decision research.
With nearly 90 academic publications, over 50 students, half a dozen patents, and nearly 10 million online followers, Moran Cerf is one of the leaders in the research and applications of neuroscience in business.
Cerf holds a PhD in neuroscience (Caltech), an MA in Philosophy, and a BSc in Physics (Tel-Aviv University. He has taught leadership and marketing at NYU and the Kellogg School of Management, where he was a professor of neuroscience and business for nearly a decade.
Professor Schmitt is Robert D. Calkins Professor of International Business at Columbia Business School. He researches, teaches, and advises corporations on branding, innovation, creative strategy, and customer experience.
Vicki Morwitz is the Bruce Greenwald Professor of Business and Professor of Marketing at Columbia University's Graduate School of Business. Professor Morwitz earned a B.S in applied mathematics and computer science from Rutgers University, an M.S. in operations research from Polytechnic Institute of New York (now NYU’s Tandon School), and an M.A. in statistics and a Ph.D. in marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Columbia, she served on the faculty of the Stern School at NYU for 28 years.
Michael Morris is the Chavkin-Chang Professor of Leadership at CBS and also serves as Professor in the Psychology Department of Columbia University.
Professor Netzer's expertise centers on one of the major business challenges of the data-rich environment: developing quantitative methods that leverage data to gain a deeper understanding of customer behavior and guide firms' decisions. He focuses primarily on building statistical and econometric models to measure consumer preferences and understand how customer choices change over time, and across contexts. Most notably, he has developed a framework for managing firms' customer bases through dynamic segmentation.
Rajeev Kohli is the Ira Leon Rennert Professor of Business at Columbia Business School. His research interests are in mathematical models of non-compensatory choice, product design and recommendation systems. He has published papers in leading journals in marketing, operations research, discrete mathematics and mathematical psychology. He has also served on the editorial boards of leading journals including Management Science and Operations Research.
Stephen Zagor is a New York City based Consultant and Educator, focusing on restaurants and food businesses. He has developed an extensive knowledge of the culinary industry, specializing in the business side of food enterprises.
As a consultant Steve has provided comprehensive support to a wide variety of clients including entrepreneurs starting restaurants, food retail businesses and food products. His clients have included large public companies, investment funds, government agencies, lawyers, large restaurant groups and small food business owners.
Kamel Jedidi is the Jerome A. Chazen Professor of Global Business at Columbia Business School, New York. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from University of Tunis and Master and Ph.D. degrees in Marketing and Statistics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Jedidi has extensively published in leading marketing and statistical journals. His research interests include pricing, product positioning, and market segmentation.
Professor Holbrook has taught marketing strategy, sales management, consumer behavior, and commercial communication in the culture of consumption. He has conducted research on the validity of perceptual and preference mapping and on consumer aesthetics applied to responses toward radio listening, jazz recordings, and classical music.
Gita V. Johar (PhD NYU 1993; MBA Indian Institute of Management Calcutta 1985) has been on the faculty of Columbia Business School since 1992 and is currently the Meyer Feldberg Professor of Business. Professor Johar received the Distinguished Alumnus award from IIMC in 2019. She served as the school’s inaugural Vice Dean for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion from 2019 to 2021, Faculty Director of Online Initiatives from 2014 to 2017, Senior Vice Dean from 2011 to 2014, and as the inaugural Vice Dean for Research from 2010 to 2011.
Kristen Lane is a faculty member in the Marketing Division at Columbia Business School. Her research focuses on the psychology of (mis)information. Specifically, her work examines the social and identity-based processes that drive what people read, believe, and share online. Her findings inform efforts to understand and reduce the spread of misleading and deceptive information.
Professor Selden teaches debt markets and lectures on shareholder value creation for business groups around the world. A recipient of grants from the National Science Foundation and the Center for Operations Research and Econometrics, Selden has analyzed models of portfolio allocation and preference determination. His current research focuses on linking sales and marketing efforts to a corporation’s share price. He is also applying his findings to Executive Education programs.
Sandra Matz takes a Big Data approach to studying human behavior in a variety of business-related domains. She combines methodologies from psychology and computer science – including machine learning, experimental designs, online surveys, and field studies – to explore the relationships between people’s psychological characteristics (e.g. their personality) and the digital footprints they leave with every step they take in the digital environment (e.g. their Facebook Likes or their credit card transactions).
Stephen P. Zeldes is the Frank R. Lautenberg Professor of Economics and Public Policy at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He serves as co-director of the Richard Paul Richman Center for Business, Law, and Public Policy at Columbia University. He served as chair of the school’s Finance and Economics division from 2014-17.
Professor Lehmann has taught several different marketing courses. His research focuses on individual and group choice and decision making, the adoption of innovation and new product development, and the management and valuation of marketing assets (brands, customers). He is also interested in knowledge accumulation, empirical generalizations, and information use. Lehmann has published more than 200 articles and books, serves on the editorial boards of several academic journals, and is the founding editor of Marketing Letters.
Robert J. Morais is an anthropologist with a career in advertising and market research, and a Lecturer at Columbia Business School. He has taught in the full time MBA, EMBA, and Entrepreneurship and Competitiveness in Latin America, Africa, and America programs. Morais was a Principal/Co-owner of a market research firm for 11 years, preceded by 25 years with advertising agencies rising to Chief Strategic Officer.
Melanie Brucks is interested in creativity and innovation. Her research focuses on the processes involved in generating and selecting innovative ideas and on the cognitive and behavioral consequences of technological innovations. Her findings help marketers better design ideation activities to maximize productivity and fuel innovation.
Before joining Columbia, Melanie Brucks received a PhD in Marketing from Stanford Graduate School of Business.
Elizabeth Friedman is a faculty member at Columbia’s Graduate School of Business. She researches consumer decision making. Her research explores why consumers are often reluctant to buy certain items even when the items provide value, how consumers’ active goals can affect their decision process, and how small changes to the choice context can affect what consumers consider and the resulting choices they make.
Eric Johnson is a faculty member at the Columbia Business School at Columbia University where he is the inaugural holder of the Norman Eig Chair of Business, and Director of the Center for Decision Sciences. His research examines the interface between Behavioral Decision Research, Economics and the decisions made by consumers, managers, and their implications for public policy, markets and marketing.
Silvia Bellezza is an Associate Professor of Business in Marketing at Columbia Business School. Her research focuses on status signaling in consumption. Specifically, her work examines traditional status signals (e.g., conventional luxury brands and products) and alternative status signals (e.g., minimalism, vintage, sustainable luxury).
Political connections to a regime with an authoritarian history present a dilemma for firms during a democratic transition. Such connections provide an essential competitive advantage when the regime is in power but become a liability when a democratic transition results in regime change. This study theorizes that when mass protests expose the regime’s policy distortion and signal a high probability of regime turnover, firms may hedge against the risks associated with their political connections by engaging in philanthropy.
Advancements in data analytics and increased access to consumer data have revolutionized companies’ price discrimination capabilities. These technological advancements have not only changed how prices are determined but also who determines them, with companies increasingly relying on algorithms rather than humans to set prices. We examine consumers’ fairness perceptions of demographic price discrimination—a prevalent yet controversial practice that can trigger considerable consumer backlash—and find that it depends on who is responsible for setting prices.
With multinational corporations (MNCs) increasingly taking public stances on sociopolitical issues such as immigration, LGBTQ+ rights, and racism, it is imperative that International Business (IB) research keeps pace with normative societal debates. In this paper, we introduce the concept of corporate sociopolitical activism (SPA) to the IB literature and develop theory on why MNCs consistently or inconsistently engage in SPA in response to the same issue in their home country and a host country.
The extent of future climate change is largely a policy choice. We illuminate this choice with climate policy curves (CPCs), which link climate policies to subsequent global temperatures. The estimated downward sloping CPCs highlight the key trade-off between initial policy ambition, expressed via an overall effective carbon price, and the subsequent policy burden left for future generations. We also demonstrate how different CPCs can illustrate the range of climate policy paths towards attaining the Paris Agreement temperature goals.
Immigrants are highly entrepreneurial. But, what is the broader relationship between high-skilled immigration and regional entrepreneurship activity beyond the ventures that immigrants establish themselves? Using administrative data on newly awarded H-1B visas in the United States, we document a positive relationship between highskilled immigration and regional entrepreneurship. A doubling of immigrants to a metropolitan statistical area is followed by a 6% increase in entrepreneurship within three years.
We propose that social-media users’ own post histories are an underused yet valuable resource for studying fake-news sharing. By extracting textual cues from their prior posts, and contrasting their prevalence against random social-media users and others (e.g., those with similar socio-demographics, political news-sharers, and fact-check sharers), researchers can identify cues that distinguish fake-news sharers, predict those most likely to share fake news, and identify promising constructs to build interventions. Our research includes studies along these lines.
Non-informational cues, such as facial expressions, can significantly influence judgments and interpersonal impressions. While past research has explored how smiling affects business outcomes in offline or in-store contexts, relatively less is known about how smiling influences consumer choice in e-commerce settings even when there is no face-to-face interaction.
Previous research has shown that consumers respond differently to decisions made by humans versus algorithms. Many tasks, however, are not performed by humans anymore but entirely by algorithms. In fact, consumers increasingly encounter algorithm-controlled products, such as robotic vacuum cleaners or smart refrigerators, which are steered by different types of algorithms. Building on insights from computer science and consumer research on algorithm perception, this research investigates how consumers respond to different types of algorithms within these products.