To help consumers deal with increasing amounts of information, many online retailers offer simple decision aids, such as the ability to sort products on a particular product attribute. Intuitively, such aids should help consumers but, in a recent article, Nicholas Lurie and a colleague at City University of Hong Kong show that simple decision aids can hurt consumers’ ability to make good decisions.
Whether decision aids help or hurt depends on the extent to which choices involve tradeoffs among attributes. For example, a consumer buying a laptop might want a large screen and lots of memory. If large screen laptops usually come with lots of memory then using a decision aid to sort on screen size will help the consumer choose the best laptop for her. However if, instead, the consumer wants a large screen and light weight laptop, and large screen laptops tend to be heavy, sorting on screen size will not enhance choice. The authors suggest that consumers use simple decision aids as substitutes for cognitive effort and find that the more consumers use such aids, the lower the quality of their decisions. Providing consumers with multiple decision aids, such as the ability to eliminate as well as sort products, is one way to overcome the negative aspects of such aids.
In many consumption settings (e.g., restaurants, casinos, theme parks), individuals consume products either alone or with their peers (e.g., friends and/or family members). In such settings, it is likely that through social influence, a consumer’s decision on what to purchase or how much to consume is influenced by the purchase or consumption decisions of their peers.
Marketing researchers have had much interest in measuring such social influence and were primarily focused in estimating how one’s behavior (e.g., how much to spend) is influenced by the behavior of the peer. However, a consumer could not only be affected by the peer’s behavior, but also by other events that influence the peer to change his/her behavior. For example, if the peer gets a promotion, but the focal consumer does not, the focal consumer might judge the differential treatment to be unfair and react negatively. Another mechanism by which social influence could operate could be when the peer is physically present, but does not engage in the behavior under question. In other words, the peer’s presence could directly affect the focal consumer’s consumption behavior as the lack of consumption by the peer may signal a subtle or transient change in preferences. In response to this, the focal consumer may modify her behavior.
The authors develop an empirical model that allows them to identify all three effects simultaneously and apply it to behavioral data from a casino setting. The data comprise detailed gambling activity for a panel of individuals at a single casino over a two-year period. The results show that all three types of peer effects exist. The results also indicate that accounting for these peer effects simultaneously and identifying them at an individual level could help marketing managers draw up better guidelines for promotion policies as well as policy makers implement a more informed regulatory regime for the casino industry.
Policy and Medicine – Stringent conflicts-of-interest policies keep many experts off of FDA advisory committees. A new study suggests that the fear of pro-industry bias underlying these policies may be misplaced, and also serves to keep highly qualified candidates off of these committees.
James C. Cooper, director of research and policy at the Law and Economics Center at George Mason Law School and Joseph Golec, professor of Finance of the University of Connecticut, who conducted the study, sought to compare conflicted members’ voting patterns with objective criteria. They found that decisions by advisory committees with conflicted members to recommend drugs were more likely to be consistent with both the ultimate FDA decision as well as stock market predictions than non-conflicted advisory committees and members.
This article first appeared in the UConn Business magazine, Volume 4, Issue 1 (Winter 2014)
The entrepreneurial spirit has always been a part of the fabric of the State of Connecticut. We are, after all, home to the first hamburger, the original lobster roll, the Wiffle Ball and the Frisbee, the sewing machine and color TV. More recently, Connecticut innovators created the first nuclear submarine and the first artificial heart. Continue Reading
Pictured L to R: Margaret Luciano, a 2015 Ph.D. candidate and Professor John Mathieu
John Mathieu, a professor of management who is described as funny, kind, academically demanding and willing to ‘go the extra mile’ for his students, has earned the Edward C. Marth Mentorship Award for leadership and dedication.
The award, given to a UConn faculty member who teaches at the graduate level, is designed to encourage and reward outstanding mentoring of graduate students. Mathieu has been at the University since 1999 and is the Friar Chair in Leadership and Teams.
“It’s flattering to receive this award,” said Mathieu, who has chaired 19 dissertations and participated in 29 dissertation committees during his career. “It’s a privilege and an honor to get to work with Ph.D. students who are growing into scholars and then embarking on their careers.”
Sulin Ba, associate dean at the School of Business, said Mathieu is very deserving of the award. “His graduate students have been extremely successful. Both current and former students, and his faculty colleagues, testify to his commitment to his students and their careers,” she said. “His work is an inspiration to us all.”
Mathieu earned his bachelor’s in psychology from UConn, and both his masters in psychology and doctorate in industrial/organizational psychology from Old Dominion University. He taught at The Pennsylvania State University until 1999, when he joined the faculty at UConn.
“My experience is that the harder I work with graduate students, the harder they in turn work. It’s exhausting but exhilarating,” Mathieu said. “I find out where they are—and then I keep raising the bar. And they respond and do great things.”
Lauren D’Innocenzo, ’14 Ph.D., an assistant professor in management at Drexel University, described Mathieu as the epitome of an outstanding mentor.
“It is no coincidence that John Mathieu’s students present more papers at academic conferences, win more awards, and publish more papers in top-tier journal outlets,” she said. “John demands the best from his students, not only in publishing quality but in terms of professional demeanor and ethical responsibilities.”
M. Travis Maynard, ’07 Ph.D., an associate professor at Colorado State University and one of Mathieu’s former students, agreed. “I am constantly impressed with John’s passion for what he does as an academician. One of John’s greatest strengths is his predisposition to expect quite a bit from his students. The fact that John has such high expectations for us, makes us raise our performance, because we don’t want to let John down.”
David Souder, a management professor and Ph.D. coordinator, said Mathieu also sets the ‘gold standard’ for his faculty peers.
“Everyone knows that John’s seminars are demanding, and yet I often hear laughter coming from the seminar room,” Souder said. “This is because John has a gift for expressing high-level academic concepts in a down-to-earth way.
“John remains a popular choice as a dissertation-committee member because of his clear thinking, methodological expertise and developmental approach,” Souder said. He noted that all of the students advised by Mathieu in recent years have completed high-level publications during their time at UConn and have accepted positions at prominent research universities.
Meanwhile, Professor Gary Powell, former academic director of the School of Business Ph.D. Program, said that Mathieu has tried hard to reduce gender inequalities in the academic profession. He makes sure his students are aware of starting salaries in their fields and encourages them to demand a fair wage.
“I have the utmost admiration for how Professor Mathieu mentors doctoral students,” Powell said. “I cannot imagine anyone doing it better.”
Many of his former students paint a picture of a professor who is genuinely interested in their well-being.
“John genuinely cares about the success and happiness of his students,” added D’Innocenzo. “He is always looking out for opportunities, whether it is to learn a new skill, meet potential collaborators, or aide in finding an academic position.” He goes the extra mile to foster relationships with others in the field, she said.
Margaret Luciano, a 2015 Ph.D. candidate who has accepted a job at the Arizona State University, describes Mathieu as a tireless advocate for his students. “John mentors graduate students to be able to conduct their own research, not merely to help conduct his research,” she said.
Mathieu said one of his first goals when meeting a new student is to find an area of research that is most meaningful to him or her. He said he then looks for opportunities to pair people up on projects, adding that a network can be incredibly valuable in developing skills and career options.
“I must admit that one of the things that I am proudest of, is the fact that there is now a cadre of UConn graduates who help one another. They look out for one another, they collaborate with one another, and they share their networks and their insights,” he said, fondly referring to them as the “Husky Pack.” “I get great pleasure when colleagues from other institutions tell me how nice, professional and skilled my graduates are.”
Mathieu said he enjoys watching them transition to their own program and that it is like a parent watching their children go off into the world.
Maynard said he still contacts Mathieu for valuable advice.
“While it has been seven years since I graduated from UConn, John and I continue to work together and he still is a mentor for me in several ways,” Maynard said. “John is always quick to respond to any question that I may have—be it research-focused of simply career development advice.”
Mathieu said doctoral students have different needs than, for instance, undergrads. Many are juggling their doctoral work with marriage, children and mortgages. “They’ve got bigger life stresses than they did as undergraduates,” he said. “They have real lives and a lot of people depending on them. I feel it is important not only to support the student, but to help the entire person.”
In fact, instead of accepting the $4,000 stipend that comes with the award, Mathieu has requested it be put in a special fund to help doctoral students with expenses related to their studies.
“These adults are going through many of life’s challenges and critical periods—and they are stressed,’ Mathieu said. “And they, in turn, are going to soon be in positions where they influence many other lives. My goal is to also help them to become compassionate and good human beings, not just researchers and classroom teachers.”
D’Innocenzo said she has adopted some of her former professor’s style.
“As a new faculty member, I only hope that I am able to provide the same mentorship for my students as he has done for me,” she said.
The distinct chill in the air tells us it’s that time of year again. As classes come to an end, study areas crowd with students preparing for this week’s finals.
As the year closes, it’s a pleasure to look back at the many accomplishments of our students, academically and beyond. These accomplishments would not be possible without the daily efforts of faculty, staff and students who create and maintain a great environment for learning and growth. Thank you.
Take a moment to watch “Decking the Halls,” featuring President Herbst, Provost Mun Choi, some of our coaches, Jonathan the Husky, and many more, as we celebrate this festive season.
In a recent research Kunter Gunasti and his-coauthor show that consumers prefer products labeled with brand names including round numbers (e.g., Centrum 100 multivitamins) to those including non-round numbers (e.g., Centrum 103). A systematic investigation of alphanumeric brand names used in numerous product categories indicates that round numbers such as 10, 50, 100, etc. are over-represented in the marketplace. Regardless of the product category, consumers have more favorable judgments and higher preferences of brand names including round numbers.Continue Reading
The multifaceted role of multinational corporations as quasi-regulators is of growing importance to international business. Corporations increasingly participate in two kinds of international rulemaking: (i) non-binding “soft” law standard setting; and (ii) self-regulation through private rules and standards. Soft law and private regulation often fill governance gaps left by incomplete and/or ineffective governmental regulation. One of the most prominent examples is sustainability rulemaking, in which corporations have become increasingly active due to their growing awareness of the directly-borne costs of environmental degradation and the potential strategic benefits of corporate social responsibility.Continue Reading
Many people think of the human brain as like a giant filing cabinet. Just open the right drawer, pull out a folder, and it will be loaded with all the information you need.
In fact, retrieving information is more like going on an archaeological dig, said G. Christian Jernstedt, professor emeritus of psychological and brain sciences at Dartmouth College.
“We find fragments and we assemble them into something meaningful,” he said. “That’s why we rummage around in our brains for the answers. Sometimes there isn’t even a correct answer. It’s the thinking that is the important part.”
Jernstedt spoke to 60 faculty and graduate students Oct. 31 at a workshop titled, “Perspectives on Learning, Teaching and the Brain.” Jernstedt specializes in human learning and speaks around the world about cognitive, social, behavioral and educational neurosciences.
During the full-day workshop, he talked about emerging research on increasing the ability to learn, building effective learning habits, and different ways to evaluate what has been learned.
Management Professor Travis Grosser said the lecture was fascinating. “I wanted to learn more about how the brain works and how to apply that knowledge in the classroom,” he said. “I appreciate that the School of Business is helping us become better teachers and helping us grow and develop our professional skills.”
Some 150,000 articles and books have been written about the human brain in recent years, Jernstedt said. Among his findings is that the more engaged a person is, the more active their learning becomes.
“Memory is constructed, it isn’t a passive situation. If it is an active process, it works,” he said. “The person who is ‘doing’ is the person who is learning.”
That’s why taking notes is more effective than listening; why talking to others is better than learning alone, he said.
What happens when you use an area of the brain a great deal? Before GPS was widely used, London cabbies had to study maps of the city until they knew every road. For them, the centers of the brain that learn place, direction and navigation blossomed. “When you use the brain, it changes,” he said.
But while some changes are universal, every individual learns differently. In fact, the human brain is a bit like a novelist, Jernstedt said.
“Our brain makes up stories about reality,” he said. “Our stories vary by experience. We all see things differently.”
For an example, he showed an abstract picture of a man and woman engaged in an embrace. When the same picture was shown to young children, they saw porpoises in the photo because their frame of reference is different, he said.
“So when we develop courses, programs and schools, it is important to recognize that how people code and retain information varies, depending what’s happened to them,” Jernstedt said.
The human brain contains 20 billion cells just for thinking, he said, yet we are most successful when we tackle one task at a time. “People who say they ‘multitask’ either do it poorly, or are really shifting between tasks,” he said.
Research by a jam-and-jelly company also indicates that too many options are overwhelming. On the days when customers could sample 20 or more types of jam, only 3 percent bought the product. When offered only five varieties, 30 percent of the customers purchased jam. Too many choices leads to indecision, he said.
In another analogy, Jernstedt noted that the tiger beetle runs about 5 1/2 miles per hour, but it does so in bursts, and then freezes, because its brain is filled up and it needs to rest it. Likewise, it is important for humans to take intellectual breaks in the classroom, and for faculty to build in time for students to process and reflect, he said.
The human brain is a powerful tool, he said. “This organ can do extraordinary things when we find out how to use it,” he said. With practice, people can even change the speed at which the brain operates.
Marketing Professor David Norton said he attended the workshop because he was interested in strategies to help his students. “We are asking them to learn a great deal in a rather short amount of time,” he said. “I’m interested in anything that helps to communicate that information more efficiently.”
“The biggest opportunity is to bridge science with practice,” said Management Professor Kevin Thompson, noting that students tend to retain only about 10 or 15 percent of what they hear in a lecture. “I’m here to find out what we can take away to help or improve learning for our students.”
How do credit card companies decide when to boost your credit line or send you a new-card solicitation in the mail?
And how do banks save millions by carefully managing their cash reserves?
Professor Suresh Nair has worked on these, and other pivotal business-research issues, as a means to enhance his knowledge as an educator and as the associate dean for graduate programs at the UConn School of Business.
A project-based, research-focused sabbatical at a large company can be a wonderful alternative to a more traditional academic sabbatical experience, Professor Nair said.
Not only did his sabbaticals in industry save tens of millions of dollars for companies, he has also received research awards, started a company with seed funding from the National Science Foundation, and transformed and strengthened his teaching.
“This is a largely unexplored opportunity for our faculty,” Professor Nair said following his well-received presentation to more than 50 colleagues this fall. “I’ve participated in sabbaticals at General Electric, Merrill Lynch and Booz & Co., and have had excellent experiences.
“I wanted to use my sabbaticals to pick up new skills. Going back to industry helped me stay on top of current issues in financial services, healthcare and entrepreneurship, and also gave me the opportunity to help these companies achieve their goals,” he said. “I left each of my three sabbaticals with new topics to research, and many ‘war stories’ to share in the classroom.”
To a consumer, credit-card solicitations by mail (sometimes derisively called junk mail) may seem like a random process, Professor Nair said. In fact, it is very complex. Who gets offered a credit card, and at what rate, involves complicated analytics, Professor Nair said.
“A company may start out with 10 million contacts and narrow them down to a million or fewer,” Professor Nair said. “The marketing experts want more customers and the risk experts want fewer. If you go to a store and you’re close to your credit limit, and you want to buy furniture, how does the bank determine if it should increase your credit line? If they don’t, you’ll use another card. If they hike it up too much, they risk higher losses if you become delinquent.”
Professor Nair helped create an algorithm—using credit scores and other factors—to determine who would qualify for a credit increase. His work was so sophisticated and unique that it won the coveted Wagner Prize.
During another sabbatical, Professor Nair worked at Merrill Lynch, delving into research of banking reserves.
“The Federal Reserve requires banks to set aside about 10 percent of your checking account balances as reserves. The bank cannot invest these funds and gets very little interest on it from the Fed,” Professor Nair said. “This rule comes from the Depression era, to prevent a run on banks. However, it means that banks have millions of dollars that they can’t invest.”
Professor Nair helped Merrill Lynch optimize its “sweeps” program to save $4 million a year.
The program was so successful that Professor Nair wanted to develop a similar product for smaller banks. He began a successful start-up in South Windsor using a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant from the National Science Foundation.
“It gave me a good experience, the satisfaction of making payroll and creating and commercializing a new product,” he said. “It never would have happened without my sabbatical. It gave me a unique perspective as the founder of a company.”
Professor Nair said he began searching for sabbatical opportunities about a year prior to his leave, and that he was selective in the ones he considered. He found that industry was very welcoming, and wondered why more faculty don’t take advantage of similar opportunities. Industry is happy to host sabbaticals, since they are inexpensive to the firm, as long as an educator can demonstrate a skill that will complement and add value to the company.
Professor Nair worked on his sabbaticals without pay from the firm, since UConn continued to pay salary, asking that the corporations only cover his lodging and travel expenses. At the completion of his sabbatical, some of the companies asked that he continue his work as a paid consultant.
“It is difficult work,” he said. “I asked to be treated like an employee, with the badge, the email, the off-site meetings and everything. Sometimes I worked very long hours and I was away from home at least four days a week. It may not be for everyone. But the opportunities you get, and the real-life exposure to business problems and issues, really can’t be experienced any other way.”
After his presentation, many UConn colleagues said his work was eye-opening and that they would consider a similar, alternative sabbatical.
Professor Nair acknowledged that there is some trepidation on the part of faculty, who are under pressure to publish and might find an industry sabbatical a distraction. But Professor Nair has demonstrated that excellent published papers in top journals can result, and allayed some of those fears through his presentation.
“I felt I could navigate a path which would provide both research expertise, topics for publication, and also improve my teaching,” he said. “To me, it hit all the sweet spots I wanted.”
