A major challenge exists in sponsorships. They are typically long-term and don’t lead to immediate sales, so how can a marketer demonstrate value from sponsorships? MASB, the Marketing Accountability Standards Board, tackles this problem in their new book — Sponsorship Accountability. Demonstrating Value From Sponsorships One of the challenges with sponsorship accountability is that there…
People Are Generally Reasonable Decision-Makers
An interesting discussion in behavioral science is the nature of humans as decision-makers. There often seems to be an assumption in the literature that people are terrible decision-makers. Consumers, members of the public, and voters are seen as battered by a host of errors and biases. This is partly because papers showing people making a…
Bias And Public Policy Discussions
Reading Zeke Hernandez’s excellent book, The Truth About Immigration, makes clear some challenges we experience given bias in public policy discussions. All of us have — to a greater or lesser extent — a skewed view of the world. This can impact public policy when enough of us have the same skewed views. We might…
A Positive Case For Immigration
Zeke Hernandez’s book The Truth About Immigration tackles one of the most contentious topics in modern politics. He examines the impact of immigration on society. Critically, he advocates for a view based upon a better understanding of the impact of immigration on the societies that receive people. In doing so he makes a positive case…
Negative Externalities Reduce Public Welfare
Christoper Marquis has a follow-up to his book on the B Corp movement, see here. This has many of the same qualities I admired in the earlier book. The best bits explain how business can be better. He has some excellent examples where businesses are making a positive contribution to the world. That said, the…
Choosing Between Spending Points And Cash
Our recent paper in Psychology and Marketing looked at whether people prefer to use loyalty points or cash for various types of purchases. How does what the consumers are buying influence them when choosing between spending points and cash? The central questions answered in this research are, “For what, and when, do consumers prefer to…
The UN SDGS And Consumer Research
The UN SDGs (sustainable development goals) are 17 goals members of the United Nations suggest that we need to achieve to deliver a better planet. These goals are not just environmental; they reflect the fact that to have a sustainable planet we need to make it better for all people. We need peace and prosperity…
Can There Be Sustainable Marketing?
Sustainable Marketing is a goal for many in the field nowadays. Michelle Carvill, Gemma Butler, and Geraint Evans, in their 2021 book, Sustainable Marketing, aim to help this become a reality and not the oxymoron that some might assume the term to be. Can there be sustainable marketing? Yes, but it won’t just happen. We…
A New Type Of MBA
The people at LIFT Economy offer a new type of MBA. (Lift Economy includes Ryan Honeyman who co-wrote the B Corp handbook, see here). This Next Economy MBA aims to provide a different/better type of business education. MBA Advice The team covers some standard issues like pricing. The book rightly points out the problem that…
Academics Must Do Good Work To Be Relevant
Sustainability reporting is a major, and contentious, topic. I wholeheartedly encourage academics to engage in topics like this — they matter. In theory, such engagement makes academic work extremely relevant. Consultants produce reports but sometimes these are over-optimistic, biased, or just plain wrong. This means academics can have an important place in improving the quality…