Consumer behavior

Leaders must leverage and develop diverse talent in 2014.

It's the busiest time of year for North Pole Workshops. Production is in high gear, and the elves are on overtime in the sprint toward Christmas. But...

Consumers today connect with brands in fundamentally new ways, often through media channels that are beyond manufacturers' and retailers' control. That...

A Counterpoint: In "Old Habits Die Hard, but They Do Die," Rita Gunther McGrath argues that although the theory of cumulative advantage makes sense in...

Gender and age trends are redefining the “standard” career trajectory.

When consumers buy online, they spend more.

The value of many products and services rises or falls with the number of customers using them; the fewer fax machines in use, the less important it is...

Despite the $11 billion spent on CRM software annually, many consumer companies don't understand customer relationships at all. They aren't aware of the...

Consumers these days prefer authenticity to purity, so brands should capitalize on their flaws, or "shadow" attributes.

Three actions policymakers and business leaders can take today.

The prices we encounter in the course of making a purchase can affect how much we're willing to pay for a given product--even when the goods involved...

What makes you unique can help you get ahead.

Marketers often worry that performance marketing and its focus on short-term sales is crowding out brand-building activities aimed at enhancing customer...

Major business trends such as deregulation, globalization, technological convergence, and the rapid evolution of the Internet have transformed the roles...

As technology becomes more powerful and affordable, your company is only limited by its imagination.

Intuit chairman Scott Cook attributes much of his company's success to the decision to design Quicken, Intuit's personal-finance software, to work like...

Two Company Strategies: Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, cochairman of the LEGO Brand Group, built his company's cumulative advantage by mining the emotional connection...

Companies that introduce sustainable offerings face a frustrating paradox: Most consumers report positive attitudes toward eco-friendly products and services,...

How well do you really understand the world beyond your own country’s borders? Do you value all human beings equally or are you more sympathetic toward people who are closer and more similar to you? What does it matter for business and for society? Several readers of my previous post have commented that mindsets or […]

Your strategy should be driven by relationship-building — not shiny new tech.