Marketing Group Seminar Series 2025-26
Our Research Seminar Series showcases cutting-edge work from leading scholars in marketing and related fields. These seminars offer a unique opportunity to engage with high-impact research, spark meaningful conversations, and explore new ideas that push the boundaries of knowledge.
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Seminar |
Title & Abstract |
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Prof. Jan-Benedict Steenkamp (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) 23 Oct 2025 13:30-15:00 Scarman 2.005/6 |
Title: A Global Investigation into the Evolution of Price, Assortment, and Distribution Effectiveness. Abstract: This study investigates how the effectiveness of three core marketing-mix instruments—price, assortment, and distribution—evolves over time across brands, categories, and countries using the Empirics-First approach to relevant knowledge generation (Golder et al. 2023). The authors analyze household panel data covering over 16,000 brands in 85 consumer packaged goods categories for on average 10 years across 34 countries in Asia, Europe, North America and South America. They adopt a rolling-window estimation approach to derive time-varying elasticities, followed by meta-analytic modeling to identify systematic drivers of change. Averaged across time, brand price elasticity is -.640, assortment elasticity is .311, and distribution elasticity is .213. However, time-invariant averages have limited meaning given that 98.5% of brands exhibit significant evolution in at least one instrument’s elasticity. Substantial heterogeneity in trends emerges, moderated by brand, category, and country factors. The single most important predictor for all three instruments is the brand’s baseline elasticity. The stronger the elasticity, the larger its downward trend. Brand power and whether the brand is a local brand emerge as other key factors. Consumer purchase frequency and share-of-wallet are stronger category predictors of elasticity trajectories than retailer factors such as e-commerce penetration, hard-discount share and private label share. Findings challenge static allocation rules and underscore the need for dynamic, elasticity-based resource allocation in brand management. |
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Dr. Jonathan Berman (London Business School) 11 Nov 2025 12:30-14:00 Scarman 3.007 |
Title: Preferences for No-Punishment Tolerance Zones in Policy-Making. Abstract: Policy-makers often face a trade-off between enforcing rules strictly and offering flexibility. While being strict can effectively regulate anti-social behaviour, it is often met with disapproval for restricting personal freedoms. We propose that formalized tolerance zones—defined ranges beyond a stated limit where behaviour is permitted without penalty—can foster strict behavioural regulation alongside enhanced public approval. We find that participants consistently preferred policies with tolerance zones over those without, even when the punishment threshold remains the same. Tolerance zones also led to harsher moral judgments of others who violated stated limits (even when doing so does not meet a punishment threshold). We additionally isolate factors that lead to disapproval for tolerance zones. Findings from this research offer insights for designing effective, publicly supported behavioural regulation. |
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Dr. Adriana Samper (Arizona State University) 12 Feb 2026 |
Title: TBD. Abstract: TBD. |
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Prof. Yael Steinhart (Tel Aviv University) 18 Feb 2026 |
Title: TBD. Abstract: TBD.
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Prof. Rebecca Hamilton (Georgetown University) 23-24 Feb 2026 |
Title: TBD. Abstract: TBD.
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Prof. Martin Schreier (WU Vienna) 4-6 March 2026 |
Title: TBD. Abstract: TBD.
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Prof. Anne-Kathrin Klesse (Erasmus University) 11-12 Mar 2026 |
Title: TBD. Abstract: TBD. |
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Dr. Carl-Philip Ahlbom (Florida State University) 16-17 March 2026 |
Title: TBD. Abstract: TBD.
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We invite faculty, students, and practitioners alike to join us for these stimulating sessions. Whether you’re here to learn, network, and challenge ideas, the seminar series is the perfect space to engage with world-class research.
Seminar Coordinator:
Dr. Miaolei Jia
E: Miaolei.Jia@wbs.ac.uk