"The decline of Consumer 'irrationality' - the new reality in Marketing"
Stanford professor Itamar Simonson spent much of his career showing that consumers tend to act irrationally and their preferences are highly malleable. But a few years ago he started having second thoughts in light of the Internet and the changing consumer environment. In this talk he will discuss the rise in consumer rationality and the decline of current marketing mantras about branding and loyalty. Contrary to the now prevalent belief that consumers usually make irrational decisions and can be easily influenced (which he helped establish), Simonson will show how everything changes when consumers base their decisions on reviews from other users, easily accessed expert opinions, price comparison apps, and other emerging technologies. Instead of relying on often unreliable proxies such as brand names, prior experience and loyalty, or price, consumers can make decisions based on the products’ “Absolute Value.” Based on his new book Absolute Value (with Emanuel Rosen) Simonson will present the far reaching implications of the changes in consumer decision making for marketing and management, including positioning, persuasion, market research, and influence more generally.
About our speaker.
Itamar Simonson is coauthor of the new book ABSOLUTE VALUE: What Really Influences Customers in the Age of (Nearly) Perfect Information (HarperBusiness) He is the Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. His award-winning work has provided new insights into consumer choice, the factors that drive buyer decisions, the limits of customization, and other central marketing issues. At Stanford Dr. Simonson has taught MBA courses on marketing management, marketing to businesses, and technology marketing, and PhD courses on consumer behavior, consumer research methods, and decision making. Itamar serves on eight editorial boards of leading marketing and decision making journals and his work has been featured in The New York Times, andWashington Post. More at www.absolutevaluebook.com
Organizing team
