Dr. Kimberlee Josephson is an Associate Professor of Business at Lebanon Valley College in Annville, Pennsylvania, and a Research Fellow for the Consumer Choice Center.
The principle of free exchange—also known as the trader principle—is one of the most important aspects of a market economy, and perhaps no brand exemplifies it better than the Klondike Bar. For over a century, a chocolate covered block of ice cream has been delighting customers and, since the 1980s, the brand has been asking:...
Change can be a challenge for industry giants, and new ideas are sometimes hard to come by for established and incumbent firms. Competitive inertia and NIH syndrome (a marketing acronym for Not Invented Here) can creep in since focus is placed on maintaining sales and status rather than taking chances. Classic examples include Kodak’s initial...
Unlike startups that are expected to take risks, get messy, and challenge the status quo, larger established firms inherit what could be considered golden handcuffs, given that success can make change a challenge. Indeed, care must be taken not to rock the boat for stockholders or tarnish the brand equity that has been established among...
One of my first full-time jobs outside of college was working in the jewelry industry at Harry Winston in Manhattan. The experience I gained as a sales assistant, working at the historical house of Winston, expanded my understanding of the power of a brand. The amount of money customers would spend on a Harry Winston...
The global e-commerce market is growing at an impressive rate. Amazon is undoubtedly the sector’s leader with a roughly 37 percent market share, but new competition is always on the rise. Sites like AliExpress (China), Rakuten (Japan), and Flipkart (India) are just a few of the new e-commerce platforms attracting attention and new shoppers. Temu...