Holiday season

Jennifer Aaker
Xerox Distinguished Professor of Knowledge, Haas School of Business Marketing Group
Phone: (510) 642-4023
E-mail: jaaker@has.berkeley.edu
Media Relations contacts: Ute Frey, (510) 643-0342 or frey@haas.berkeley.edu, or Ronna Kelly, rkelly@haas.berkeley.edu or (510) 643-0259
Expertise: In early December, shoppers have the luxury of time to contemplate the perfect holiday gifts for their loved ones. Fast forward to Dec. 24, and the prospect of waking up the next day empty-handed may weigh more heavily than any grandiose notion of finding the perfect present. Suddenly, getting a gift that is merely "not bad" is of paramount concern. When time is short, consumers settle for products that are just good enough rather than products billed as having a special zing, according to Aaker, who examines such consumer behavior in a forthcoming journal article. Her research interests include time, money and happiness; culture; emotions and the psychology of brand relationships.

Louis Bucklin
Professor emeritus, Haas School of Business Marketing Group
Office phone: (925) 284-4029
E-mail: pbucklin@haas.berkeley.edu
Media Relations contacts: Ute Frey, (510) 643-0342 or frey@haas.berkeley.edu, or Ronna Kelly, rkelly@haas.berkeley.edu or (510) 643-0259
Expertise: Christmas items are cropping up on store shelves earlier each year, and this year, Christmas ornaments were spotted just an aisle away from Halloween costumes. Bucklin says the trend is similar to a price war where one retailer cuts prices and then another one cuts them even lower. The customer may gain, but not necessarily the retailer. While Bucklin does not forecast or comment on holiday sales and specific products, he can talk about retail competition, innovation and trends.

Aaron Edlin
Richard Jennings Professor of Economics and Law
Phone: (510) 642-4719
E-mail: edlin@econ.berkeley.edu
Media Relations contact: Kathleen Maclay, (510) 643-5651 or kmaclay@berkeley.edu
Expertise: During this season of holiday giving and altruism, one might wonder why  people don't give more to charity. One reason is that the problems will be there whether individuals give or not, says Edlin. He offers up a policy – inspired by the matching grants that charities use so effectively – that could actually make a real difference. Edlin has written in a recent edition of the journal The Economists' Voice about "The Choose-your-Charity Tax: A Way to Incentivize Greater Giving."

Ganesh Iyer
Edgar F. Kaiser Professor of Business Administration, Haas School of Business Marketing Group
Office: (510) 643-4328
E-mail: iyer@haas.berkeley.edu
Media Relations contacts: Ute Frey, (510) 643-0342 or frey@haas.berkeley.edu, or Ronna Kelly, rkelly@haas.berkeley.edu or (510) 643-0259
Expertise: Consumers shopping online will benefit from checking Internet shopping search engines first before going to a retailer's Web site in order to find the best price, says Iyer. Comparison shopping search sites allow for easy comparison of the same products and also negate the challenges consumers may face in remembering different prices and deals available at individual retailers, Iyer adds. His research interests include Internet institutions and competition, marketing institutions and competition, and competitive marketing strategy.

John Morgan
Gary & Sherron Kalbach Professor of Haas School of Business Administration, Haas School of Business Economic Analysis and Public Policy Group
Phone: (510) 642-2669
E-mail: morgan@haas.berkeley.edu
Media Relations contacts: Ute Frey, (510) 643-0342 or frey@haas.berkeley.edu, or Ronna Kelly, rkelly@haas.berkeley.edu or (510) 643-0259
Expertise: Morgan advises consumers to look for hidden charges this shopping season. "Shipping charges can be hazardous to your wealth," says Morgan, who studies competition in online markets. In addition to online retailers charging for shipping, airlines are adding hidden energy fees to ticket prices, and hotels are charging guests just for having a phone in their room, he points out. "Read the fine print," Morgan warns. "The savvy consumer is not just the one who looks for the lowest base price, but the one who looks at the lowest total price." His research interests include online markets and competition.

Priya Raghubir
Haas School of Business associate professor of marketing
Phone: (925) 631-1485
E-mail: raghubir@haas.berkeley.edu
Media Relations contacts: Ute Frey, (510) 643-0342 or frey@haas.berkeley.edu, or Ronna Kelly, rkelly@haas.berkeley.edu or (510) 643-0259
Expertise: Raghubir has two gift-giving predictions for this holiday season: an increase in pet product and pet accessory sales and an increase in people giving each other "experiences," such as massages or travel. "I think people may be 'consumer-gooded out' and will want to give something different that won't just add to useless clutter in the house," Raghubir says. Most people under-consume "experiences" as they are viewed as hedonic and luxurious, which makes people feel guilty buying them for themselves, she adds. "Therefore, with an experience, you can give a gift that people would really like – and that they would remember – but would not have bought for themselves," Raghubir says.