Grant Packard

Packard, Grant and David B. Wooten (forthcoming), "Compensatory Knowledge Signaling in Consumer Word-of-Mouth," Journal of Consumer Psychology. Download Article

-Winner, Best Competitive Paper Award, SCP 2011

Abstract: This paper extends prior research on the link between consumer knowledge beliefs and word-of-mouth transmission. Findings from four studies suggest that people symbolically compensate for unfavorable discrepancies they perceive between their actual and ideal consumer knowledge through greater intentions to transmit their product knowledge and heightened efforts to signal enhanced knowledgeability in their word-of-mouth transmissions. Compensatory knowledge signaling is moderated by the self-concept relevance (psychological closeness) of the word-of-mouth target and lay beliefs in the self-enhancement benefits of transmitting product knowledge. Content analysis of participants' product communications further supports our knowledge signaling account of the behavior. The relationship between actual:ideal knowledge discrepancies and heightened word-of-mouth intentions is mediated by the specific negative emotion previously linked to actual:ideal self-discrepancies. Overall, the findings suggest that the relationship between consumer knowledge and word-of-mouth transmission depends not only on what you think you know, but also on what you wish you knew.

"Social Dollars: The Economic Impact of Consumer Participation in a Firm-Sponsored Online Community" with Puneet Manchanda and Adithya Pattabhiramaiah. Invited for revision (2nd round) at Marketing Science. Download Working Paper

-"Top Ten Download" lists at SSRN in eJournals: eBusiness & eCommerce, Economics of Networks, and Organizations & Markets, 2012

- Featured in Booz & Co's strategy+business online magazine, April 2012

- Marketing Science Institute Working Paper, 11-115

Abstract: Many firms operate brand-specific social networks or “communities” online. This is motivated by the belief that community members become more engaged with the brand, and as a result, increase their activity with the firm. We label the revenue generated from this activity as “social dollars.” This research tests for the existence and magnitude of social dollars via a difference-in-differences estimator using data from a multi-channel entertainment products retailer that launched an online brand community. We find that 19% of the post-launch revenue from community customers can be attributed to their joining the community. This result is robust across a variety of tests. In addition, social dollars persist over time, arise in both online and offline channels and affect all product categories sold by the firm. Regression analysis reveals that social connections – the number and importance of friend ties – and interactions – personal page displays – are positively linked to social dollars.

"Beyond Truth and Lies: Evasion as a Response to Unfavorable Social Comparisons" with Christine Kang and David B. Wooten. Under review.

Abstract: We extend research on consumer lying by examining evasion as an alternative to deception for consumers who are reluctant to reveal inconvenient truths. Evidence from a series of studies suggests that evasion is a viable tactic for managing information about unfavorable social comparisons. Embarrassment mediated the relationships between unfavorable social comparisons and intentions to both evade and deceive in response to queries that have the potential to reveal consumer performance disparities. The presence of an interaction partner who has potentially discrediting information reduces consumers' intentions to deceive (but not evade), while the perceived persistence of an interaction partner reduces consumers' intentions to evade (but not deceive). Overall, our findings support evasion as a distinct and viable approach to protecting the self from the embarrassment of revealing outcomes of unfavorable social comparisons.

"Collaboration and Creation: The Impact of Network Embeddedness on New Product Success" with Anocha Aribarg, Natasha Zhang Foutz, and Jehoshua Eliashberg. In final preparation.

Abstract: This research examines how the collaborative network of new product development (NPD) team members contributes to new product success, and importantly, how the extent of contributions vary by the functional role of key NPD team members. We consider two network-based attributes of NPD team members, positional embeddedness (PE) and junctional embeddedness (JE). PE measures how well a team member is connected to well-connected others in the industry. JE measures the extent to which a team member bridges sub-communities in the industry. We conduct our empirical analysis in the context of the film industry, an exemplar industry with fluid NPD team formation and dissolution. Analysis of nearly two decades of collaborations and film revenues shows that NPD team network embeddedness is significantly linked to a film’s commercial success. Overall, high PE is more crucial for the business management and consumer-engaging members of an NPD team, whereas JE is more critical for the behind-the-scenes technical product development experts. Interestingly, while this is largely true for products affiliated with industry incumbents (major studios), projects affiliated with challengers (minor studios) benefit more from having technical experts with high PE. These previously undocumented findings support the value of different forms of network embeddedness for different functional roles within an NPD team, contributing new managerial insights on NPD team assembly and new product success.

"An Idle Boast? Consumer Responses to Self-Enhancing Sources of Word-of Mouth Information" with Andrew D. Gershoff and David B. Wooten

"Caught Red-Branded: The Social Risk of Self-Presentational Props" (formerly "A Brand in Hand") with Andrew D. Gershoff

"Self versus Other Focus in Customer-Firm Interactions" with Brent McFerran and Sarah Moore

"Network Power" (with A. Aribarg, N. Foutz, and J. Eliashberg), ISMS Marketing Science Conference, Boston, June 2012

"Secrets and Lies: How Consumers Manage the Flow of Ego-Threatening Consumption Information" (with C. Kang and D. B. Wooten), Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, Las Vegas, February 2012

"Sharing (Less-than-Ideal) Knowledge: Consumer Knowledge Discrepancy and Word-of-Mouth" (with D. B. Wooten), Society for Consumer Psychology Conference, Atlanta, February 2011

"A Brand in Hand: Symbolic Props in Self-Presentation" (with A. D. Gershoff), Association for Consumer Research Conference, Pittsburgh, October 2009

"Firm-sponsored Brand Communities: An Empirical Analysis" (with P. Manchanda and A. Pattabhiramaiah), INFORMS Marketing Science Conference, Ann Arbor, June 2009

"A Brand in Hand: Symbolic Props in Self-Presentation" (with A. D. Gershoff), Consumer Culture Theory Conference, Ann Arbor, June 2009

"The Customer Dialogue", American Marketing Association (AMA) Annual Marketing Research Conference, Chicago, October 2006

"Cultural Segmentation", National Retail Federation (NRF) / Retail Advertising and Marketing Association (RAMA), CRMretail Conference, Chicago, June 2006

Packard, Grant (2006), "Marketing Minute" In Boone, L. E., Kurtz, D.L., MacKenzie, H.F., and Snow, K. (Eds.) Contemporary Marketing, 1st Canadian Edition. Scarborough: Thomson Nelson.

Behm, Kerry, Jen Byrne, J. and Grant Packard (1994), "The Advertising Industry"  In Hess, J. (Ed.) Profiles in American Enterprise. (p. 230-266). Boulder: University of Colorado Press.