Sunil Gupta is the Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration and Head of the Marketing Department at Harvard Business School. He currently teaches an elective course on Digital Marketing Strategy. In the recent past, he has taught the required marketing course to first-year MBA students and Advanced Management Program to senior managers. Sunil's research interests are in the areas of digital marketing, customer management, pricing, and return on marketing investment. His articles in these areas have won several awards including the 1993, 2002, and 2009 O'Dell Award and the 1998 and 2005 Paul Green Award of the Journal of Marketing Research for the most significant contribution in the field of marketing; the 1998, 2000 and 2003 Marketing Science Institute award for the best paper; the 2004 best paper award for the Journal of Interactive Marketing and the 1999 best paper award for the International Journal of Research in Marketing. Sunil is an area editor for the Journal of Marketing Research and an editorial board member of five major journals. Sunil is co-author of two books. His recent book, Managing Customers as Investments, was published by the Wharton School Publishing in February 2005. It was selected as the 2006 winner of the annual Berry-AMA book prize for the best book in marketing. In April 2006, this book was also chosen as one of the top 30 business books of the year by Soundview Executive Book Summaries. Sunil has conducted seminars and consulted with several companies in the US, Canada, Europe, and Asia. As a business expert, he has frequently appeared on several national and international television programs, such as CNN and BBC, and has been quoted in the press. He is a member of the analytical advisory board of Information Resources Inc. Prior to joining Harvard, Sunil was the Meyer Feldberg Professor of Business at Columbia Business School where he taught for sixteen years. He was also an Assistant Professor at UCLA, a visiting scholar at Duke University, and the Thomas Henry Carroll Ford Foundation Visiting Professor at Harvard Business School. In 1996, Sunil spent his sabbatical with McKinsey & Co. In 1999, Sunil was selected as the best core course teacher at Columbia Business School. Sunil holds a Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.
Featured Work
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For Mobile Devices, Think Apps, Not Ads
Although smartphones are ubiquitous, "mobile advertising" can be a hollow phrase. People simply don't like ads on their screens. Instead, smart marketers will create apps that enhance consumers' lives.
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The Mobile Banking and Payment Revolution
Mobile technology is revolutionizing the global banking and payment industry, adding convenience for existing customers and serving unbanked customers in emerging markets. But banks face significant challenges as the ecosystem changes.
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HBS Working Paper: Do Display Ads Influence Search?
Attribution and Dynamics in Online Advertising
As firms increasingly rely on online media to acquire consumers, marketing managers feel comfortable justifying higher online marketing spend by referring to online metrics such as click-through rate (CTR) and cost per acquisition (CPA). However, these standard online advertising metrics are plagued with attribution problems and do not account for dynamics. These issues can easily lead firms to overspend on some actions and thus waste money, and/or underspend in others, leaving money on the table. We develop a multivariate time series model to investigate the interaction between paid search and display ads, and calibrate the model using data from a large commercial bank that uses online ads to acquire new checking account customers.
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E-Commerce in Asia: Challenges and Opportunities
Asia is a large and rapidly growing region with a rising middle class, accelerating internet access and a staggering penetration of mobile phones. As North American and European markets mature, Asia is becoming increasingly attractive to businesses, especially to e-commerce firms that thrive on global and scalable business models. Yet...
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Sunil Gupta speaks on e-commerce in Asia at the Asia Consumer Summit, Singapore, October, 2012.
Publications
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Article
| Harvard Business Review
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For Mobile Devices, Think Apps, Not Ads
Sunil Gupta
Many companies envision mobile ads becoming an integral part of their communications strategies. But there's a growing consensus that ads don't work on mobile devices; consumers just don't like them. Instead of creating tiny banner ads, smart marketers will turn to apps to reach customers and engage them. Effective apps will do one of the following: (1) Add convenience. Banking apps, for example, let people pay their bills online, and airline apps let them check in and monitor the status of their flights. (2) Offer unique value. In South Korea, commuters can use an app to order groceries while waiting for their trains. (3) Provide social value. Apps on Facebook and other sites let users send gifts to their friends. (4) Offer incentives. Apps that give away mobile minutes, for instance, can entice customers. (5) Entertain. Red Bull and other companies have devised popular games focused on their brands. "Mobile advertising" is often a hollow phrase, but mobile apps can enable marketers to communicate with consumers in a format that enhances their lives and offers long-term value.
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Article
| European Financial Review
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The Mobile Banking and Payment Revolution
Sunil Gupta
Mobile technology is revolutionizing the global banking and payment industry. It offers new opportunities for banks to provide added convenience to their existing customers in developed countries and reach a large population of unbanked customers in emerging markets. However, banks face significant challenges as new players enter these markets and change the ecosystem of the industry. Although no single model has been successfully imported from one country to another due to significant country-specific differences in the regulatory financial infrastructure and customer needs, financial service firms can learn some lessons from the limited success of current approaches to design their strategy in this exciting area.
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Article
| Asia Business Insights
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E-Commerce in Asia: Challenges and Opportunities
Sunil Gupta and Tanya Bijlani
Asia is becoming increasingly attractive to businesses, especially to e-commerce firms that thrive on global and scalable business models. Yet, most global e-commerce players, with a few exceptions, have failed to achieve significant success in Asia. This article describes five major challenges that e-commerce firms face in emerging Asian markets.
Keywords: Asia;
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Article
| Journal of Interactive Marketing
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Customer-Based Valuation
Sunil Gupta
Customer lifetime value (CLV) has emerged as an important metric to manage and grow customers. Marketing scholars have written many books and articles on this topic. However, most of this research has focused on tactical marketing decisions. While this is important, it is not enough to gain attention of senior managers who are concerned about firm level metrics such as stock price. To have greater impact marketing needs to go beyond brand-level profits to show the impact of marketing actions on firm profitability. In this paper we focus on customer lifetime value and its link to firm value. We discuss research that provides customer-based valuation of firms and suggest directions for future research.
Keywords: Customers;
Valuation;
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Article
| Harvard Business Review
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What Is a Free Customer Worth?
Sunil Gupta and Carl F. Mela
Keywords: Customers;
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Article
| Management Science
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Consumers' Price Sensitivities Across Complementary Categories
Sri Devi Duvvuri, Asim Ansari and Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Price;
Customers;
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Journal Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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A Model of Consumer Learning for Service Quality and Usage
Raghuram Iyengar, Asim Ansari and Sunil Gupta
In many services, e.g., the wireless service industry, consumers choose a service plan based on their expected consumption. In such situations, consumers experience two forms of uncertainty. First, consumers may be uncertain about the quality of their service provider and can learn about it after repeated use of the service. Second, consumers can be uncertain about their own usage of minutes and learn about it after observing their actual consumption. We propose a model to capture this dual learning process while accounting for the nonlinearity of the pricing scheme used in wireless services. Our results show that both quality and quantity learning are important. Several policy experiments are conducted to capture the effect of consumer learning, pricing and service quality on customer lifetime value (CLV). We find that consumer learning can result in a win-win situation for both consumers and firm -- consumers leave less minutes on the table while the firm sees an increase in overall customer lifetime value. For instance, we find that there is a 35% increase (about $75) in overall CLV with consumer learning than without. The key driver of this result is the change in the retention rate with and without learning.
Keywords: Experience and Expertise;
Customer Value and Value Chain;
Learning;
Price;
Knowledge Use and Leverage;
Marketing Strategy;
Consumer Behavior;
Service Delivery;
Quality;
Risk and Uncertainty;
Service Industry;
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Article
| Management Science
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Self-Restraint as an Online Entry-Deterrence Strategy
Liu Yunchuan, Sunil Gupta and John Zhang
Keywords: Online Technology;
Strategy;
Behavior;
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Article
| Marketing Science
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Customer Metrics and Their Impact on Financial Performance
Sunil Gupta and Valarie Zeithaml
Keywords: Customers;
Measurement and Metrics;
Finance;
Performance;
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Article
| Journal of Service Research
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Modeling Customer Lifetime Value
Sunil Gupta, Dominique Hanssens, Bruce Hardie, Wiliam Kahn, V. Kumar, Nathaniel Lin, Nalini Ravishanker and S. Sriram
Keywords: Customers;
Value;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, Dominique Hanssens, Bruce Hardie, Wiliam Kahn, V. Kumar, Nathaniel Lin, Nalini Ravishanker, and S. Sriram. " Modeling Customer Lifetime Value." Journal of Service Research 9, no. 2 (November 2006): 139–155.
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Article
| Journal of Relationship Marketing
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Customer Lifetime Value and Firm Valuation
Sunil Gupta and Donald R. Lehmann
Keywords: Customers;
Value;
Business Ventures;
Valuation;
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Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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Detection Defection: Measuring and Understanding the Predictive Accuracy of Customer Churn Models
Scott Neslin, Sunil Gupta, Wagner Kamakura, Junxiang Lu and Charlotte Mason
Keywords: Measurement and Metrics;
Forecasting and Prediction;
Customers;
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Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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Valuing Customers
Sunil Gupta, Donald R. Lehmann and Jennifer A. Stuart
Keywords: Value;
Customers;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, Donald R. Lehmann, and Jennifer A. Stuart. " Valuing Customers." JMR, Journal of Marketing Research (February 2004): 7–18. (Winner of the 2009 William F. O'Dell award from the Journal of Marketing Research.)
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Article
| Recherche et Applications en Marketing
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Valuing Customers
Sunil Gupta, Donald R. Lehmann and Jennifer A. Stuart
Keywords: Value;
Customers;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, Donald R. Lehmann, and Jennifer A. Stuart. " Valuing Customers." Recherche et Applications en Marketing 19, no. 2 (2004).
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Article
| Quantitative Marketing and Economics
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Leveraging Information across Categories
Raghu Iyenger, Asim Ansari and Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Information;
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Article
| Marketing Science
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Pricing Access Services
Skander Essegaier, Sunil Gupta and John Zhang
Keywords: Price;
Citation: Essegaier, Skander, Sunil Gupta, and John Zhang. " Pricing Access Services." Marketing Science 21, no. 2 (spring 2002): 119–138.
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Article
| Journal of Interactive Marketing
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Customers As Assets
Sunil Gupta and Donald R. Lehmann
Keywords: Customers;
Assets;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Donald R. Lehmann. " Customers As Assets." Journal of Interactive Marketing 17, no. 1 (winter 2002): 9–24. (Winner of Journal of Interactive Marketing. Best Paper Award.)
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Article
| Journal of Retailing
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Consumer Price Sensitivity and Price Thresholds
Sangman Han, Sunil Gupta and Donald R. Lehmann
Keywords: Customers;
Price;
Citation: Han, Sangman, Sunil Gupta, and Donald R. Lehmann. " Consumer Price Sensitivity and Price Thresholds." Journal of Retailing 77, no. 4 (winter 2001): 435–456. (Honorable Mention, Davidson Award for Best Paper, Journal of Retailing, 2003.)
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Article
| Financial Times, Mastering Management Supplement
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Untangling the Value of Web Companies
Sunil Gupta and Donald R. Lehmann
Keywords: Value;
Web;
Business Ventures;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Donald R. Lehmann. "Untangling the Value of Web Companies." Part 8. Financial Times, Mastering Management Supplement (November 20, 2000). (Reprinted in Mastering Management 2.0 (2001). Financial Times/Prentice Hall.)
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Journal Article
| Antitrust (American Bar Association)
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Roundtable on B2B Exchanges
Sunil Gupta
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Article
| Marketing Letters
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Choice and the Internet: From Clickstream to Research Stream
Randolph E. Bucklin, James Lattin, Asim Ansari, David Bell, Eloise Coupey, Sunil Gupta, John D.C. Little, Carl Mela, Alan Montgomery and Joel Steckel
Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions;
Online Technology;
Research;
Citation: Bucklin, Randolph E., James Lattin, Asim Ansari, David Bell, Eloise Coupey, Sunil Gupta, John D.C. Little, Carl Mela, Alan Montgomery, and Joel Steckel. " Choice and the Internet: From Clickstream to Research Stream." Marketing Letters 10, no. 3 (August 1999): 245–258.
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Article
| McKinsey Quarterly
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A Segmentation You Can Act on
John Forsyth, Sunil Gupta, Sudeep Haldar, Anil Kaul and Keith Kettle
Keywords: Segmentation;
Citation: Forsyth, John, Sunil Gupta, Sudeep Haldar, Anil Kaul, and Keith Kettle. " A Segmentation You Can Act on." McKinsey Quarterly 3 (1999): 6–15.
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Article
| Marketing Science
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Commercial Use of UPC Scanner Data: Industry and Academic Perspectives
Randolph E. Bucklin and Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Data and Data Sets;
Technology;
Perspective;
Education;
Supply and Industry;
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Article
| Marketing Science
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The "Shopping Basket": A Model for Multi-Category Purchase Incidence Decision
Puneet Manchanda, Asim Ansari and Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Decision Making;
Sales;
Citation: Manchanda, Puneet, Asim Ansari, and Sunil Gupta. The " Shopping Basket": A Model for Multi-Category Purchase Incidence Decision. Marketing Science 18, no. 2 (1999): 95–115.
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Article
| Marketing Science
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Managing Advertising and Promotion for Long-Run Profitability
Kamel Jedidi, Carl F. Mela and Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Management;
Advertising;
Profit;
Citation: Jedidi, Kamel, Carl F. Mela, and Sunil Gupta. " Managing Advertising and Promotion for Long-Run Profitability." Marketing Science 18, no. 1 (1999): 1–22. (Winner of Marketing Science Institute Best Paper Award To honor the authors of the MSI working papers that have made the most significant contribution to marketing practice and thought presented by Marketing Science Institute.)
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Article
| Statistica Neerlandica
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Modeling Large Data Sets in Marketing
Sridhar Balasubramanian, Sunil Gupta, Wagner Kamakura and Michel Wedel
Keywords: Data and Data Sets;
Marketing;
Citation: Balasubramanian, Sridhar, Sunil Gupta, Wagner Kamakura, and Michel Wedel. " Modeling Large Data Sets in Marketing." Special Issue on Large Data Sets in Business Economics. Statistica Neerlandica 52, no. 3 (November 1998).
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Article
| Journal of Forecasting
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Modelling the Effect of Purchase Quantity on Consumer Choice of Product Assortment
Randolph E. Bucklin, Sunil Gupta and S. Siddarth
Keywords: Sales;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Customers;
Product;
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Article
| International Journal of Research in Marketing
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Assessing Long-Term Promotional Influences on Market Structure
Carl Mela, Sunil Gupta and Kamel Jedidi
Keywords: Power and Influence;
Markets;
Product Marketing;
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Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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Determining Segmentation in Sales Response Across Consumer Purchase Behaviors
Randolph E. Bucklin, Sunil Gupta and S. Siddarth
Keywords: Segmentation;
Sales;
Customers;
Behavior;
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Article
| Marketing Letters
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Perspectives on Multiple Category Choice
Gary Russell, David Bell, Anand Bodapati, Christina Brown, Joengwen Chiang, Gary Gaeth, Sunil Gupta and Puneet Manchanda
Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions;
Perspective;
Citation: Russell, Gary, David Bell, Anand Bodapati, Christina Brown, Joengwen Chiang, Gary Gaeth, Sunil Gupta, and Puneet Manchanda. " Perspectives on Multiple Category Choice." Marketing Letters 8, no. 3 (August 1997): 297–305.
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Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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Long Term Impact of Promotion and Advertising on Consumer Brand Choice
Carl Mela, Sunil Gupta and Donald R. Lehmann
Keywords: Product Marketing;
Advertising;
Brands and Branding;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Customers;
Citation: Mela, Carl, Sunil Gupta, and Donald R. Lehmann. " Long Term Impact of Promotion and Advertising on Consumer Brand Choice." JMR, Journal of Marketing Research 34 (May 1997): 248–261. (Winner of American Marketing Association. Marketing Communications Special Interest Group Best Paper Award presented by American Marketing Association. Winner of Marketing Science Institute Best Paper Award To honor the authors of the MSI working papers that have made the most significant contribution to marketing practice and thought presented by Marketing Science Institute. Winner of Paul E. Green Award For the best article in the Journal of Marketing Research that demonstrates the greatest potential to contribute significantly to the practice of marketing research presented by American Marketing Association Foundation. Winner of William F. O'Dell Award For the Journal of Marketing Research article that has made the most significant, long-term contribution to marketing theory, methodology, and/or practice presented by American Marketing Association.)
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Article
| Marketing Science
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A Segment-Level Model of Category Volume and Brand Choice
William R. Dillon and Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Brands and Branding;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Segmentation;
Volume;
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Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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A Brand's Eye View of Response Segmentation in Consumer Choice Behavior
Randolph E. Bucklin, Sunil Gupta and Sangman Han
Keywords: Brands and Branding;
Segmentation;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Customers;
Behavior;
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Article
| Marketing Letters
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Issues in the Estimation and Application of Latent Structure Models of Choice
Ulf Bockenholt, Melinda S. de Borrero, Ham Bozdogan, Wayne DeSarbo, William R. Dillon, Sunil Gupta, Wagner Kamakura, Ajith Kumar, V. Ramaswamy and Michael Zenor
Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions;
Citation: Bockenholt, Ulf, Melinda S. de Borrero, Ham Bozdogan, Wayne DeSarbo, William R. Dillon, Sunil Gupta, Wagner Kamakura, Ajith Kumar, V. Ramaswamy, and Michael Zenor. " Issues in the Estimation and Application of Latent Structure Models of Choice." Marketing Letters 5, no. 4 (October 1994): 323–334.
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Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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Reflections on 'Impact of Sales Promotions on When, What, and How Much to Buy'
Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Sales;
Product Marketing;
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Article
| Journal of Consumer Research
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The Discounting of Discounts and Promotion Thresholds
Sunil Gupta and Lee G. Cooper
Keywords: Product Marketing;
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Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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Brand Choice, Purchase Incidence, and Segmentation: An Integrated Modeling Approach
Randolph E. Bucklin and Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Brands and Branding;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Sales;
Segmentation;
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Article
| Marketing Science
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Estimating Heterogeneity in Consumers' Purchase Rates
Sunil Gupta and Donald G. Morrison
Keywords: Customers;
Sales;
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Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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Stochastic Models of Interpurchase Time with Time-Dependent Covariates
Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Theory;
Sales;
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Article
| Applied Psychological Measurement
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PACM: A Two Stage Procedure for Analyzing Structural Models
Donald R. Lehmann and Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Organizational Structure;
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Article
| JMR, Journal of Marketing Research
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Impact of Sales Promotions on When, What, and How Much to Buy
Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Sales;
Product Marketing;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil. " Impact of Sales Promotions on When, What, and How Much to Buy." JMR, Journal of Marketing Research 25 (November 1988): 342–355. (Winner of William F. O'Dell Award For the Journal of Marketing Research article that has made the most significant, long-term contribution to marketing theory, methodology, and/or practice presented by American Marketing Association.)
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Article
| Applied Psychological Measurement
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A Stochastic Three-Way Unfolding Model for Asymmetric Binary Data
Wayne S. DeSarbo, Donald R. Lehmann, Morris B. Holbrook, William J. Havlena and Sunil Gupta
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Chapter
| Handbook of Pricing Research in Marketing
| 2009
Nonlinear Pricing
Raghuram Iyengar and Sunil Gupta
A nonlinear pricing schedule refers to any pricing structure where the total charges payable by customers are not proportional to the quantity of their consumed services. We begin the chapter with a discussion of the broad applicability of nonlinear pricing schemes. We note that the primary factor for the use of such schemes is the heterogeneity of the customer base. Such heterogeneity of preferences leads customers to choose different pricing plans based on their expected demand. We describe past analytical and empirical research. Past analytical work is categorized based on whether it is in a monopoly setting or a more general oligopoly context. Most past research has found two-part tariffs to be optimal in many settings. More recent research has begun to investigate the limits of such optimality and when a more general pricing scheme can be optimal. In the summary of empirical research on multi-part tariffs, we note that while nonlinear pricing schemes are popular, any analysis of demand under such schemes is nontrivial. One important reason is the two-way relationship between price and consumption in multi-part tariffs—the pricing scheme influences consumption, and the level of consumption determines the applicable per-unit price. We describe how researchers have addressed this and other such issues and then show a modeling framework that integrates all the issues. We end by discussing empirical generalizations, which also suggest some promising areas for future research.
Keywords: Price;
Demand and Consumers;
Duopoly and Oligopoly;
Monopoly;
Service Operations;
Research;
Citation: Iyengar, Raghuram, and Sunil Gupta. "Nonlinear Pricing." In Handbook of Pricing Research in Marketing, edited by Vithala Rao. MA: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009.
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Chapter
| Handbook of Marketing Decision Models
| 2008
Models of Customer Value
Sunil Gupta and Donald R. Lehmann
Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Donald R. Lehmann. " Models of Customer Value." In Handbook of Marketing Decision Models, edited by Berend Wierenga.International Series in Operations Research & Management Science. Springer Science + Business Media, 2008.
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Chapter
| Marketing Mix Decisions: New Perspectives and Practices
| 2008
Allocating Marketing Resources
Sunil Gupta and Thomas J. Steenburgh
Companies spend billions of dollars on marketing every year because it is essential to organic growth. Given these large investments, marketing managers have the responsibility to optimally allocate resources and to demonstrate that their investments generate suitable returns for the firm. In this chapter we highlight a two-stage process for making and justifying marketing allocation decisions. In stage one, a model of demand is estimated. This model empirically assesses the impact of marketing actions on consumer demand for a company’s product. In stage two, estimates from the demand model are used as input in an optimization model that attempts to maximize profits. This stage takes into account costs as well as firm’s objectives and constraints (e.g., minimum market share requirement). Over the last several decades, various methods that follow these two stages, either implicitly or explicitly, have been developed. We categorize these techniques in a three-by-three matrix, which suggests three different methods for stage-one demand estimation (decision calculus, experiments, and econometric methods) and three different methods for stage-two economic impact analysis (descriptive, what-if, and formal optimization approach). We discuss pros and cons of each method and provide illustrations through applications and case studies. Keywords: Investment Return;
Resource Allocation;
Marketing;
Demand and Consumers;
Mathematical Methods;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Thomas J. Steenburgh. " Allocating Marketing Resources." In Marketing Mix Decisions: New Perspectives and Practices, edited by Roger A. Kerin, and Rob O'Regan. Chicago, IL: American Marketing Association, 2008.
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Chapter
| Handbook of Marketing Research
| 2006
Advanced Regression Models
Raghuram Iyengar and Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Mathematical Methods;
Citation: Iyengar, Raghuram, and Sunil Gupta. "Advanced Regression Models." In Handbook of Marketing Research, edited by Rajiv Grover. Sage Publications, 2006.
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Working Paper
| HBS Working Paper Series
| 2013
Do Display Ads Influence Search?: Attribution and Dynamics in Online Advertising
Pavel Kireyev, Koen Pauwels and Sunil Gupta
As firms increasingly rely on online media to acquire consumers, marketing managers feel comfortable justifying higher online marketing spend by referring to online metrics such as click-through rate (CTR) and cost per acquisition (CPA). However, these standard online advertising metrics are plagued with attribution problems and do not account for dynamics. These issues can easily lead firms to overspend on some actions and thus waste money, and/or underspend in others, leaving money on the table.
We develop a multivariate time series model to investigate the interaction between paid search and display ads, and calibrate the model using data from a large commercial bank that uses online ads to acquire new checking account customers. We find that display ads significantly increase search conversion. Both search and display ads also exhibit significant dynamics that improve their effectiveness and ROI over time. Finally, in addition to increasing search conversion, display ad exposure also increases search clicks, thereby increasing search advertising costs. After accounting for these three effects, we find that each $1 invested in display and search leads to a return of $1.24 for display and $1.75 for search ads, which contrasts sharply with the estimated returns based on standard metrics. We use these results to show how optimal budget allocation may shift dramatically after accounting for attribution and dynamics. Although display benefits from attribution, the strong dynamic effects of search call for an increase in search advertising budget share by up to 36% in our empirical context.
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Working Paper
| HBS Working Paper Series
| 2009
Do Friends Influence Purchases in a Social Network?
Raghuram Iyengar, Sangman Han and Sunil Gupta
Social networks, such as Facebook and Myspace have witnessed a rapid growth in their membership. Some of these businesses have tried an advertising-based model with very limited success. However, these businesses have not fully explored the power of their members to influence each other's behavior. This potential viral or social effect can have significant impact on the success of these companies as well as provide a unique new marketing opportunity for traditional companies. However, this potential is predicated on the assumption that friends influence user's behavior. In this study we empirically examine this issue. Specifically we address three questions—do friends influence purchases of users in an online social network; which users are more influenced by this social pressure; and can we quantify this social influence in terms of increase in sales and revenue. To address these questions we use data from Cyworld, an online social networking site in Korea. Cyworld users create mini-homepages to interact with their friends. These mini-homepages, which become a way of self-expression for members, are decorated with items (e.g., wallpaper, music), many of which are sold by Cyworld. Using 10 weeks of purchase and non-purchase data from 208 users, we build an individual level model of choice (buy-no buy) and quantity (how much money to spend). We estimate this model using Bayesian approach and MCMC method. Our results show that there are three distinct groups of users with very different behavior. The low-status group (48% of users) are not well connected, show limited interaction with other members and are unaffected by social pressure. The middle-status group (40% users) is moderately connected, show reasonable non-purchase activity on the site and have a strong and positive effect due to friends' purchases. In other words, this group exhibits "keeping up with the Joneses" behavior. On average, their revenue increases by 5% due to this social influence. The high-status group (12% users) is well connected and very active on the site, and shows a significant negative effect due to friends' purchases. In other words, this group differentiates itself from others by lowering their purchase and strongly pursuing non-purchase related activities. This social influence leads to almost 14% drop in the revenue of this group. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of our results.
Keywords: Marketing;
Network Effects;
Sales;
Power and Influence;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Web Sites;
South Korea;
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Working Paper
| HBS Working Paper Series
| 2008
Allocating Marketing Resources
Sunil Gupta and Thomas J. Steenburgh
Marketing is essential for the organic growth of a company. Not surprisingly, firms spend billions of dollars on marketing. Given these large investments, marketing managers have the responsibility to optimally allocate these resources and demonstrate that these investments generate appropriate returns for the firm. In this chapter we highlight a two-stage process for marketing resource allocation. In stage one, a model of demand is estimated. This model empirically assesses the impact of marketing actions on consumer demand of a company’s product. In stage two, estimates from the demand model are used as input in an optimization model that attempts to maximize profits. This stage takes into account costs as well as firm’s objectives and constraints (e.g., minimum market share requirement). Over the last several decades, marketing researchers and practitioners have adopted various methods and approaches that explicitly or implicitly follow these two stages. We have categorized these approaches into a 3x3 matrix, which suggests three different approaches for stage-one demand estimation (decision calculus, experiments and econometric methods), and three different methods for stage-two economic impact analysis (descriptive, what-if and formal optimization approach). We discuss pros and cons of these approaches and illustrate them through applications and case studies.
Keywords: Investment Return;
Resource Allocation;
Marketing;
Demand and Consumers;
Mathematical Methods;
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Working Paper
| HBS Working Paper Series
| 2006
The Value of a "Free" Customer
Sunil Gupta, Carl F. Mela and Jose M. Vidal-Sanz
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, Carl F. Mela, and Jose M. Vidal-Sanz. The Value of a " Free" Customer. Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 07–035, December 2006.
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2013
Eko: Mobile Banking and Payments in India
Sunil Gupta and Rachna Tahilyani
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Rachna Tahilyani. "Eko: Mobile Banking and Payments in India." Harvard Business School Case 513-053, March 2013.
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Case
| HBS Case Collection
|
2013
YouTube Channels
Sunil Gupta and Dharmishta Rood
In December 2011 YouTube launched a website redesign that made Channels the central focus of the site. This redesign was the company's first foray into a strategy designed to foster long-form user engagement. YouTube invested $100 million in 100 Channels, often created by high-profile celebrities. YouTube hoped that original content would bring users to the site for longer periods of time, as well as allow YouTube to compete with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon and cable TV. Could YouTube compete with video subscription services and cable TV networks?
Keywords: Competition;
Online Technology;
Entertainment;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Dharmishta Rood. "YouTube Channels." Harvard Business School Case 513-078, February 2013.
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Teaching Note
| HBS Case Collection
|
2012
Groupon (TN)
Sunil Gupta, Ray Weaver and Yien Hao Lock
On November 4, 2011, Groupon, a marketing services company that promoted local businesses by selling deeply discounted vouchers for their products and services, completed its initial public offering that valued the company at $17 billion. Within a year Groupon's share price tumbled dramatically as the novelty for consumers started to wear off and merchants began to question the value of Groupon for their businesses. Is Groupon good for merchants? What are the future prospects for Groupon?
Keywords: marketing;
social networking;
media;
technology;
strategy;
Business Growth and Maturation;
Marketing Strategy;
Marketing;
Online Technology;
Retail Industry;
Service Industry;
Technology Industry;
North America;
United States;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, Ray Weaver, and Yien Hao Lock. " Groupon (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 513-046, November 2012.
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Background Note
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2012
Are Daily Deals Good for Merchants?
Sunil Gupta, Timothy Keiningham, Ray Weaver and Luke Williams
In the relatively short time since Groupon was founded, the response to "daily deals"—services that promote businesses by marketing deeply discounted, pre-paid vouchers to an online subscriber base—has by all accounts been spectacular. Our evaluation of daily deals is a cautionary tale for merchants: a substantial percentage are unlikely to benefit, and might well lose money, by using this type of campaign. But a careful analysis of the right data provides clear indicators of both what types of merchants are likeliest to benefit, and which factors that influence profits should receive the most management attention.
Keywords: marketing;
technology;
Business Strategy;
digital;
Marketing Strategy;
Web Services Industry;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, Timothy Keiningham, Ray Weaver, and Luke Williams. " Are Daily Deals Good for Merchants?" Harvard Business School Background Note 513-059, December 2012.
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Teaching Note
| HBS Case Collection
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2012
(Revised from original 2012 version)
TripAdvisor (TN)
Sunil Gupta
By 2010, TripAdvisor (TA) was the largest travel site in the world operating in 24 countries and 16 languages, with listings for 455,000 hotels, 92,000 attractions and 564,000 restaurants in over 71,000 destinations worldwide. It had over 40 million reviews from 35 million unique monthly visitors who were contributing 21 new reviews every minute.
Known for its hotel reviews, TA expanded into flights, vacation rentals and international markets like China. Each of these expansion paths provided unique opportunities as well as new challenges. In August 2010, Stephen Kaufer, CEO, was debating how to prioritize his growth plans for the company.
Keywords: marketing;
digital marketing;
Marketing Strategy;
Internet;
Search Technology;
Online Technology;
Travel Industry;
Tourism Industry;
China;
United States;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil. " TripAdvisor (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 512-108, October 2012. (Revised from original June 2012 version.)
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Case
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2012
(Revised from original 2010 version)
Bank of America: Mobile Banking
Sunil Gupta and Kerry Herman
In January 2010, Jen McDonald, head of Bank of America Corporation's (BAC) Digital Marketing group, was discussing the bank's mobile strategy with Douglas Brown, senior vice president, Mobile Product Development. BAC launched mobile banking in 2007 and within three years it had four million active customers. This success prompted line-of-business managers to request that Jen and Doug include more functionality in the bank's mobile app that was specific to its businesses, such as credit cards and mortgages. Jen and Doug had to decide how to leverage the mobile platform for the bank's various businesses without creating confusion or increasing complexity for the consumers. Recognizing the potential impact mobile technology could have on the entire banking industry, they also had to decide on how to position BAC's mobile banking in the long run.
Keywords: marketing;
digital marketing;
financial services;
mobile banking;
channels;
strategy;
Banks and Banking;
Marketing Strategy;
Service Delivery;
Mobile Technology;
Banking Industry;
United States;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Kerry Herman. " Bank of America: Mobile Banking." Harvard Business School Case 510-063, November 2012. (Revised from original March 2010 version.)
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Teaching Note
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2012
(Revised from original 2010 version)
Bank of America: Mobile Banking and Bank of America: Mobile Banking (Abridged) (TN)
Sunil Gupta
Teaching Note for 510063 and 512082
Keywords: Banks and Banking;
Strategy;
Customers;
Technology Adoption;
Decisions;
Product Launch;
Mobile Technology;
Banking Industry;
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Case
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2012
Bank of America: Mobile Banking (Abridged)
Sunil Gupta and Michael Norris
In January 2010, Bank of America is discussing its future mobile strategy. Should the company add complexity to its app, design multiple apps for business segments, or expand into other mobile channels?
Keywords: Technology Adoption;
Mobile Technology;
Banks and Banking;
Banking Industry;
United States;
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Case
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2012
(Revised from original 2011 version)
BBVA Compass: Marketing Resource Allocation
Sunil Gupta and Joseph Davies-Gavin
BBVA Compass, the 15th largest commercial bank in the U.S., is a part of the BBVA Group of Spain, the second largest bank in Spain with $755 billion in assets. In December 2010, Frank Sottosanti, Chief Marketing Officer of BBVA Compass, was reviewing the marketing performance of the company and deciding how to allocate next year's marketing budget across various offline and online channels.
Keywords: Advertising;
Resource Allocation;
Marketing Channels;
Marketing Strategy;
Performance Evaluation;
Banking Industry;
United States;
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Teaching Note
| HBS Case Collection
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2012
(Revised from original 2011 version)
BBVA Compass: Marketing Resource Allocation (TN)
Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Marketing;
Resource Allocation;
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Case
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2013
(Revised from original 2012 version)
The New York Times Paywall
Vineet Kumar, Bharat Anand, Sunil Gupta and Felix Oberholzer-Gee
On March 28, 2011, The New York Times website became a restricted site where most of the content was protected behind a "paywall." Users who exceeded the limit of 20 free articles per month were required to pay for either a digital or print subscription. The newspaper industry had been suffering from revenue declines over the past decade, and the transition to digital media was difficult to navigate. Revenues from online advertising were not sufficient to replace the loss of print revenue, and many publishers had explored charging readers for content, with mixed success, where specialized sources like The Wall Street Journal were successfully using the model, but several other general news sites had failed. Newspapers and content creators in general were very interested in understanding whether transitioning to the paywall at the most popular news website would succeed, and whether it could become a blueprint for future success as a sustainable business model. There were several difficult issues to examine in determining the digital strategy for The Times. Would consumers remain as engaged with a site protected by a paywall? Would advertisers react positively to such a move that walled off readers? Would readers value both the print and digital versions of the content, or would it become necessary to create new content? The Times had several choices in designing the paywall, including determining the digital content, pricing, as well as how to interface with readers of secondary news websites like blogs that posted links to news articles. Should they design a "leaky" paywall where determined users could easily slip through, or a "bulletproof" paywall like the Financial Times had done, where users had to pay before they could access any content? What choices would provide the foundation for a successful business model?
Keywords: Newspapers;
Strategy;
Journalism and News Industry;
Publishing Industry;
Citation: Kumar, Vineet, Bharat Anand, Sunil Gupta, and Felix Oberholzer-Gee. " The New York Times Paywall." Harvard Business School Case 512-077, January 2013. (Revised from original February 2012 version.)
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Case
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2012
Angry Birds
Sunil Gupta and Dharmishta Rood
Within months of its launch in December 2009, Angry Birds, a mobile game created by a small Finnish company, Rovio Entertainment Ltd., became an international hit. By late 2011, Rovio was not only making Angry Birds games for the iPhone, Android and other mobile platforms, but it had also expanded into plush toys, cookbooks, animation videos and licensing arrangement with major brands. With the goal of making Rovio the next Disney, Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio, was planning to create an Angry Birds movie. Was Angry Birds a fad that would fade away or was Rovio on a path to build a media empire?
Keywords: Brands and Branding;
Marketing Strategy;
Diversification;
Expansion;
Video Game Industry;
Finland;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Dharmishta Rood. " Angry Birds." Harvard Business School Case 512-033, March 2012.
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Supplement
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2011
TripAdvisor
Sunil Gupta and Kerry Herman
Keywords: Travel Industry;
Tourism Industry;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Kerry Herman. " TripAdvisor." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 512-702, December 2011.
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Background Note
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2011
(Revised from original 2010 version)
Social Media
Sunil Gupta, Kristen Amalie Bozzone Armstrong and Zachary Scott Clayton
This note describes the rapidly changing environment of social media and how managers can leverage it.
Keywords: Framework;
Knowledge Use and Leverage;
Situation or Environment;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, Kristen Amalie Bozzone Armstrong, and Zachary Scott Clayton. " Social Media." Harvard Business School Background Note 510-095, October 2011. (Revised from original March 2010 version.)
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Case
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2012
(Revised from original 2011 version)
Groupon
Sunil Gupta, Ray Weaver and Dharmishta Rood
On November 4, 2011, Groupon, a marketing services company that promoted local businesses by selling deeply discounted vouchers for their products and services, completed its initial public offering that valued the company at $17 billion. Within a year Groupon's share price tumbled dramatically as the novelty for consumers started to wear off and merchants began to question the value of Groupon for their businesses. Is Groupon good for merchants? What are the future prospects for Groupon?
Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting;
Customers;
Entrepreneurship;
Growth and Development;
Marketing Channels;
Competitive Strategy;
Value Creation;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, Ray Weaver, and Dharmishta Rood. " Groupon." Harvard Business School Case 511-094, August 2012. (Revised from original March 2011 version.)
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Teaching Note
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2011
PatientsLikeMe: An Online Community of Patients (TN)
Sunil Gupta and Jason Riis
Teaching Note for 511093.
Keywords: Online Technology;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Health Disorders;
Growth and Development;
Product Launch;
Web Services Industry;
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Case
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2011
(Revised from original 2010 version)
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
Sunil Gupta and Kerry Herman
In September 2010, faced with increasing threat from social game companies such as Zynga, Ben Feder, the CEO of Take-Two Interactive Software. Inc., had to decide the long-term strategy of his video-game company. As a publisher of traditional video games for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Nintendo, Take-Two had several popular video games, such as Grand Theft Auto, to its credit. However, the video game industry was undergoing a major transition. In addition to digital downloading and cloud gaming, casual and social games were transforming the video game industry. Electronic Arts, one of Take-Two's major competitors, acquired a social gaming company in November 2009 for $400 million. In August 2010, Disney bought another social gaming company for $763 million. Social games were developed, marketed and monetized very differently from traditional console games. Should Take-Two follow the lead of its competitors or continue to focus on its core business?
Keywords: Mergers and Acquisitions;
Business Model;
Leadership Style;
Marketing;
Competitive Strategy;
Entertainment and Recreation Industry;
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Case
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2012
(Revised from original 2011 version)
PatientsLikeMe: An Online Community of Patients
Sunil Gupta and Jason Riis
PatientsLikeMe (PLM) is an online community where patients share their personal experiences with a disease, find other patients like them, and learn from each other. The company was founded by Jamie and Ben Heywood when their 29-year-old brother was diagnosed with ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease. In less than five years, PLM has grown to 15 patient communities where over 80,000 patients discuss 19 diseases. In December 2010, PLM is discussing its planned launch of a General Platform that would expand the number of diseases covered from 19 to over 3,500. Is it the right move, and what does PLM need to do to make it a success?
Keywords: Business Startups;
Health Disorders;
Knowledge Sharing;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Product Launch;
Market Platforms;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Health Industry;
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Case
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2011
(Revised from original 2011 version)
TripAdvisor
Sunil Gupta and Kerry Herman
By 2010, TripAdvisor was the largest travel site in the world operating in 24 countries and 16 languages, with listings for 455,000 hotels, 92,000 attractions and 564,000 restaurants in over 71,000 destinations worldwide. It had over 40 million reviews from 35 million unique monthly visitors who were contributing 21 new reviews every minute. Known for its hotel reviews, TA expanded into flights, vacation rentals and international markets like China. Each of these expansion paths provided unique opportunities as well as new challenges. In August 2010, Stephen Kaufer, CEO, was debating how to prioritize his growth plans for the company.
Keywords: Business Model;
Knowledge Use and Leverage;
Growth and Development Strategy;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Internet;
Service Industry;
Travel Industry;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Kerry Herman. " TripAdvisor." Harvard Business School Case 511-004, April 2011. (Revised from original January 2011 version.)
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Case
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2010
Digital Divide
Sunil Gupta
In November 2010, Charles Henry, chief marketing officer of a major consumer packaged goods company, was trying to convince his senior managers to enhance the digital presence of the company's brands by significantly increasing their online marketing budget. However, he faced strong resistance from many of his colleagues who questioned the tangible value of digital spending.
Keywords: Budgets and Budgeting;
Online Advertising;
Marketing Communications;
Marketing Strategy;
Technology;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil. "Digital Divide." Harvard Business School Case 511-092, December 2010.
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Case
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2010
(Revised from original 2010 version)
YouTube: Time to Charge Users?
Anita Elberse and Sunil Gupta
In January 2010, YouTube, the world's largest online video aggregator, was still seeking to become profitable. Was the time right for Google, YouTube's parent company, to charge users seeking to upload content, as some analysts had suggested—and if so, who should be charged how much and for what? Could YouTube charge users for downloading content, a model it was now beginning to test? Or would it be better for the online video giant to continue to pursue an advertising model, but perhaps broaden its services to advertisers? Describes the online video market as of 2010 as well as YouTube's offerings to users, content owners, and advertisers. Provides information on the site's revenues and costs. Also contains detailed data on online video users and usage behavior.
Keywords: Online Advertising;
Business Model;
Cost;
Profit;
Revenue;
Consumer Behavior;
Internet;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry;
Citation: Elberse, Anita, and Sunil Gupta. " YouTube: Time to Charge Users?" Harvard Business School Case 510-053, October 2010. (Revised from original February 2010 version.)
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Case
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2010
(Revised from original 2009 version)
Hulu: An Evil Plot to Destroy the World?
Anita Elberse and Sunil Gupta
In July 2009, Jason Kilar, the chief executive officer of Hulu, is debating whether the online video aggregator should move away from a purely advertising-supported model, and whether it should participate in an industry-wide initiative to develop and test "authentication" technology that can facilitate a subscription or pay-per-view model. The case traces the early years of Hulu, a joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal, that was initially met with strong skepticism but quickly became on the most celebrated and popular online video business. Provides in-depth information on how the company serves content owners, users, and advertisers. Describes the online video space in considerable detail, also covering economic and viewership statistics that enable a rich discussion of viable business models.
Keywords: Advertising;
Business Model;
Television Entertainment;
Distribution Channels;
Service Operations;
Internet;
Online Technology;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
Motion Pictures and Video Industry;
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Background Note
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2010
Airline Travel in the U.S.
Sunil Gupta and Kavita Shukla
How should airlines respond to the rising share of Online Travel Agencies (OTAs) as consumers increasingly search the web to buy tickets.
Keywords: Management;
Marketing Channels;
Consumer Behavior;
Market Participation;
Agency Theory;
Online Technology;
Aerospace Industry;
United States;
Citation: Gupta, Sunil, and Kavita Shukla. "Airline Travel in the U.S." Harvard Business School Background Note 510-096, March 2010.
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Class Lecture
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2010
New Media and Digital Marketing (FSS)
Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Media;
Marketing;
Technology;
Media and Broadcasting Industry;
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Supplement
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2009
Biocon: Interview with Dr. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, CEO
Sunil Gupta
Keywords: Information;
Management;
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Case
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2009
(Revised from original 2009 version)
Backchannelmedia: Making Television 'Clickable'
Sunil Gupta, Kavita Shukla and Zachary Scott Clayton
Backchannelmedia (BCM), a three-year-old start-up, intended to completely disrupt the world of advertising by transforming the way Americans watched television. BCM had developed a technology to make television "clickable," enabling viewers to interact with the content on their television screens. By April 2009, BCM had conducted consumer studies and field tests and the results were very promising. However, the industry was dominated by large players who could impede the introductions of new technologies. BCM's founders would have to make critical decisions about how quickly to roll out their technology, and to whom. Which industry players were allies? How would BCM monetize the value they would create? Would investors see as much potential in BCM as its founders? And how would the company's cash constraints impact the strategy in the current economic environment?
Keywords: Entrepreneurship;
Investment;
Disruptive Innovation;
Technological Innovation;
Marketing Strategy;
Partners and Partnerships;
Competition;
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Teaching Note
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2009
Cyworld: Creating and Capturing Value in a Social Network (TN)
Sunil Gupta and Sangman Han
Teaching Note for [509012].
Keywords: Value Creation;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Mergers and Acquisitions;
Revenue;
Leadership Style;
Decision Choices and Conditions;
Online Advertising;
Customers;
Service Operations;
Competency and Skills;
Web Services Industry;
South Korea;
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Teaching Note
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2009
Biocon: Launching a New Cancer Drug in India (TN)
Sunil Gupta and Das Narayandas
Teaching Note for [508026].
Keywords: Product Launch;
Market Timing;
Price;
Distribution Channels;
Marketing Strategy;
Health Care and Treatment;
Biotechnology Industry;
Pharmaceutical Industry;
India;
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Case
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2008
(Revised from original 2007 version)
Biocon: Launching a New Cancer Drug in India
Sunil Gupta and Das Narayandas
Kiran Majumdar-Shaw, the CEO of Biocon has to make product launch timing, pricing, channel, and communications mix decisions relating to the launch of BioMAb, a new cancer drug in India.
Keywords: Price;
Health Care and Treatment;
Marketing Strategy;
Product Launch;
Planning;
Biotechnology Industry;
Pharmaceutical Industry;
India;
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Case
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2008
(Revised from original 2008 version)
Cyworld: Creating and Capturing Value in a Social Network
Sunil Gupta and Sangman Han
In May 2008, the new CEO of Cyworld, a social network company in Korea, had to decide how to create and capture value from his rapidly growing user base. Cyworld was founded in 1999, and in 2003 it was acquired by SK Telecom, a leading mobile service provider in Korea. By 2007, Cyworld had 21 million users and $95 million revenue-$65 million from paid items (music, virtual gifts, etc.), $15 million from mobile networking, and $15 million from advertising. The new CEO had to decide which of these three revenue sources he should focus on in the future and how this choice would influence the target customers, the service offerings, and the required capabilities.
Keywords: Customer Value and Value Chain;
Consumer Behavior;
Social and Collaborative Networks;
Segmentation;
Value Creation;
South Korea;
Research Summary
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Research Summary
Digital Marketing
by
Sunil Gupta
Companies like Google and Facebook have transformed the interaction between people and firms across almost all industries. Rapid changes in technology and consumer behavior have had profound impact on business practices causing the emergence of radically new businesses and the struggle of incumbents. More than just enabling incremental improvements, digital technology has drastically altered the global economic, political and social landscape. My research examines how digital technology is changing consumer behavior, transforming businesses and influencing society.
Awards & Honors
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Sunil Gupta: Recognized in 2010 by the American Marketing Association Foundation with the 25-Year Consortium Fellow Research Excellence Award for Scholarly Achievement and Contribution to Marketing Thought and Practice.
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Sunil Gupta: Winner of the 2004 Journal of Interactive Marketing Best Paper Award for "Customers As Assets" (with Donald R. Lehmann, winter 2002).
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Sunil Gupta: Winner of the 2003 Best Paper Award from the Marketing Communications Special Interest Group of the American Marketing Association for "Long Term Impact of Promotion and Advertising on Consumer Brand Choice" (with Carl Mela and Donald R. Lehmann, Journal of Marketing Research, May 1997).
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Sunil Gupta: Winner of the 2002 William F. O'Dell Award from the Journal of Marketing Research for "Long Term Impact of Promotion and Advertising on Consumer Brand Choice" (with Carl Mela and Donald R. Lehmann, May 1997).
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Sunil Gupta: Winner of the 2000 Marketing Science Institute Best Paper Award for "Managing Advertising and Promotion for Long-Run Profitability" (with Kamel Jedidi and Carl F. Mela, Marketing Science, 1999).
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Sunil Gupta: Winner of the 1998 Paul E. Green Award from the Journal of Marketing Research for "Long Term Impact of Promotion and Advertising on Consumer Brand Choice" (with Carl Mela and Donald R. Lehmann, May 1997).
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Sunil Gupta: Winner of the 1998 Marketing Science Institute Best Paper Award for "Long Term Impact of Promotion and Advertising on Consumer Brand Choice" (with Carl Mela and Donald R. Lehmann, Journal of Marketing Research, May 1997).
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Sunil Gupta: Winner of the 1998 Best Paper Award from the International Journal of Research in Marketing for "Assessing Long-Term Promotional Influences on Market Structure" (with Carl Mela and Kamel Jedidi, May 1998)
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Sunil Gupta: Winner of the 1993 William F. O'Dell Award from the Journal of Marketing Research for "Impact of Sales Promotions on When, What, and How Much to Buy" (November 1988).
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