People Are Experience Goods: Improving Online Dating with Virtual Dates

Jeana H. Frost; Zoe  Chance; Michael I. Norton; Dan  Ariely

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Article | Journal of Interactive Marketing | winter 2008

People Are Experience Goods: Improving Online Dating with Virtual Dates

by Jeana H. Frost, Zoe Chance, Michael I. Norton and Dan Ariely

Format: Print

12 pages

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Citation:

Frost, Jeana H., Zoe Chance, Michael I. Norton, and Dan Ariely. "People Are Experience Goods: Improving Online Dating with Virtual Dates." Journal of Interactive Marketing 22, no. 1 (winter 2008): 51–62.

About the Author

Michael I. Norton

Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration
Director of Research

Marketing

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Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | July 2017 (Revised December 2019)

The $70K CEO at Gravity Payments

Mitchell Weiss, Ryan W. Buell, Michael I. Norton, Sarah McAra and Michael Norris

Citation:
Weiss, Mitchell, Ryan W. Buell, Michael I. Norton, Sarah McAra, and Michael Norris. "The $70K CEO at Gravity Payments." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 818-014, July 2017. (Revised December 2019.) View Details

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Article | Management Science | November 2019

Procedural Justice and the Risks of Consumer Voting

Tami Kim, Leslie John, Todd Rogers and Michael I. Norton

Firms are increasingly giving consumers the vote. Eight studies demonstrate that when firms empower consumers to vote, consumers infer a series of implicit promises—even in the absence of explicit promises. We identify three implicit promises to which consumers react negatively when violated: representation (Experiments 1A–1C); consistency (Experiment 2), and non-suppression (Experiment 3). However, when firms honor these implicit promises, voting can mitigate the disappointment that arises from receiving an undesired outcome (Experiment 4). Finally, Experiment 5 identifies one instance when suppressing the vote outcome is condoned: when voters believe that the process of voting has resulted in an unacceptable outcome. More generally, we show that procedural justice plays a key mediating role in determining the relative success or failure of various empowerment initiatives—from soliciting feedback to voting. Taken together, we offer insight into how firms can realize the benefits of empowerment strategies while mitigating their risks.

Keywords: consumer empowerment; voting; procedural justice; promises; Customer Relationship Management; Voting; Perception; Fairness; Risk Management;

Citation:
Kim, Tami, Leslie John, Todd Rogers, and Michael I. Norton. "Procedural Justice and the Risks of Consumer Voting." Management Science 65, no. 11 (November 2019): 5234–5251. View Details

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Working Paper | 2019

Minimalism as a Status Symbol: When and Why We Admire Conspicuous Non-Consumption

Anne Wilson, Silvia Bellezza and Michael I. Norton

Citation:
Wilson, Anne, Silvia Bellezza, and Michael I. Norton. "Minimalism as a Status Symbol: When and Why We Admire Conspicuous Non-Consumption." Working Paper, October 2019. View Details

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People Are Experience Goods: Improving Online Dating with Virtual Dates

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