Marco Bertini

Marco Bertini is professor of marketing at Esade and a visiting professor in the marketing unit at Harvard Business School. He is also a senior advisor to the marketing, sales, and pricing practice at the Boston Consulting Group. He received his doctorate from Harvard Business School, and previously served on the faculty at London Business School. 

Marco is co-author of the book The Ends Game: How Smart Companies Stop Selling Products and Start Delivering Value (MIT Press), which explores how modern technology stimulates accountability, challenging organizations to succeed from the quality of the outcomes they deliver rather than the offerings they bring to market. 

The remainder of his research, which lies at the interface of the economics and psychology of pricing decisions, appears in the leading journals for management science and practice, including Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, and Marketing Science.

Marco’s speaking and advisory work focuses on the challenge of designing and implementing revenue policies that are not only efficient and drive growth, but also socially responsible. Recently, Marco was named to the Thinkers50 Radar, a shortlist of the scholars “most likely to shape the future of how organizations are managed and led.” Prior to this, he was nominated for the Business Professor of the Year Award, a global competition of the Economist Intelligence Unit, and recognized by the Marketing Science Institute as one of the most promising scholars in the field. 

Marco is Italian but grew up in Australia and subsequently lived in Spain, the United States, the United Kingdom, and now back in Spain.

Books

• Bertini, Marco, and Oded Koenigsberg. The Ends Game: How Smart Companies Stop Selling Products and Start Delivering Value. Management on the Cutting Edge. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2020. View Details

Articles for Academia

• Bertini, Marco, Stefan Buehler, Daniel Halbheer, and Don Lehmann. "Carbon Footprinting and Pricing under Climate Concerns." Journal of Marketing 86, no. 2 (March 2022): 186–201. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Daniel Halbheer, and Oded Koenigsberg. "Price and Quality Decisions by Self-Serving Managers." International Journal of Research in Marketing 37, no. 2 (June 2020): 236–257. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Aylin Aydinli. "Consumer Reactance to Promotional Favors." Journal of Retailing 96, no. 4 (December 2020): 578–589. View Details
• Spann, Martin, Robert Zeithammer, Marco Bertini, Ernan Haruvy, Sandy Jap, Oded Koenigsberg, Vincent Mak, Peter Popkowski Leszczyc, Bernd Skiera, and Manoj Thomas. "Beyond Posted Prices: The Past, Present, and Future of Participative Pricing Mechanisms." Special Issue on 2016 Choice Symposium. Customer Needs and Solutions 5, nos. 1-2 (March 2018): 121–136. View Details
• Vana, Prasad, Anja Lambrecht, and Marco Bertini. "Cashback is Cash Forward: Delaying a Discount to Entice Future Spending." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 55, no. 6 (December 2018): 852–868. View Details
• Lee, Leonard, Michelle Lee, Marco Bertini, Gal Zauberman, and Dan Ariely. "Money, Time, and the Stability of Consumer Preferences." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 52, no. 2 (April 2015): 184–189. View Details
• Aydinli, Aylin, Marco Bertini, and Anja Lambrecht. "Price Promotion for Emotional Impact." Journal of Marketing 78, no. 4 (July 2014): 80–96. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Luc Wathieu, and Sheena Iyengar. "The Discriminating Consumer: Product Proliferation and Willingness to Pay for Quality." Journal of Marketing Research (JMR) 49, no. 1 (February 2012): 39–49. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Elie Ofek, and Dan Ariely. "The Impact of Add-On Features on Consumer Product Evaluations." Journal of Consumer Research 36, no. 1 (June 2009): 17–28. View Details
• Wathieu, Luc, and Marco Bertini. "Attention Arousal through Price Partitioning." Marketing Science 27, no. 2 (March–April 2008): 236–246. View Details
• Wathieu, Luc, and Marco Bertini. "Price As a Stimulus to Think: The Case for Willful Overpricing." Marketing Science 26, no. 1 (January–February 2007): 118–129. View Details

Articles for Practice

• Bertini, Marco, John Pineda, Amadeus Petzke, and Jean-Manuel Izaret. "Can We Afford Sustainable Business? Taking a Creative Approach to Pricing Can Benefit Society, the Environment—and Your Company." MIT Sloan Management Review 63, no. 1 (Fall 2021). View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Oded Koenigsberg. "The Pitfalls of Pricing Algorithms: Be Mindful of How They Can Hurt Your Brand." Harvard Business Review 99, no. 5 (September–October 2021): 74–83. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Oded Koenigsberg. "Competing on Customer Outcomes." MIT Sloan Management Review 62, no. 1 (Fall 2020): 78–84. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Nader Tavassoli. "When It's Time to Expand Beyond the Base." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 5 (September–October 2017): 143–147. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Nader Tavassoli. "Can One Business Unit Have Two Revenue Models?" Harvard Business Review 93, no. 3 (March 2015): 121–123. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Oded Koenigsberg. "When Customers Help Set Prices." MIT Sloan Management Review 55, no. 4 (Summer 2014): 57–64. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and John T. Gourville. "Pricing to Create Shared Value." Harvard Business Review 90, no. 6 (June 2012): 96–104. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Luc Wathieu, Betsy Page Sigman, and Michael I. Norton. "Do Social Deal Sites Really Work?" Harvard Business Review 90, no. 5 (May 2012): 139–141. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, John Gourville, and Elie Ofek. "The Best Way to Name Your Product 2.0." Harvard Business Review 89, no. 5 (May 2011). View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and John T. Gourville. "Time for a Unified Campaign?" Harvard Business Review 89, no. 6 (June 2011). View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Nirmalya Kumar. "The Upstart's Assault." Harvard Business Review 88, nos. 7-8 (July–August 2010): 159–161. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Luc Wathieu. "How to Stop Customers from Fixating on Price." Harvard Business Review 88, no. 5 (May 2010): 84–91. View Details

Book Chapters

• Bertini, Marco. "Put the Customers’ Money Where Your Mouth Is." In Dear CEO: 50 Personal Letters from the World's Leading Business Thinkers, by Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove, 19–21. London: Bloomsbury Business, 2017. View Details

Working Papers

• von Schuckmann, Julia, Marco Bertini, and Ann Kronrod. "If Customer Relationships Matter, Why Do Businesses Play Tricks with Their Prices?" Working Paper, 2021. View Details
• von Schuckmann, Julia, Lucia S.G. Barrios, Grant E. Donnelly, and Marco Bertini. "The Situational Samaritan: How and Why Marketplace Conditions Shape Prosocial Consumer Behaviors." Working Paper, 2021. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Stefan Buehler, and Daniel Halbheer. "Pricing and Supply Chain Transparency to Conscientious Consumers." Working Paper, 2021. View Details
• Aparicio, Diego, and Marco Bertini. "Timing the Disclosure of Prices: Should Firms Delay the Inevitable?" Working Paper, 2021. View Details
• van Lin, Arjen, Aylin Aydinli, Marco Bertini, Erica van Herpen, and Julia von Schuckmann. "Does Cash Really Mean Trash? An Empirical Investigation into the Effect of Retailer Price Promotions on Household Food Waste." Working Paper, 2021. View Details

Cases and Teaching Materials

• Ofek, Elie, Marco Bertini, Dilyana Karadzhova Botha, and Esel Çekin. "Project Maji: Pricing Water in Sub-Saharan Africa." Harvard Business School Case 522-043, October 2021. (Revised January 2022.) View Details
• Ofek, Elie, Marco Bertini, and Alpana Thapar. "STARZPLAY: Shooting for the Stars." Harvard Business School Case 522-005, September 2021. (Revised December 2021.) View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Elie Ofek, and Julia Kelley. "Worldreader: Helping Readers Build a Better World." Harvard Business School Case 522-003, September 2021. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Oded Koenigsberg. "NiPay's Pricing Conundrum." London Business School Case, 2021. Electronic. View Details
• Ofek, Elie, and Marco Bertini. "Pearson: Efficacy 2.0." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 521-115, June 2021. View Details
• Ofek, Elie, and Marco Bertini. "HP Instant Ink: (Self) Disrupting the Consumer Printing Market." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 521-084, February 2021. View Details
• Ofek, Elie, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg, and James Weber. "Pearson: Efficacy 2.0." Harvard Business School Case 521-012, January 2021. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Oded Koenigsberg. "Twisterden: Pricing a Go-to-Market Strategy." London Business School Case, 2020. View Details
• Ofek, Elie, Eyal Biyalogorsky, Marco Bertini, and Oded Koenigsberg. "SenseAim Technologies: Pricing to Win." Harvard Business School Exercise 521-049, October 2020. (Revised February 2021.) View Details
• Ofek, Elie, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg, Elena Corsi, and Emer Moloney. "Holaluz: Taking on the Spanish Energy Market." Harvard Business School Case 521-045, November 2020. View Details
• Ofek, Elie, Marco Bertini, Oded Koenigsberg, and Amy Klopfenstein. "Pricing at Netflix." Harvard Business School Case 521-004, July 2020. (Revised November 2020.) View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Nader Tavassoli. "Revenue Model Innovation at Roche Diagnostics." London Business School Case, 2013. View Details
• Norton, Michael I., Luc Wathieu, Betsy Page Sigman, and Marco Bertini. "What's the Deal with LivingSocial?" Harvard Business School Case 512-065, February 2012. (Revised August 2013.) View Details
• Gourville, John T., and Marco Bertini. "Barceló Hotels and Resorts (A)." Harvard Business School Case 511-108, February 2011. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Diogo Coehlo. "Global Graphics: Pricing in a New Market." London Business School Case, 2010. View Details
• Gourville, John T., and Marco Bertini. "The London 2012 Olympic Games (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 511-027, August 2010. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Alastair Hirst, and Nirmalya Kumar. "BT Business: Responding to ‘Free Forever’." London Business School Case, 2009. View Details
• Gourville, John T., and Marco Bertini. "The London 2012 Olympic Games." Harvard Business School Case 510-039, September 2009. (Revised May 2019.) View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Edward Parkinson, and Donna Everatt. "Viagogo (A) & (B)." London Business School Case, 2008. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Victoria Carrión, and Jose Luis Nueno. "The Recorded Music Industry." 2002. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Eduard Guiu, and Jose Luis Nueno. "Vitamax Technologies." Universidad de Navarra, Instituto de Estudios Superiores de la Empresa (IESE) Case, 2002. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Jose Luis Nueno. "Lastminute.com (A), (B), & (C)." 2001. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Jose Luis Nueno. "Canal Satélite Digital." 2001. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Magali Lamyin, and Jose Luis Nueno. "Teléfonos de México, S.A. de C.V. and the Prodigy Internet Plus Decision." 2001. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Victoria Carrión, and Jose Luis Nueno. "Muxxic Latina." 2001. View Details

Other Publications and Materials

• Bertini, Marco. "Selling Value, Not Subscriptions, Is the Future of Business." Forbes.com (October 15, 2020). View Details
• Reisman, Richard, and Marco Bertini. "A Novel Architecture to Monetize Digital Offerings." Journal of Revenue and Pricing Management 17, no. 6 (December 2018): 453–458. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Nader Tavassoli. "When You Have to Choose Between Core and New Customers." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (June 26, 2017). View Details
• Bertini, Marco, Oded Koenigsberg, and Daniel Halbheer. "Claiming the Credit." Business Strategy Review 25, no. 1 (2014): 8. View Details
• Bertini, Marco. "Price Wars and the Managers Who Start Them." Business Strategy Review 25, no. 4 (Winter 2014): 52–55. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Richard Reisman. "When Selling Digital Content, Let the Customer Set the Price." Harvard Business Review (website) (November 18, 2013). View Details
• Ham, Tim, and Marco Bertini. "The Right Price, at the Right Moment, to the Right Customer." Business Strategy Review 24, no. 1 (Spring 2013): 49–53. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, John T. Gourville, E. Ofek, and Jill Avery. "Branding Next-Generation Products." (Invited for resubmission to the Journal of Consumer Psychology.) View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Nader Tavassoli. "Commercialising a Product: Manage Price as Part of Branding." Financial Times (May 8, 2012). View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and John T. Gourville. "Pricing Lessons from the London Olympics." Harvard Business Review (website) (June 19, 2012). View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Luc Wathieu. "Starting Prices and Consumer Sensitivity to Customization." Report, Marketing Science Institute, 2012. View Details
• Bertini, Marco. "Holiday Discounts Are a Dangerous Drug." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (November 23, 2012). View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Ricardo Cabornero. "The Perils of Popularity." Business Strategy Review 23, no. 1 (Spring 2012): 51–55. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Stuart Crainer. "The Price of Olympic Success." Business Strategy Review 23, no. 2 (Summer 2012): 43–47. View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Luc Wathieu. "Pricing the Priceless." Harvard Business Review (website) (July 20, 2011). View Details
• Bertini, Marco, and Luc Wathieu. "Choice Helps High-End Products, Hurts Low-End Products." Harvard Business Review (website) (December 7, 2011). View Details
• Bertini, Marco, John Gourville, and Elie Ofek. "When the Name Is the Game." Business Strategy Review 22, no. 3 (Fall 2011): 50–55. View Details
• Hinterhuber, Andreas, and Marco Bertini. "Profiting When Customers Choose Value over Price." Business Strategy Review 22, no. 1 (Spring 2011): 46–49. View Details

Additional Information

• Marco Bertini website

Personal Websites

• Esade
• LinkedIn
• ResearchGate
• SSRN
• Stern Speakers