Experience Stern | News & Events

NYU Stern faculty are available to offer perspectives on this year’s back-to-school shopping, retail and consumer trends. The following professors can speak to what we will see this year around promotional and marketing trends, winners and losers in retail, shifts in consumer sentiment, and tech and AI-powered innovation. 

Topics include:

Consumer trends: 

• Professor Priya Raghubir, an expert in how pricing and payments impact consumer decision-making, examines how brands entice consumers to spend.
• Professor Russell Winer looks at winners/losers among retailers this season.

Importance of social impact among brands:

• Drawing from her research on how helping refugees helps brands, Professor Tülin Erdem emphasizes the importance of corporate social responsibility for consumer-facing companies targeting Millennials and Gen Z.
• Professor Minah Jung, who studies consumers’ social preferences, explains how brands can stand out to consumers in a competitive market.
• Based on findings from the 2019 Sustainable Share Index™, Professor Tensie Whelan, director of NYU Stern’s Center for Sustainable Business, demonstrates that sustainability-marketed products drive market growth. 

Role of tech, mobile and social:

• Professor Adam Alter, author of “Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping Us Hooked,” comments on how efforts to reduce childrens’ tech use will impact the sales of devices. 
• Drawing from her research, Professor Alixandra Barasch discusses the “back to school” photo-sharing trend and its impact on parents (and kids) .
• Professor Anindya Ghose, author of “Tap: Unlocking the Mobile Economy” shares how retailers and consumers can successfvully leverage mobile apps, blockchain and AI. 
• Can consumers trust online reviews? Professor Jared Watson offers tips on how to spot a fake review and how much influence reviews have on purchasing decisions.
• Professor Amy Webb, author of “The Big Nine: How the Tech Titans and Their Thinking Machines Could Warp Humanity,” uncovers how AI is influencing the way consumers shop.

Retail Landscape:

• Professor Tom Meyvis offers insights on standout marketing campaigns and how they incentivize consumer spending.
• Professor Thomaï Serdari, an expert in luxury marketing, examines trends in the luxury industry for “back to school.” 
• With the rapidly changing competitive climate among retailers, Professors Joel Steckel and Allen Adamson, authors of “Shift Ahead: How the Best Companies Stay Relevant in a Fast-Changing World,” discuss what businesses need to do to be able to adapt.