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Kaiyang Wu, Doctoral Student, Wisconsin School of Business, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Synopsis

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Companies constantly introduce ingredients (termed as magic ingredients) whose efficacy is ambiguous but not scientifically refuted, in order to compete in the lucrative self-care markets (e.g. supplement, hair care, body care). Yet, marketing claims of those ingredients are poorly regulated by the US government, putting vulnerable consumers at physical and financial risk. The purpose of this research is to not only demonstrate the effect of product claims about magic ingredients on consumer choice, but also identify consumers who are vulnerable to such claims.

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We have conducted a series of choice based conjoint tasks and apply a hierarchical Bayes model to delineate the effect at the individual level. Our methodology also allows us to quantify consumer willingness to pay (WTP) for certain magic ingredients. After using both student subjects and a US adult population sample, our existing findings offer several insightful implications for consumers, marketing practitioners and policymakers.

2019 Marketing Seminars

This year the Wisconsin School of Business' Marketing Department is inviting doctoral candidates to come and present their research to our school. 

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