The familiar state of tension associated with an incomplete collection or an unfinished jigsaw puzzle is predicted by Lewin’s (1926; 1935) field theory. This feeling evokes a drive to completion—a phenomenon we label the incompleteness effect—which is useful to marketers endeavoring to cross-sell products and services. In three studies using online product configurators, we find that consumers faced with visual representations of incomplete product category collections, such as an evening drinks menu or a puzzle with its pieces representing services, are significantly more likely to complete the collection or finish the puzzle by cross-purchasing from a greater number of product or service categories as compared to those using a conventional online shopping format. We identify theoretical mechanisms through which the incompleteness effect works and potential moderators for the effect. Findings suggest that managers offering products or services across several categories can increase cross-selling by eliciting people’s drive toward completion.

Antibodies against the B cell-specific antigens CD20 and CD19 have markedly improved the treatment of B cell-derived lymphoma and autoimmune diseases by depleting malignant and autoreactive B cells. However, since CD20 and CD19 are also expressed on healthy B cells, such antibodies lack disease specificity. Here, we optimize a previously developed concept that uses bispecific antibodies to induce apoptosis selectively in malignant and autoreactive B cells that express the death receptor CD95. We describe the development and characterization of bispecific antibodies with CD95xCD20 and CD95xCD19 specificity in a new IgG-based format. We could show that especially the CD95xCD20 antibody mediated a strong induction of apoptosis in malignant B cells in vitro. In vivo, the antibody was clearly superior to the previously used Fabsc format with identical specificities. In addition, both IgGsc antibodies depleted activated B cells in vitro, leading to a significant reduction in antibody production and cytokine secretion. The killing of resting B cells and hepatocytes that lack CD95 and CD20/CD19, respectively, was marginal. Thus, our results imply that bispecific anti-CD95 antibodies in the IgGsc format are an attractive tool for a more selective and efficient depletion of malignant as well as autoreactive B cells.

Loss aversion can occur in riskless and risky choices. We present novel evidence on both in a non-student sample (660 randomly selected customers of a car manufacturer). We measure loss aversion in riskless choice in endowment effect experiments within and between subjects and find similar levels of average loss aversion in both. The subjects of the within study also participate in a simple lottery choice task which arguably measures loss aversion in risky choices. We find substantial heterogeneity in both measures of loss aversion. Loss aversion in riskless choice and loss aversion in risky choice are strongly positively correlated, but on average riskless loss aversion is higher than risky loss aversion. We find that in both choice tasks, loss aversion increases in age, income, and wealth, and decreases in education. Our results provide novel supportive input to the debate about the reality of loss aversion.

Therapeutics that block tumor necrosis factor (TNF), and thus activation of TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) and TNFR2, are clinically used to treat inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and psoriasis. However, TNFR1 and TNFR2 work antithetically to balance immune responses involved in inflammatory diseases. In particular, TNFR1 promotes inflammation and tissue degeneration, whereas TNFR2 contributes to immune modulation and tissue regeneration. We, therefore, have developed the monovalent antagonistic anti-TNFR1 antibody derivative Atrosimab to selectively block TNFR1 signaling, while leaving TNFR2 signaling unaffected. Here, we describe that Atrosimab is highly stable at different storage temperatures and demonstrate its therapeutic efficacy in mouse models of acute and chronic inflammation, including experimental arthritis, non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). Our data support the hypothesis that it is sufficient to block TNFR1 signaling, while leaving immune modulatory and regenerative responses via TNFR2 intact, to induce therapeutic effects. Collectively, we demonstrate the therapeutic potential of the human TNFR1 antagonist Atrosimab for treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases.

Open innovation contests that display all submitted ideas to participants are a popular way for firms to generate ideas. In such contest-based ideation, the authors show that seeing numerous competitive ideas of others harms, rather than stimulates, creative performance (Study 1). Others’ competitive prior ideas interfere with idea generation, as new ideas need to be differentiated from the preceding ones to be original. Exposure to an increasing number of prior ideas thus heightens individuals’ perceived constraints of expressing ideas and harms creative performance (Studies 2 and 3). Furthermore, creative performance monotonically reduces with an increasing number of prior ideas (Study 4). A final study demonstrates that showing only a limited number of ideas as well as grouping prior ideas offer actionable ways to reduce prior ideas’ harmful influence (Study 5). These results illustrate viable ways to improve contest-based ideation outcomes merely by changing how competitive prior ideas are presented.

It has become standard practice for consumers to customize products instead ofchoosing off-the-shelf solutions. A new practice is that consumers can directly share and discuss their customized products with their peers via social product configurators. We examine how the type of communication affects peer decision-making and satisfaction in such configurators. Drawing on research on mass customization, electronic word of mouth, and narcissism, we propose that narcissistic communication is crucial to understanding the effect of a shared configuration. A series of three studies demonstrates that consumers scoring high (vs. low) on narcissism are more likely to share their customized product online as a sample configuration and to use I-centered communication to describe that configuration. Such narcissistic communication makes peers adjust their own customized product to the sample configuration and to evaluate their own product less favorably. These findings suggest that narcissistic communication influences consumers’ decision-making by increasing the likelihood to conform, potentially negatively impacting consumer satisfaction. The social power of narcissists has implications for both marketing research and practice.

The upcoming machine age offers a unique opportunity to gain novel, in-depth customer insights and to unleash enormous potential in various business areas. The abundance of data and the pace of progress in transforming data into actionable knowledge affects players across nearly all industries. This book offers a short pit stop in the race for customer insights and insight-based decision making through machine learning tools. It summarizes recent developments in business and academia concisely and offers readers proven practical guidance in what is about to become the new normal. Outstanding authors from innovative firms and renowned universities provide a comprehensive overview of the transformation of customer insights, the tools needed to generate these insights, and the success factors to thrive in the new age. Their contributions underpin the key message: The machine age of customer insight requires well-founded, data-based decision making, consistent execution and—more than ever—continuous and fast learning. This book aims to provide support to those who feel the need to make the most important first step: to embark on this learning journey. We organized the journey in three stages. The first part addresses the question: How is the field of customer insights being transformed? First, Einhorn and Loffler from Porsche illustrate the transformation process and highlight the importance of dynamic capabilities, particularly in the automotive industry. Then, Picareta, Weissheim, and Klohn from Salesforce show how intelligent applications have become a crucial factor for success in modern sales organizations. Next, Neudecker et al. from Kantar look at how new technologies such as voice and facial coding can contribute to a better understanding of customer emotions. Guedes, Akinwale, and Fontecha from Credit Suisse provide an overview on how machine-driven content marketing can assist in targeting customers in the banking industry. Finally, Ottawa from Deutsche Telekom highlight the emergence of 5G and its importance in collecting customer data. The second part of the book explores the question: Which tools are necessary to generate customer insights? First, Lantz from the University of Michigan provides an overview of analytical tools that can be applied to gain customer insights. Then, Wang, Czerminski, and Jamieson from Harvard University explain some of the key features of deep neural networks and aspects of their design and architecture. Next, Hartmann from the University of Hamburg showcases how the power of decision tree ensembles can be harnessed based on a practical use case. Kwartler from Harvard Extension School distinguishes and defines text analytics and natural language processing and shows their value-adding practical application. Finally, Hofstetter from the University of Lucerne presents a concise six-step data scraping process to exploit the business value of online data. The third part of the book explores the question: How can the management of customer insights lead to success? First, Jakobi, von Grafenstein, and Schildhauer from Humboldt University Berlin argue that a well-designed privacy and data protection process is a key element for customer experience management. Then, Temkin from Qualtrics explores how success in the experience economy can be guaranteed by utilizing experience data. Next, Khan from SAP examines the data value equation and shows how it can generate business value. Zimmermann from the University of St. Gallen provides an overview of competition data science platforms and assesses their business potential. Blache et al. from Deutsche Bank introduce the KontoSensor as a tool for processing data which creates value for both businesses and customers. Finally, Frank from Ted Frank Strategic Story Consulting shows how applying story telling techniques contributes to a better understanding of data. The machine age of customer insight is not only an exciting era of its own—it is also a key element for transforming customer insights into business value. The current book affirms everyone who considers this era as a great opportunity while hopefully convincing those who are still skeptical.

This research examines how the unsystematic (vs. systematic) spatial arrangement of a set of alternatives affects consumers’ product choices. The key hypothesis is that an unsystematic product arrangement—in which an assortment consisting of several alternatives is arranged in an apparently arbitrary manner—causes greater perceptual disfluency, which in turn triggers more extensive exploratory product search, ultimately promoting the choice of unfamiliar products. This sequence of effects is particularly pronounced when consumers do not have a strong prior preference for specific alternatives in the assortment. Evidence from five studies, including a large-scale field experiment, provides support for this theorizing across various display formats and product domains. The findings advance our understanding of how the spatial arrangement of a product assortment influences consumer choice, and they shed light on the psychological mechanism that governs this effect.

How Consumption Vocabulary Directs Product Discussions: The Guiding Influence of Feature Labels on Consumers' Communication and Learning about Products in Online Communities

Loss aversion, the principle that losses impact decision making more than equivalent gains, is a fundamental idea in consumer behavior and decision making, though its existence has recently been called into question. Across five unique samples (Ntotal = 17,720), we tested several moderators of loss aversion, which supported a preference construction account. Across studies, more domain knowledge and experience were associated with lower loss aversion, though people of all knowledge and experience levels were loss averse. Among car buyers, those who knew more about a particular car attribute (e.g., fuel economy) were less loss averse for that attribute but not other attributes (e.g., comfort), consistent with the idea that people with less attribute knowledge are more likely to construct preferences, thereby increasing loss aversion. Additionally, older consumers were more loss averse across different loss aversion measures and studies. We discuss implications for several accounts of loss aversion, including accounts rooted in status quo bias, emotion, or ownership. In addition to discovering loss aversion moderators, we cast doubt on recent claims that loss aversion is a fallacy or is fully explained by status quo bias, risk aversion, or the educated laboratory samples often used to study loss aversion.

Mass customization interfaces typically guide consumers through the configuration process in a sequential manner, focusing on one product attribute after the other. What if this standardized customization experience were personalized for consumers on the basis of how they process information? A series of large-scale field and experimental studies, conducted with Western and Eastern consumers, shows that matching the interface to consumers' culture-specific processing style enhances the effectiveness of mass customization. Specifically, presenting the same information isolated (by attribute) to Western consumers but contextualized (by alternative) to Eastern consumers increases satisfaction with and likelihood of purchasing the configured product, along with the amount of money spent on the product. These positive consumer responses emerge because of an increase in "interface fluency"-consumers' subjective experience of ease when using the interface. The authors advise firms to personalize the customization experience by employing processing-congruent interfaces across consumer markets.

Wie Zahlen aus der Marketingpraxis belegen, besitzen für den Erfolg einer Marke Innovationen einen hohen Stellenwert. Eindrucksvoll nachweisen konnten diesen Zusammenhang zum Beispiel Albach (1989, S. 1338) sowie Simon (1996, S. 107), die nach Auswertung der von ihnen initiierten Studien einen positiven Einfluß der Innovationsaktivitäten eines Unternehmens auf dessen Umsatzrendite ermittelten (vgl. Wieselhuber & Partner/RKW, 1988, S. 30). Und auch nach der Auffassung von Hätty (1994, S. 575) repräsentiert der Innovationsgrad der Produktideen bzw. Marketingleistungen eine zentrale Determinante für das erfolgreiche Management der Marke. Ferner weisen Wind und Mahajan (1997, S. 7) auf die Notwendigkeit eines gelungenen Zusammenspiels zwischen den Innovationsaktivitäten und der Markenführung hin.

The development of alternative therapeutic strategies to tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-blocking antibodies for the treatment of inflammatory diseases has generated increasing interest. In particular, selective inhibition of TNF receptor 1 (TNFR1) promises a more precise intervention, tackling only the pro-inflammatory responses mediated by TNF while leaving regenerative and pro-survival signals transduced by TNFR2 untouched. We recently generated a monovalent anti-TNFR1 antibody fragment (Fab 13.7) as an efficient inhibitor of TNFR1. To improve the pharmacokinetic properties of Fab 13.7, the variable domains of the heavy and light chains were fused to the N-termini of newly generated heterodimerizing Fc chains. This novel Fc heterodimerization technology, designated “Fc-one/kappa” (Fc1κ) is based on interspersed constant Ig domains substituting the CH3 domains of a γ1 Fc. The interspersed immunoglobulin (Ig) domains originate from the per se heterodimerizing constant CH1 and CLκ domains and contain sequence stretches of an IgG1 CH3 domain, destined to enable interaction with the neonatal Fc receptor, and thus promote extended serum half-life. The resulting monovalent Fv-Fc1κ fusion protein (Atrosimab) retained strong binding to TNFR1 as determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and quartz crystal microbalance, and potently inhibited TNF-induced activation of TNFR1. Atrosimab lacks agonistic activity for TNFR1 on its own and in the presence of anti-human IgG antibodies and displays clearly improved pharmacokinetic properties.

Many product-customization systems enable consumers to obtain input from their peers during the customization process. The design characteristics of these customization systems vary significantly, and some systems provide consumers with the opportunity to receive peer input only privately (i.e., unobservable to fellow consumers) while others allow consumers to receive peer input publicly (i.e., observable to other consumers). Building on prior research on thinking styles and social impact theory, the current work examines the interplay between user, social network, and system design characteristics in social product-customization systems as drivers of whether consumers conform to input received from others on their customized products and of their evaluation of these products. Evidence from one field study and four experiments shows that consumers with more holistic (vs. analytic) thinking styles make more conforming product modifications when receiving public rather than private peer input, and this greater conformity to peer input boosts (vs. diminishes) consumers' evaluation of customized products when they feel close (vs. distant) to input providers. These findings offer novel insights into how the design of social product-customization systems affects consumers' evaluation of customized products.

In open innovation, firms increasingly rely on online consumer votes to evaluate ideas for new products and services. Votes can represent cost-effective external information about idea quality that can inform and facilitate a firm's task of evaluating and screening of ideas at the early stages of the innovation process. Challenging this perception, we proposed that consumer votes provided in open innovation contests can be socially biased by reciprocal voting. On the basis of theories related to cooperation and social influence, we argued that both gregarious consumers (those who solicit social ties) and consumers who initiate direct reciprocity (those who vote for others) signal a willingness to cooperate that stimulates reciprocal voting from peers. We empirically investigated consumer voting behavior using a unique dataset with information obtained from actual open innovation contests in which consumers could submit their own ideas and see and vote for the ideas of others. We found that both gregariousness and the initiation of direct reciprocity positively influence votes received. Such cooperation pays off for consumers because firms indeed use votes to inform internal idea evaluations. We also found, however, that the votes an idea receives during an innovation contest cannot significantly explain its later revealed quality. Reciprocity may be an effective form of cooperation among consumers, but it has potentially negative implications for firms' evaluations. Our results also indicated that beyond reciprocity, consumers and firms value different types of ideas, which further differentiates their evaluations. Thus, firms should not only be aware of social biases in votes but also account for the diverging idea preferences of customers.