World Class Faculty & Research / December 3, 2012

Smith Business Close-Up: Behavioral Economics for Businesses

Thursday, November 29, 2012, 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, December 2, 2012, 7:30 a.m.

Behavioral Economics for Businesses

Many startups base their businesses on changing their customers’ behavior – which can be a challenge. But it doesn’t have to be so hard. The trick is understanding how customers make decisions and how to influence those decisions.

In this edition of Smith Business Close-Up, the Smith School’s Rebecca Ratner talks about her experience working with entrepreneurs at Silicon Valley’s behavioral economics summit for startups, StartupOnomics, and the takeaways other businesses can use.

Ratner is an associate professor of Marketing. She is an expert in consumer psychology. Her research explores factors underlying suboptimal consumer decision making and focus on variety seeking, affective forecasting, and the influence of social norms. Her research has appeared in leading marketing, psychology, and decision-making journals, and she teaches courses on marketing management, marketing research, and consumer behavior.

Smith Business Close-Up is co-produced by the Robert H. Smith School of Business and Maryland Public Television. The television segment focuses on the latest thinking in business management, and features in-depth interviews with Smith School faculty and other members of the school’s community of business leaders.

Where to Watch
Smith Business Close-Up can be seen bi-weekly on Maryland Public Television's Your Business and Money. The program airs at 7:30 p.m. on Thursdays and is repeated the following Sunday at 7:30 a.m. on public television stations throughout Maryland and the Washington, D.C., metropolitan region, including:

  • WMPB-TV (Ch. 67), Baltimore
  • WMPT-TV (Ch. 22), DC metro/Annapolis
  • WCPB-TV (Ch. 28), Salisbury
  • WFPT-TV (Ch. 62), Frederick
  • WWPB-TV (Ch. 31), Hagerstown
  • WGPT-TV (Ch. 36), Oakland

Media Contact

Greg Muraski
Media Relations Manager
301-405-5283  
301-892-0973 Mobile
gmuraski@umd.edu 

About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business

The Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master’s, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.

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