Research

with Adam Eric Greenberg and Zachary Estes

Millions of consumers worldwide engage in collecting, and companies themselves often leverage consumers’ desires to collect by launching collectible product series (e.g., Starbucks coffee mugs) and rewards (e.g., McDonald’s Happy Meals toys). In this paper, we find that in direct contrast to the traditional view of searching as a cost and purchasing demotivator, collecting engenders a positive experience of searching. Such utility – a feeling that we call joy for the hunt – in turn, has positive implications on the valuation of the searched goods, such that consumers more often choose, are willing to pay more, and value the acquisition more. Removing or diminishing aspects of the search process that are traditionally considered costs—for example, eliminating the search process altogether—engenders greater purchasing for non-collected items, but reduces it for collected ones. These findings advance literatures on consumer search and collecting, and show a counterintuitive and managerially-relevant feature that collectible products have on the search and acquisition process.

Awards and Recognition:

• Best Paper Award (Advanced Track), Northern European Consumer Research Symposium 2023

• Invited for presentation at Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley (Ellen Evers’ Lab), Vienna University of Economics and Business, Amsterdam Business School, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Warwick Business School (Behavioural Science Group), NOVA School of Business  and Economics, ESCP Business School, NEOMA Business School, Aalto University, Bilkent University, and  international conferences

with Irene Scopelliti and Zachary Estes

In this paper we document how the distribution of an owned set of possessions—whether items are uniformly (e.g., 2 blue 2 red 2 black pens) or non-uniformly e.g., 2 blue 1 red 3 black pens) distributed within it—affects people’s subsequent preferences. We find that, while uniform distributions lead to choices aligned with consumers’ preferences and usage patterns, non-uniform distributions trigger a tendency to increase uniformity through subsequent choices. This tendency induces consumers to acquire more of the underrepresented items in the set and to remove overrepresented ones, even when these actions contradict their preferences or consumption needs. This occurs because non-uniform distributions establish reference points—typically the modal or mean quantity—against which consumers evaluate their possessions. Items below this reference point feel “insufficient,” prompting acquisition; items above feel “excessive,” prompting disposal. These distribution-driven decisions persist regardless of absolute quantities owned and extend to novel items, revealing how the set of owned possessions influences consumer behavior beyond utility maximization principles.

Awards and Recognition:

• Jane Beattie Memorial Award, SJDM 2023

• Best Presentation Award, 9th Mediterranean Consumer Behaviour Symposium 2023

• City, University of London Research Grant Winner as a promising 4* publication

• Invited for presentation at Imperial College Business School and international conferences

with Martina Cossu and Irene Scopelliti

Despite unanimously recognizing the necessity of efficient recycling to tackle the waste issue, governments worldwide disagree on its optimal implementation. In certain regions (e.g., Italy or Germany), consumers sort their garbage into sets of bins featuring specific categories like paper, plastic, metal, glass, and general waste, whereas in other regions (e.g., the UK or the US), they do so into sets of bins featuring broader categories like recyclables and general waste. This research highlights that such variance in the recycling system structure differentially affects consumers’ sorting errors, thus seriously compromising recycling effectiveness. Specifically, sets of bins with broader categories incentivize consumers’ incorrect allocation of recyclables into general waste, thus unnecessarily increasing landfilling. Conversely, sets of bins with narrower categories incentivize incorrect allocation of non-recyclables into recyclable bins and contamination among recyclables. Favoring easy access to precise sorting instructions (e.g., by specifying what “recyclables” mean on the bin, or by prompting consumers to actively consult recycling guidelines through a QR code) is an effective intervention to substantially reduce such classification errors, and increase recycling effectiveness.

Awards and Recognition:

• Winner of the “A Sustainable Future (ASF) Initiative” Research Grant, University of Amsterdam

• Invited for presentation at international conferences