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Barbara Kahn
Formerly Dorothy Silberberg Professor of Marketing, Vice Dean and Director of Wharton Undergraduate Division

Barbara E. Kahn was the Dorothy Silberberg Professor and Vice Dean and Director of the Wharton Undergraduate Division. She is a noted scholar whose research on consumer choice, variety seeking and brand loyalty gives marketing managers a better understanding of the hows and whys of consumer behavior. One study Kahn led answered questions about how people's buying habits change when they see what looks like unlimited, or too much, variety. Other recent work found that consumers react positively to imaginative product names even if they are not particularly descriptive. The research may have strong implications for Internet marketers whose customers cannot see a product first-hand and tend to rely more on written descriptions when making purchases. Finally, another research study investigated how perceived variety in assortment might affect consumption quantities; this research has implications for dietary suggestions to curb over-eating tendencies.

In a second research stream, Kahn investigates the various factors that influences consumers' decisions to take part in preventative health measures such as screening tests or safety devices. In one study Kahn investigated how false positive test results might affect future mammography decisions. In another study, Kahn examined the effects of emotional advertising in influencing undergraduate students to use various protective measures (e.g., condoms, bicycle helmets). This stream of research is designed to help public policy decision makers understand the critical factors that will encourage consumers to engage in preventative measures repeatedly.

A prolific scholar, Kahn's research has been published in top-tier academic journals including the Journal of Consumer Research, the Journal of Marketing Research, Marketing Science and the Journal of Consumer Psychology. She is also the co-author of the 1997 book, Grocery Revolution: The New Focus on the Consumer, which chronicled the dramatically changing supermarket industry and outlined how consumers make supermarket choices.

Professor Kahn serves on the policy boards, editorial boards or as associate editor of several leading academic journals, including the Journal of Consumer Research, Marketing Science and the Journal of Consumer Psychology. She has also won numerous grants, academic and teaching awards.

Professor Kahn's teaching interests include courses in Consumer Behavior, Marketing Strategic Management, and Branding as well as teaching New Products Marketing, Industrial Marketing Strategy, and Building and Leveraging Brand Equity for Wharton's Executive Education programs. She has taught custom Executive Education Programs for dozens of corporations, including Bell Atlantic, Merrill Lynch, Bethlehem Steel, and Wyeth. Professor Kahn is executive education faculty in the Executive Development Program.

Professor Kahn received her PhD in Marketing from Columbia University, her MBA in Marketing/Statistics from Columbia University, and her BA in English Literature from the University of Rochester.

Current Research Papers

Barbara E. Kahn, E.G. Miller, M.F. Luce, E. Conant, (2006), "Emotional Reactions to Mammography Efficacy: What You Think Depends on Where You are in the Process", Journal of Behavior Decision Making

M. Lee, S. Varghese, Barbara E. Kahn, (2006), "Retrospective Preference for Variety: An Ease of Retrieval Perspective", Journal of Consumer Research

M.F. Luce, E.G. Miller, Barbara E. Kahn, (2006), "The Effect of Event Valence on Wait Management Strategies"

M.F. Luce, K. Grasshoff, Barbara E. Kahn, (2006), "How customers experience emotional messages"

V. Morwitz, Barbara E. Kahn, (2006), "Mere Measurement of Risk Attitudes"

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Publications

Andrea Morales, Barbara E. Kahn, Leigh McAlister, Susan M. Bronizrszyk, (2006), "Perceptions of Assortment Variety: The Effects of Congruency Between Consumer's Internal and Retailer's External Organization", Journal of Retailing, Vol. 81 (2), 159-169

Barbara E. Kahn, Mary Frances Luce, Stephen M. Nowlis, (2006), "De-biasing Insights from Process Tests", Journel of Consumer Research, (June), 131-138

Mary Frances Luce, Barbara E. Kahn, (2006), "Repeated-Adherence Protection Model (RAP) 'I'm OK and It's a Hassel"", Journel of Public Policy and Marketing, 25 (Spring), 79-89

M. Lee, S. Varghese, Barbara E. Kahn, (2005), "Retrospective Preference for Variety: An Ease of Retrieval Perspective", Society for Consumer Psychology, St. Peterburg, FL

Elizabeth Gelfand Miller, Barbara E. Kahn, (2005), "Shades of Meaning: The Effects of Color and Flavor Names on Purchase Intentions", Journal of Consumer Research,, Jun 2005; 32, 1; ABI/INFORM Global pg.86

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In The News

Bring on Armani, Prada, and Other High-end Brands: Japanese Consumers Still Demand Quality, Knowledge@Wharton, 03/01/2006

A Million Little Embellishments: Truth and Trust in Advertising and Publishing, Knowledge@Wharton, 02/22/2006

Tastes Great, Less Filling, and Perfect with Cheese': Beer Tries to Brew up a New Image, Knowledge@Wharton, 01/25/2006

EBay Calling Skype: Is It a Good Connection?, Knowledge@Wharton, 11/21/2005

Spreading Yourself Too Thin: The Atkins Diet and Other Fads, Knowledge@Wharton, 10/19/2005

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Awards

Named President of Association of Consumer Research, 2006

Wharton-SMU Research Center Grant, 2005

Center of Excellence in Cancer Communication Research (CECCR), 2005

Wharton-SMU Research Center Grant, 2004

Consortium Faculty, AMA Consortium, 1992

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Executive Education

Program Faculty, Essentials of Marketing

Program Faculty, Competitive Marketing Strategy

Barbara Kahn

Research Interests: Consumer choice; variety seeking; brand loyalty; customization; customer relationship management; decisions under uncertainty/ambiguity; medical and financial services; price promotions; product assortments.

Current Projects:
Mass customization strategies. Implications of variety for marketing managers. Consumers decision-making processes for medical and financial decisions. Effects of organization/categorization on perceived variety. Factors influencing patients' decisions to get annual mammograms.

Last Modified September 18, 2009