Cultural distance can be a key factor in how firms enter a foreign market and the type of investment they make, as research has shown. But what about when firms in the host country seek foreign involvement in their projects at home? Does cultural distance affect their decisions, too? Jiatao Li of HKUST and co-authors Seung-Hyun Lee and Oded Shenkar consider ... Read More

Reducing information asymmetry between managers and the market can benefit firms, as many firms well know. Those seeking external financing or reporting greater earnings growth are more likely to disclose financial information, and disclosure has also been shown to have a positive impact on share price. It's also linked to better corporate governance and CEO ... Read More

A salesperson's attempts blatantly flatter customers in order to make a sale - for example, by fulsomely complimenting their dress sense or taste - can annoy the recipients. But it turns out the sweet words may still have a desirable effect. Customers, in the long term, harbour more positive views of the flatterer. That was the finding in a study by Elaine ... Read More

New technology has opened new windows for sellers to market their products. E-mail, fax, telemarketing and direct mail can reach thousands of consumers at a relatively low cost. However, consumers pay a price because their privacy is violated - and their response can have interesting implications for sellers and consumers. Consumers may engage in concealment ... Read More

Partial refunds can be an attractive proposition for service providers. They induce early customers to give up a service they no longer need in exchange for a refund, and the firm can then sell the service again. Yet partial refunds are not uniformly adopted by service industries or even by providers within the same industry. United Airlines, for instance ... Read More

The marketing cliche "Sex sells" has been embraced by advertisers trying to get their products noticed in an increasingly cluttered space. Yet while the use of explicit sexual imagery can grab attention, it does not always create a favourable impression of the brand. Earlier research has shown that men view such ads far more positively than women. But a new ... Read More

The decision to opt for a chocolate snack over an apple is not a simple matter of taste, according to research by Anirban Mukhopadhyay and his co-author Aparna A. Labroo. Rather, the person will be guided by a complex interplay of mood and their beliefs about whether emotion is lasting or fleeting. "Some of life's most fundamental choices involve balancing ... Read More

Privacy assurance has become a ubiquitous feature of business and service websites where consumers are asked to provide personal information. How effective are these assurances? Do they in fact induce consumers to share their data? Kai-Lung Hui of HKUST and his co-authors Hock Hai Teo and Sang-Yong Tom Lee undertook the first field experiment to test the ... Read More

The integrity of information is a key issue when companies make financing decisions. Outside investors need to trust a firm's financial accounts and when they do not, this can affect whether the firm issues equity or debt. A key factor in establishing this trust and reducing "asymmetry of information" between the firm and investors is auditor quality. A high ... Read More

How do differences in laws and their enforcement affect the amounts bank lend to firms, the maturity of the loans they make, and the interest rates they charge? In a recent paper, Vidhan K. Goyal of HKUST and his co-author Kee-Hong Bae examine the extent to which creditor rights and contract enforceability affect what loans are offered to firms, how the ... Read More