Price discounts may backfire when combined with large donations
A new INFORMS journal of Marketing Science study explores the hidden risks of businesses face when combining price discounts with large charity donations.
We are drowning in numbers, and we no longer understand what they mean. Every day, headlines bombard us with figures meant to inform: billions in spending, trillions in debt, percentages signaling growth or decline. But for most of us, these numbers blur together. They register as “large” or “small,” but almost never as real. And that is more than a math problem. It is a civic one.
INFORMS has awarded Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) its 2026 Franz Edelman Award for Achievement in Advanced Analytics, Operations Research and Management Science, for reengineering how global cloud infrastructure is planned and delivered, applying advanced analytics and AI to orchestrate complex fulfillment decisions across its rapidly expanding data center network.
In the rush to adopt artificial intelligence, many employers are now requiring that employees use AI tools. As you’re using AI, be intentional and selective. It’s critical that you know yourself. Research published in Management Science found that AI is most valuable for people who understand their own abilities and limitations. Assess yourself, so you can factor this into your process for incorporating AI into your work.
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A new INFORMS journal of Marketing Science study explores the hidden risks of businesses face when combining price discounts with large charity donations.
Marketers know they should keep their messages simple if they want to cut through the noise and reach customers. The key question is then: Of your product’s attributes, which one should you focus on? New research in the INFORMS journal of Marketing Science suggests that companies may want to emphasize the same attribute that their rivals do.
A few of Mickey Mouse’s pals within a division of The Walt Disney Company have been working on a method to better target marketing by learning more about consumers’ personalities. Research scientist Maarten Bos has worked on ways to better understand audience personality and how ads can be tailored to them based on the images used, a topic he presented on at the recent 2017 INFORMS Business Analytics Conference.
Maarten Bos, a research scientist at Disney Research, helped conducted studies - which were the topic of his presentation at the 2017 INFORMS Business Analytics Conference - about tailoring ads that are both appealing and effective. Personality types vary, which suggests that tailored advertisements may be appealing and effective. In a series of studies, Bos helped investigated both the image preferences of individuals as well as responses to a personality questionnaire.
Nor1's Vice President, Technology, Kirby Bosch and Senior Vice President, Global Gaming, Pavan Kapur will illustrate this leading-edge approach during their presentation "Practical Approaches Using Customer Web Behavior to Maximize Hospitality and Gaming Revenue" at the INFORMS 2017 Business Analytics Conference, Caesars Palace, Las Vegas. This informative session will focus on the business opportunity for individualized pricing as well as the technology stack needed to put the practice into production. It will also highlight the use of machine learning algorithms to calculate consumer price elasticity in real time to boost hotel room revenue.

OR/MS Today is the INFORMS member magazine that shares the latest research and best practices in operations research, analytics and the management sciences.
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Analytics magazine showcases articles and research reports based on big data, AI, machine learning, data analytics and other new-age technologies.
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