Werbepraktiker behaupten gerne, dass erotische Werbung nur funktioniert, wenn das Produkt einen Bezug zum Thema Sex und Erotik hat. Dieser Behauptung stehen allerdings Befunde entgegen, nach denen über assoziatives Lernen nahezu beliebige Bedeutungen auf passende wie unpassende Objekte übertragen werden können. Im ersten Teil des Vortrags werden Befunde vorgestellt, die diese Annahme belegen: Über Mechanismen, die dem evaluativen Konditionieren nachempfunden sind, lassen sich Produkte mit einer erotischen Bedeutung „aufladen“. Hierbei spielt es keine Rolle, um welche Art von Produkten es sich handelt. Der zweite Teil des Beitrags beschäftigt sich mit der Frage, wie man sich die Wirkung erotischer Stimuli im Marketing vorstellen muss. Aktuelle Metaanalysen kommen zunächst eher zu einem kritischen Fazit: Einstellungen, Erinnerungen oder Kaufabsicht lassen sich allem Anschein durch Sex in der Werbung nicht verbessern. Allerdings gibt es andere Wirkungsebenen, die bislang eher selten untersucht wurden, die aber durchaus bedeutende Effekte im Sinne von Marketingzielen erwarten lassen. Dabei ist auch die Geschlechtsspezifität von erotischer Wirkung zu beachten: Männer und Frauen finden nicht unbedingt die gleichen Dinge gleich erotisch. Wenn aber der Stimulus passt, ist die Wirkung auf beide Geschlechter sehr ähnlich.

We propose that knowing how much a firm is internationally diversified tells us little about performance implications, if we do not know how the firm has diversified. Therefore, we take a resource perspective to develop a theoretical framework that focuses on the firm’s international diversification strategy as reflected by its configuration of activities across space. We develop a measure that allows us to proxy the extent to which the international diversification strategy is characterized by specialization versus replication. We argue that these different strategies have differential impact on profitability and risk and, as a consequence, moderate the international diversification—performance relationship. Using a unique panel data set of 92 German MNEs, we provide a novel perspective on the international diversification—performance relationship

Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) were introduced to give property buyers greater information about the energy efficiency of dwellings and provide incentives to make energy-efficient investments. Previous studies on the effect of EPCs on property value have yielded divergent results, with some studies finding that energy labels affect property values but others finding that energy labels have little or no effect. The present paper takes the analysis one step further. Using data on energy prices in combination with transaction data from Oslo, we conclude that not only the energy label, but also the energy performance of dwellings in general has little to no effect on transaction prices. This result is in line with the inferences of several survey studies, which indicate that when people buy a dwelling, they pay considerably less attention to its energy performance compared with other factors, such as the availability of garden and outdoor space, the location, the neighborhood, and the size of the property.

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Trust and cooperation are hallmarks of our species, yet they challenge the economic canons of rationality and self-interest, especially in situations where it is possible to free-ride on the efforts of others. How do people solve the recurring dilemma of having to choose between personal gain versus mutually beneficial, but risky acts? Much research in Economics and Psychology has addressed the role of incentives that increase the willingness to cooperate, social cues that allow a person to construe expectations of others, and, from a biological perspective, hormones that affect the decision making process by altering physiology. The neuropeptide oxytocin in particular is increasingly studied in this respect because of its stress reduction functions by which it could remove social apprehension and facilitate social approach behaviors like trust and cooperation. In this colloquium I will present the results of three experiments that illustrate how oxytocin affects social judgments and moderates decision making in contexts with different types of incentives and social cues. This interactive approach corroborates that the effect of oxytocin on prosocial behavior is context-dependent. Moreover, neuroimaging data indicates that oxytocin may play a role in the integration of incentives and social cues, thereby facilitating ecologically sound decisions without compromising safety.