Business School Research Roundup: March 2015

The use of anthropomorphized products and branding is a particular field of interest for the Chicago Booth professor. Chicago Magazine uses the example of McDonald’s talking Happy Meal box mascot – ‘Happy’ – to illustrate McGill’s theory.

That theory taps into what McGill believes to be a gray area in human psychology. A talking product is human enough to get you to listen to it (because it’s talking your language), but not human enough to raise your suspicions as an actual human being might - as who trusts people, after all?

In her tests, the Chicago Booth professor found that those with the lowest level of trust in other humans were the most likely to be persuaded by a mascot, while those with the greatest level of interpersonal trust were the least likely.

At Chicago Booth, McGill teaches courses in behavioral science and consumer behavior and explains her research into areas such as brand anthropomorphism as enhancing “our understanding of how people think, which makes it easier to reach and help them.”

Companies should place more value in their employees’ exposure to international work experience - according to research from INSEAD and Columbia Business School - because overseas travel is a key driver of an individual’s creativity.

Their premise is that instead of dismissing the idea of sending their staff abroad as both expensive and unnecessary, companies should consider the potential benefits.

“Lab studies show that multicultural experiences have a positive effect on individuals’ creativity,” INSEAD professor, William Maddux, said in a press release.

To examine the business impact of these experiences, a trio of INSEAD researchers – together with a Columbia Business School faculty member - looked at an industry where creativity is central to success, the fashion industry. The result is ‘Fashion With A Foreign Flair: Professional Experiences Abroad Facilitate The Creative Innovations Of Organizations,’ a paper published in the Academy of Management Journal.

In analyzing the work of creative directors over 11 years of fashion collections from 270 of the world’s top fashion houses, the team found a correlation between a director’s work experiences abroad (measured across three channels of breadth, depth, and cultural distance) and the level of creativity seen in their subsequent work (defined as ‘novel’ and ‘useful’ from an external standpoint). However, they also found that there was such a thing as too much exposure:

“The findings show that there is an optimal level: moderate cross-cultural experience is great for creativity, but when an individual moves too much around the world or accepts a working assignment in a country that is culturally very different from what they are used to, then this person’s creativity will suffer”, said INSEAD professor, Frédéric C. Godart.

The fashion industry was chosen for its emphasis on creativity, but the team believes that their paper’s findings can have a more generalized application. INSEAD’s Andrew Shipilov explains that other industries should follow the fashion industry’s lead and invest in initiatives that allow their executives to broaden their horizons by gaining professional experience abroad.

“Creativity is the driver of growth for companies and individuals in the 21st century. Professional foreign assignments are the surest way to become creative, and [the] fashion industry understands that. Companies in other industries also should value executives’ foreign experiences and promote them,” Shipilov surmised.