Cornell FinTech Disruption, Crowd-Funding Wisdom, and More – New York News
Let’s explore some of the most interesting stories that have emerged from New York City business schools this week.
Fintech is Disrupting the Disruptors, and We’re Ready For It – Johnson School of Management Blog
S.C. Johnson Graduate School of Management MBA candidate Arjun Devgan, ’18, highlighted how FinTech inventions such as cryptocurrencies, peer-to-peer lending, and smart insurance have begun to disrupt a post-PayPal landscape, which at one point disrupted traditional banking.
Devgan writes about two Cornell Tech intensives designed to “equip students to solve business problems in this age of digital transformation:” the digital marketing intensive and the fintech intensive.
“With my background in payments and remittances, the fintech intensive program offered me a launchpad to dive deep into the world of financial technology. Classes such as the Fintech Practicum, Business Models, Cryptocurrencies, and a Field Project with one of Citi Ventures’ portfolio companies offer a great combination of basic theoretical concepts and real-world experiential learning.”
Learn more about Johnson’s FinTech and Digital Marketing Intensives here.
Want People to Fund your Kickstarter Project? Sell Them on Your Reputation First – Binghamton School of Management Blog
Binghamton School of Management associate professor Ali Alper Yayla presented a new paper at the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, which found that potential Kickstarter backers are more concerned about a producer’s “ethical characteristics than their actual ability to make and deliver the product.” Professor Yayla writes:
“We found that people worry more about the seller’s honesty than whether the seller actually has the ability and knowledge to finish and deliver on the product. People don’t want sellers to just take their money and run. Crowdfunding is interesting because you’re literally buying something that isn’t finished from a person who has never made it before. There are no product reviews, and there are no seller reviews.”
Read more about Yayla’s research here.
Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook’s Mess? – Forbes
In Len Sherman’s recent Forbes article “Can Mark Zuckerberg Fix Facebook’s Mess?”, the Columbia Business School executive in residence and adjunct professor noted the company’s seemingly astounding naivety of how much information was secretly (or not so secretly) being scrubbed for use by third party companies like Cambridge Analytica.
“It’s been hard to fathom how a company reputed to be run by one of the world’s most brilliant digirati, could have been so naïve in not recognizing the risks in giving outside developers broad access to Facebook’s user data, so lax in failing to ensure that rogue data in malevolent hands was destroyed before it could be weaponized, and so reluctant to advise users that their personal information was (and still is) floating around cyberspace. In short, what was Mark Zuckerberg thinking?”
Sherman theorizes that part of the issue is Zuckerberg’s sincere overconfidence that technology and innovation can only be used for a greater good, rather than being possibly manipulated by less-than-ideal forces. This, Sherman continues, was all done despite a litany of data that proved Facebook’s nefarious actors and less-than-strict partnerships were actively making the platform less safe year by year.
Click here to see the rest of Sherman’s work with Forbes.
Why More Male Celebs are Advertising Diet Products, According to This Wharton Prof
Americus Reed, marketing professor at University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, recently contributed his insight to an article in USA Today that explored diet firms’ trend toward utilizing male celebrity endorsements to promote their plans and products.
Male celebrities like ’80s wunderkind Rob Lowe (Atkins Nutritionals) and hip-hop producer DJ Khaled (Weight Watchers) have become the new male faces of these diets. Diet companies are shifting their advertising approach in order to draw in a male demographic and expand the reach of their products.
Women like Oprah Winfrey, Kirstie Alley, and Jennifer Hudson have been endorsing diet plans for decades, but the move toward male celebrity spokespeople is newer in the industry.
It makes sense that USA Today capitalized on Reed’s knowledge of consumers, as on his website, he is credited as the only “identity theorist” in Wharton’s Marketing Department. His research specifically addresses the effects of consumers’ senses of self on their shopping habits.
According to Reed, using celebrities to advertise is effective because fame comes with a great deal of power.
“Celebrity endorsements tap into that,” Reed says. ‘”I want to be like Rob Lowe, Kim Kardashian, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift. They use product X. I want to use X.’ It’s that straightforward of a persuasion.”
In reference to the company’s new marketing strategy, Scott Parker, the chief marketing officer of Atkins Nutrtionals, said, “We identified as a primary target for growth what we call self-directed people who are interested in eating better. The self-directed target is pretty evenly split between men and women … Clearly, needing to lose weight and lead a healthier lifestyle isn’t restricted to females.” Parker also indicated that Rob Lowe as a spokesperson appeals to both male and female demographics.
USA Today is not the first publication to benefit from Reed’s expertise. The New York Times and CBS Philly have quoted him in articles as well.
