The Why Podcast: Why should firms experiment more when it comes to their marketing activity?

In this episode of the Why podcast, London Business School’s Anja Lambrecht and Xu Zhang discuss their recent research into how TV ads influence online sales for a major travel website, exploring how their findings challenge conventional views about their value. The research suggests that spikes in sales following an advert are not necessarily incremental sales, but instead an acceleration of sales that would have happened at a later time, an effect they term “intertemporal substitution”. They also talk about the vital role played by a field experiment in helping them arrive at their findings, and delve into why firms should undertake more of this type of experiment. Anja is Professor of Marketing at London Business School and Xu is Assistant Professor of Marketing. Zoë Stumpf is Head of Thought Leadership & Research Amplification at London Business School. Listen to more insights from LBS faculty @londonbusinessschool. Discover more of our thought leadership at www.london.edu/think. Follow LBS on Twitter: twitter.com/lbs and LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/school/london-business-school.