HOW THE REAL WORLD AFFECTS THE ONLINE BUSINESS

Professor David Bell is an expert in consumer shopping behavior. His current research focuses on theories and explanations for geographic variation in the performance of Internet retail startups. Startups studied include Bonobos.com, Diapers.com, and WarbyParker.com. Recent articles explain the effect of physical location on customer acquisition, contagion effects among co-located consumers, and the effect of preference isolation on online demand. Other projects focused on traditional retail settings explore unplanned and impulse buying, and consumer amortization strategies for fixed shopping costs. Previous articles explained consumer store choice among retailers with different pricing strategies, the effect of reference point formation on consumer response to promotions, and the effect of structural factors (e.g., dwelling size) on consumer shopping strategies.

Professor David Bell teaches Marketing Management in Wharton and speaks on why the way we use the Internet is still largely shaped by the physical world that we inhabit — from our likelihood to buy jeans online, to our willingness to search for and consume information. Through three case studies, highlighted in his book “Location Is (Still) Everything,” Bell illuminates how the real and virtual worlds connect, and what every online seller must know to succeed.

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