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Brain Scans on the Witness Stand: Revolutionizing the 'Reasonable Person' Standard

There are often different opinions between judges and juries in trademark cases about how similar the brands in question actually are, leading to large inconsistencies in the application of the law. Researchers propose a more scientific measure through the use of brain scans.

Zhihao Zhang

Drawing from research and experience from both consumer behavior and cognitive neuroscience, Zhang pursues a diverse and interdisciplinary research agenda revolving around consumer decision-making.

How Changing the Connotation of ‘Quiet Quitting’ Can Benefit the Workplace

For more than 50 years, organizational scholars have been documenting why employees are disengaged, why they “quit on the job,” and why they actually do quit. Only 32 percent of employees reported feeling engaged with their work in 2022. One way to improve the trend? Call “quiet quitting” what it often is: “calibrated contributing.”

Ad-Free or Ad-Full? Streaming and the Media Diet Dilemma

Media streaming services have irrevocably changed advertising, and ad-free and streaming services are forcing advertisers to throw old models out the window. What comes next?

Investing Responsibly: ESG and the Well-Intentioned Investor

No matter how one refers to it — “ESG” (environmental, social and governance), “responsible” or “sustainable” investing — the world is paying increased attention to investment decisions that include nonfinancial factors. Research examines if investment managers invest their clients’ capital as responsibly as they pledge to.

Hypothesis-Driven Development and the Generalist Superhero

The world of business has changed, and “tech” has everything to do with nearly every business role. Whether someone is technical or not, hypothesis-driven development helps workers get reliably good outcomes by working in discrete batches of testable ideas.

Darden Ideas to Action: Most Read Stories of 2022

Darden Ideas to Action insights draw from faculty expertise, books, research, cases and white papers. Here: the most read stories of 2022. How can one build a brand? What happens when buzz turns to backlash? How does a strategist prepare for the unforeseeable? What inequalities to women face in feedback? And why is storytelling an essential skill?

The Economics of AI

The past year has seen a dramatic shift in the landscape for the economics of AI. Artificial intelligence has made remarkable progress, and this progress has been faster than many expected. As we enter 2023, Darden Professor Anton Korinek shares some facts and his expert opinions on the implications of these developments.

Can Blue Apron Develop a Recipe for Profitability?

Innovation, supply-chain disruption, strategy and hot competition: Are there just too many meal-kit cooks in the industry’s kitchen? Blue Apron provides a case in point on all of the above.

Melissa Thomas-Hunt

Melissa Thomas-Hunt is professor at both the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business and Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy.