Smith Brain Trust

It happens. Sometimes companies let their customers down. And when they do, they need to fix it fast, says Janet Wagner of the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Have a social outing coming up? Take a minute at the outset to make sure you're on the same page about what you each hope to get out of the experience. You'll have a better time, according to new research from Smith School professor Rebecca Ratner.

How much is social media buzz worth to your brand? A new working paper, co-authored by Smith School professor Wendy W. Moe, quantifies the value of word-of-mouth mentions in terms of equivalent advertising dollars spent to influence consumers.

Smith School professor Amna Kirmani explores how a company's corporate social responsibility activities might influence whether consumers will try to cheat the company.

If you've got it, don't flaunt it. That's the conclusion Smith School professor Rosellina Ferraro and two colleagues came to when they studied how people display the brands they use. Using brands in a conspicuous manner is a turnoff for many others.

It's not often that a film smashes box office expectations in quite the way that Marvel Studio's "Black Panther" has. But it's not often that a superhero film gets so many things so right – from the screenplay, to the casting, to the marketing, says the Smith School's Henry C. Boyd III.

In an era of social media, where the internet brings far-flung places closer and makes location an almost secondary consideration, there is a week when being in the right place – New York City – still matters. It's Fashion Week."It is precisely because of social media that Fashion Week has become…

Ask anyone who loves those iconic building toys: Lego sets aren't cheap. And those plastic brick sets very rarely go on sale. The Smith School's P.K. Kannan says Lego is part of an elite club of brands that hold their ground on price and quality. 

The best givers take time to understand their customers, who just might want a Miles Davis poster, shares in the local utility company, a piano or a pocket calculator. 

It's not "game over" for Toys 'R' Us. Its bankruptcy this week is more of a "timeout." The Smith School's Jie Zhang says that if the toy retailer plays its cards right, it could end up a winner.