In a business world where brands are built and broken in the blink of an eye, understanding how consumers think has never been more critical. At London Business School, Assistant Professor of Marketing Dafna Goor is at the forefront of this conversation, examining why people value what they buy and how status, identity and emotion shape their choices. In this edition of “Five Minutes with the Faculty,” Goor reflects on her research into consumer behavior, discusses what luxury really means in an age of social media, and explains how she brings cutting‑edge insights into the LBS classroom.
Exploring consumer behaviour through the lens of identity and status at London Business School
In her classroom,consumer decisions become a window into how people construct who they are and who they aspire to be. Drawing on her research into status, luxury and social perception, Dafna Goor dissects why a logo on a handbag, the car in a driveway or even the choice of coffee shop can serve as a strategic signal. Students are encouraged to interrogate everyday choices through questions such as: What identity is this brand helping me perform? and Whose approval am I seeking? This critical lens turns familiar products into case studies of how consumers navigate belonging,distinction and social mobility.
Within this framework, classroom discussions often map how subtle shifts in social context can entirely alter the meaning of a purchase. Goor uses a mix of experiments, live debates and data-driven cases to show how brands trade on symbolic value as much as functional benefit. Typical themes explored include:
- Identity signaling – how products communicate group membership
- Status anxiety – what people do to avoid “falling behind” peers
- Moral judgement – when conspicuous consumption is admired or condemned
- Brand storytelling – narratives that make status cues feel authentic
| Concept | Classroom Focus |
|---|---|
| Quiet Luxury | Subtle signals for insiders |
| Conspicuous Spend | Public displays and social risk |
| Identity Conflict | When brands clash with self-image |
How Dafna Goor translates cutting edge marketing research into classroom practice
In Goor’s classroom, academic journals are less a distant reference point and more a live feed. She dissects freshly published studies, asking students to interrogate the assumptions, data and real-world consequences behind the findings. Rather than presenting theory as static, she treats it as a working prototype, inviting executives and MBA participants to stress-test it against their own industries. Case discussions are frequently enough rewritten just days before teaching, incorporating new evidence on topics such as AI-driven personalisation, behavioural pricing and sustainability messaging.The goal is not simply to “apply” research but to train students to think like researchers – curious,sceptical and relentlessly evidence-based.
Her sessions often pivot between conceptual frameworks and practical tools, with students expected to leave not just with insights but with promptly deployable strategies. A typical class might combine:
- Live experiments where students design A/B tests for digital campaigns
- Data-backed debates on controversial branding decisions
- Mini-labs on consumer psychology using real-time polling
- Impact clinics translating findings into 90-day action plans
| Research Focus | Classroom Application |
|---|---|
| Consumer trust in brands | Redesigning brand narratives and crisis responses |
| Ethical persuasion | Frameworks for responsible influencer and social campaigns |
| Algorithmic curation | Playbooks for marketing in AI-shaped marketplaces |
Practical lessons for brands on pricing signalling and building authentic customer trust
Price, Dafna Goor argues, is not just a number on a tag but a story about what a brand stands for. That story has to be coherent: flash promotions, steep discounts and contradictory price tiers quietly erode credibility, especially in categories where status and self-expression matter. Brands that want to cultivate genuine trust need to treat pricing as part of their identity,not a last-minute revenue lever. That means aligning list prices, promotional calendars and loyalty rewards so they reinforce a clear narrative about value. In practice, this might mean accepting slower short-term sales in favour of long-term consistency, particularly when customers are primed to spot-and punish-any hint of opportunistic pricing.
For marketers, the shift is from “What can we charge?” to “What are we signalling?” and “Will customers believe us next time?”. Goor’s research suggests that the brands that win are those that combine transparent logic with restrained theatrics: they explain why a product costs more, then resist the urge to constantly game that price.Tactically, this involves:
- Radical clarity on what drives the price: materials, craftsmanship, service or sustainability.
- Disciplined discounting that feels earned (loyalty, early access) rather than random fire sales.
- Tiered offers that reward commitment over swift clicks, echoing luxury’s insider logic.
- Honest dialog around cost pressures, especially in inflationary periods.
| Pricing Move | Likely Signal | Trust Impact |
|---|---|---|
| Frequent flash sales | Inventory problems, weak demand | Undermines list price |
| Clear premium logic | Confidence, expertise | Strengthens loyalty |
| Transparent price hikes | Respect for customers | Short-term pain, long-term trust |
Recommendations for students seeking to bridge academic insight with real world marketing impact
To turn classroom theory into campaigns that matter, treat every assignment as a live brief for a brand you care about. Swap hypothetical cases for real businesses-local cafés, student societies, nascent start-ups-and apply concepts like segmentation, positioning and pricing to their actual constraints. Build a compact portfolio of these projects and track performance metrics over time. This not only sharpens your strategic thinking, it also signals to recruiters that you can move from slide decks to market outcomes. Consider collaborating across disciplines-pair with data scientists, designers or product developers-to simulate the cross-functional nature of modern marketing teams.
- Volunteer as a “student strategist” for campus clubs or charities.
- Use live platforms (Google Ads, Meta, TikTok) with modest budgets to test ideas.
- Document experiments in a concise “learning log” with wins and failures.
- Seek mentors among alumni working in brand,performance and product marketing.
| Academic Tool | Real-World Move |
|---|---|
| Consumer behaviour models | Refine a landing page using user feedback |
| Brand positioning maps | Clarify a start-up’s value proposition |
| A/B testing theory | Run split tests on email subject lines |
| Pricing strategy | Advise a club on membership tiers |
Leverage London’s ecosystem as a living laboratory. Attend pitch nights, marketing meetups and incubator events, and treat conversations with founders as qualitative research interviews.Ask what they wish marketers understood better,then bring those questions back into the classroom.Over time, you’ll develop a personal “insight pipeline” where ideas flow both ways: from academic frameworks into practice, and from market friction points back into your coursework and research.The most impactful students are those who learn to translate between these two worlds fluently-using rigorous evidence to guide decisions, while remaining alert to the messy, fast-moving reality of markets.
In Summary
As our brief conversation with Dafna Goor draws to a close, one thing is clear: her work sits at the intersection of rigorous scholarship and real-world relevance. From dissecting consumer perceptions of luxury to helping future leaders understand how brands create meaning, she brings both analytical precision and curiosity to the classroom and beyond.
In just five minutes, Goor offers a glimpse into how marketing research at London Business School is shaping the way we think about value, identity and the choices we make every day. It’s a reminder that behind every compelling insight into consumer behaviour is a faculty member quietly pushing the boundaries of what we know-and challenging the next generation to do the same.
