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Anita Elberse

Associate Professor of Business Administration

Contact (617) 495-6080
Overview Biography Publications & Course Materials Current Research Areas of Interest

Published Papers

Elberse, Anita. "Bye Bye Bundles: The Unbundling of Music in Digital Channels." Journal of Marketing (forthcoming). Abstract

Fueled by digital distribution, unbundling is prevalent in many information industries. What is the effect of this unbundling on sales? And what bundle characteristics drive this effect? I empirically examine these questions in the context of the music industry, using data on weekly digital-track, digital-album, and physical-album sales for all titles released by a sample of over 200 artists. I analyze sales dynamics from January 2005 to April 2007-a period in which the share of unbundled units jumped from roughly one-third to two-thirds of total unit sales. My modeling framework, a system of an "album-sales" and a "song-sales" equation estimated using the seemingly unrelated regression method, explicitly accounts for the interaction between sales for the bundle and its components. I find that revenues decrease significantly as digital downloading becomes more prevalent because consumers switch from buying bundles (albums) to cherry-picking their favorite components (songs) on those bundles. The number of items included in a bundle (a measure of its "objective" value) does not emerge as a significant moderator of this effect. Instead, I find that bundles with items that are more equal in their appeal and bundles offered by producers with a strong reputation suffer less from the negative impact of the shift to mixed bundling in online channels.
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Elberse, Anita. "Blockbuster or Bust." The Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2009.

Elberse, Anita. "Should You Invest in the Long Tail?" HBS Centennial Issue. Harvard Business Review 86, nos. 7/8 (July - August 2008): 88-96.

Elberse, Anita, and Bharat N. Anand. "The Effectiveness of Pre-Release Advertising for Motion Pictures: An Empirical Investigation Using a Simulated Market." Special Issue on Economics of the Media. Information Economics and Policy 19, nos. 3-4 (October 2007): 319-343.

Elberse, Anita. "The Power of Stars: Do Star Actors Drive the Success of Movies?" Journal of Marketing 71, no. 4 (October 2007). (Featured in HBS Working Knowledge.)

Eliashberg, Jehoshua, Anita Elberse, and Mark Leenders. "The Motion Picture Industry: Critical Issues in Practice, Current Research, and New Research Directions." Marketing Science 25, no. 6 (November-December 2006): 638-661.

Elberse, Anita. "How Markets Help Marketers." Harvard Business Review 83, no. 9 (September 2005): 32-34.

Elberse, Anita, and Jehoshua Eliashberg. "Demand and Supply Dynamics for Sequentially Released Products in International Markets: The Case of Motion Pictures." Marketing Science 22, no. 3 (summer 2003): 329-354.

Dutton, William H., Anita Elberse, and Matthew Hale. "A Case Study of A Netizen's Guide to Elections." Communications of the ACM 42, no. 12 (December 1999): 48-54.

Docter, Sharon, William H Dutton, and Anita Elberse. "An American Democracy Network: Factors Shaping the Future of On-line Political Campaigns." Parliamentary Affairs 52, no. 3 (July 1999): 535-552.

Elberse, Anita. "Consumer Acceptance of Interactive News in the Netherlands." Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics 3, no. 4 (1998): 62-83.

Book Chapters

Elberse, Anita and Jehoshua Eliashberg. "The Drivers of Motion Picture Performance: The Need to Consider Dynamics, Endogeneity, and Simultaneity." In Proceedings from the Third and Fourth Business and Economics Scholars Workshop Summit in Motion Picture Industry Studies, edited by Bruce Mallen, 21-36. DeSantis Center, Florida Atlantic University, 2003.

Barwise, Patrick, Anita Elberse and Kathy Hammond. "Marketing and the Internet." In Handbook of Marketing, edited by Barton A. Weitz and Robin Wensley, 527-557. London: Sage, 2002.

Elberse, Anita, Patrick Barwise and Kathy Hammond. "The Impact of the Internet on Horizontal and Vertical Competition: Market Efficiency and Value Chain Reconfiguration." In The Economics of the Internet and E-commerce. Vol. 11, edited by Michael R Baye, 1-27. Advances in Applied Microeconomics. Amsterdam: JAI Press, 2002.

Dutton, William H., Anita Elberse, Traci Hong and Sorin Matei. "'Beepless in America': The Social Impact of the Galaxy IV Pager Blackout." Chap. 1 in Access Denied in the Information Age, edited by Stephen Lax, 9-32. London, U.K.: Palgrave, 2001.

Other Papers

Elberse, Anita, and Jeroen Verleun. "The Economic Value of Athlete Endorsers." December 2008.

Elberse, Anita, and Felix Oberholzer-Gee. "Superstars and Underdogs: An Examination of the Long Tail Phenomenon in Video Sales." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 07-015, 2006. (Featured in HBS Working Knowledge.)

Presentations

Elberse, Anita. "The Reach of Online Movie Trailers." Paper presented at the Workshop in Motion Picture Industry Studies, UCLA Anderson School of Management, Los Angeles, California, November 2009.

Elberse, Anita. "Bye Bye Bundles: The Impact of the Unbundling of Music in Digital Channels." Paper presented at the Northeast Marketing Consortium, MIT Sloan School of Management, September 2009.

Elberse, Anita. "Bye Bye Bundles: The Impact of the Unbundling of Music in Digital Channels." Paper presented at the Marketing Science Conference, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 2009.

Elberse, Anita, and Jeroen Verleun. "The Economic Value of Athlete Endorsers." Paper presented at the Marketing Science Conference, Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 2009.

Elberse, Anita. "A Taste for Obscurity? Media Consumption in the Digital Age." Paper presented at the International Communication Association Conference, Mass Communication Series, Chicago, Illinois, May 2009.

Elberse, Anita. "Blockbuster Strategies in the Media Industry." "Media Meets The Customer" Seminar, IESE Business School, Madrid, Spain, May 2009.

Elberse, Anita. "The Economic Value of Athlete Endorsers." Paper presented at the Olin School of Business, Washington University, St. Louis, May 2009.

Elberse, Anita. "Digital Technology and Its Implications for Content Providers and Aggregators." Microsoft Media & Entertainment Summit, Redmond, Washington, April 2009.

Elberse, Anita. "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), United Artists, and Tom Cruise: A Case Study." Paper presented at the Workshop in Motion Picture Industry Studies, UCLA Anderson School of Management, Los Angeles, California, November 2008.

Elberse, Anita. "Revisiting the Long Tail: Implications for the Book Industry." September 2008 (Keynote delivered at the Book Industry Study Group, Annual Meeting of Members, New York City.)

Elberse, Anita. "Curriculum 2.0." Paper presented at the Google Faculty UN-Conference, Mountain View, California, July 2008.

Elberse, Anita. "The Long Tail Phenomenon in Video Sales." Paper presented at the Association for Cultural Economics International, Northeastern University, Boston, June 2008.

Elberse, Anita. "The Impact of (Legal) Digital Distribution on Music Sales: Who Benefits?" Paper presented at the Marketing Science Conference, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, June 2008.

Elberse, Anita. "Strategic Marketing in Creative Industries." Paper presented at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Cambridge, MA, May 2008.

Elberse, Anita. "The Long Tail." Paper presented at the "The Future of Video Content on the Web", Sanford C. Bernstein & Co., LLC , "The Long View" Conference Series, New York City, November 2007.

Elberse, Anita. "The Long Tail... And Implications for Marketers." Paper presented at the Yale Center for Customer Insights - Annual Conference, New Haven, May 2007.

Elberse, Anita. "The Long Tail... And Implications for Marketers." Paper presented at the Marketing Science Institute (MSI) Board of Trustees Meeting and Conference, Boston, April 2007.

Elberse, Anita. "Entertainment Products in Online and Offline Channels: An Examination of the “Long Tail”." Paper presented at the Marketing Dynamics Conference, University of California, Los Angeles, August 2006.

Elberse, Anita. "Entertainment Products Online and Offline: The “Long Tail” of the Video Window." Paper presented at Google, Mountain View, California, July 2006.

Elberse, Anita. "Entertainment Products in Online and Offline Channels: An Examination of the “Long Tail”." Paper presented at the Marketing Science Conference, Katz School of Management, University of Pittsburgh, June 2006.

Elberse, Anita. "The Power of Stars: Creative Talent and the Success of Entertainment Products." Paper presented at the Marketing Science Conference, Emory University, June 2005.

Elberse, Anita. "The Effectiveness of Pre-Release Advertising for Motion Pictures." Paper presented at the Northeast Marketing Consortium, Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, October 2004.

Elberse, Anita. "The Effectiveness of Pre-Release Advertising for Motion Pictures." Paper presented at the Marketing Science Conference, Erasmus University Rotterdam, June 2004.

HBS Course Materials

Elberse, Anita, John T. Gourville, and Das Narayandas. "Angels and Devils: Best Buy's New Customer Approach (A)." Harvard Business School Case 506-007.

Elberse, Anita, John T. Gourville, and Das Narayandas. "Angels and Devils: Best Buy's New Customer Approach (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 506-008.

Elberse, Anita, Alberto Ballve, and Gustavo Herrero. "Club Atlético Boca Juniors." Harvard Business School Case 508-056.

Elberse, Anita. "Club Atlético Boca Juniors (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 509-076.

Elberse, Anita, and Jason Schreiber. "Comcast Corporation." Harvard Business School Case 507-080.

Elberse, Anita. "The Creative Industries: Managing and Marketing Talent." Harvard Business School Module Note 509-078.

Elberse, Anita. "The Creative Industries: Managing Products and Product Portfolios." Harvard Business School Module Note 509-077.

Elberse, Anita, and S. Mark Young. "The CW: Launching a Television Network." Harvard Business School Case 507-050.

Elberse, Anita. "Grand Central Publishing (A)." Harvard Business School Case 508-036.

Elberse, Anita. "Grand Central Publishing (A) (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 508-089.

Elberse, Anita, and Sunil Gupta. "Hulu: An Evil Plot to Destroy the World?" Harvard Business School Case 510-005.

Elberse, Anita, and Jeffery Lee McCall. "LeBron James." Harvard Business School Case 509-050.

Elberse, Anita, and Margarita Golod. "Maria Sharapova: Marketing a Champion (A)." Harvard Business School Case 507-065.

Elberse, Anita, and Margarita Golod. "Maria Sharapova: Marketing a Champion (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 507-066.

Elberse, Anita. "Maria Sharapova: Marketing a Champion (TN) (A) & (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 508-087.

Sarvary, Miklos, and Anita Elberse. "Market Segmentation, Target Market Selection, and Positioning." Harvard Business School Note 506-019.

Narayandas, Das, David E. Bell, Anita Elberse, John T. Gourville, David B. Godes, John A. Quelch, Gail J. McGovern, Luc R. Wathieu, and Marta Wosinska. "Marketing as Competitive Advantage: Fundamentals." Harvard Business School Case Method Teaching CD 509-719.

Rangan, V. Kasturi, Anita Elberse, and Marie Bell. "Marketing New York City." Harvard Business School Case 506-022.

Rangan, V. Kasturi, Anita Elberse, and Marie Bell. "Marketing New York City (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 508-035.

Elberse, Anita, Ryan Patrick Barlow, and Sheldon Eric Wong. "Marquee: The Business of Nightlife." Harvard Business School Case 509-019.

Elberse, Anita, Ryan Barlow, and Sheldon Wong. "Marquee: The Business of Nightlife (Multimedia)." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Case 510-702.

Elberse, Anita. "Marquee: The Business of Nightlife (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 510-022.

Elberse, Anita. "Marvel Enterprises, Inc." Harvard Business School Case 505-001.

Elberse, Anita. "Marvel Enterprises, Inc. (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 505-073.

Elberse, Anita, and Peter Stone. "Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) and Tom Cruise." Harvard Business School Case 508-057.

Elberse, Anita, and Crissy Perez. "The Metropolitan Opera (A)." Harvard Business School Case 509-033.

Elberse, Anita, and Crissy Perez. "The Metropolitan Opera (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 509-034.

Elberse, Anita. "The Metropolitan Opera (TN) (A) & (B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 510-041.

Elberse, Anita, and Elie Ofek. "Octone Records." Harvard Business School Case 507-082.

Elberse, Anita, John A. Quelch, and Anna Harrington. "Passion of the Christ (A), The." Harvard Business School Case 505-025.

Elberse, Anita, John A. Quelch, and Anna Harrington. "Passion of the Christ (B), The." Harvard Business School Case 505-026.

Elberse, Anita, and John A. Quelch. "The Passion of the Christ: An Interview with Bob Berney, President of Newmarket Films (video)." Harvard Business School Video Supplements 506-701.

Elberse, Anita, Jehoshua Eliashberg, and Julian Villanueva. "Polyphonic HMI: Mixing Music and Math." Harvard Business School Case 506-009. (Spanish version also available.)

Elberse, Anita. "Polyphonic HMI: Mixing Music and Math (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 506-081.

Elberse, Anita. "Principles of Product Policy." Harvard Business School Note 506-018.

Elberse, Anita, and Jason Bergsman. "Radiohead: Music at Your Own Price (A)." Harvard Business School Case 508-110.

Elberse, Anita, and Jason Bergsman. "Radiohead: Music at Your Own Price (B)." Harvard Business School Supplement 508-111.

Elberse, Anita. "Radiohead: Music At Your Own Price (TN) (A & B)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 509-070.

Elberse, Anita, and John A. Quelch. "Real Madrid Club de Fútbol in 2007: Beyond the Galácticos." Harvard Business School Case 508-060.

Elberse, Anita, Andrei Hagiu, and Masako Egawa. "Roppongi Hills: City Within a City." Harvard Business School Case 707-431.

Elberse, Anita. "Sony Digital Entertainment, Japan." Harvard Business School Case 508-071.

Elberse, Anita, and Youngme E. Moon. "Sony EyeToy." Harvard Business School Case 505-024.

Elberse, Anita, and Youngme E. Moon. "Sony EyeToy (TN)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 505-074.

Elberse, Anita, Catherine Anthony, and Joshua Callahan. "The Vancouver 2010 Olympics." Harvard Business School Case 507-049.

Elberse, Anita. "Xanadu on Broadway." Harvard Business School Case 508-062.