Most people look at coupon dispensers in the grocery store and see only instant coupons.
But Ambar Rao, the Fossett Distinguished Professor of Marketing at the John M. Olin School of Business, sees another dimension. To him, the coupons are not only something he can use himself, especially if it's for a favorite hot sauce, but an opportunity for a marketing research study. And that's what he and a business school colleague are researching now. Such practicality is an admirable hallmark of Rao's research, according to Dipankar Chakravarti, a former colleague at the University of Arizona and now dean of the University of Colorado business school. His research is extremely sound and rigorous, and, at the same time, it has amazing relevance.