Vincent Mak

Professor of Marketing and Decision Sciences

BA, MMath, MSc (University of Cambridge), PhD (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

My research interests include prosocial decisions, managerial and consumer behavioural decision making, pricing, experimental economics, and game theory. I’m interested in how people and firms make decisions as they interact with each other, and what economic and psychological factors influence those decisions.

My details

Download Vincent's CV

Contact details

+44 (0)1223 764295

v.mak@jbs.cam.ac.uk

Academic area

Organisational Behaviour

Professional experience
Previous appointments
Publications
Awards and honours

Professional experience

Vincent is on the Editorial Review Board of the journal Production & Operations Management and is an Associate Editor of the journal Information Systems Research’s Special Issue on Analytical Creativity. He is also a member of the Research Impact Fund Committee at the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, and has been appointed a Guest Fellow at Lui Che Woo College, University of Macau. He was a member of the Senior Leadership Team at Cambridge Judge Business School in 2023-2024 and was also the Vice Dean for Programmes and Research (2021-2023), Director (Associate Dean) of Programmes (2019-2021), and Deputy Director of Teaching (2016-2019) at the Business School.

Previously he was an award-winning case writer at the University of Hong Kong’s Centre for Asian Business Cases (now Asia Case Research Centre), producing over 20 business cases which have been used worldwide. His consulting work includes a study of online/offline retail prices and price comparison websites, as well as a consumer survey study on the functioning of the market for Internet access, both commissioned by the European Commission. Vincent is Chair of the Trustees at the Cambridge Museum of Technology, and he has also worked as a columnist, journalist, editor, and freelance writer/broadcaster in the Hong Kong media specialising in classical music and the arts.

Previous appointments

Vincent was a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology prior to joining Cambridge Judge Business School. He was also a University of Macau Distinguished Visiting Scholar in 2023.

Selected publications

KC, R.P., Mak, V. and Ofek, E. (2023) “Before or after? The effects of payment decision timing in pay-what-you-want contexts.” Journal of Marketing, 87(4): 618-635 (DOI: 10.1177/00222429221142234)
Mak, V., Seale, D.A., Rapoport, A. and Gisches, E.J. (2019) “Voting rules in sequential search by committees: theory and experiments.” Management Science, 65(9): 3949-4450 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2018.3146)
KC, R.P., Kunter, M. and Mak, V. (2018) “The influence of a competition on non-competitors.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 115(11): 2716-2721 (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1717301115)
Pattaratanakun, J.A. and Mak, V. (2015) “Culture moderates biases in search decisions.” Psychological Science, 26(8): 1229-1240 (DOI: 10.1177/0956797615583979) (Research findings featured in The Conversation, Phys.org and The Telegraph)
Schlapp, J., Oraiopoulos, N. and Mak, V. (2015) “Resource allocation decisions under imperfect evaluation and organizational dynamics.” Management Science, 61(9): 2013-2280 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2014.2083)
Mak, V., Zwick, R., Rao, A.R. and Pattaratanakun, J.A. (2015) “’Pay-what-you-want’ as threshold public good provision.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 127: 30-43 (DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.11.004) (Research findings featured in The Independent, The Conversation and Wirtschafts Woche)

Journal articles

Mak, V. and Zwick, R. (2024) “Fairness and transparency in one-to-many bargaining with complementarity: an experimental study.” Games, 15(4): 22 (DOI: 10.3390/g15040022)
Rapoport, A., Gisches, E.J., Mak, V. and Zwick, R. (2024) “Dynamic pricing with multiple consumers and alternating offers under retailer competition: theory and experiment.” Experimental Economics (forthcoming)
Zwick, R. and Mak, V. (2024) “Fairness and transparency in one-to-many bargaining with complementarity: an experimental study.” Games, 15(4): 22 (DOI: 10.3390/g15040022)
Huber, C., Dreber, A., Mak, V. et al (2023) “Competition and moral behavior: a meta-analysis of forty-five crowd-sourced experimental designs.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 120(23): e2215572120 (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2215572120)
KC, R.P., Lauga, D.O. and Mak, V. (2023) “Hold-up induced by demand for fairness: theory and experimental evidence.” Theory and Decision, 94(4): 721-750 (DOI: 10.1007/s11238-022-09905-9)
KC, R.P., Mak, V. and Ofek, E. (2023) “Before or after? The effects of payment decision timing in pay-what-you-want contexts.” Journal of Marketing, 87(4): 618-635 (DOI: 10.1177/00222429221142234)
Chark, R., Mak, V. and Muthukrishnan, A.V. (2020) “The premium as informational cue in insurance decision making.” Theory and Decision, 88(3): 369-404 (DOI: 10.1007/s11238-019-09732-5)
Li, K.T., Tang, W., Wu, D., Huang, W., Wu, F., Lee, A., Feng, H., Pan, S.W., Han, L., Mak, V., Yang, L. and Tucker, J.D. (2019) “Pay-it-forward strategy to enhance uptake of dual gonorrhea and chlamydia testing among men who have sex with men in China: a pragmatic, quasi-experimental study.” The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 19(1): 76-82 (DOI: 10.1016/S1473-3099(18)30556-5)
Mak, V., Seale, D.A., Rapoport, A. and Gisches, E.J. (2019) “Voting rules in sequential search by committees: theory and experiments.” Management Science, 65(9): 3949-4450 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2018.3146)
Rapoport, A., Qi, H., Mak, V. and Gisches, E.J. (2019) “When a few undermine the whole: a class of social dilemmas in ridesharing.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 166: 125-137 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2019.08.015)

KC, R.P., Kunter, M. and Mak, V. (2018) “The influence of a competition on non-competitors.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 115(11): 2716-2721 (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1717301115)
Mak, V., Rapoport, A. and Gisches, E.J. (2018) “Dynamic pricing decisions and seller-buyer interactions under capacity constraints.” Games, 9(1): 10 (DOI: 10.3390/g9010010)
Mak, V., Seale, D.A., Gisches, E.J., Rapoport, A., Cheng, M., Moon, M. and Yang, R. (2018) “A network ridesharing experiment with sequential choice of transportation mode.” Theory and Decision, 85(3-4): 407-433 (DOI: 10.1007/s11238-018-9663-y)
Mak, V., Seale, D.A., Gisches, E.J., Yang, R., Cheng, M., Moon, M. and Rapoport, A. (2018) “The Braess Paradox and coordination failure in directed networks with mixed externalities.” Production and Operations Management, 27(4): 717-733 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12827)
Spann, M., Zeithammer, R., Bertini, M., Haruvy, E., Jap, S.D., Koenigsberg, O., Mak, V., Popkowski Leszczyc, P., Skiera, B. and Thomas, M. (2018) “Beyond posted prices: the past, present, and future of participative pricing mechanisms.” Customer Needs and Solutions, 5(1-2): 121-136 (DOI: 10.1007/s40547-017-0082-y)
Liu, C., Mak, V. and Rapoport, A. (2015) “Cost-sharing in directed networks: experimental study of equilibrium choice and system dynamics.” Journal of Operations Management, 39-40 (Special issue on System Dynamics: Emergence, Reinforcement, Adaptation and Traps): 31-47 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jom.2015.07.004)
Mak, V., Gisches, E.J. and Rapoport, A. (2015) “Route vs. segment: an experiment on real-time travel information in congestible networks.” Production and Operations Management, 24(6): 947-960 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12312)
Mak, V., Zwick, R., Rao, A.R. and Pattaratanakun, J.A. (2015) “‘Pay-what-you-want’ as threshold public good provision.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 127: 30-43 (DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.11.004) (Research findings featured in The Independent, The Conversation and Wirtschafts Woche)
Pattaratanakun, J.A. and Mak, V. (2015) “Culture moderates biases in search decisions.” Psychological Science, 26(8): 1229-1240 (DOI: 10.1177/0956797615583979) (Research findings featured in The Conversation, Phys.org and The Telegraph)
Schlapp, J., Oraiopoulos, N. and Mak, V. (2015) “Resource allocation decisions under imperfect evaluation and organizational dynamics.” Management Science, 61(9): 2013-2280 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2014.2083)
Mak, V., Rapoport, A., Gisches, E.J. and Han, J. (2014) “Purchasing scarce products under dynamic pricing: an experimental investigation.” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 16(3): 425-438 (DOI: 10.1287/msom.2014.0480)
Mak, V., Rapoport, A. and Seale, D.A. (2014) “Sequential search by groups with rank-dependent payoffs: an experimental study.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 124(2): 256-267 (DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2014.03.004) (Research findings featured in The Economist/Which MBA? and The Daily Telegraph)
Mak, V. and Zwick, R. (2014) “Experimenting and learning with localized direct communication.” Experimental Economics, 17(2): 262-284 (DOI: 10.1007/s10683-013-9366-8)
Rapoport, A., Gisches, E.J. and Mak, V. (2014) “Distributed decisions in networks: laboratory study of routing splittable flow.” Production and Operations Management, 23(4): 314-331 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12183)
Mak, V. and Rapoport, A. (2013) “The price of anarchy in social dilemmas: traditional research paradigms and new network applications.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 120(2): 142-153 (DOI: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2012.06.006)
Mak, V., Rapoport, A. and Gisches, E.J. (2012) “Competitive dynamic pricing with alternating offers: theory and experiment.” Games and Economic Behavior, 75(1): 250-264 (DOI: 10.1016/j.geb.2011.08.018)
Mak, V. and Zwick, R. (2010) “Investment decisions and coordination problems in a market with network externalities: an experimental study.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 76(3): 759-773 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2010.08.017)
Rapoport, A., Stein, W.E., Mak, V., Zwick, R. and Seale, D.A. (2010) “Endogenous arrivals in batch queues with constant or variable capacity.” Transportation Research Part B, 44(10): 1166-1185 (DOI: 10.1016/j.trb.2010.01.005)
Mak, V. and Zwick, R. (2009) “‘Confidentially yours’: restricting information flow between trustees enhances trust-dependent transactions.” Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, 70(1-2): 142-154 (DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2008.10.010)
Rapoport, A., Mak, V. and Zwick, R. (2006) “Navigating congested networks with variable demand: experimental evidence.” Journal of Economic Psychology, 27(5): 648-666 (DOI: 10.1016/j.joep.2006.06.001)

Working papers

Rapoport, A. and Mak, V. (2019) “Strategic interactions in transportation networks.” In: Donohue, K., Katok, E. and Leider, S. (eds.) The handbook of behavioral operations. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, pp.557-585
Zwick, R. and Mak, V. (2012) “Gaming with fairness: some conjectures on behavior in alternating offer bargaining experiments.” In: Bolton, G.E. and Croson, R.T.A. (eds.) The Oxford handbook of economic conflict resolution. New York: Oxford University Press, pp.91-107

Case studies

Chan, W.C.S., Mak, V. and Molian, D. (2024) “Leading the flock: scaling up Merino Brothers, Hong Kong.” Cambridge Judge Business School Case: 524-0061-1.

Awards and honours

Cambridge Judge Business School Teaching Award, 2019
Faculty Activity Award (for contributions on research, teaching, and service), Cambridge Judge Business School, 2017/18
3rd Prize, Innovation Management Best Paper Award, for the paper “Resource allocation decisions under imperfect evaluation and organizational dynamics” (with Jochen Schlapp and Nektarios Oraiopoulos), Strascheg Institute for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SIIE), EBS Business School, 2015
National Research Article Award (Business Administration Category – Merit) for the paper “Culture moderates biases in search decisions” (with Jake A. Pattaratanakun), National Institute of Development Administration of Thailand, 2015
Program Committee Member, Asia-Pacific Association for Consumer Research Conference, 2015
Overseas Research Attachment Award, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2008
First runner-up, the Seventh Asia-Pacific Case Writing Competition, 2002

News and insights

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Digital techniques including AI can help aging societies change behaviour and reduce costs to combat obesity and diabetes, says research co-authored at Cambridge Judge.

Marketing

What can we learn from wearable tech marketing strategies?

Apple’s launch of the VisionPro headset highlights the 4 Ps of marketing – product, price, place and promotion – while a Cambridge Judge alumnus has taken a different approach to wearable technology.

Faculty news

What’s coming in 2024?

From burnout to AI and the US elections, faculty at Cambridge Judge Business School offer their hopes and fears for the year to come.

Media coverage

Radio Cambridge 105 | 8 February 2023

Cambridge Judge Business School study into pay what you want

Vincent Mak, Professor of Marketing and Decision Sciences at Cambridge Judge Business School, has been interviewed from Radio Cambridge105, about his recent study regarding the pay-what-you-want models. “The study identifies a link between value of the offering and the obligation thus felt by the recipient, and this affects the amount of the payment,” says Vincent.

Poets & Quants | 22 November 2022

Major global ranking celebrates ‘world leading’ Cambridge Judge

Cambridge Judge Business School’s #1 ranking in the Research Excellence Framework in the UK was featured in a comprehensive article in leading business-school publication Poets & Quants. The publication interviewed Dean Mauro Guillén and Vice-Dean Vincent Mak about the School’s top ranking in the Business and Management Studies category of the REF, which is done every seven years by the UK’s higher education funding bodies.

BBC: You and Yours | 10 October 2022

Easylife fine; bogus bags; pay as you can

Vincent Mak, Professor of Marketing and Decision Sciences at Cambridge Judge Business School, spoke on BBC Radio 4’s You and Yours programme (min. 38) about Pay As You Can.

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Study reveals Easterners search too long for good deals after incurring ‘sunk costs’ from earlier search efforts