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It's no secret that provocative ads are risky. Benetton, for example, has faced numerous boycotts and lawsuits over its "shock advertising." But there's another reason marketers should exercise caution: Topics that are too hot often generate no buzz at all--and the threshold for "too hot" is surprisingly low.

Studies have always shown that the adage "There's no such thing as bad publicity" is wrong. It turns out, though, that sometimes the saying has merit. By studying sales of books reviewed in the New York Times, Jonah Berger of the Wharton School demonstrates that if a product is relatively unknown, even the most scathing publicity can help the bottom line by making people aware of the product's existence. This is good news for smaller and unknown producers, who might want to allow some bad press or to make controversial moves that risk incurring it.

New research from Wharton reveals that competitors who are slightly behind at halftime win more often than those who are slightly ahead. People who are slightly behind, the study shows, increase their effort much more than people who are ahead, in a tie, or trailing badly-and that suggests companies ought to rethink the ways they motivate performance.