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Consumer Claims to Space in the Politics of Consumer Identity
Image ModifiedMelanie Wallendorf, Professor, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona
Synopses SynopsisFreemium is a widely adopted business model in which a basic version of product is provided free of charge in order to acquire a large group of customers, and a fraction of the customer base pays a price to access a premium version with a different and/or increased functionality. The objective of this paper is to investigate how to increase the demand for the premium version in the presence of the free product. Specifically, we examine the effectiveness of extending the product line on spurring demand for the existing premium version, and investigate the underlying drivers of the effects. We conduct a randomized field experiment with a content provider, the National Academies Press (NAP), which offers a free PDF format of book titles as well as sells a paperback format of the same titles online. Overall, we show that book titles assigned with an additional premium format, either an ebook or a hardcover format, have a higher sales of paperback than those in the control condition. Second, the positive impact on paperback sales is stronger for titles which are more popular or lower in price, and the effect of introducing the ebook format is higher when the ebook price is closer to the paperback price. Finally, and equally importantly, through analyzing customer choices at the individual level, we establish the existence of compromise effect and attraction effect in the empirical setting. Based on our findings we provide specific managerial recommendations to increase the sales of premium products when a free product is available for customers
Physical space is an integral element of social life that impacts a wide range of consumption experiences, including shopping, eating, and exercising. However, not every consumer has access to the same kinds or amounts of spaces. Just like with the resources of money and knowledge, access to the resource of space is socially structured, being unevenly available to different consumer categories. This substantial issue, consumer differential access to space, has been underexplored in consumer research; in this literature, the predominant approach to study space has been to focus on how social actors work to make specific sites more meaningful, through practices that are mostly detached from the influence of social structure. In response to this oversight, the present research employs a mixed-method ethnography to study a contemporary ethos of consumption that questions the differential access to space that women encounter with some of their self-expressive consumption activities as a result of pervasive power hierarchies. This research develops a geosocial framework that sheds light on how consumers act on space as a way of interrogating the cultural subordination of their consumer identities. This framework helps unravel theinterlinkage between space and power relations in the realm of consumption.
Understanding the Impact of Artificial Intelligence
Image AddedAvi Goldfarb, Professor, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Synopsis
Perhaps the most popular topic with respect to the potential impact of artificial intelligence (AI) concerns what this technology means for jobs. As AI develops and mimics increasing levels of cognitive functions, the scope of jobs that might be impacted is great. This has motivated investigations into the nature of cognitive skills required for a wide array of occupations in order to identify those most likely to be impacted. Estimating the impact of AI on labor market outcomes requires an understanding of the particular tasks that AI will directly effect. Our goal in this article is to specify the characteristics of the technological change brought about by AI, and then to demonstrate how understanding these details provides useful insight into the labor market consequences.
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Paying for a Chance to Save Money: Two-Part Tariffs in Name-Your-Own-Price Markets
Image AddedRobert Zeithammer, Professor, Anderson School of Management, University of California - Los Angeles
Synopsis
Prior theoretical research has shown that a Name-Your-Own-Price (NYOP) seller can profit from charging each prospective buyer a non-refundable fee for the opportunity to place a bid, akin to an entry fee to the seller’s store. We examine the profitability of such two-part tariffs in NYOP markets using incentive-compatible laboratory experiments. Overall, our results suggest two-part tariffs increase NYOP profit in a standard information-poor setting in the short run, but they are not as profitable as theory would suggest when the bidders get more information or experience. We also propose an individual-level non parametric test of the risk-averse expected utility model, and the test results suggest that this canonical model for decision making under uncertainty is not a good fit to the behavior of a substantial proportion of our subjects.
What is Social About Social Class?
Image AddedPaul Piff, Professor, Department of Psychological Science, University of California Irvine
Synopsis
What is social about social class? How does money shape the mind, how people think about themselves and behave toward others? This talk will highlight the emerging psychological science of social class. I will describe studies showing that social class exerts a pervasive influence on the social realm, critically shaping emotions, morality, social relationships, materialism, and consumption.