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on Marketing |
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Issue of 2009‒09‒05
four papers chosen by Joao Carlos Correia Leitao Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre and Technical University of Lisbon |
| By: | Alvin Silk; Charles King III |
| Abstract: | We analyze changes in concentration levels in the U.S. Advertising and Marketing Services industry using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s quinquennial Economic Census and the Service Annual Survey. Heretofore largely ignored, these data allow us to redress some of the measurement problems surrounding estimates found in the existing literature Firm level concentration as measured by the Herfindahl-Hirschman Index varies across the sectors comprising the industry, but all are within the range generally considered as indicative of a competitive industry. At the holding company level, the four largest organizations account for about a quarter of the industry’s total revenue, a share lower by an order of magnitude than that frequently cited in the trade press. |
| Keywords: | advertising agencies, advertising and marketing services, concentration levels |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cen:wpaper:09-16&r=mkt |
| By: | Ramon Caminal |
| Abstract: | The choice of language is a crucial decision for firms competing in cultural goods and media markets with a bilingual or multilingual consumer base. To the extent that multilingual consumers have preferences over the intrinsic characteristics (content) as well as over the language of the product, we can examine the efficiency of market outcomes regarding linguistic diversity. In this paper, I extend the spokes model and introduce language as an additional dimension of product differentiation. I show that: (i) if firms supply their product in a single language (the adoption model) then the degree of linguistic diversity is inefficiently low, and (ii) if some firms supply more than one linguistic version (the translation model) then in principle the market outcome may exhibit insufficient or excessive linguistic diversity. However, excessive diversity is associated to markets where the fraction of products in the minority language is disproportionately high with respect to the relative size of the linguistic minority. |
| Keywords: | Product variety, language, translation |
| JEL: | D43 L13 L82 |
| Date: | 2009–09–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:aub:autbar:781.09&r=mkt |
| By: | Mélise Jaud; Olivier Cadot; Akiko Suwa-Eisenmann |
| Abstract: | This paper documents a decreasing trend in the geographical concentration of EU agro-food imports. Decomposing the concentration indices into intensive and extensive margins components, we find that the decrease in overall concentration indices results from two diverging trends: the pattern of trade diversifies at the extensive margin (EU countries have been sourcing their agri-food products from a wider range of suppliers), while geographical concentration increases at the intensive-margin (EU countries have concentrated their imports on a few major suppliers). This leads to an increasing inequality in market shares between a small group of large suppliers and a majority of small suppliers. We then move on to exploit a database of food alerts at the EU border that had never been exploited before. After coding it into HS8 categories, we regress the incidence of food alerts by product on determinants including exporter dummies as well as HS8 product dummies. Coefficients on product dummies provide unbiased estimates of the intrinsic vulnerability of exported products to food alerts, as measured at the EU border. We incorporate the product risk coefficient as an explanatory variable in a regression of geographical concentration and show that concentration is higher for risky products. |
| Date: | 2009 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pse:psecon:2009-28&r=mkt |
| By: | Douglas Yeung; Brian Gifford |
| Abstract: | How do potential recruits decide to enlist in the military? What information do they seek on which to base career decisions? The Internet increasingly provides a medium for advertising and communication with recruiters and other potential recruits. The authors explored the influence of online communication on enlistment decision-making. Analysis of recent Army new recruit surveys showed that a sizeable proportion of recruits have encountered Army advertising or sought recruiting information online. They also examined online discussion forums Ð in which soldiers and prospective soldiers ask questions, trade insights, and vent frustrations Ð for postings indicating information seeking for enlistment decision-making. Potential recruits were most interested in recruiting processes and what to expect from a military lifestyle, seeking opinions and details on job functions, duty stations, and benefits. These findings suggest that potential recruits may seek information online when unable or unwilling to find it from military websites or talking to recruiters. |
| Keywords: | recruiting, enlistment, information seeking, online, Internet, decision-making |
| Date: | 2009–08 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:694&r=mkt |