Oliver Willamson and Elinor Ostrom will share the sum of 1.4 million dollars or 10 million Swedish kronor as they have been jointly honored as the recipient of 2009 Nobel Prize in the field of Economics. The Nobel Prize Committee has honored the two economists of the United States for their outstanding achievement in their respective fields.
In a speech, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm, stated that Elinor Ostrom has given the demonstration on the ways by which the associations can make use of the common property. Referring to Oliver Willamson’s works, the Academy stated he has, “developed a theory where business firms serve as structures for conflict resolution.” Nobel laureate Elinor Ostrom and Oliver E. Williamson will now share the stand with other world famous economists who had received the Nobel Prize in the past years. Oliver E. Williamson was a professor at California Berkley University. The other recipient of the same award Elinor Ostrom is a professor of Indiana University.
Unity Marketing's Latest Luxury Survey Is In -- New Survey Shows How Affluent's Behavior Is Changing after the Bail-Out and the Stock Market Collapse (www.unitymarketingonline.com )
Luxury brands' habit of reducing prices in the recession is undercutting wealthy buyers' perceptions of the brands, a survey found. Still, more than a quarter of those polled said the discounts have induced them to spend more.Manage Smarter (Sept. 16, 2009)
"Survey: Wealthy give luxury industry an 'F' September 16, 2009
Discounting lowers luxury perception, expenditures for some luxury brands are still failing to deliver substance according to more than 400 high-net-worth consumers polled in The Luxury Institute's latest survey.
The survey, titled "Current State of the Luxury Industry" and developed in conjunction with marketing communications and public relations firm Evins Communications Ltd., shows that for wealthy consumers, superior quality (83 percent), superior craftsmanship (78 percent), superior design (69 percent), exclusive products (58 percent), brand heritage and history (54 percent), and superior service (53 percent) are the top six requirements of a luxury brand.
Yet, according to the survey, the luxury industry continues to fall short on quality, craftsmanship and service.
The survey also shows that more than half of wealthy consumers (53 percent) and 56 percent of millionaires believe there are too many brands in most luxury categories today.
Meanwhile, recent discounting of luxury goods and services has lowered the perception of luxury for 29 percent of wealthy consumers, while it has improved perceptions for 17 percent. Fifty-four percent say their perceptions are unchanged."
FashionUnited is Europe's fashion platform. This independent company is active as a fashion magazine, digital tradejournal, Fashion Career Center and b2b eMarketplace. Besides these services the development and implementation of multi media services for fashion companies is an important core business. See: http://www.fashionunited.co.uk/
Disposable fashion, the epitome of affordable trends, may be losing its cachet. An exclusive survey for The Times sees Britain's consumers acutely aware of where their goods come from, and have cited Primark as Britain's least ethical clothing retailer.
Women Want More: How to Capture More than Your Share of the Female Economy
One billion women participate in the workforce worldwide, and over the next several years they will spend an incremental $5 trillion or more on goods and services—a sum that is bigger than any country’s bailout package.
An excellent "must read" on in productivity the US from The Economist:
NEW: Demand: Giffen Case: (article in AER, Sept. 2008, pp. 1553-1577)
Giffen Behavior and Subsistence Consumption
By Robert T. Jensen and Nolan H. Miller
This paper provides the first real-world evidence of Giffen behavior, i.e.,upward sloping demand. Subsidizing the prices of dietary staples for extremely
poor households in two provinces of China, we find strong evidence of Giffen behavior for rice in Hunan, and weaker evidence for wheat in Gansu. The data provide new insight into the consumption behavior of the poor, who act as though maximizing utility subject to subsistence concerns. We find that their elasticity of demand depends significantly, and nonlinearly, on the severity of their poverty. Understanding this heterogeneity is important for the effective design of welfare programs for the poor.
Workings of the price mechanism
For the olive oil growers of Spain falling prices are threatening their very existence. They claim that the supermarkets - who sell 9 out of every 10 bottles - have used their market muscle to drive down the retail price and the growers are barely able to justify continuing production. This is a good short video on theworkings of the price mechanism.(source: tutor2u)
For anyone looking for a vast cornucopia of economic statistics culled from all over the world, they need look no further than the EconStats website. The homepage is a bit visually cluttered, but one couldn't ask for better and more complete data, as visitors can quickly access a wide range of economic data from the United States, such as information about inflation, unemployment levels, productivity, new factory orders, and the price of crude oil. The homepage also contains links to economic data from Canada, Britain, Germany, the European Union, France, Italy, Russia, and China. On the right-hand side of the page, visitors can click through to interest rates for dozens of countries, check in on various stock markets, and look up commodity and futures prices. Those individuals looking for quick help with pressing questions can post queries to the "Econ Chat" section of the homepage.
The Ultimate Guide to the Luxury Consumer Market... Unity Marketing's Luxury Report 2008 is the definitive study of the U.S. market for luxury goods and experiences. The total market for luxury contributed some $321.9 billion in consumer spending in 2007. The Luxury Report examines consumers' buying behavior and spending habits related to four key categories of luxury purchases:
The Luxury Report 2008:
Who Buys Luxury, What They Buy and Why They Buy
Home Luxuries, such as kitchen appliances, bath fixtures, art and antiques, furniture, tabletop, decorative home furnishings, electronics and more
Personal Luxuries, including fashion, beauty, jewelry and watches
Automobiles
Experiential Luxuries, such as travel, fine dining, entertainment, spa and beauty services.
The report contains details on 22 luxury product and services bought by affluent consumers, including annual spending, where these products were purchased and details of the types of products and services bought. The Luxury Report 2008 is written by Pam Danziger, one of the nation's leading expert on the luxury market and based upon the kind of in-depth consumer research for which Pam Danziger and Unity Marketing are known.
Provides market size, growth and key trends in the luxury market
This report provides vital market size, growth and demographics for any company that is in the business of luxury, including product marketers, advertisers, retailers, service providers. The Luxury Report 2008 is the ultimate guide to today's luxury market. It is an essential tool to understand the dynamics of the luxury market, today and into the future.
This important new study of the luxury market provides the results of a three-year longitudinal research study of the luxury market conducted quarterly. This report is compiles detailed statistics collected in twelve waves of Unity's quarterly Luxury Tracking surveys during 2005, 2006 and 2007. In each of the three study years over 4,000 luxury consumers were surveyed. Specifically in the 2007 survey a total of 4,284 luxury consumers were surveyed, with an average income of $155,100; average age of 45.2 years including 64 percent female and 36 percent male respondents.
More details about products and brands included in Luxury Report 2008
Details about what these luxury consumers bought, how much they spent, where they made their purchases, and in certain categories the luxury brands they patronized are reported in four major categories of luxury. Significantly more product categories and more brands were included in the current surveys, notably:
Home Luxuries
Art and Antiques (Specific data is collected on already-framed reproductions; unframed reproductions; custom-framed art or reproductions; other custom framing; original art; sculpture, statues, 3D art; antique furniture and collectibles; wall decor)
Electronics and Photography Equipment (Computers; iPods and other MP3 devices; cameras; cellular phones; televisions; DVD/video players; audio equipment; home entertainment systems; PDA's)
Furniture, Lamps and Floor Coverings (Lamps and lighting; upholstered furniture; wooden furniture; rugs and floor coverings)
Garden and Outdoor (Patio furniture; grills; lighting accents; fencing; power gardening equipment; decorative pots; garden statues; chimeneas and outdoor stoves; garden shelters; water gardens; porch and patio decorative accents)
Home Decorating Fabrics, Wall and Window Coverings (Wall coverings, such as wall paper; ready-made curtains, drapes; window coverings, such as blinds, shades; home decorating fabrics for custom upholstery, curtains, drapes, etc.)
Kitchen Appliances, Bathroom Equipment and Building Products (Kitchen appliances, such as stoves, ovens, refrigerators; bathroom equipment, such as tubs, showers, toilets, fixtures; kitchen equipment, such as cabinets, countertops; air conditioning/filtration systems; water systems)
Linens and Beddings (Sheets and pillowcases; comforters, spreads; pillows and pillow accents; bath linens; mattresses and box springs; duvets and shams; feather beds and mattress covers; table linens)
Tabletop, Dinnerware, Stemware, Flatware (Dinnerware, including fine china, ceramic or stoneware, serving ware and decorative accents; crystal and glassware decoratives, stem ware, serving pieces, barware; flatware, including sterling silver flatware, serving pieces, decorative accents and other flatware)
Cosmetics, Fragrance and Beauty Products (Fragrances, perfumes; bath and body lotions; face care; hair care; cosmetics and makeup; sun and tanning products)
Fashion Accessories (Women's handbags, shoes, brief cases, and fashion accessories, such as scarves, belts; men's wallets, brief cases and men's fashion accessories, including shoes, belts, etc.; luggage for men and women)
Jewelry (Women's and men's jewelry by type, including necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, bridal/wedding, pins and brooches; women's and men's jewelry by material, including 14k and above gold, sterling silver, platinum, gold plate or vermeil, costume jewelry; and women's and men's jewelry by stone, including diamonds, other precious gemstones, semi-precious gemstones, pearl, faux or man-made, no gemstone content)
Watches (Women's and men's watches by style, including formal/dress or casual/sports)
Including brands Acura, Audi, BMW, Cadillac, Jaguar, Infiniti, Land Rover, Lexis, Lincoln, Mercedes, Porsche, Saab, Volvo
Experiential Luxuries
Dining
Entertainment
Home Services (House cleaning/maid; lawn care; landscaping; party planning/catering; home decorator/designer; pet care; pool maintenance)
Spa, Massage, Beauty and Cosmetic Services
Travel (Foreign and domestic luxury hotels, commercial air, resorts, cruises, group tours, adventure travel, private air travel)
Now you can make critical business decisions based upon facts -- not beliefs, assumptions or fantasies
This report provides the facts and figures you need to develop winning marketing and business strategies. By working with the facts, not fantasies, you have a much better chance of success marketing to the luxury consumers. This report gives you a horizontal view of the luxury market, recognizing that luxury marketers compete not just with companies within their vertical product niche, but across all luxury categories as well.
Within each category of luxury, the key drivers for purchase are studied, such as role of luxury brand in purchase decision; the influence of sales price on purchase; where the shopper bought their last luxury; why they bought luxuries; whether their luxury purchases were made a gifts; and other motivational factors.
Special feature: Find out which of the five different types of luxury consumers are your best customers
A special feature in Unity Marketing's Luxury Report 2008 is a psychographic profile of five key types of luxury consumers. These include:
X-Fluents (Extremely Affluent) who spend the most on luxury and are most highly invested in luxury living;
Butterflies, the most highly evolved luxury consumers who have emerged from their luxury cocoons with a passion to reconnect with the outside world. Powered by a search for meaning and new experiences, the butterflies have the least materialistic orientation among the segments, yet they spend nearly as much as the X-Fluents on luxury;
Luxury Cocooners who are focused on hearth and home. They spend most of their luxury budgets on home-related purchases;
Aspirers, those luxury consumers who have not yet achieved the level of luxury to which they aspire. They are highly attuned to brands and believe luxury is best expressed in what they buy and what they own.
Temperate Pragmatist a newly emerged luxury consumer who is not all that involved in the luxury lifestyle. As their name implies, they are careful spenders and not given to luxury indulgence.
Special investigations into luxury consumer market
Each quarter Unity Marketing's luxury tracking survey conducts a special investigation into topics of interest to luxury marketers. Included in the Luxury Report 2008 is data on the following topics of timely importance:
Luxury consumers' luxurious homes -- What they have, what they own, what they buy, plans on remodeling and redecorating.
Luxury consumers and the Internet -- The role the Internet plays in the luxury consumers lifestyle, including what they buy online and how they use online to support their luxury lifestyles.
Travel and the luxury consumer -- Plans for luxury travel and the experiences most desired when planning a trip.
Happiness and the luxury consumer -- How happy are the luxury consumers and what luxury marketers need to know about happiness as it pertains to luxury purchases.
Status and the luxury consumer -- Role of status as a motivator for luxury consumption, including luxury consumers' attitudes about luxury.
Loyalty marketing and the luxury consumer -- Research into the participation of luxury consumers into loyalty programs and how marketers can create more effective loyalty programs targeting the luxury consumer.
Countries of luxury -- How luxury consumers interpret where luxury goods are manufactured, including which countries produce the best and lesser quality luxury goods.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has partnered with Linköping University to create this rather powerful analytical tool which they call the OECD Factbook eXplorer. First-time visitors can start using the site by going over to the "Dashboard" area on the right-hand side of the page and clicking one of the thematic "stories". These "stories" contain brief introductions to several key issues: labor market policies and labor participation fertility. Visitors can read through these themes to learn about the scatter plot screen, the time-series data, and the interactive map on the far left-hand side of the screen. After that, visitors can use the "Indicators" tab on the top of the homepage to load up one of the data files from the OECD and display it via the interactive map and the scatter plot screen. There's also a "Help" feature that can help users navigate the various options presented on this site. Overall, the eXplorer site will take time getting used to, but it will be most useful to policy analysts and others with an interest in development issues.(from Scout Report)
Here you find a list of my favorite statistical resources on the Web:
M. Porter HBRjan2008.pdf
Jennifer Steinhauer article.mht
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