Rational addiction and cultural goods: the case of the Italian theatregoer

This paper tests whether demand for theatre in Italy is consistent with the model of rational addiction presented in Becker and Murphy (J Polit Econ 96(4):675–700, 1988). Data from a novel 34-year panel on regional annual theatre attendance are used to estimate market demand. Four models are applied to investigate the demand function, and all of these also include per capita income and other control variables as regressors. The first two models are estimated to check whether theatregoers are myopically addicted to theatre. The results suggest that the theatre is an addictive good because past consumption (and prices) significantly raises the marginal utility of current consumption. The third model tests the rational addiction hypothesis, which assumes that future attendance also influences current attendance, whilst past and future prices influence current attendance only indirectly through their impact on past and future attendances. However, our most highly specified model, introducing past and future prices, demonstrates that Italian theatregoers are not myopic but fully rational as outlined in Becker and Murphy (1988). The results demonstrate that the rational addiction hypothesis is applicable not only to “harmful” addictions such as alcohol, cigarettes and drug consumption, but also to “beneficial” addictions, such as theatre attendance. This result has important policy implications because theatre is one of the most subsidised performing arts in Italy; if theatregoers are fully rational, policy makers can influence theatre attendance using alternative policy instruments (price and income), thereby reducing government expenditure on theatre subsidies.     

Analyzing repeat consumption of identical cultural goods: some exploratory evidence from moviegoing

This study offers a preliminary exploration of repeat consumption of identical cultural goods, specifically moviegoing. The term ‘identical’ in this study refers to cases where, for example, individuals view the same film at a movie theater, in a short time interval, on more than one occasion i.e. experiencing the cultural good in precisely the same format. It is not meant to embrace the case of individuals who, for example, view a particular film at a movie theater and then see it some time later in another format, such as via a DVD player. The repeat viewing phenomenon is discussed and then considered empirically. Films aimed predominantly at children attract the highest number of repeat views, while those aimed at an older audience attract significantly fewer repeat views. The profile of repeat viewers of the 10 films which attracted the greatest number of repeat viewers was subject to more detailed scrutiny. In general, repeat viewers tend to be younger but the gender balance differs markedly according to film content. An earlier version of this article was presented at the 3rd European Workshop on Applied Cultural Economics, University of Oviedo in Aviles, Spain 14–16 June 2007 and the 9th International Conference on Arts and Cultural Management (AIMAC), Fundación Universidad Empresa (ADEIT), Valencia, Spain 8–11 July 2007. We are grateful for comments received and the usual caveat applies.     

Cultural intermediaries in the making of branded music events: digital cultural capital in tension

ABSTRACT

Previous studies have overlooked how intermediaries and their digital cultural capital enhance the relationship between brand values and consumer identities; their specific uses of digital technologies; and how those uses are displayed in activities where intermediaries create consumer experiences. This paper thus explores the role that cultural intermediaries (music bloggers and an advertising agency) and their digital cultural capital play in making and communicating a branded music event. Briefly, intermediaries used a set of digital technologies (social media, guest lists, blogs, and websites) to create and orchestrate an authentic and exclusive experience between brands and consumers. We draw on empirical material from interviews and ethnographic work conducted in Santiago, Chile. Our study identifies digital technologies used by cultural intermediaries in communicating branded music events, including as: promotional tools; advertising campaign efficacy evaluation mechanisms; and relational objects that connect advertising agencies, music bloggers, brands, and consumers. By exploring the tensions and conflicts that arise among bloggers and advertising executives, we shed light on the uses and exchanges of digital cultural capital for commercial purposes, resulting from the connections between intermediaries that come from different fields of cultural production.     

Music consumption at the dawn of the music industry: the rise of a cultural fad

This paper discusses the extent to which sociodemographic characteristics of consumers and their past consumption are less effective in explaining the decision of purchasing a cultural good than the characteristics of the product itself, which allow for imitative behaviors and are at the basis of distinction. While the former approaches are well documented in the literature, the latter refers to Bourdieu’s idea of objectified cultural capital, which has been revisited and empirically explored. Because the various causal effects interact with each other, this paper tests a theoretical model which matches individual characteristics of the consumer with the properties of the cultural product. Specifically, we discussed the emergence of a new version of a cultural good, which is able to broaden the dimension of the market by gaining rapid success in its audience. This diffusion pattern is a quite rare event, but disruptive for the market and extremely profitable for the producer. The authors label this occurrence a disruptive cultural fad and try to understand the determinants of its adoption. The hypotheses of the model are tested on a unique dataset of microdata of purchasing transactions in Milan in the early nineteenth century, when the music by Gioachino Rossini emerged as a disruptive cultural fad at the dawn of the music industry. Results show that key features of a successful disruptive cultural fad are the role of some specific patterns of personal past consumption, the capabilities of generating positive network externalities in the consumption, and, surprisingly, the lack of negative ones due to any possible hip or snob effect.     

On the complementarity between online and offline music consumption: the case of free streaming

From a representative survey of 2,000 individuals, we study whether consumption of music through streaming services, like Spotify or YouTube, is a substitute or a complement to physical music consumption modes, such as CDs and live music. Controlling for the taste for music, various socio-demographic characteristics and the usual determinants of music consumption either offline (radio, TV, friends/relatives) or online (online recommendations, social networks), our results show that free music streaming (where the consumer does not possess the music but only has access to it) has no significant effect on CD sales and affects positively live music attendance, but only for national or international artists who are more likely to be available on streaming services.     

The sales effect of word of mouth: a model for creative goods and estimates for novels

Weekly sales of creative goods—like music records, movies, or books—usually peak shortly after release and then decline quickly. In many cases, however, they follow a hump-shaped pattern where sales increase for some time. A popular explanation for this phenomenon is word of mouth among a population of heterogeneous buyers, but previous studies typically assume buyer homogeneity or neglect word of mouth altogether. In this paper, I study a model of new-product diffusion with heterogeneous buyers that allows for a quantification of the sales effect of word of mouth. The model includes Christmas sales as a special case. All parameters have an intuitive interpretation. Simulation results suggest that the parameters are estimable for data that are not too volatile and that cover a sufficiently large part of a title’s life cycle. I estimate the model for four exemplary novels using scanner data on weekly sales.

The new digital face of the consumerist mediator: the case of the ‘Yuka’ mobile app

ABSTRACT

Drawing on Mallard’s contribution [2007. Performance testing: dissection of a consumerist experiment. The sociological review, 55 (2), 152–172] on the work undertaken by consumerist journals to evaluate products independently from the mediation of market players, our goal is to characterize the new digital form of the consumerist mediator by using a specific case: Yuka, a mobile application (app) enabling consumers to obtain alternative health labeling on foodstuffs. Relying on interviews, observations of the app and analysis of underlying product databases and reports on food labeling issues, we examine the new forms of consumer-to-market interactions brought about by the app, the conceptions of health inscribed in its product qualification algorithm and the operation of the database on which it is based. Our position is threefold: firstly, we argue that the relationship between the consumer and the market established by Yuka is less distant than the one established by traditional consumerist mediators. Secondly, in the case of Yuka, we argue that the market relationship is based on a compromise between scientific logic, technological uncertainty and consumer concerns. Thirdly, we claim that this case demonstrates new ways for consumerist prescribers to politically intervene on markets, but that the potential of the intervention is tied to new issues related to the openness of product data.     

Art versus commerce in the movie industry: a Two-Path Model of Motion-Picture Success

Previous studies of the movie industry have raised questions concerning the problematic relationship between the success-related aspects of artistic excellence and commercial appeal. The present article proposes that—when the former is measured by industry recognition (Oscars and other awards) and the latter by market performance (box office and video rentals) and when the former hinges on the evaluative judgments of reviewers and consumers (ratings of excellence) and the latter on the level of buzz among these audience members (amount of attention, word of mouth, or click of mouse)—the two phenomena are essentially separable as independent paths to conceptually distinct and empirically uncorrelated aspects of motion-picture success. An analysis of data for 190 movies from the year 2003 shows that reviewer-and-consumer evaluations and buzz respond differently to a film’s marketing clout (production budget, opening screens, and opening box office) and that these audience responses contribute independently to a film’s industry recognition and market performance along two separable paths. These findings suggest various implications for movie marketers, film producers, actors or actresses, and other members of the motion-picture industry.

Deaf Queer world-making: A thick intersectional analysis of the mediated cultural body

Nyle DiMarco, a Deaf, sexually fluid celebrity, helps audiences reimagine ways of being through mediated representations of his cultural body. Within the framework of a critical intercultural communication study and through a thick intersectional approach, we analyze DiMarco’s personae as texts across three TV shows: America’s Next Top Model, Dancing with the Stars, and Difficult People. First, we attend to his moments of sexual fluidity. Next, we attend to his moments of Deaf Gain. Finally, we attend to his character’s denouncing of the hearing homonormative. Through each performance, a Deaf Queer world-making is conjured, offering discursive possibilities beyond the normative.     

Assessing Cultural Differences in Translations: A Semantic Network Analysis of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Abstract

Intercultural communication, in many cases, is cross-lingual communication. Effective cross-lingual communication requires successful translation processes. Translation quality involves two factors, the technical and the linguistic. Focusing on the influence of language factor, this study demonstrates the application of semantic network analysis and spatial modeling to examine translation equivalence. The examined texts are seven different linguistic versions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (six official languages and Korean). The results suggest that translations are roughly equivalent but with subtle differences reflective of each language's cultural predispositions. The paper concludes by discussing the importance of translation and language issues for intercultural communication.     

Subjective well-being in cultural advocacy: a politics of research between the market and the academy

This paper responds to a trend of contracting out subjective well-being econometrics to demonstrate social return on investment (SROI) for evidence-based policy-making. We discuss an evolving ecology of ‘external’ research taking place ‘between’ the academy and commercial consultancy. We then contextualise this as waves of research methodologies and consultancy for the cultural sector. The new model of ‘external between’ consultancy research for policy is not only placed between the University and the market, but also facilitates discourse between policy sectors, government, the media and the academy. Specifically, it enables seductive but selective arguments for advocacy that claim authority through academic affiliation, yet are not evaluated for robustness. To critically engage with an emergent form of what Stone calls ‘causal stories’, we replicate a publicly funded externally commissioned SROI model that argues for the value of cultural activities to well-being. We find that the author’s operationalisation of participation and well-being are crucial, yet their representation of the relationship problematic, and their estimates questionable. This case study ‘re-performs’ econometric modelling national-level survey data for the cultural sector to reveal practices that create norms of expertise for policy-making that are not rigorous. We conclude that fluid claims to authority allow experimental econometric models and measures to perform across the cultural economy as if ratified. This new model of advocacy research requires closer academic consideration given the changing research funding structures and recent attention to expertise and the contracting out of public services.     

Taiwan's Fifth Ethnic Group: A Study of the Acculturation and Cultural Fusion of Women who have Married into Families in Taiwan

Abstract

One of the under-studied effects of global migration has been an increase in transnational marriages. This phenomenon has greatly impacted Taiwan as women from Southeast Asian nations and Mainland China, through professional marriage brokers or personal contacts, enter into marriages with Taiwanese men. How well these women adapt to Taiwan's culture and learn its local languages is studied through the lens of two theories of intercultural communication: Kim's theory of cross-cultural adaptation and Kramer's theory of cultural fusion. Based upon in-depth interviews with 28 women, results show some support for both theories. However, the postulates of cultural fusion demonstrate a better fit: Learning is an additive process; long-term association with co-ethnics appears to correlate with greater satisfaction and adaptation; and women's negotiated identities follow a range of outcomes.     

A cross-cultural comparison of expectations in romantic relationships: India and the United States

ABSTRACT

This research investigated romantic expectations in a cross-cultural comparison of India and the United States (US). The study was grounded in expectancy violations theory (EVT), which argues that expectancies are a universal phenomenon whose content is influenced by communicator, relational, and contextual factors. The expectations of romantic partners in the two countries were assessed in conjunction with relational models, sex, and gender roles in a cross-sectional study (N?=?366). Results indicated that romantic partners from the two countries placed different importance on specific expectations. Furthermore, expectations were successfully predicted by one’s culture, relational models, sex, and gender roles.     

Cultural Similarities and Differences in Seeking Social Support as a Means of Coping: A Comparison of European Americans and Chinese and an Evaluation of the Mediating Effects of Self-Construal

Abstract

Two studies examined similarities and differences in how European Americans and Chinese view seeking social support as a strategy for coping with an upset. Participants (407 European Americans and 595 Chinese) completed instruments assessing the appropriateness of seeking social support and several self-reliant coping strategies (problem-solving, emotion management, avoidance) when confronting upsets. Both studies detected cultural and sex differences in support seeking. However, there were also substantial similarities in coping responses. Americans viewed seeking support as a more appropriate coping strategy than did Chinese. However, both Americans and Chinese viewed seeking support as more appropriate than the solitary coping strategies of avoidance and emotion management. Culture moderated sex differences in support seeking; American women viewed seeking social and emotional support as more appropriate than American men, whereas few sex differences were evident among the Chinese samples. Individual differences in interdependent and independent self-construals partially mediated cultural and sex differences in support seeking in Study 2; in addition, culture moderated the mediating effects of self-construal, with self-construal mediating sex differences among Americans but not among Chinese. The cultural and sex differences in self-construals, however, did not conform to theoretical expectations. Moreover, cultural and sex differences in self-construals were quite small in magnitude.     

A History of Universalism: Conceptions of the Internationality of Science from the Enlightenment to the Cold War

That science is fundamentally universal has been proclaimed innumerable times. But the precise geographical meaning of this universality has changed historically. This article examines conceptions of scientific internationalism from the Enlightenment to the Cold War, and their varying relations to cosmopolitanism, nationalism, socialism, and ‘the West’. These views are confronted with recent tendencies to cast science as a uniquely European product.

Detection of diagenetic alterations by Spectroscopic Analysis on Archaeological Bones from the Necropolis of Poseidonia (Paestum): A case study

Understanding the chemical and physical alteration in archaeological bones, occurred after burial, is very interesting for researchers. In this paper, we present a study on the diagenetic alteration of human archaeological bony tissues from Paestum (South Italy), by combining complementary spectroscopic techniques, such as solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), infrared spectroscopy (IR), and X-ray diffraction. In particular, ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance–cross polarization-magic angle spinning (¹³C NMR CP-MAS) spectroscopy allows to identify and discriminate the adsorbed calcite, that is a diagenetic contaminant, from the structural one of apatite and ¹H NMR-MAS spectroscopy shows how the degradation of organic phase of collagen is related to the time. The NMR data are combined with crystalline index, measured by X-ray diffraction, and with the splitting factor obtained by infrared spectroscopy. Moreover, the evaluation of the relative content of biogenic structural carbonate and of diagenetic fluorine is reported.     

A good hustle: the moral economy of market competition in adult webcam modeling

In this article, we examine how models working on Chaturbate, one of the world’s most popular adult webcam platforms, negotiate and make sense of the dynamic ways in which this platform configures their competitive environment. By combining different perspectives from the field of economic sociology, we demonstrate how competition on Chaturbate is shaped by various market devices whose strategic negotiation informs – and is informed by – the moral economy articulated on web forums where models gather to discuss their work experiences and market strategies. We first introduce Chaturbate and the ways in which it organizes market competition, surveying the environment models have to negotiate. We then zoom in on two controversial strategies for beating the competition, each of which upset the moral economy of Chaturbate’s model community. Subsequently, we turn to what models term ‘the hustle,’ which encompasses a number of competitive strategies and criteria judged to be fair and thus legitimate. The final part of our analysis considers the limitations of the hustle, as well as the meritocratic and entrepreneurial discourse that surround it, in light of what we identify as Chaturbate’s ‘manufactured uncertainty.’