Advertising Bans, Monopoly, and Alcohol Demand: Testing for Substitution Effects using State Panel Data

Using a panel of 45 states for the period 1982–1997,this study analyzes the importance of severalrestrictive alcohol regulations, including advertising bans for billboards, bans of price advertising, state monopoly control of retail stores, and changes in the minimum legal drinking age. In contrast to previous research, the study allows for substitution among beverages as a response to a regulation that targets a specific beverage. A restrictive law that applies only to one beverage (or one form of advertising) can result in substitution toward other beverages (or non-banned media). Allowing for substitution means that the net effect on total alcohol consumption is uncertain, and must be determined empirically. The empirical results demonstrate that monopoly control of spirits reduces consumption of that beverage, and increases consumption of wine. The effect on beer is positive, but is not statistically significant. The net effect on total alcohol is significantly negative. Higher minimum legal drinking age laws have negative effects on beverage and total alcohol consumption. Bans of advertising do not reduce total alcohol consumption, which partly reflects substitution effects. The study thus demonstrates the possible unintended consequences of restrictive alcohol regulations.     

Object narratives and the enslaved at Sam Houston memorial museum

Objects offer an opportunity to narrate the past. Tourism scholarship has found that plantation museums in the American South give considerable attention to objects associated with the planter class to engage visitors with stories about them and their lifestyle. At the same time, museum stakeholders have cited a lack of objects associated with the enslaved as a barrier to greater representations of slavery. However, the concept of an interface object indicates objects can be used to make connections between things that are not intrinsic and to insert issues into stories that are told. These objects can even become charged with such issues. Using the case study of the Sam Houston Memorial Museum in Huntsville, Texas (USA), this paper considers the use of objects in narrating the past, particularly as it relates to slavery. It draws upon participant observation of guided tours and narrative analysis of the stories told about the enslaved on the Houston farm to consider how ordinary objects are used to incorporate slavery into the overarching museum narrative. Finally, the paper concludes that such objects are effective in initiating the conversation about slavery but are not sufficiently charged to facilitate a more meaningful engagement with the issue.     

Social media influencers: A route to brand engagement for their followers

Social Media Influencers (SMIs) are micro‐celebrities with large followings on social media platforms who engage consumers and hold the potential to promote customer‐brand relationships across different product categories. SMIs have an existing relationship of trust with consumers, and consumers seek out the content created by SMIs for valuable information and advice. This study explores the process of brand engagement between consumers and brands in the digital content marketing environment, specifically examining the research question: Do SMIs act as a route to brand engagement for their followers? The context for this study is the beauty community on YouTube; over 60,000 user comments were analyzed through automated text analysis. This study is among the first to provide empirical evidence that SMIs do act as a route to brand engagement through the three dimensions of cognitive processing, affection and activation.     

Rethinking international subsidy rules

Geo-economic tensions, notably associated with the rise of China, and global collective action problems—climate change and the COVID-19pandemic—call for international cooperation to revise and develop rules to guide both the use of domestic subsidies and responses by governments to cross-border competition spillover effects. Current WTO rules dividing all subsidies into prohibited or actionable categories are no longer fit for purpose. Piecemeal efforts in preferential trade agreements and bi- or trilateral configurations offer a basis on which to build but are too narrow in scope. Addressing spillover effects of subsidies could start with G20 countries launching a work programme to mobilise an epistemic community concerned with subsidy policies, tasked with building a more solid evidence base on the magnitude, purpose and effects of subsidy policies. The need for such cooperation has become even more pressing by the COVID-19 pandemic and associated increase in the use of subsidy programmes in major economies.     

Some evidence on the international inequality of real interest rates

This paper undertakes econometric tests of the hypothesis that ex-ante real interest rates are equal across countries with highly integrated capital markets. The issue is of practical importance because the violation of real rate equality is a necessary condition for monetary policy to influence the open economy through the real interest rate channel. Although an empirical literature concerning real rate equality already exists, previous investigators have focused on pre-tax real rates. This paper contributes to the literature by attempting to incorporate the effects of taxation into the analysis.     

REGULATORY STRUCTURE, REGULATORY FAILURE, AND THE S& L DEBACLE

Widespread S & L failures during the 1980s required the federal government to spend over 100 billion dollars bailing out the deposit insurance fund. This paper interprets the S & L debacle as a regulatory failure. Review of the S & L debacle suggests that regulators failed to manage the deposit insurance system efficiently. But the regulatory agencies' structure appears to have played a secondary role in contributing to regulatory failure. Faced with the same incentives, objectives, and resources, regulators probably would have behaved similarly regardless of the regulatory structure.     

Adolescent brand consciousness and product placements: awareness,liking and perceived effects on self and others

Product placements in entertainment media are increasing, particularly in content targeted to adolescents. This marketing communication tactic is examined in the context of media socialization and individual differences in brand consciousness. The relative influence of commercial media (TV, radio, movies, online) and perceived peer and parent brand consciousness on US adolescent brand consciousness is assessed, as well as differences in how low and high brand‐conscious adolescents view product placements. Awareness, liking and perceived effects of product placements on self and others (third‐person perception) were measured. Results of hierarchical multiple regression analyses show that movies and perceived parent and peer brand consciousness were positively related to adolescent brand consciousness. Those adolescents considered to be highly brand‐conscious were also those who were most aware of and favourable towards product placements. All adolescents demonstrated third‐person perception of media effects in that they considered others to be more influenced by product placements than themselves, with peers influenced more than friends. Highly brand‐conscious teens perceived the greatest effects of product placements on their own and others’ buying behaviours, yet low brand‐conscious teens revealed the largest gap in perceptions of impact on self vs. peers. The results are discussed in view of media effects; ramifications for marketers and public policy makers are also appraised.