Examining the Third‐Person Effect of Baseline Omission in Numerical Comparison: The Role of Consumer Persuasion Knowledge

Marketers often use numerical comparisons in promotional claims to signal superior product offerings. A potentially misleading practice involves omitting the reference point deliberately in order to make the focal claim more appealing—a persuasion tactic referred to as “baseline omission” in the present research. In two experiments, this research demonstrates that consumers tend to perceive this tactic as more effective on others than on themselves. The self‐others difference is more salient among consumers with more persuasion knowledge. Consumers’ concerns about its effectiveness on themselves, rather than on others, better predict their supportiveness to regulate the use of baseline omission.     

In search of E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Company: the perils of archival research

The purpose of this paper is to describe the pitfalls of archival research into the bookkeeping records of a specific firm, E. I. DuPont de Nemours & Co., and how it may lead to misinterpretation and misdirection. Traditionally, the bookkeeping records of an individual or organization have provided a great deal of information to researchers who use the records for many different research projects. Such research is costly, however. The researcher is concerned with the analytical techniques of the historian, or even the detective; the time-consuming, methodical routine of familiarization with the records; and the analysis and interpretation of the significance of the techniques and trends evident in the data base. The sources for this traditional archival research project were many, varied, and often contradictory. For the record books of the DuPont Company, an early 19th century gunpowder manufactory, the process of understanding, interpreting, and validating the record keeping led to a number of misleading, confusing, and time-consuming issues which had to be resolved. These issues may have implications for other accounting historians since the need to search for the 'story' behind a particular research project will in all likelihood be encountered in the course of other research. Researchers must understand that they are able to rely on secondary sources, when they exist, only as long as they remain circumspect when depending on the secondary interpretation of primary sources, and that even the primary sources themselves may lead the researcher astray.     

Criteria used by venture capitalists to evaluate new venture proposals

A questionnaire was administered to one hundred venture capitalists to determine the most important criteria that they use to decide on funding new ventures. Perhaps the most important finding from the study is direct confirmation of the frequently iterated position taken by the venture capital community that above all it is the quality of the entrepreneur that ultimately determines the funding decision. Five of the top ten most important criteria had to do with the entrepreneur's experience or personality. There is no question that irrespective of the horse (product), horse race (market), or odds (financial criteria), it is the jockey (entrepreneur) who fundamentally determines whether the venture capitalist will place a bet at all.The question is if this is the case, then why is so much emphasis placed on the business plan? In a business plan there is generally little to indicate the characteristics of the entrepreneur—it is generally devoted to a detailed discussion of the product/service, the market, and the competition. To us, the implications are obvious—such content is necessary, but not sufficient. The business plan should also show as clearly as possible that the “jockey is fit to ride” —namely, indicate by whatever feasible and credible means possible that the entrepreneur has staying power, has a track record, can react to risk well, and has familiarity with the target market. Failing this, he or she needs to be able to pull together a team that has such characteristics and show that he or she is capable of leading that team.Factor analysis of the results indicate that venture capitalists appear to assess ventures systematically in terms of six categories of risk to be managed. These are: risk of losing the entire investment: risk of being unable to bail out if necessary; risk of failure to implement the venture idea; competitive risk; risk of management failure; and risk of leadership failure.Finally, three clusters of venture capitalists were identified: those who carefully assess the competitive and implementation risks: those who seek easy bail out; and those who deliberately keep as many options open as possible.     

The differential futures of ski tourism in Ontario (Canada) under climate change: the limits of snowmaking adaptation

The international ski tourism industry is highly vulnerable to inter-annual climate variability and climate change. Accordingly, there is a strong need to advance our understanding of climate risk for this multi-billion tourism market that is so important to mountain regions around the world. This study addressed major limitations in the ski tourism literature, while concurrently supporting priority information needs of ski tourism stakeholders. An improved version of SkiSim 2.0 is applied to all 34 alpine ski areas in southern Ontario (Canada) to examine potential changes in the capacity of this regional marketplace. Model improvements include differential snowmaking capacities of individual ski areas, updated snowmaking decision rules, as well as a new indicator, termed ‘terrain-days’, to estimate changes in system capacity. The results project two fundamentally different futures for this ski tourism marketplace under climate change. If the international community succeeds in achieving the?+?2°C Paris Agreement policy goal, then losses in system capacity can be limited to less than 10% in the mid- and late-century. In contrast, a high-end emission scenario (RCP 8.5) would severely disrupt this ski tourism market by mid-century, with system capacity losses between 28% and 73%.