Does Chatter Matter? The Impact of User-Generated Content on Music Sales

The Internet has enabled a new era of user-generated content, threatening the hegemony of traditional content generators as the primary sources of “legitimate” information. In this study, we examine the usefulness of such content, consisting of data from blogs and social networking sites, in predicting sales in the music industry. We track changes in online chatter for a sample of 108 albums for four weeks before and after their release dates. We identify the significance of variables on the observation date in predicting future album unit sales one, two, and three weeks ahead. Our findings are that future sales are positively correlated with (a) the volume of blog posts about an album, and (b) traditional factors such as whether the album is released by a major label and reviews from mainstream sources like Rolling Stone. More generally, the study provides some preliminary answers for marketing managers interested in assessing the relative importance of the burgeoning number of “Web 2.0” information metrics that are becoming available on the Internet. The study also provides a framework for thinking about when user-generated content influences decision making.     

斯特恩商学院——我们需要了解信息技术

在体育界,各个运动队上场的队员数量都很明确:一支篮球队需要5个人,棒球队要9个人,足球队是11个人。然而,在工作场所,随着团队合作在不断扩大且复杂化的组织中目益普遍,要确定每支团队的最佳人数则几乎是无章可循的。最近,有杂志宣称,4-6个人是实现最高团队效率的人数。它的根据在哪里呢?我们需要追溯一下著名的"拉绳子"     

Marketing strategy in emerging markets: a conceptual framework

Citing difference between emerging and developed markets, scholars highlight need for different approaches to marketing in emerging markets. In this paper, we argue that while there are some unique characteristics of emerging markets, all countries within emerging markets do not have similar levels of product penetration and consumption. As a result, it is wrong to assume that emerging markets are untapped and under-served across the product categories. To a list of characteristics identified as unique to emerging markets, we add large population as an important characteristic and discuss its strategic implications. We develop a conceptual framework that factors in combined effect of varying degrees of product penetration & consumption levels with large population of emerging market countries. The conceptual framework identifies four strategic alternatives for marketing in emerging markets. Instead of recommending any generic marketing strategy, we propose that marketers need to choose an appropriate mix of strategies aimed at primary and selective demand creation in emerging markets.     

Tournament incentives and match outcomes in women's professional tennis

Our research examines the effect of prize money differentials in women's professional tennis tournaments on the probability that the favoured player wins the match. This study adds to the existing literature on tournament theory through its focus on Rosen's (1986) elimination-style, match play tournament model. We estimate a standard probit model using a unique data set containing detailed information on prize money, player-specific characteristics, and match play outcomes for all tournaments played during the 2004 tour sponsored by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Our results support predictions by Rosen's tournament model. Larger prize money differentials have a positive, statistically significant effect on the favoured player's probability of winning the match. In addition, the number of stages remaining has a significant, negative effect on winning, consistent with tournament theory predictions associated with the number of contestants in a tournament.     

Rising Consumption of Animal Products in China and India： National and Global Implications

Over the past two decades,the consumption of animal products has increased rapidly in China and India,driven by rising income and large populations.Such strong demand for animal products could have substantial impacts on both their own and global food and feed demand and supply.This paper examines the nature of rising demand for animal products in China and India and discusses national and global implications.     

Valuation and Return Dynamics of New Ventures

A dynamic model of a multistage investment project that capturesmany features of research and development (R&D) venturesand start-up companies is developed. An important feature theseproblems share is that firms learn about the potential profitabilityof the project throughout its life, but that technical uncertaintyabout the R&D effort is only resolved through additionalinvestment. Consequently the risks associated with the ultimatecash flows have a systematic component even while the purelytechnical risks are idiosyncratic. Our model captures thesedifferent sources of risk and allows us to study their interactionin determining the value and risk premium of the venture.     

Optimal Investment, Growth Options, and Security Returns

As a consequence of optimal investment choices, a firm's assets and growth options change in predictable ways. Using a dynamic model, we show that this imparts predictability to changes in a firm's systematic risk, and its expected return. Simulations show that the model simultaneously reproduces: (i) the time-series relation between the book-to-market ratio and asset returns; (ii) the cross-sectional relation between book-to-market, market value, and return; (iii) contrarian effects at short horizons; (iv) momentum effects at longer horizons; and (v) the inverse relation between interest rates and the market risk premium.