Advertising communication and spirituality: a critical approach of academics and professionals

This article explores advertising as a space where spiritual discourses are reproduced from the critical approach of academics in communication and sociology, along with professionals in the advertising sector. Therefore, a qualitative methodology of semi-structured interviews with a panel of fifteen experts was used. This research aims to develop a discourse derived from the interviewee’s experience of the meaning provided by advertising as a transcendent dimension. The interviews were analysed by applying a spiral model by simple induction. The study identifies a compensatory character between brands and religions based on a functional definition of the latter, where brands have acquired the ability to construct social meaning, offer an existential programme to the individual, and arouse identity and awareness through their own narration. Without disregarding the economic objective of corporations or the different levels of transcendence expressed by brands and religious forms, there is consensus on advertising’s attempt to follow the same scheme of adhesion, claims, symbology, and evocations offered by religions, assuming a post-materialist turn of the advertising discourse towards transcendental values, even superficially or banally. The list of interviewees and the use of this technique, which has not previously been applied to the interactions between advertising discourse and spirituality, provide an original perspective on this emerging study fiel

Game Theory and Economic Behavior

Until the beginning of 1950s, the economic theory in general, and the microeconomic theory in particular, relied totally on the deterministic character of economic phenomena. Nowadays microeconomic models are built on uncertain elements in a competitive environment that is affected by risk and uncertainty. Two centuries later, traditional microeconomics, also known as derived microeconomics, continues to be based on Adam Smith’s theory. As individuals are interested in participating in commercial transactions, but for these to take place effectively, two essential principles should be observed: the principle of rationality and the principle of pure and perfect competition. The link between Brower’ fixed point theorems on the one hand and John von Neumann’s minimax theorem on the other hand enabled other authors such as McKenzie Arrow and Debreu Uzawa to state and demonstrate simpler but more general theorems than that of Abraham Wald. It was thus supposed that consumer preferences in a pool of possible consumptions are reflexive, transitive and all are comparable. Using game theory as a reference framework to represent the behavior of economic agents, microeconomics strongly renews its scope of investigation. The problem that arises is no longer linked to the study of perfectly competitive markets, but mostly to how agents coordinate their decisions in different strategic configuration circumstances. The use of such concepts as risk, antiselection or coordination limits has opened new scopes to economy in general and to microeconomics in particular.Game Theory, behavior of economic, traditional microeconomics, new microeconomics

Why Should Happiness Have a Role in Welfare Economics? Happiness versus Orthodoxy and Capabilities

In this paper we try to understand how the Happiness Literature (HL) approach to Welfare Economics (WE) enriches it by enlarging its scope and power of analysis. To do so, we contrast the HL approach not only with Mainstream Welfare Economics (MWE) but also with the already established Sen’s Capabilities (SC) approach. We demonstrate (particularly for the cases of Income and Freedom) that these different theoretical approaches can imply different policy conclusions even when facing the same problems (mostly when switching from MWE to SC or HL) and that these different approaches have different domains of application (SC and HL with a wider domain than MWE). We also claim that the choice between MWE, SC and HL, even when the policy conclusions are similar, is connected with different axiomatic and philosophic foundations. We then conclude that HL stands out as an autonomous approach to WE with particular assumptions, techniques and policy conclusions.Happiness, Capabilities, Welfare Economics, Welfrae Policies

The Social Embeddedness of Consumption: Towards the Relationship of Income and Expenditures over Time in Germany

Expenditures and their patterns over time are expressions of the standard of living of individuals, households, and the society they live in. Nevertheless social and economic analysis focused rather on the analysis of production than on consumption, and income was widely used as a main indicator of (economic) well-being. On the other hand, expenditure regards as a measure to describe and estimate the participation of households in the wealth of nation. Therefore, there is an interest in the relationship of income and spending money. It is often considered that expenditure and income are the two sides of the same coin called “social inequality”. This assumption implies a strong relationship between these two measures of welfare inequality. Due to the lack of longitudinal data in Germany, we used repeated crosssectional data (RCS) in our empirical analysis which is based on the West German Income and Expenditure Survey (IES) in 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988 and 1993. The IES’s are representative cross-sections of all West German households, collected by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany. Descriptive methods are used to separate age, cohort, and period effects just as the RCS enables us to use a linear model to shed some light on this issue. The analysis indicates that the relationship between income and expenditure is given but weak: The higher the income the looser the concrete expenditure structure in terms of real consumption is. All in all, the social organisation of consumption is a research object in itself to obtain information about the living standard of individuals and households.

Individuals Time Preference and Social Discounting: A Survey and a Meta-Analysis

The choice of an appropriate social rate of discount is critical in the decision-making process on public investments. In this paper we review concisely the literature on social discounting and refer explicitly to a recently growing field of related research, that is, individual time preference. The consideration and analysis of behavioural factors of individuals in the definition and use of an appropriate social discount rate are critical for balanced decision-making, for example, in the field of environmental policy. The empirical literature shows quite some variation in the estimated values of individual discount rates. Therefore, we present results from a meta-analysis conducted over more than 40 experimental and field studies reporting individual discount rate estimates. We find that the experimental design of a study has a great impact on these estimates and conclude that our meta-regression function has a low transfer value.

The social embeddedness of consumption - towards the relationship of income and expenditures over time in Germany

Expenditures and their patterns over time are expressions of the standard of living of individuals, households, and the society they live in. Nevertheless social and economic analysis focused rather on the analysis of production than on consumption, and income was widely used as a main indicator of (economic) well-being. On the other hand, expenditure regards as a measure to describe and estimate the participation of households in the wealth of nation. Therefore, there is an interest in the relationship of income and spending money. It is often considered that expenditure and income are the two sides of the same coin called 'social inequality'. This assumption implies a strong relationship between these two measures of welfare inequality. Due to the lack of longitudinal data in Germany, we used repeated crosssectional data (RCS) in our empirical analysis which is based on the West German Income and Expenditure Survey (IES) in 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988 and 1993. The IES's are representative cross-sections of all West German households, collected by the Federal Statistical Office of Germany. Descriptive methods are used to separate age, cohort, and period effects just as the RCS enables us to use a linear model to shed some light on this issue. The analysis indicates that the relationship between income and expenditure is given but weak: The higher the income the looser the concrete expenditure structure in terms of real consumption is. All in all, the social organisation of consumption is a research object in itself to obtain information about the living standard of individuals and households. -- Ausgaben und deren Veränderung im Zeitablauf sind Ausdruck des Lebensstandards von Individuen, Haushalten und der Gesellschaft, in der diese leben. Dennoch bezog sich die soziologische und ökonomische Analyse eher auf die Güterproduktion denn auf deren Konsum, und Einkommen wurde als ein Maß zur Beschreibung der (ökonomischen) Wohlfahrt verwendet. Andererseits dienen die Ausgaben als Maß zur Beschreibung und Abschätzung der Partizipation von Haushalten an der Wohlfahrt einer Gesellschaft. Und darin liegt das Interesse am Verhältnis zwischen Einkommen und Ausgaben begründet. Es wird häufig unterstellt, daß Ausgaben und Einkommen zwei Seiten derselben Medaille darstellen, die als 'soziale Ungleichheit' bezeichnet wird. Diese Annahme impliziert eine Beziehung zwischen den beiden Maßzahlen zur Beschreibung der Wohlfahrtsungleichheit. Die empirische Analyse basiert auf den Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichproben (EVS) der Jahre 1973, 1978, 1983, 1988 und 1993 für Westdeutschland. Bei den EVS handelt es sich um repräsentative Querschnitterhebungen, die vom Statistischen Bundesamt durchgeführt werden. Auf der Grundlage dieser Daten wird versucht, Aussagen über die Beziehung zwischen Einkommen und Ausgaben zu treffen. Es werden vornehmlich Methoden der deskriptiven Statistik verwendet, um Alters-, Kohorten- und Periodeneffekte isolieren zu können. Weiterhin ermöglicht die Verbindung der einzelnen EVS die Verwendung induktiver statistischer Methoden. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, daß Einkommen und Ausgaben nicht in einem festen Verhältnis zueinander stehen. Je höher die Einkommen sind, desto offener ist der Zusammenhang zur konkreten Ausgabenstruktur. Insgesamt betrachtet bedeutet dies, daß die soziale Organisation des Konsums für sich genommen als Forschungsgegenstand zur Erlangung von Informationen über den Lebensstandard von Individuen und Haushalten mit berücksichtigt werden muß.

Examining the motivations for social entrepreneurship using Max Weber's typology of rationality

PURPOSE: This paper aims to utilize a framework from classic sociology – Max Weber’s Typology of Rationality – to understand the motivations for social entrepreneurship in responsible tourism in India. The critical role of the social entrepreneur in effecting the phenomenon of social entrepreneurship has been largely under-recognized. The authors seek to explore, develop and enhance Weber’s theoretical arguments in the context of the tourism industry. Design/methodology/approach The authors used a constructivism paradigm and Seidman’s (2006) Three Interview Series technique to obtain the narratives of two social entrepreneurs in India. Data were analyzed using a hybrid thematic coding procedure. FINDINGS: Findings indicate that there exists a dynamic interplay between the formal and substantive rationalities that underlie the behavior of social entrepreneurs. The authors also discuss how entrepreneurs draw upon their formal and substantive repertoires to create their identities through the simultaneous processes of apposition (“Me”) and opposition (“Not Me”). PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The findings provide an important recognition of the impact of formal and substantive rationalities on the conceptualization, implementation and manifestation of social enterprise for a variety of stakeholders. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: This paper makes a significant contribution to understanding the why and the how of social entrepreneurship in responsible tourism. It provides a framework that can be widely applied to develop and enhance Weberian theory and further the understanding of the fundamental nature of human behavioral phenomena in tourism and beyond

Treatment of Consumption in Islamic Economics: An Appraisal

This paper attempts a broad appraisal of the literature on macro consumption function in Islamic economics. It starts with a brief look at the microelements of the concept and clears several cobwebs concerning wants and needs, scarcity of resources, the basket of goods, and the efficacy of utility and its maximization for consumer equilibrium. The explanations narrow down the conceptual gaps between the micro and macro level articulations of the subject. Next, the paper reviews some selected macro models resting on division of income on the basis of nisab between the upper (rich) and the lower (poor) classes of society for analyzing the impact of zakah-moderation mechanism on economic growth via the saving-investment route. It is demonstrated that, contrary to the claim based on models, the positive impact of Islamic scheme on the variables studied is uncertain, to put it mildly. Finally, attention is drawn to some recent developments in the treatment of consumption in economics as also to interest being shown in the subject in other social sciences. This inter-disciplinary approach seeks to detach consumption from income and links it to wealth. It also brings in environmental and ethical concerns into the picture. The effort promises to bring the treatment of consumption closer in the two economic disciplines, secular and Islamic: it is a welcome development.Islamic economics; consumption; israf; zakah; income determination model