Non-comparative versus Comparative Advertising as a Quality Signal

Two firms produce a product with a horizontal and a vertical characteristic. We call the vertical characteristic quality. The difference in the quality levels determines how the firms share the market. Firms know the quality levels, consumers do not. Under non-comparative advertising a firm may signal its own quality. Under comparative advertising firms may signal the quality differential. In both scenarios the firms may attempt to mislead at a cost. If firms advertise, in both scenarios equilibria are revealing. Under comparative advertising the firms never advertise together which they may do under non-comparative advertising.advertising; costly state falsification; signalling

Non-comparative versus Comparative Advertising as a Quality Signal

Two firms produce a product with a horizontal and a vertical characteristic. We call the vertical characteristics quality. The difference in the quality levels determines how the firms share the market. Firms know the quality levels, consumers do not. Under non-comparative advertising a firm may signal its own quality. Under comparative advertising firms may signal the quality differential. In both scenarios the firms may attempt to mislead at a cost. If firms advertise, in both scenarios equilibria are revealing. Under comparative advertising the firms never advertise together which they may do under non-comparative advertising.Advertising, costly state falsification, signalling

Discovery of a very X-ray luminous galaxy cluster at z=0.89 in the WARPS survey

We report the discovery of the galaxy cluster ClJ1226.9+3332 in the Wide Angle ROSAT Pointed Survey (WARPS). At z=0.888 and L_X=1.1e45 erg/s (0.5-2.0 keV, h_0=0.5) ClJ1226.9+3332 is the most distant X-ray luminous cluster currently known. The mere existence of this system represents a huge problem for Omega_0=1 world models. At the modest (off-axis) resolution of the ROSAT PSPC observation in which the system was detected, ClJ1226.9+3332 appears relaxed; an off-axis HRI observation confirms this impression and rules out significant contamination from point sources. However, in moderately deep optical images (R and I band) the cluster exhibits signs of substructure in its apparent galaxy distribution. A first crude estimate of the velocity dispersion of the cluster galaxies based on six redshifts yields a high value of 1650 km/s, indicative of a very massive cluster and/or the presence of substructure along the line of sight. While a more accurate assessment of the dynamical state of this system requires much better data at both optical and X-ray wavelengths, the high mass of the cluster has already been unambiguously confirmed by a very strong detection of the Sunyaev-Zel'dovich effect in its direction (Joy et al. 2001). Using ClJ1226.9+3332 and ClJ0152.7-1357 (z=0.835), the second-most distant X-ray luminous cluster currently known and also a WARPS discovery, we obtain a first estimate of the cluster X-ray luminosity function at 0.8<z<1.4 and L_X>5e44 erg/s. Using the best currently available data, we find the comoving space density of very distant, massive clusters to be in excellent agreement with the value measured locally (z<0.3), and conclude that negative evolution is not required at these luminosities out to z~1. (truncated)Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ Letters, 6 pages, 2 figures, uses emulateapj.st

QoS impact on user perception and understanding of multimedia video clips

The widespread and increasing advent of multimedia technologies means that there must be a departure from the viewpoint that users expect a Quality of Service (QoS) which will only satisfy them perceptually. What should be expected of multimedia clips is that the QoS with which they are shown is such that it will enable the users to assimilate and understand the informational content of such clips. In this paper we present experimental results Iinking users’ understanding andperception of multimedia clips with the presentation QoS. Results show that the quality of video clips can be severely degraded without the user having to perceive any significant loss of informational content

Bayesian model selection for electromagnetic kaon production on the nucleon

We present the results of a Bayesian analysis of a Regge model to describe the background contribution for K+ Lambda and K+ Sigma0 photoproduction. The model is based on the exchange of K+(494) and K*+(892) trajectories in the t-channel. We utilise the Bayesian evidence Z to determine the best model variant for each channel. The Bayesian evidence integrals were calculated using the Nested Sampling algorithm. For different prior widths, we find decisive Bayesian evidence (\Delta ln Z ~ 24) for a K+ Lambda photoproduction Regge model with a positive vector coupling and a negative tensor coupling constant for the K*+(892) trajectory, and a rotating phase factor for both trajectories. Using the chi^2 minimisation method, one could not draw this conclusion from the same dataset. For the K+ Sigma0 photoproduction Regge model, on the other hand, the difference between the evidence integrals is insufficient to pinpoint one model variant.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure

Non-comparative versus Comparative Advertising as a Quality Signal

Two firms produce a product with a horizontal and a vertical characteristic. We call the vertical characteristic quality. The difference in the quality levels determines how the firms share the market. Firms know the quality levels, consumers do not. Under non-comparative advertising a firm may signal its own quality. Under comparative advertising firms may signal the quality differential. In both scenarios the firms may attempt to mislead at a cost. If firms advertise, in both scenarios equilibria are revealing. Under comparative advertising the firms never advertise together which they may do under non-comparative advertising

Area Regeneration and Tourism Development. Evidence from Three European Cities

This paper discusses a key issue in the framework of modern urban development policies: the role of cultural tourism in processes of urban transformation. The analysis focuses specifically on how the emphasis on the symbolic in the restructuring of certain areas of the city may function like a spinwheel for the regeneration of urban economies, and on the stability of this process. The paper presents the cases of three European cities -Barcelona, Manchester and Rotterdam-, all of which are believed to be templates in cultural planning, and have been successful, to different extents, as tourism destinations. In the three cities, the peculiar relationship between area renewal through cultural development projects and tourism has unravelled in different ways that are revelatory of structural, as well as contingent, differences in tourism policy organisation and contexts, and that present different challenges for the future.Urban, revitalization, development, tourism, cultural assets