Virality, Network Effects and Advertising

Many video ads are designed to go viral, so that their dissemination depends on customers sharing the ads with their friends. This paper explores whether there is a trade-o between achieving this virality and the eectiveness of the ad at persuading a consumer to purchase or adopt a favorable attitude towards a product. In other words, do ads, by being the kind of ads that achieve virality, sacrice elements that would be better at persuading people to actually buy products? The analysis combines data on the real-life virality of 400 video ad campaigns, and crowd-sourced measurement of advertising eectiveness among 24,000 consumers. Eectiveness is measured by randomly exposing half of these consumers to a video ad and half to a placebo ad, and then surveying their attitudes towards the product. We nd that ads that were more `viral,' that is, ads that had achieved more views on websites such as Youtube.com, were indeed less eective at persuading consumers to purchase or adopt a favorable attitude to a brand. Relative ad-eectiveness dropped by roughly 10% for every million views. Taking into account the advantages of increased reach, this means that there was a decline in overall advertising eectiveness at 3-4 million views. Importantly, ads that generated both views and consumer engagement in the form of comments did not suer from the same tradeo. Such ads were also be less intentionally provocative or outrageous than ads and more likely to be viral due to humor or attractive visual-design

Master of Science

thesisThis study evaluates the seismic performance of circular concrete filled tube (CCFT) columns in accelerated bridge construction (ABC) projects. CCFT components are considered of interest for bridges subjected to seismic forces due to their efficient structural behavior under combined axial and bending loads: lateral stiffness of the steel tube is increased by the concrete and concrete confinement is provided by the steel tube. This research addresses the ability of CCFT columns to perform adequately under gravitational and seismic loading before the concrete reaches its design strength. A reduced seismic hazard that accounts for this temporal condition is also implemented. Performance evaluation is based on the probability of failure of the CCFT column. For this research, a Caltrans bridge used in previous Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) studies is adopted. The performance of a proposed CCFT column was compared to the original circular reinforced concrete (RC) column. Numerical analyses using concentrated plasticity models in OpenSees were used for this evaluation. Experimental data were used to calibrate the deteriorating response of CCFT columns in OpenSees. The analytical model predicts the CCFT column's behavior under monotonic, static cyclic, and dynamic (seismic) loading. Then, the model was adapted to consider the effects of partial concrete compressive strength on the column behavior. The study accounts for temporary conditions, such as concrete compressive strength lower than the design value, and reduced seismic loads. The results indicate that CCFT columns with partial design concrete compressive strength can be used for ABC because the relatively low decrease in strength is offset by the reduced seismic loads for this temporal condition

The economics of advertising and privacy

One of the new realities of advertising is that personal information can be used to ensure that advertising is only shown and designed for a select group of consumers who stand to gain most from this information. However, to gather the data used for targeting requires some degree of privacy intrusion by advertisers. This sets up a tradeoff between the informativeness of advertising and the degree of privacy intrusion. This paper summarizes recent empirical research that illuminates this tradeoff

Three findings regarding privacy online

The Internet now enables firms to collect detailed and potentially intrusive data about their customers both easily and cheaply. I discuss three empirical results related to customer privacy-protection that is enacted in response to this change

The Reach and Persuasiveness of Viral Video Ads

Many video ads are designed to go viral so that the total number of views they receive depends on customers sharing the ads with their friends. This paper explores the relationship between the number of views and how persuasive the ad is at convincing consumers to purchase or to adopt a favorable attitude towards the product. The analysis combines data on the total views of 400 video ads, and crowd-sourced measurement of advertising persuasiveness among 24,000 survey responses. Persuasiveness is measured by randomly exposing half of these consumers to a video ad and half to a similar placebo video ad, and then surveying their attitudes towards the focal product. Relative ad persuasiveness is on average 10% lower for every one million views that the video ad achieves. The exceptions to this pattern were ads that generated views and large numbers of comments, and video ads that attracted comments that mentioned the product by name. Evidence suggests that such ads remained effective because they attracted views due to humor rather than because they were outrageous.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (CAREER Award 6923256)NET Institut

THE DYNAMICS OF LAND-COVER CHANGE IN WESTERN HONDURAS: SPATIAL AUTOCORRELATION AND TEMPORAL VARIATION

This paper presents an econometric analysis of land-cover change in western Honduras. Ground-truthed satellite image analysis indicates that between 1987 and 1996, net reforestation occurred in the 1,015.12 km2 study region. While some reforestation can be attributed to a 1987 ban on logging, the area of reforestation greatly exceeds that of previously clear-cut areas. Further, new area was also deforested between 1987-1996. Thus, the observed land-cover changes most likely represent a complex mosaic of changing land-use patterns across time and space. We estimate a random-effects probit model to capture drivers of land-cover change that are spatial, temporal or both. We employ two techniques to correct for spatial error dependence in econometric analysis suitable to qualitative dependent variables. Lastly, we simulate the impact of anticipated changes in transportation costs on land cover. We find that market accessibility, increase in national coffee prices, and agricultural suitability are the most important determinants of recent land-cover change.Land Economics/Use,

The impact of teaching models, group structures and assessment modes on cooperative learning in the student design studio

As a result of ever diminishing teaching resources, an increasing number of architectural educators are setting group design projects, rather then spreading their time thinly over a large number of individual projects. This allows them to co-ordinate longer and more in-depth review sessions on a smaller number of assignment submissions. However, while the groupmodel may offer an authentic learning model by reflecting design in practice, the approach is not without its obvious shortcomings as a teaching archetype for the assessment of the knowledge and skill competencies of individual students. Hence, what is clear is the need for a readily adoptable andragogy for the teaching and assessment of group design projects.The following paper describes the background, methodology and findings of a Strategic Teaching and Learning Grant funded research project carried out in the year 2005 at the School of Architecture and Building at Deakin University. The project aimed to inform a change of classroom/studio practice governing the assemblage, teaching and assessment of student design teams. The development through these changes of cooperative and student centred learning principles focused on effective design collaboration and fair assessment should, it will be argued, lead to an enhanced group-learning experience in studio, which will subsequently and ultimately enhance professional practice.<br /

Can Healthcare IT Save Babies?

The US has a higher infant mortality rate than most other developed nations. Electronic medical records (EMR) and other healthcare information technology (IT) improvements could reduce that rate, by standardizing treatment options and improving monitoring. We empirically quantify how healthcare IT improves neonatal outcomes. We identify this effect through variations in state medical privacy laws that distort the usefulness of healthcare IT. We find that adoption of healthcare IT by one additional hospital in a county reduces infant mortality in that county by 13 deaths per 100,000 live births. Rough cost-effectiveness calculations suggest that healthcare IT is associated with a cost of $450,140 per infant saved

Long Tail or Steep Tail? A Field Investigation into How Online Popularity Information Affects the Distribution of Customer Choices

The internet has made it easier for customers to find and buy a wide variety of products. This may lead to a "long tail" effect as more customers buy low-volume products. However, the internet has also made it easier for customers to find out which products are most popular. This could lead to a "steep tail" effect as customers flock towards the most popular products. Using data from a field experiment with a website that lists wedding service vendors, we find empirical evidence that a steep tail exists. The most popular vendors become more popular when customers can easily observe previous customers' click-through behavior. Then, we ask whether this steep tail effect "complements" the long tail, by attracting customers who would otherwise have chosen nothing, or "competes with" the long tail, by shifting customers from less popular vendors to popular ones. We find evidence of a complementary effect, where the steep tail indicates new interest in the most popular vendors from outside, with negligible cannibalization of interest for less popular vendors. The findings suggest that popularity information can serve as a powerful marketing tool that facilitates product category growth. They also explain the prevalence of firm practices to highlight bestsellers