Media Concentration and Consumer Product Prices

We examine the interaction of commercial media and retail producers of well-known consumer products when advertising is used to differentiate brands. In particular, we address how competition in the media market affects choices of advertising and program quality. The results suggest counter-intuitively that advertisers may actually prefer media markets with less competition for audiences. Product differentiation through advertising is more effective when media markets are less competitive, leading to higher prices for advertised products. As a result, media concentration may lead to higher profits for advertising firms if the additional revenue exceeds the higher advertising costs associated with media concentration.

A Sidon-type condition on set systems

Consider families of $k$-subsets (or blocks) on a ground set of size $v$. Recall that if all $t$-subsets occur with the same frequency $\lambda$, one obtains a $t$-design with index $\lambda$. On the other hand, if all $t$-subsets occur with different frequencies, such a family has been called (by Sarvate and others) a $t$-adesign. An elementary observation shows that such families always exist for $v > k \ge t$. Here, we study the smallest possible maximum frequency $\mu=\mu(t,k,v)$. The exact value of $\mu$ is noted for $t=1$ and an upper bound (best possible up to a constant multiple) is obtained for $t=2$ using PBD closure. Weaker, yet still reasonable asymptotic bounds on $\mu$ for higher $t$ follow from a probabilistic argument. Some connections are made with the famous Sidon problem of additive number theory.Comment: 6 page

Bodily attractiveness and egalitarianism are negatively related in males.

Ancestrally, relatively attractive individuals and relatively formidable males may have had reduced incentives to be egalitarian (i.e., to act in accordance with norms promoting social equality). If selection calibrated one's egalitarianism to one's attractiveness/formidability, then such people may exhibit reduced egalitarianism ("observed egalitarianism") and be perceived by others as less egalitarian ("perceived egalitarianism") in modern environments. To investigate, we created 3D body models of 125 participants to use both as a source of anthropometric measurements and as stimuli to obtain ratings of bodily attractiveness and perceived egalitarianism. We also measured observed egalitarianism (via an economic "dictator" game) and indices of political egalitarianism (preference for socialism over capitalism) and "equity sensitivity." Results indicated higher egalitarianism levels in women than in men, and moderate-to-strong negative relationships between (a) attractiveness and observed egalitarianism among men, (b) attractiveness and perceived egalitarianism among both sexes, and (c) formidability and perceived egalitarianism among men. We did not find support for two previously-reported findings: that observed egalitarianism and formidability are negatively related in men, and that wealth and formidability interact to explain variance in male egalitarianism. However, this lack of support may have been due to differences in variable measurement between our study and previous studies