Less is more: rarity trumps quality in luxury markets

The international market for luxury goods has almost doubled since 1990, with a worldwide increase of 10% annually. This trade is fuelled by a great deal of legally and illegally exploited wildlife species, putting enormous pressure on many of them, with potentially irreversible consequences. The dramatic decline of sturgeon populations exploited for their caviar, is a good example: all 27 species are threatened and the most coveted are on the verge of extinction. We aim to identify the mechanism responsible for the continued overexploitation of sturgeon species, despite caviar's ever-increasing price and the imminent loss of these species. Here, we demonstrate consumer preference for rarity over intrinsic quality: customers tasting two caviar samples more often chose the one they thought was rare, although both were identical. In a game theory model, we demonstrate that the most rational behaviour is to rush to consume rare species, even though this precipitates their extinction. We conclude that the human predisposition to place exaggerated value on rarity probably drives the entire market for luxury goods from reptile skins to exotic woods. Our findings suggest that allowing low levels of legal trade will exacerbate the arbitrary value of rare species and thereby stimulate demand. Only a total ban on trade from the wild (with very strict controls) combined with strong support for farmed equivalents will protect rare species

C-KE/I: A pragmatic framework for policy innovation

Improving policy making is key to address numerous contemporary challenges such as the environmental crisis, climate change, global inequality, financial crises, or pandemics. Policy making is a sequence of stages structuring policy problems and choices made to address them. Among these stages, policy design is a crucial phase since it impacts the quality of the policy alternatives being considered. Policy design is, however, largely neglected in the scientific literature, and in practice it is mainly conducted informally. Design theory, and more specifically Concept-Knowledge (C-K) theory, originally aimed at assisting the process of creating marketable objects, offers promises to formalize and rationalize policy design. We critically analyze this theory, showing that, despite its strengths, as it stands it is ill-adapted to support the innovative design of policy alternatives. For that purpose, we propose a framework, C-KE/I. This framework, which is inspired by and compatible with C-K, appraises innovation based on the explicit or implicit modal statements held by a certain individual or group (“E/I” stands for Explicit vs. Implicit). Through an ex-post analysis of a case study—the search for innovative policy solutions to water management problems in the Apulia Region, Italy—we illustrate the practical applicability and usefulness of our framework

Societal attention toward extinction threats : a comparison between climate change and biological invasions

Public attention and interest in the fate of endangered species is a crucial prerequisite for effective conservation programs. Societal awareness and values will largely determine whether conservation initiatives receive necessary support and lead to adequate policy change. Using text data mining, we assessed general public attention in France, Germany and the United Kingdom toward climate change and biological invasions in relation to endangered amphibian, reptile, bird and mammal species. Our analysis revealed that public attention patterns differed among species groups and countries but was globally higher for climate change than for biological invasions. Both threats received better recognition in threatened than in non-threatened species, as well as in native species than in species from other countries and regions. We conclude that more efficient communication regarding the threat from biological invasions should be developed, and that conservation practitioners should take advantage of the existing attention toward climate change.Peer reviewe

Transience of public attention in conservation science

Societal awareness of, and engagement with, environmental problems is a critical prerequisite for effective conservation programs. Research has revealed a strong general pattern whereby public attention received by cultural products diminishes over time. If transposed to conservation, this transience of societal attention is likely to be of major importance because it can limit motivation to support conservation efforts. We address the concept of attention transience applied to conservation, discuss its major drivers and mechanisms, and provide a short overview of conservation issues for which this phenomenon is expected to be particularly relevant. Attention transience leaves a brief window of opportunity for conservationists to focus public awareness and to mobilize necessary support. In this context, it is critical to maximize the conservation benefits generated during these short bursts of attention, especially through tailored conservation marketing campaigns with targeted message framing and regular efforts to refocus attention on key issues

Invasion costs, impacts, and human agency:Response to Sagoff 2020

Article impact statement : In an era of profound biodiversity crisis, invasion costs, invader impacts, and human agency should not be dismissed

Rarity Value and Species Extinction: The Anthropogenic Allee Effect

Standard economic theory predicts that exploitation alone is unlikely to result in species extinction because of the escalating costs of finding the last individuals of a declining species. We argue that the human predisposition to place exaggerated value on rarity fuels disproportionate exploitation of rare species, rendering them even rarer and thus more desirable, ultimately leading them into an extinction vortex. Here we present a simple mathematical model and various empirical examples to show how the value attributed to rarity in some human activities could precipitate the extinction of rare species—a concept that we term the anthropogenic Allee effect. The alarming finding that human perception of rarity can precipitate species extinction has serious implications for the conservation of species that are rare or that may become so, be they charismatic and emblematic or simply likely to become fashionable for certain activities

The role of species charisma in biological invasions

Commonly used in the literature to refer to the "attractiveness", "appeal", or "beauty" of a species, charisma can be defined as a set of characteristics - and the perception thereof - that affect people's attitudes and behaviors toward a species. It is a highly relevant concept for invasion science, with implications across all stages of the invasion process. However, the concept of invasive alien species (IAS) charisma has not yet been systematically investigated. We discuss this concept in detail, provide a set of recommendations for further research, and highlight management implications. We review how charisma affects the processes associated with biological invasions andIASmanagement, including species introductions and spread, media portrayals, public perceptions of species management, research attention, and active public involvement in research and management. Explicit consideration ofIAScharisma is critical for understanding the factors that shape people's attitudes toward particular species, planning management measures and strategies, and implementing a combination of education programs, awareness raising, and public involvement campaigns.Peer reviewe

Transience of public attention in conservation science

Societal awareness of, and engagement with, environmental problems is a critical prerequisite for effective conservation programs. Research has revealed a strong general pattern whereby public attention received by cultural products diminishes over time. If transposed to conservation, this transience of societal attention is likely to be of major importance because it can limit motivation to support conservation efforts. We address the concept of attention transience applied to conservation, discuss its major drivers and mechanisms, and provide a short overview of conservation issues for which this phenomenon is expected to be particularly relevant. Attention transience leaves a brief window of opportunity for conservationists to focus public awareness and to mobilize necessary support. In this context, it is critical to maximize the conservation benefits generated during these short bursts of attention, especially through tailored conservation marketing campaigns with targeted message framing and regular efforts to refocus attention on key issues