Jul
23

HDMI cable pricing

Prasad on July 23rd, 2009
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This recent article in the CS Monitor asks why HDMI cables are so expensive, and suggests that a $5 HDMI cable from Amazon is “not really” different from a $140 brand name one sold at Best Buy. A number of people have commented on the pricing of audiophile AV equipment such as receivers, DVD players, speakers and connecting cables. It seems that some customers are willing to pay huge price premiums in search for better sound, whereas others question whether there is any audibly discernible quality difference to justify the premiums.

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Feb
9

Why Red or Blue might matter to marketing researchers

Ram Rao on February 9th, 2009
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Now there is a research finding reported today on NPR, soon to appear in Nature, which says that it matters whether the color is red or blue when you are working, or for that matter watching an ad or shopping. Apparently, quantitative marketing researchers, who presumably are engaged in logic and other mind bending details, should work with computer screens that are red. I know most of my colleagues will see red just at this thought. At the other end, the color blue is associated with improvement in tasks that can only be termed creative. All this begs the question why IBM has for so long been Big Blue and Coke, you know, Coke Red. I recall reading back in July that Coke went about decking Beijing in red just before the Olympics. Like the Chinese really appreciate the Red times. 
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Dec
10

Troubleshooting a brand

Prasad on December 10th, 2008
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Every few years, Microsoft launches a new operating system and computer users move en masse to upgrade their computer systems. The latest OS, Vista, which was launched in January 2007, however, ran into some technical and marketing problems. Several customers and commentators complained about issues ranging from driver issues to DRM and what Vista Capable labeling meant, resulting in an overall negative impression about Vista. In fact, PC World listed it as one of the biggest tech disappointments of 2007 here. It also didn’t help that the previous Microsoft operating system XP was a winner, resulting in less incentive for consumers to upgrade.

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Nov
21

The paper that caught my attention at QME Conference in New York

Ram Rao on November 21st, 2008
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The annual QME conference is getting more popular. They even closed the registration this year. Despite the undercurrent of gloom in New York that everyone talked about at least briefly, the sessions were full of the curiosity and open debate that has come to mark this conference. The hosts, New York University Stern School of Business made it all go smooth under the leadership of Tulin Erdem and Russ Winer. I found all the sessions interesting but was struck most by one. This was on Saturday just before lunch: 11:30 - 12:30 pm Session 3. A Simple Nonparametric Estimator for the Distribution of Random Coefficients in Discrete Choice Models. Patrick Bajari (Minnesota), Jeremy T. Fox (Chicago), Kyoo il Kim (Minnesota), and Stephen Ryan (MIT) discussant: Andres Musalem (Duke).

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For the Empiricist, Heard at Conferences, Things on my mind No comments yet, be the first »