How can bogus claims and inferior audio thrive in a competitive market?

[ahofer]

LOL. Almost there.

Audiogon Discussion Forum

Anyone have any idea how long ago Hifi manufacturers discovered we (audiophiles) will pay almost anything chasing our perfect sound? I individualized it...

forum.audiogon.com

 

[antcollinet]

LOL. Almost there.

Audiogon Discussion Forum

Anyone have any idea how long ago Hifi manufacturers discovered we (audiophiles) will pay almost anything chasing our perfect sound? I individualized it...

forum.audiogon.com

View attachment 315134

And there we have it. Thread answered : can be closed.

 

[fpitas]

A competitive market assumes the customers are competent to judge the competing products on their merits.

 

[Sal1950]

A competitive market assumes the customers are competent to judge the competing products on their merits.

Kind of like the luxury car market vs the performance car.
In luxury it's opinion and price tags that rule the roost.
In performance it's the numbers that don't lie.

 

[fpitas]

Kind of like the luxury car market vs the performance car.
In luxury it's opinion and price tags that rule the roost.
In performance it's the numbers that don't lie.

I'd argue that in many car markets you're also out to impress the neighbors.

 

[radix]

Clearly the authors never visited an audiophile forum.

[emphasis added]

Social Learning in a Competitive Market with Consumer Reviews

Two products of unknown qualities are simultaneously launched by two different
firms in the market. An infinite population of consumers with heterogeneous prefer-
ences sequentially decide whether to purchase one of the two products or not to buy
at all. Arriving consumers estimate the qualities of products based on the distribu-
tion of binary online reviews reported by prior consumers and decide accordingly,
obeying a non-Bayesian rule. The goal of our work is to describe how the online
review mechanism drives the spread of information in a competitive market and to
provide conditions under which consumers’ quality estimates converge almost surely
to the true qualities of products.

SSRN-id2818311.pdf

drive.google.com

 

[Sal1950]

I'd argue that in many car markets you're also out to impress the neighbors.

That's the luxury market for sure.

 

[egellings]

That's the luxury market for sure.

Maybe some lux car owners don't care what the neighbors think about the car; they just like getting into the car and exclaiming to themselves "Look what they've done to my car!".

 

[Anton D]

Bogus and Inferior are the hallmarks of luxury.

It ain't just audio.

We just have to manage 'risk' for ourselves. Being audiovangelical isn't enough to win the day, sad to say.

 

[TLEDDY]

Brilliant! Just f*cking brilliant!

Thank you…

Tillman

 

[TLEDDY]

Yes liability insurance can be worth it, and is a much more competitive, and objectively valuable market than extended warranty. I don’t think insurance is like audiophoolery, other than extended warranty, and maybe some forms of life insurance. But it is a market where these behavioral issues can play havoc with good decision-making. Low-frequency/high severity events are difficult for humans to understand and price well. And, as you sort of point out, having the company arrange the defense is also good value.

As ever, the price is the rub.

I suggest umbrella coverage for anyone that has assets approaching a million dollars net. Personal injury lawyers, as indicated in a post above, will go after assets above the insured amount. If one is “judgement proof”, that is, minimal net assets, the trial lawyers will settle for the limits of the underlying insurance.

There is a reason they use expensive TV ads on a constant basis.

 

[Ron Texas]

There's a lot of subjective stuff being written. It's kind of an industry. Sometimes there is massive agreement that a piece of gear which measures poorly is much better than it measures. I think with the original LS50 it could be explained in terms of limitations of the preference score or even differences in room sizes. It's real but it doesn't rule everything. I have a pair and with a little EQ and subs they are outstanding. However the expensive Yggdrasil DAC got rave reviews a few years ago and it does not measure well. Either it was the emperor's new clothes or some investigation is necessary. Newer versions of the Yggi measure better.