Post by Hanson Kysar on Dec 17, 2008 0:11:56 GMT 4
Taking Behavioralism Seriously: Some Evidence of the Problem of Market Manipulation
Jon D. Hanson
Harvard University - Harvard Law School
Douglas A. Kysar
Yale Law School
Harvard Law Review, Vol. 112, 1999
Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 08-52
Abstract:
An important lesson of behavioralist research is that individuals' perceptions and preferences are highly manipulable. This article presents empirical evidence of market manipulation, a previously unrecognized source of market failure. It surveys extensive qualitative and quantitative marketing research and consumer behavioral studies, reviews common practices in settings such as gas stations and supermarkets, and examines environmentally oriented and fear-based advertising. The article then focuses on the industry that has most depended upon market manipulation: the cigarette industry. Through decades of sophisticated marketing and public relations efforts, cigarette manufacturers have heightened consumer demand and lowered consumer risk perceptions. Such market manipulation may justify moving to enterprise liability, the regime advocated by the first generation of product liability scholars.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1300464_code555131.pdf?abstractid=1286703&mirid=1
Jon D. Hanson
Harvard University - Harvard Law School
Douglas A. Kysar
Yale Law School
Harvard Law Review, Vol. 112, 1999
Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 08-52
Abstract:
An important lesson of behavioralist research is that individuals' perceptions and preferences are highly manipulable. This article presents empirical evidence of market manipulation, a previously unrecognized source of market failure. It surveys extensive qualitative and quantitative marketing research and consumer behavioral studies, reviews common practices in settings such as gas stations and supermarkets, and examines environmentally oriented and fear-based advertising. The article then focuses on the industry that has most depended upon market manipulation: the cigarette industry. Through decades of sophisticated marketing and public relations efforts, cigarette manufacturers have heightened consumer demand and lowered consumer risk perceptions. Such market manipulation may justify moving to enterprise liability, the regime advocated by the first generation of product liability scholars.
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1300464_code555131.pdf?abstractid=1286703&mirid=1