Free exchange

自由兌換

Advertising may make people miserable, but it still has its uses

廣告可能會(huì)讓人痛苦，但它仍然有它的用途

Workers keen to buy more luxury goods keep toiling away

渴望購(gòu)買更多奢侈品的工人們一直在辛勤工作

EVERY YEAR, as Americans polish off their Thanksgiving feasts, a particular genre of advertisement begins to air. The details vary, but the plot does not: one family member surprises another with the Christmas gift of a luxury car, often adorned with a cartoonishly large bow. The recipient never betrays a hint of the dismay one might expect of someone whose partner has spent tens of thousands of dollars without consultation. Such a car can easily cost more than the median annual income of an American household, and most people who see these ads will not be able to afford one. But the envy such spots induce serves an economic purpose, even as it leaves the majority feeling worse about themselves.

每年，當(dāng)美國(guó)人結(jié)束他們的感恩節(jié)大餐時(shí)，一種特殊類型的廣告開始播出。細(xì)節(jié)各不相同，但情節(jié)卻沒有變化:一個(gè)家庭成員用一輛豪華轎車作為圣誕禮物給另一個(gè)家庭成員帶來驚喜，車上通常裝飾著一個(gè)卡通造型的大蝴蝶結(jié)。如果你的伴侶未經(jīng)咨詢就花掉了數(shù)萬美元，你可能會(huì)感到沮喪，但廣告中的接收方從來沒有流露出（對(duì)此應(yīng)有的）一絲沮喪。這樣一輛車的價(jià)格很容易就會(huì)超過美國(guó)家庭年收入的中位數(shù)，而且大多數(shù)看過這些廣告的人都買不起。但是，這些細(xì)節(jié)所引發(fā)的嫉妒心理是出于經(jīng)濟(jì)目的，即使它讓大多數(shù)人對(duì)自己感覺更糟。

詞匯

polish off/草草完成；打敗

genre/類型；種類

adorned/被修飾的

recipient/接受者

dismay/沮喪，灰心；驚慌

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Ads and other forms of marketing ostensibly serve a straightforward economic role. Firms selling goods and services need to tell consumers about the availability and desirability of their wares, and spend on advertising to do so. By informing consumers about the relative merits of various products, ads improve the quality of purchasing decisions and, conceivably, leave both firms and shoppers better off than they would be in an ad-free world.

廣告和其他形式的市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷表面上扮演者直接的促進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)的角色。銷售商品和服務(wù)的公司需要告訴消費(fèi)者他們產(chǎn)品的實(shí)用性和渴求性，并為此花費(fèi)廣告費(fèi)用。通過讓消費(fèi)者了解各種產(chǎn)品的相對(duì)優(yōu)點(diǎn)，廣告提高了購(gòu)買決策的質(zhì)量，而且可以想象，與沒有廣告的世界相比，廣告會(huì)讓公司和消費(fèi)者都過得更好。

詞匯

Ostensibly/表面上

Yet advertising might fall short of this ideal in many ways. It need not be honest or representative of the full range of available products, for example. Some firms target impressionable children, in ways which could contribute to long-run health risks. London has recently banned junk-food advertising on its transport network, a prohibition campaigners want to extend. And honest or not, successful ads induce a desire to spend, perhaps on things the audience does not need or cannot afford. The information content of ads for fancy vacations, bespoke cars or diamond-studded watches does not much matter for people whose budgets cannot accommodate them. Their main takeaway is that others get to enjoy things that they themselves cannot afford. If the effect of advertising is mostly to encourage people to want things that they cannot have, rather than to direct them towards items that are a good match for their needs and tastes, then it is possible that spending on advertising leaves society worse off overall.

然而，廣告在許多方面可能達(dá)不到這一理想。例如，它不必誠(chéng)實(shí)或代表所有可用的產(chǎn)品。一些公司瞄準(zhǔn)易受影響的兒童，其方式可能導(dǎo)致長(zhǎng)期的健康風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。倫敦最近禁止在其交通運(yùn)輸網(wǎng)上投放垃圾食品廣告，這是一項(xiàng)禁令倡導(dǎo)者想要擴(kuò)大的禁令。不管誠(chéng)實(shí)與否，成功的廣告會(huì)誘導(dǎo)人們花錢的欲望，也許是在觀眾不需要或負(fù)擔(dān)不起的東西上。高檔度假、定制汽車或鑲鉆手表廣告的信息內(nèi)容，對(duì)預(yù)算負(fù)擔(dān)不起的人來說并不重要。他們的主要觀點(diǎn)是，其他人可以享受他們自己買不起的東西。如果廣告的作用主要是鼓勵(lì)人們想要他們不能擁有的東西，而不是引導(dǎo)他們購(gòu)買與他們的需求和品味相匹配的東西，那么很有可能，在廣告上的花費(fèi)會(huì)讓整個(gè)社會(huì)變得更糟。

詞匯

Impressionable/敏感的；易受影響的

Bespoke/定做的；預(yù)定的

Takeaway/要點(diǎn)；外賣

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Some recent research suggests this might indeed be the case. A forthcoming paper by Chloé Michel, now at Swiss Re, Michelle Sovinsky of Mannheim University, Eugenio Proto of Bristol University and Andrew Oswald of Warwick University attempts to unpick the effect of advertising on welfare. The researchers used three decades’ worth of survey results from a sample of nearly 1m Europeans, spread across 27 countries, to compare information on self-reported life satisfaction with variation in total advertising spending as a share of GDP. After taking account of other macroeconomic variables such as unemployment, and individuals’ socioeconomic characteristics, they find a significant and inverse relationship between spending on advertisements and national welfare. They estimate that a doubling of ad spending is associated with a subsequent drop in reported satisfaction of 3%—an effect about a quarter as strong as a spell of unemployment.

最近的一些研究表明，情況可能確實(shí)如此。瑞士再保險(xiǎn)(Swiss Re)的克洛伊?米歇爾(Chloe Michel)、曼海姆大學(xué)(Mannheim University)的米歇爾?索文斯基(Michelle Sovinsky)、布里斯托爾大學(xué)(Bristol University)的尤金尼奧?普羅托(Eugenio Proto)和華威大學(xué)(Warwick University)的安德魯?奧斯瓦爾德(Andrew Oswald)即將發(fā)表一篇論文，試圖揭示廣告對(duì)福利的影響。研究人員對(duì)分布在27個(gè)國(guó)家的近100萬名歐洲人進(jìn)行了為期30年的調(diào)查，以比較自我報(bào)告的生活滿意度與廣告支出占GDP的比例變化之間的關(guān)系。在考慮了失業(yè)、個(gè)人社會(huì)經(jīng)濟(jì)特征等其他宏觀經(jīng)濟(jì)變量后，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)，廣告支出與國(guó)家福利之間存在顯著的負(fù)相關(guān)關(guān)系。他們估計(jì)，廣告支出翻倍與隨后報(bào)道的3%的滿意度下降有關(guān)——這一效果大約相當(dāng)于一段失業(yè)時(shí)期的四分之一。

詞匯

Unpick/拆散；拆開；割開

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It is possible that this result reflects the effect of some other factor which influences both advertising and well-being. And the authors are careful to note that they cannot be certain about the causal mechanism at work. But their findings may illustrate an aspect of the economy that has puzzled some economists for more than a century. In “The Theory of the Leisure Class”, published in 1899, Thorstein Veblen, a Norwegian-American economist, explored the nature of what he termed “conspicuous consumption”. Veblen argued that consumption is not merely about satisfying needs, but is also used to signal status and prestige.

這一結(jié)果可能反映了一些影響廣告和幸福的其他因素的作用。作者謹(jǐn)慎地指出，他們無法確定起作用的因果機(jī)制。但他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)可能說明了一個(gè)令一些經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家困惑了一個(gè)多世紀(jì)的經(jīng)濟(jì)問題。在1899年出版的《有閑階級(jí)論》一書中，挪威裔美國(guó)經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家Thorstein Veblen探討了他所稱的“炫耀性消費(fèi)”的本質(zhì)。維布倫認(rèn)為，消費(fèi)不僅是為了滿足需求，而且還被用來表明地位和威望。

詞匯

Mechanism/機(jī)制；原理

Conspicuous/顯著的；顯而易見的

Prestige/威望，聲望

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The priciest cars may offer more nifty features and a smoother ride than a cheaper marque, but the vast difference in price is not primarily down to such advantages. Rather, the buyer is paying for such cars’ value as a status symbol, which derives from the fact that very few people can afford one. (Following his insight, economists use the name “Veblen good” for items for which demand rises with price, though it is not the high price itself that generates the increased demand but rather the exclusivity that the high price confers.) These luxury items defy normal economic logic. In the mass market, productivity-boosting innovations that allow firms to sell better products at lower prices are a route to success. For producers of conspicuous-consumption items, such cost-cutting does not conquer the market but destroys it.

最昂貴的汽車可能比更便宜的汽車提供更漂亮的功能和更平穩(wěn)的行駛體驗(yàn)，但價(jià)格上的巨大差異并不主要是因?yàn)檫@些優(yōu)勢(shì)。相反，買家是在為這些汽車作為身份象征的價(jià)值買單，這是因?yàn)楹苌儆腥速I得起。(按照他的觀點(diǎn)，經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家用“Veblen good”這個(gè)名字來指代需求隨著價(jià)格上漲而上漲的商品，盡管產(chǎn)生需求增長(zhǎng)的不是高價(jià)本身，而是高價(jià)帶來的排他性。)這些奢侈品違背了正常的經(jīng)濟(jì)邏輯。在大眾市場(chǎng)上，提高生產(chǎn)力的創(chuàng)新可以讓公司以更低的價(jià)格銷售更好的產(chǎn)品，這是一條成功之路。對(duì)于炫耀性消費(fèi)產(chǎn)品的生產(chǎn)商來說，這樣的成本削減不但沒有征服市場(chǎng)，反而摧毀了市場(chǎng)。

詞匯

Nifty/俏皮的；漂亮的

Marque/（汽車或其他高檔品的）牌子，商標(biāo)

Exclusivity/排外性；獨(dú)占權(quán)

Defy/藐視；公然反抗

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Less good than a feast

購(gòu)買奢侈品，不如享用一次盛宴

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The notion that people might buy high-cost items in preference to serviceable alternatives simply to set themselves apart from the less well-off would seem absurd, were the economy not chock-a-block with examples, from designer handbags to silver cutlery to oxygenated energy drinks. Advertising enables the process. For goods to grant high status, there must be consumers who want but cannot have them. Ad campaigns featuring sleek cars bedecked with oversized bows add to the value of luxury brands by informing the masses of how desirable they are—and how inaccessible.

如果不是市場(chǎng)上上充斥著各種各樣的商品，從名牌手袋到銀餐具，再到含氧的能量飲料，那種認(rèn)為人們可能會(huì)購(gòu)買高價(jià)商品，而不是實(shí)用的替代品，只是為了與不那么富裕的人區(qū)別開來的想法，將顯得荒謬可笑。廣告使這一過程成為可能。要使商品具有較高的地位，就必須有想要但不能擁有它們的消費(fèi)者。以配有超大蝴蝶結(jié)的時(shí)髦汽車為特色的廣告宣傳活動(dòng)，通過向大眾宣傳這些汽車是多么令人渴求——又是多么難以接近，從而增加了奢侈品牌的價(jià)值。

詞匯

Notion/概念；見解；打算

chock-a-block/充滿的，塞滿的；擠滿的

cutlery/餐具

sleek/使…光滑；掩蓋

bedecked/以…裝飾或點(diǎn)綴的

Veblen, though, saw the rich as a largely unproductive class of capital-owning moochers, who profited off the useful labour of working people (hence the “l(fā)eisure class”). In recent decades, however, the share of Americans working long hours has grown, and has risen fastest among those earning the highest wages—an odd exception to the global norm that working time declines with income. The status envy induced by conspicuous consumption may play a role.In rich countries, most people’s basic needs have long since been met. To keep workers striving—those on higher incomes especially—there must always be more desirable consumer goods and services just out of reach. Perpetual dissatisfaction may well boost economic growth by keeping highly productive workers who might otherwise enjoy more time with their families chained to their desks. But it is a funny sort of prosperity that depends on people never being satisfied with their lot.

然而，維布倫認(rèn)為富人基本上是一個(gè)沒有生產(chǎn)力的資本擁有者階層，他們從勞動(dòng)人民的有用勞動(dòng)中獲利(因此被稱為“休閑階層”)。然而，近幾十年來，長(zhǎng)時(shí)間工作的美國(guó)人的比例有所上升，而且在收入最高的人群中增長(zhǎng)最快——這是一種奇特的例外，因?yàn)槿蚱毡檎J(rèn)為工作時(shí)間會(huì)隨著收入下降。炫耀性消費(fèi)引發(fā)的地位嫉妒可能是其中一個(gè)原因。在富裕國(guó)家，大多數(shù)人的基本需求早已得到滿足。為了讓工人們繼續(xù)奮斗——尤其是那些收入更高的工人——必須始終有更多令人滿意的消費(fèi)品和服務(wù)是他們恰好無法企及的。長(zhǎng)期的不滿情緒很可能會(huì)促進(jìn)經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)，因?yàn)楦呱a(chǎn)率的員工可能會(huì)有更多的時(shí)間和家人待在一起，而他們本來可以把更多的時(shí)間用在工作上。但這是一種有趣的繁榮，它依賴于人們從不滿足于自己的命運(yùn)。

詞匯

Moocher/乞丐；敲詐者；揩油者

Perpetual/永久的；不斷的

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