Spatiotemporal effects of proximity to metro extension on housing price dynamics in Manhattan, New York City

Investment in public transportation such as a metro line extension is often capitalized partially into housing values due to the spatiotemporal effects. Using housing transaction data from 2014 to 2019, this paper studies the Second Avenue Subway or Q-line extension in New York’s City’s Manhattan borough. Multiple metro station catchment areas were investigated using spatial autocorrelation-corrected hedonic pricing models to capture the variation of housing price dynamics. The results indicate that properties in closer proximity to the Q-line extension received higher price discounts. The effect varied by occupancy type and building form: condominiums experienced the highest price discount, while walk-up and elevator co-ops experienced a price premium. After controlling for location variations, we observed price discounts on the westside and price premiums on the eastside of the Q-line. Residential properties within 150 m west to the Q-line extension received the highest price discount post operation, while on the eastside, properties in the same proximity received the highest price premium. The anticipation effect varies by distance to metro extension stations, both before and after the operation of metro line extension. We discuss the disruption of metro construction on the housing market depending on housing type, location variation, and changes over time.

Expanding Nature: Product-Line and Brand Extensions of a Scientific Journal

Academic publishers now market their most prestigious journals as commercial brands. This paper investigates this trend in the scholarly publishing market, by analyzing how the successive owners of the journal Nature have capitalized on its reputation to generate additional profits to those already accumulated through university library subscriptions. Two branding strategies of the journal Nature are analyzed: the first one, product-line extension, consists in extending the Nature brand in the same product category, by creating an ever-increasing number of derived Nature journals; the second one, brand extension, consists in extending the Nature brand to other categories of products and services, such as academic rankings, sponsored supplements, feature advertisements, or webinars and trainings. The Nature brand leveraging strategy has been imitated by many other journal publishers. These branded products and services are well suited to the particular dynamics of the scientific field, which is based on the continuous quest for recognition. They are thus sold at all stages of the research cycle, from writing grants to popularizing research results, to scientists and academic institutions competing to accumulate symbolic capital. In this respect, academic publishers that engage in scholarly journal branding contribute to the transformation of the scientific “community” into a scientific market.

The impact of gender on the evaluation of vertical line extensions of luxury brands: a cross-national study

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which gender impacts the evaluation of vertical line extensions of luxury brands in a cross-national context. The topic of brand/line extensions has been investigated in the mainstream branding literature. On the other hand, the topic has received less attention in the luxury literature. At the same time, while research has examined brand/line extensions from an international perspective, the impact of gender on consumer purchase intentions of luxury downward line extensions in different countries has remained unexplored. Design/methodology/approach Based on an ANOVA design (2 extension types × 2 genders × 2 countries). The independent variables were ordered as follows: gender (male/female), vertical line extensions (upscale/downward) and country of living (France/USA). The purchase intention of the extension was chosen as the dependent variable. Findings The study results show that key differences exist between men and women regarding vertical luxury line extensions. For instance, women in both countries rate a new downward line extension of a luxury brand more positively than men. In contrast, although women evaluate a new upscale line extension of a luxury brand similarly to men in France, women are more positive than men in the USA. Also, US men rate an upscale extension less positively than their French counterparts. Finally, women in both countries rate luxury downward extensions more positively than men. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature of luxury brand management by examining how gender types process and respond to upscale and downward luxury line extensions versus purchase intentions in two different countries. This paper is unique as gender types are not often compared in previous research while fundamental distinctions exist, leading to significant differences. Practically, this study also provides key insights for marketing strategy development and adjustment for luxury manufacturers in terms of their target market, more specifically men versus women.

Vertical Line Extension Decisions in a Competitive Market with Consumers’ Need for Product Uniqueness

One important reason for offering customized products is to satisfy consumers’ need for product uniqueness. In this paper, we take consumers’ unique preferences into account to examine how firms make decisions on vertical line extensions with introducing a customized product. This study develops the consumer’s utility function, which captures consumers’ behavioural and emotional factors, and the results show that the high-quality firm always introduces an upward extension without uniqueness sensitivity. However, introducing a downward extension may be more profitable especially when consumers have the high unique ness sensitivity. We also find that the upward extension of the high-quality firm does not intensify competition with the low-quality firm, but its downward extension will intensify the competition between two firms, whether with or without unique preferences. We also analyse the low-quality firm’s extension decisions when it faces a high-end competitor and find that the low-quality firm may change from introducing a downward extension to introducing an upward extension when intrafirm quality differentiation is small.

Product line design with vertical and horizontal consumer heterogeneity: the effect of distribution channel structure on the optimal quality and customization levels

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the problem of optimal product line design in marketing channels where consumers are heterogeneous in both horizontal and vertical dimensions. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops a model to evaluate when it is preferable for a firm to extend the product line in a vertical or horizontal direction. Consumers are modeled as being vertically heterogeneous with respect to their valuation of quality and horizontally heterogeneous with respect to their preference on the esthetic component of the product. These model characteristics allow us to consider a broader set of product line extension strategies. By considering both a vertically integrated channel and a decentralized channel, this study investigates how channel structure influences optimal product line design. The problem with supplemental numerical analyses is mathematically analyzed. Findings The analysis shows that a horizontal product line extension strategy that offers the customized product can be used as an alternative to a vertical product line extension strategy. If the fixed cost is not too high, offering the customized product with low quality may be preferred to the quality-based segmentation strategy. Furthermore, the analysis shows that the channel structure is influential as the preference for the horizontal product line extension strategy is more pronounced in the decentralized channel than in the centralized channel. Research limitations/implications The analysis presented in this paper is limited by the consideration of full market coverage. Further research is needed to see how the results can be generalized to the case with partial market coverage. Practical implications The analysis suggests that a firm may consider product customization as part of its product line strategy. Information regarding market characteristics and channel structure is important when deciding on the optimal product line design. Originality/value The model reflects a more realistic marketing strategy and channel structure than previous studies that typically consider product line extension in only one direction and focus on the centralized distribution channel. Combining the standard product line extension and customization strategies also represents an important contribution to the literature. These extensions produce interesting new results and insights into a firm’s optimal product line design strategy.