Economic Utility Obtained from “Sense of Play”: Marketing in Evolution toward “Play-Oriented Economies”

Harashima, Taiji (2024): Economic Utility Obtained from “Sense of Play”: Marketing in Evolution toward “Play-Oriented Economies”.

Abstract

Why are most products in retail stores designed, packaged, and decorated attractively? In this paper, I present a model of how consumers obtain utility from a “sense of play” with the designs and decorations of products that are separate from their practical usefulness. Here, “play” has a broad meaning and includes activities and feelings that are not functional or necessary, e.g., recreation, diversion, playfulness, and entertainment. The model shows that as an economy grows and develops, the relative importance of a sense of play increases compared to the practical usefulness of products and the economy as a whole; in response, products become more sophisticatedly designed and heavily decorated. Therefore, economies evolve toward “play-oriented economies,” where a sense of play becomes an important element in marketing, and this biases estimates of purchasing power parity.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Economic utility, marketing, play
• Subjects: E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E2 - Consumption, Saving, Production, Investment, Labor Markets, and Informal Economy > E21 - Consumption ; Saving ; Wealth; M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M3 - Marketing and Advertising > M31 - Marketing; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development > O10 - General

References

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Harashima, Taiji (2013) “An Asymptotically Non-Scale Endogenous Growth Model,” MPRA (The Munich Personal RePEc Archive) Paper No. 44393.

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Harashima, Taiji (2018b) “Ranking Value and Preference: A Model of Superstardom,” in Japanese, Journal of Kanazawa Seiryo University, Vol. 52, No.1, pp. 27-40. （「順位価値と順位選好―スーパースターの経済モデル―」『金沢星稜大学論集』第52巻第1号27～40頁）

Harashima, Taiji (2018c) “Superstars in Team Sports: An Economic Model,” MPRA (The Munich Personal RePEc Archive) Paper No. 86360.

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