Centives

Jason Karaian wrote about the rise of the man-purse:

• The global market for man purses is estimated to be worth $9 billion a year.
• Sales of man purses have grown twice the rate of the overall luxury industry.
• This is in part due to the rise of the east – there the purchasing power disparity between men and women is greater than in the west, and so men have the cash to afford thousand-dollar bags.
• Bags and other accessories are popular because they’re seen as an entry point into the luxury market. An individual might not be able to afford a branded coat but at least they can afford a branded bag.
• In regions like Australasia the sales of male purses are expected to grow three times as fast as those of female ones.
• In the Middle East the market for male purses is expected to grow 62% by 2018.

See a chart that shows where the male purse is expected to see the most growth, alternative names for the male purse (murse anyone?), and photos of men showing off their latest bag over here.

Source: Quartz

Facebook looked through its data to figure out what educational institutions have to do with marriage:

• 15% of married Facebookers appeared to have met their spouse in high school. Twice as many did so in college.
• Individuals are more likely to meet their spouse in high school if they live in rural areas.
• The schools that produce the most marriages are also often the most religious.
• At Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology where men make up 88% of the student population, there’s a 70% chance that a woman will find her husband at the university.

Check out the fill list of top colleges to find your life partner, the methodology, and some incredible infographics over here.

Source: Facebook

Mary MacVean wrote about sporting celebrities and the products they endorse:

• Of the over 500 brands that the top 100 athletes endorsed, around a quarter were food and beverage products.
• 80% of the food products were “energy-dense and nutrient-poor”.
• 93% of the beverages got all their calories from added sugar.
• Of the brands, sports beverages were the largest category of endorsed products. They were followed by soft drinks and fast food.
• Serena Williams, a tennis player, was the worst among all athletes measured in terms of overall nutrition of brands endorsed.
• Yet stars continue to do this due to the lucrative rewards on offer. Kobe Bryant is estimated to have earned $12 million a year from McDonald’s.

Find out what the American Beverage Association things about this, how much LeBron James received to endorse Bubblicious Gum and more over here.

Source: Los Angeles Times

Flexible displays have been talked about for a long time. It finally looks like they’re ready to hit the markets. Jason Inofuentes wrote about what we should expect:

• While flexible displays are made of plastics that can bend a fair amount, the total amount that a smartphone-like device can bend is limited by the electronics within a phone which aren’t flexible.
• This is in contrast to an imagined future where we could fold up our phones into tight squares or bend them at right angles. Displays won’t be able to bend more than about 18 degrees.
• Since these displays are made of plastic they shouldn’t shatter when dropped.
• They should also be lighter and thinner – which could lead to more space for a battery and longer standby times.
• Flexible displays could also go on to be used in cars, wearable computers, and helmets.

Read more about the history of flexible displays, upcoming products, and more over here.

Source: Arstechnica

The Economist writes that cows are attacking some of the most central principles of capitalism:

• Cows are valuable in India. They produce milk, dung and calves. But they also require ₹10,000 in food a year, veterinary attention, and labour to maintain.
• According to one study, all things considered, the return on a cow is -64%.
• Why then do Indians continue to buy cows? For Hindus it might be about spirituality. Families might also prefer producing high-quality milk at home rather than buying cheaper milk in the market.
• It might also be a form of control. By sinking money into a cow a household sinks money into an asset that isn’t easy to sell. This prevents them from using the cash on impulsive purchases instead.
• Since only 7% of Indian villages have a bank, there are few other avenues for Indians to create savings accounts.
• This has implications for anti-poverty programmes. Perhaps they should focus on mobile banking and “commitment savings accounts” that prevent clients from withdrawing funds for a certain period of time. This will ensure the poor divert their funds into higher-return accounts.

Read more here.

Source: The Economist

We’ve previously covered the rise of popcorn in movie theaters as told by the users of Reddit. Now the possibly more reliable Smithsonian has published an article taking a wider look at the topic by Natasha Geiling:

• In 1848, a time before society had the good sense to invent the Xbox, watching popcorn pop was apparently a form of entertainment and thus was a popular addition to circuses and fairs.
• Its mobility also helped. Steam powered popcorn makers could serve customers anywhere.
• The aroma of popping popcorn would lure customers further driving its adoption.
• At the time movie theaters sneered at popcorn. They were still emulating classical theaters and thought popcorn to be a snack for the commoners, not the highbrow patrons they attracted. Besides, think of the carpet.
• But with the end of silent films, literacy was no longer a requirement at the theaters and movies became a popular pastime for everybody – including the lower classes.
• During the Great Depression popcorn was an affordable snack. A $10 bag could last for years. And so moviegoers would purchase popcorn from street vendors before going in.
• Theaters, for their part, tried to prevent this by asking patrons to check in their coats and their popcorn.
• After a while though theaters realized it’d just be easier to make money by selling popcorn themselves.
• And anyway during WW2 rationing meant that the sugar used in candy and sodas was too expensive and thus there really weren’t any other snacks left.

The full articles talks about a lot more including the rise of yellow over white popcorn, how television almost ruined popcorn and more over here.

Source: Smithsonian

Sometime next week the 2013 Nobel Prize for Literature will be announced. Chris Wright wrote about the bookies who might already know the answer:

• The process of awarding the Prize is incredibly secretive. Not even the list of candidates being considered for the award are disclosed.
• Nor does the committee disclose the methodology through which they award the prize, or the rationale for their decision.
• Yet the gambling markets have correctly identified the winner 50% of the time.
• In contrast a noted literary expert has only correctly predicted it once in 20 years.
• Those who set the initial odds don’t read any of the potential books – instead they look at things like industry chatter, the author’s nationality and historical precedent.
• In 2013 the markets are indicating that Haruki Murakami will be the winner.

Read more about how the gambling markets create a positive feedback loop and more over here.

Source: The Boston Globe

J. Dana Stuster outlined the argument of Merger of the Century: Why Canada and America Should Become One Country:

• A merger of the two countries would create the world’s biggest economy – even greater than that of the European Union.
• It would also be the world’s largest landmass, exceeding Russia’s size.
• Canada has an energy-resource rich north while America has the expertise and capital to develop this region. The two could come together for an economic bonanza.
• Since America and Canada are each other’s largest trading partners this would mean that trade deficits would shrink.
• If Canadian states are just absorbed into America then the country could still be called the United States of America. But if a more formal ‘merger’ takes place then it could be called Ameri-Canada.
• It could also be called the very inspirational “Canamerica” – preferably without a question mark at the end.

Read more of the argument here.

Source: Foreign Policy

Quartz published a couple articles that looked at Twitter’s IPO filings and what that shows us about the service:

• In the latest quarter Twitter earned $0.55 per user. That compares unfavourably with Facebook’s $1.41 per user over the same period.
• Twitter earns far more in the United States than in other countries. It gets $2.17 per thousand timeline views in the States, and only $0.30 outside of it.
• Of Twitter’s 218 million monthly active users, more than a fifth (49 million) are in the United States.
• Twitter has lost money in each of the last three years. Last year it had a net loss of $79.4 million.
• In 2012 Twitter’s CEO made $11.5 million.

See why Twitter is worried about Iran and Pakistan, why it has an advantage in mobile, and more over here and here.

Source: Quartz