2021年经济学人 "小红书"升级版App(2)

How do celebrities¹ figure out their fees? One way is through a simple opportunity-cost calculation. Steven Galanis, Cameo's boss, recalls speaking to a basketball player on an annual $25m contract. For a 40-hour work-week with a fortnight of holiday, that is $208 per minute. "If he charged $100 and did two or three a minute, he could make more money on Cameo," says Mr Galanis.

名人如何计算他们的费用？一种方法是通过简单的机会成本计算。Cameo的老板史蒂文·加拉尼斯回忆起与一位年薪2500万美元的篮球运动员的谈话。如果每周工作40小时，有两周假期，那就是每分钟208美元。加拉尼斯表示：“如果他收费100美元，每分钟表演两到三次，他就能在Cameo中赚更多钱。”

Most celebrities are freelance, though. They can try one of two strategies, says Ms Avery. One is "price skimming"—starting high and then lowering the price as demand ebbs². The second is "price penetration³", pricing low to maximise volume. Celebrities often use both, depending on how much time they have.

不过大多数名人都是自由职业者。艾弗里女士说，他们可以尝试两种策略中的其中一种。一种是“撇脂定价法”——从高位开始，然后随着需求的下降而降低价格。第二种是“价格渗透”，即通过压低价格来使销量最大化。名人们通常会同时使用这两种方法，这取决于他们有多少时间。

Another method is to test the market. This is surprisingly underused. Though celebrities can change their prices as often as they like, only about 30% have done so at least once, and less than 10% have done so more than five times.

另一种方法是测试市场。令人惊讶的是，这一点没有得到充分利用。虽然名人可以随心所欲地调整价格，但只有30%的名人至少调整过一次，超过自己提价次数的名人不到10%。

Less rational reasons are at play, too. Snoop Dogg, a rapper famous for smoking copious⁴ amounts of weed, insisted on charging $420, a number associated with pot culture. He could not keep up with demand and eventually raised his fee to $1,000. Others charge a premium⁵ over perceived rivals or, led by ego⁶, overprice themselves. But reality eventually intervenes. Mr Galanis remembers a TV personality who started at $60 and found that demand was inelastic all the way up to $99. But when she raised her price to $125, demand dropped by half. Value, like fame, is eventually decided⁷ by the fans.

不那么理性的原因也在起作用。以吸大量大麻而闻名的说唱歌手史努比·道格坚持要420美元，这一数字与大麻栽培有关。他供不应求，最终把学费提高到了1000美元。还有一些公司的要价高于他们眼中的竞争对手，或者在自我意识的驱使下给自己定了过高的价格。但现实最终介入了。加拉尼斯还记得一位电视名人，他从60美元起价，发现需求一直到99美元都是无弹性的。但当她把价格提高到125美元时，需求下降了一半。价值，就像名气一样，最终是由粉丝决定的。

1 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

2 ebbs   

退潮( ebb的名词复数 )； 落潮； 衰退

参考例句：

• When the tide ebbs it's a rock pool inhabited by crustaceans. 退潮时，它便成为甲壳动物居住的岩石区潮水潭。
• The new Russia steadily ebbs away drive out of Moscow. 驶离莫斯科愈来愈远以后，俄罗斯崭新的景象也逐渐消失。

3 penetration   

n.穿透，穿人，渗透

参考例句：

• He is a man of penetration.他是一个富有洞察力的人。
• Our aim is to achieve greater market penetration.我们的目标是进一步打入市场。

4 copious   

adj.丰富的，大量的

参考例句：

• She supports her theory with copious evidences.她以大量的例证来充实自己的理论。
• Every star is a copious source of neutrinos.每颗恒星都是丰富的中微子源。

5 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

6 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。