2021年经济学人 "小红书"升级版App(2)（在线收听）

How do celebrities 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 ebbs. The second is "price penetration", 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 copious 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 premium over perceived rivals or, led by ego, 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 decided 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。