Thursday April 25, 2024

Perception And Wine Tasting

Public relations deals with perceptions — what people think they know versus the facts of an event or an individual.  Perceptions are often influenced by impressions, particularly first impressions.  It hadn’t occurred to me that wine tasting is perceptual and that tasters are influenced by their first impressions of the cost of a vintage.  That […]

Religion, Taxation And Perception

This story supports the American principle of separation of Church and State.  Can you imagine the outcry in the US if a local, state or the Federal government collected a tax for a religion?   As it is, German bishops appear greedy and unprincipled for insisting that Catholics pay their annual Church tax.  However, it […]

Power Of Perception

Is the power of perception worth $86 billion+.  Some commentators think so.  Of course, the perception surrounds Facebook and its IPO value.  A chorus of critics think the site is vastly overrated and advertisers won’t find the value in it that is forecast.  But, who knows?  It is unclear at this juncture.  Rather, people are […]

Pay And Perception

What is the ratio between the pay of the lowest and highest paid employees in a company?  No one really knows because pay scales and benefits packages vary from country to country and region to region.  Yet, unions are pushing for a ratio to be included in annual proxy statements.  Compensation experts say that it […]

Politics And Perception

Now that Mitt Romney is “restored as a front runner” and it is on to the next election cycle, it is time for a question.  Was he ever behind?  Politics is the craft of perception, and the media saw Romney in a death-struggle in Michigan.  The polls seemed to show that, so news stories heightened […]

Perception Vs. Reality

Vladimir Putin cultivates an image of strength, of a bare-chested athlete who controls the world around him.  Thus, the reality of the vote in Russia must have come as a shock.   Even with alleged vote fraud, he wasn’t able to gain an overwhelming majority.  All those photos of him roughing it in the Russian […]

Perception And Panic

The stock market is a first-rate example of perception.  Right now, it sees the world headed for further recession so panic rules traders’ actions.  Get out, now!  Those able to keep their heads during the rush to the exits have an opportunity to do well.  The rest of the crowd will suffer loss.  When I […]

Financial Perception

What is a company worth?  Good question.  It is a matter of perception and of expectation.  Nowhere do those two psychologies interact more than in an Initial Public Offering — such as this IPO.  Who is to say that LinkedIn is worth $42 to $45 per share.  It is what the market will bear, and […]

Gasoline And Perception

If there is any one product priced by perception, it is gasoline.  In the US, drivers howl when fuel approaches $4 a gallon.  In Europe, the cost of gas is twice that and drivers bear the burden.  Why the disparity?  Gasoline from the beginning in the US has been a commodity that was taxed less to […]

Reality And Perception

India is eager for the rest of the world to see it as a rapidly developing country.  But, as long as practices such as this remain , it is hard to accept that it has joined the first world or even left the Third World.  In this case, reality is perception.  The reality is that […]