Business and Industries - Industry Systems - Nobody Knows Principle

4 important questions on Business and Industries - Industry Systems - Nobody Knows Principle

Can you explain the 'nobody knows principle,' as termed by Caves (2002)?

It highlights how poorly business managers, working in the cultural industries, are able to predict customer desires.

By which term could the 'nobody knows principle' of Caves (2022) be explained?

Demand uncertainty.


Can you describe the strategies that firms use to cope with demand uncertainty and to produce reliable revenues?

  • Overproduction.
    • Firms deliberately overproduce.
    • The success of a few subsidizes the rest.
    • They don't produce items they think will fail, but accept submissions that they deem good enough to succeed.
  • Copying successful formulas.
  • Selective promotion.
    • The will allocate the majority of the production project to the products they think will win.
    • But they're also quick to drop losers and pick up on unanticipated successes.
  • Market research.
  • Biased choices by industry insiders, based on:
    • Stereotypes.
    • Value judgements.
    • Cultural beliefs.
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Negus’s discussion of the music industry also reminds us that cultural firms are not monolithic.
Why is this the case?

Cultural firms are made up of a collection of divisions and departments which may see the world differently.

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