Bigger is not always better for HDTV

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/story.html?id=dc8e7f1b-e07b-46d8-8ab3-2c52b820154d&p=1

This article talks about the imperfections and agony that many consumers feel after they have purchased a brand new HDTV, because many consumers often makes the quick assumption that bigger TV is always better. This is in fact a false assumption because many experts have claimed that big HDTV has many downsides which consumer should look into, because HDTV is definitely not suitable for everyone. In fact, the optimal size of the television depends on the distance of the viewer from the screen, so you have to make sure that your room is big enough to have extra space in between both you and your HDTV. Besides a big room, you must also decide what shows and channels you like, because If you're watching HDTV programming, then bigger is indeed better, but unfortunately there isn't a tremendous variety of HD channels that consumers can pick because the majority of HD channels are all sport. This is the reason why many shoppers have "buyer's remorse", which is a post-purchase regret for either not picking up a larger size, or picking up too big of a size. To avoid "Buyers remorse," many experts have suggested people to "Get yourself regular holiday wrapping paper and cut out the size panel you want to buy, such as 50-inches,and then stick it to the wall where the television will go. Live with it for a week and you'll know whether or not this size works for you."


Connections to Introduction

The connection I make with this article and chapter 3 has to do with Market Imperfections because according to the textbook, a lack of Information is a criteria of Market Imperfections and a lack of information is definitely one of the cause for why some consumers would end up suffering from "Buyers Remorse." Because most consumers have information that is often inadequate, they end up making the wrong decision because they were never stock up with the correct information. There are probably a lot of consumers that has a big HDTV but lacks a big room, so they are unable to use the big HDTV to it's fullest potential, and this is a total shame because there are probably many people that have never heard of the experts telling the them to "Get yourself regular holiday wrapping paper and cut out the size panel you want to buy, such as 50-inches, and then stick it to the wall where the television will go," in fact this is the first time i have ever heard of such a method. If more people knew about this method, then there would probably be less Market Imperfections among the HDTV market.


Reflection

Personally, I think it's a shame that market imperfection happens among the HDTV market, but i think the consumer's are the most at fault because if they don't have the sufficient amount of knowledge to decide on what they want, then they should just ask because there is a reason why stores have experts to help you with. Theoretically, the free-market system assumes that buyers have adequate information to make the correct decision, so in my opinion, the consumer are the most at fault for causing the market imperfections of HDTV. Besides the consumer's at fault, the experts are also at fault because the tips they provide are good, but they did an atrocious job of spreading the tips because of the lack of advertising they did for their tips. Basically put, both the consumer and the experts are at fault because i think they both could have done a better job.