Lichtgedanken 03

Rubrik 63 03 | LICHT GEDANKEN Costly decisions Economist uncovers irrational management decisi- ons for product innovations Disadvantage is a fact of life: women have a hard time in areas traditionally dominated by men; foreigners often have to struggle against prejudice; and in Germany, people from the former East Germany are less likely to be in se- nior positions. These are facts that have been scientifically studied and substantiated. Economic researcher Ronny Reinhardt (photo above) has now discovered yet another group facing discrimination: cheap new products. It ap- pears that managers and decision-makers in companies avoid these and show a preference for expensive product innovations. This is demonstrated by Reinhardt and his co-authors from Switzerland and the USA in their essay »The High-end Bias—Investigating the Irrational Prefe- rence for High-end over Low-end Innovations«. In their recent study, the researchers found out that in innovation projects, managers opt for products from the more expensive end of the range in around 80 per cent of cases. »With the same investment and the same return for the company, decision-makers are more likely to choose to bring expensive products to market.« They give preference to the higher-class products and would rather have fewer customers with more money than a lot of customers with little money. »They tend to reject low-cost innovations,« explains Reinhardt. The study gives clues to possible reasons for this: expensi- ve products have positive connotations, reflect high value and a certain status—factors that are clearly important to managers at manufacturing companies. »These feelings influence investment decisions, although they are not appropriate. This ultimately means fewer new products for those with limited budgets,« adds Reinhardt. The economists collected their data by means of experi- mental surveys and two reaction tests in which associa- tions were recorded that were made by over 500 partici- pants from small and large companies in a wide variety of sectors. A study of a dataset relating to more than 2,000 product launches in the USA additionally shows that in supermarkets, the result was high product diversity in the high price range and little choice in new low-cost food pro- ducts—even though from 2010 to 2011 cheaper products accounted for twice the turnover of expensive ones. jd Ticker His and hers medicine cabinets Testosterone makes anti-inflammatory drugs work dif- ferently in women and men Susceptibility to particular diseases is different in men and women, with inflammatory diseases such as asthma, psoriasis or rheumatoid arthritis being much more common among wo- men than men. Pharmacists working with Prof. Oliver Werz, together with colleagues from Italy, Denmark and Sweden, have uncovered a significant cause for these sex differences at the molecular level. In two high-profile publications in the »Journal of Clinical Investigation« and »Scientific Reports«, they show how the male sex hormone testosterone interferes with the biosynthesis of inflammatory substances, and addi- tionally reduces the effectiveness of anti-inflammatory drugs (DOI: 10.1172/JCI92885; DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-03696-8). To this end, the researchers comprehensively analysed and compared inflammatory processes in diverse animal models, but also in immune cells from the blood of male and female human donors. »We investigated the formation of inflamma- tory substances, such as leukotrienes and prostaglandins, and looked at whether the effect of anti-inflammatory drugs dif- fers in male and female cells,« explains Werz. As expected, the effect of the drugs under investigation was significantly stronger in the female samples than in the male samples—after all, the inflammatoryprocess ismuchmore pro- nounced in women. However, these differences are completely abolished by the administration of testosterone. Previous stu- dies—includingworkbyProf.Werz’s teamin Jena—have alrea- dy shown that testosterone can protect against inflammatory reactions. »However, now we have been able to throw light on the molecular mode of action and show that testosterone also influences the therapeutic effect of drugs,« notes Werz. With this work, the researchers have once again provided concrete evidence supporting the need for gender-specific medicine. US Do we need separate »his and hers« drugs? Pharmacists show that inflammations need to be treated differently in men and women.