On Monday, January 4, 2010, the US’s National Public Radio’s “Around the Nation” aired a piece on a report that found that ski resorts exaggerate snow reports, especially on the weekends. Two researchers from Dartmouth College, Eric Zitzewitz and Jon Zinman, studied industry snow reports from 2004 to 2008 and found that resorts report 23 percent more new natural snow on Saturday and Sunday mornings (1.59 inches versus 1.29 inches). The researchers cross-referenced the snow reports with government weather services and did not find strong evidence of a weekend effect in government-reported snow density.
Among resorts, the researchers found that the exaggeration was larger for ski areas with more expert terrain, for those near bigger populations and for those that do not offer a money-back guarantee.
In a footnote, the researchers said, “The hypothesis that search and information costs drive deceptive advertising is supported by a final finding from our setting: ski resorts stop exaggerating fresh snowfall after a technology shock dramatically reduced the cost of rapid information sharing between customers.” Yes, there is an app for that and the iPhone makes it easier for skiers to post first-hand reports among themselves on SkiReport.com.
