Price differentials of moon cakes before and after the Mid-Autumn Festival

1
Price differentials of moon cakes before and
after the Mid-Autumn Festival

• 4P
• Kelly Kam (13)
• Yoyo Ngai (24)
• Latia Wan (31)
• Fallon Wong (32)

2
Introduction

• The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon
  Festival, is a popular harvest festival
  celebrated by Chinese people and Vietnamese
  people dating back over 3,000 years to moon
  worship in China's Shang Dynasty. The Mid-Autumn
  Festival is held when the moon is supposedly at
  its fullest and roundest.
• Accompanying the celebration, there are
  additional cultural or regional customs, such as
  The festival is for lunar worship and moon
  watching moon cakes are regarded as an
  indispensable delicacy on this occasion. Moon
  cakes are offered between friends or on family
  gatherings while celebrating the festival, one of
  the three most important Chinese festivals.
• Our group will investigate on the price
  differentials of moon cakes, during and after the
  Mid-Autumn Festival, as well as some of the
  special offers given, of different companies
  selling moon cakes in Hong Kong.

3
Supporting Evidence

• Price Differentials
• During
  After
• Mid-Autumn festival
  Mid-Autumn festival
• 150-350
  100-200
• 
  (Maxim)
• Mid-Autumn festival
  Mid-Autumn festival
• 200-480
  150-200
• (Kee-Wah)
• Mid-Autumn festival
  Mid-Autumn festival
  180-250
  100-150
• (Saint Honore Cake Shop)

4
Line of Argument
Are moon cakes more expensive during Mid-Autumn
Festival?
Are moon cakes cheaper after Mid-Autumn Festival?
5
Own Standpoint

• Are moon cakes more expensive during Mid-Autumn
  Festival?

Moon cakes are used to celebrate the Mid-Autumn
festival. As the Mid-Autumn festival is coming,
the demand for moon cakes increases. The demand
curve shifts rightward from D1 to D2. Quantity
transacted increases from Q1 to Q2. The price of
moon cakes rises from P1 to P2. Therefore, before
the Mid-Autumn festival, the price of moon cakes
tends s to be higher.
6
Are moon cakes cheaper after Mid-Autumn Festival?

After the Mid-Autumn festival, demand for moon
cakes drops. As the festival has past, people no
longer need moon cakes. Their demand for moon
cakes drops back to the original one. Demand
curve shifts leftward from D1 to D2. Quantity
transacted decreases from Q1 to Q2. The price of
moon cakes falls from P1 to P2. Therefore, the
price of moon cakes tends to be lower after the
Mid-Autumn festival.  
7
Interview
8
Summary of the Interview

• In this interview, it is mainly about the price
  of the moon cake before and after the Mid-Autumn
  Festival. Moon cakes have increased their prices
  compared to the previous few years. And the most
  common reason that people may think leading the
  price to increase is that the price of the sugar
  increases. So the price will also increases as
  sugar increases. People may also think that after
  the Mid-Autumn Festival, the price of the moon
  cakes will decrease. But however moon cakes are
  just usually sold before the Mid-Autumn Festival
  or during the Mid-Autumn festival but not after
  it. Some small shops may be exceptional cases if
  they do not sell all their moon cakes out, they
  may still put them in their shops for people who
  want to buy.

9

• The price may also decrease as usually not
  much people think that it is necessary to buy
  moon cakes after the festival and small shops are
  usually not famous because people usually buy
  moon cakes to eat or give them to people as
  gifts. But after the festival it does not have
  anymore special meanings. Even famous shops will
  sell their moon cakes out during the Festival
  more expensive because more people know them and
  more people will choose them. So the small shops
  can also decrease their prices in order to
  attract more customers to buy them.

10
Conclusion

• Finished looking deep into and weighing the
  comparison of the price differentials of moon
  cakes during and after Mid-Autumn Festival in
  Hong Kong, a conclusion can finally be conducted.
  
• During the Mid-Autumn Festival, prices are set at
  higher amount due to the increasing demand for
  moon cakes. As the purchase of moon cakes is the
  traditional celebration during Mid-Autumn
  Festival, it has become a habit and necessity for
  Hong Kong people. Therefore, when it comes to
  Mid-Autumn Festival, demand for moon cakes
  increases and prices are adjusted to a more
  costly level. After the Mid-Autumn Festival,
  prices are set at a lower amount due to the
  decreasing demand for moon cakes. As the
  Mid-Autumn Festival has ended, Hong Kong people
  lose the meaning in purchasing moon cakes. As a
  result, to attract more customers in buying the
  products, companies lowered the price of moon
  cakes and clear the stocks as soon as possible.
• Our investigation conveys that moon cakes are
  more expensive during Mid-Autumn Festival and the
  prices of them drops right after Mid-Autumn
  Festival is ended.

11
Appendix

• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mooncakehttp//www.m
  axims.com.hk/mooncake/chi/popup/promotion.html
• http//www.maxims.com.hk/mooncake/chi/popup/promot
  ion.html
• http//www.kee-wah.com.hk/public/maf-price.pdf
• http//www.esdlife.com/newsletter/eshop/20070820a/
  

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• End