Amazon.com

Why are people shopping, and buying, the way they do? The Soul of the New Consumer intriguingly explores today's marketplace reality, along with ways that businesses can adapt to keep pace. Authors David Lewis and Darren Bridger--chairman and head of retail research, respectively, at an international consulting firm--suggest that consumers in years past were "conformist in their purchasing patterns and motivated largely by a desire for convenience." But these days, they write, an increasing number are independent, informed, and distrustful of anything that does not ring true. Manufacturers, suppliers, and service providers hoping to stay on top of the market should therefore find their subsequent analysis and accompanying suggestions both thought-provoking and practical. They include: utilizing unique design to make products original (such as the low-priced wristwatches that grab buyers through novel appearance); spotlighting charismatic leaders to boost a company's credibility (such as Richard Branson at Virgin and Anita Roddick at The Body Shop); building trust in specific market areas and among individual consumers (through specialization and personalized messages); and striving for sincere buzz rather than phony hype (as exemplified by successful low-budget promotions for The Blair Witch Project versus failed big-dollar campaigns for Godzilla). --Howard Rothman ... Read more

Reviews (7)

A Must Read for Anyone in Consumer Marketing
Too many "business" books are heavy on war stories, light on principles or organizing theory. They are fun to read, but light on "so what?" Lewis and Bridger meld theory and observations from their consulting practice to offer an actionable framework for understanding the forces driving consumer preferences.

Anyone in consumer marketing will cull valuable insights from this enjoyable to read book. This book would also make an excellent supplement for an undergraduate or MBA Consumer Behavior course.

Soul.. Is A Strong Word..
Enjoyed this, also enjoyed "E-Customer" and "Why They Don't Buy" by Max Mckeown. ...

Shame that more from the USA have not yet discovered this pair. The first is passionate and multi-colored, the second is comprehensive and practical. Read together they give you a superb framework for delivering the kind of CRM and Experience that customers really buy.

Fascinating & full of interesting facts
This book was a really fascinating insight into why we buy things in the age of the Internet. It answers questions like: what do people really look for when making a buying decsion? What methods of selling work best with today's sophisticated consumers? and: Does market segmentation REALLY work? The photos weren't all that great, but otherwise its a pretty excellent book.

Is there really a "new" consumer?
Fundamentally, people don't change rapidly. Wants and needs, both material and emotional remain much the same over time. A rapidly changing workplace and technological innovation that result in tried and true human wants and desires manifesting themselves in different ways. Much as air pumped into a tire simply forms the shape of the tire, needs and wants of people are conforming to technological and social change.

"The Soul Of The New Consumer" discusses this phenomena based on extensive and impressive research by the authors. In the evolving marketplace, people seek timesavings, trust, and authenticity - things people have always sought but were previously more easily obtainable. Could it be that as people strive to fill the relentless demands of these "new" consumers, they themselves become short-changed on time, trust and a feeling authenticity in what they do and who they are; then add to the cycle of depravation as they themselves begin evolve into the "new" consumer model?

As the marketplace evolves; businesses that speak honestly, listen intently, and save people time will flourish. That, in essence is the focus of this book. There is nothing new about this; it's going to take a while to figure out how to apply technology to reclaim what we had.

Consumers are Improving
According to Lewis and Bridger the educated post-modern consumer is evolving. We are moving away from the compulsion to buy what our neigbors are buying ("keeping up with the Joneses" as they used to say) and no longer like to waste money. The "New Consumer" is concerned with "authenticity." We want our consumer choices to express a unique personal style and an ethic of critical thought, social and ecological responsibility and a connection with the past. ... Read more

Book Description

The newly revised Third Edition of Repair Your Own Credit can guide you out of the credit war and away from the unethical credit repair services.The truth behind these services is that they take tens of thousands of dollars every day from unsuspecting consumers already on the verge of bankruptcy, and they can't do anything to repair your credit that you can't do yourself.

Bob Hammond's Repair Your Own Credit reveals the unethical and illegal secrets of the credit repair industry from an insider's point of view and the measures you need to take to repair you credit yourself.Some topics included are:
- The importance of good credit.
- The cast of characters within the credit game.
- Tips on re-establishing and repairing your credit.
- The low-down on credit repair companies.
- What's included in your credit report and how to obtain it.
- Where to get help. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

Disappointing! I have seen better.
As a person who knows the credit repair industry traits & practices, I am sorry to inform you this book falls short of helping any reader wanting to repair their own credit. I usally like to read 2 books a year on credit repair. I do this so I can check out the advice and knowledge of others in the credit industry. If you're looking for a book to assist you in repairing your credit,LOOK ELSEWHERE! This book gives the reader very basic information, this is information the reader probably already knows or that could be obtained from the federal trades commission or any of the 3 credit reporting agencies for FREE. I really got a good laugh when I saw chapter 5 "The Importance of Good Credit". I said to myself, "Why waste a chapter on this subject?" Anyone buying this book, or for that matter any book on the subject credit repair, is well aware of the importance of good credit!

Let's move to chapter 7 titled "Repairing Your Credit Step-by-Step". This chapter only has 12 pages.The first 7 pages are how to repair your credit and the next 5 pages are sample dispute letters. I'm sorry but this chapter should be the meat and potatoes of the book not "THE STRING BEAN". Another disappointment was chapter 9 titled "Lending Scams". This chapter has 11 pages on this subject: "WHO CARES"! This book is suppose to be about "CREDIT REPAIR". I think this book had good intentions, but just couldn't put it together. It had alot of usless information scattered throughout the book.

I feel anyone looking to repair their credit will not gain the knowledge or confidence to complete their goals with this book. The only positive thing about this book is that it is easy to read. My advice to anyone looking to repair their credit is LOOK ELSEWHERE!

I would just like to add, I just completed reading a book by BILL KELLY,JR."THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO CREDIT REPAIR". Now this was a great book! I will be writing a review on this great book soon. STAY TUNED!

Lacks useful information.
I recieved more useful information from a pamplet my bank sent to me than from this book. This book rambles on about how good credit affects you and why it's important to have good credit. The useful information is simply repeating what most people already know - That you can write your credit agency, and for a fee get a copy of your report, and you can write them a letter disputing what's in your report. It does not give any real depth to help you straiten out your credit.

Easy to read, eye opening for the uninitiated, not a how to.
This book is very good for people that do not work in the fields of credit/accounting/banking, etc. Much of what it had to say I already knew, but I guess I can therefore say I agree with it. It tells you why YOU should repair your own credit and not pay someone else to do it. It tells you WHY you should do it. It gives a good bibliography.... but it does NOT tell you HOW to do it. That's really what I was looking for. I liked it well enough to buy his other book, Life After Debt, which is advertised as a how-to. I'll get back to you.

Great Book! Mr. Hammond's Techniques have helped us.
Recently my wife discovered negative entries in her credit report. She sent letters and documentation, but it was of no help. The entries remained. I bought Mr. Hammond's guide as a last resort. I followed his advice, and to our surprise, my wife's negative entries have been deleted. Mr. Hammond's techniques have cleared the way for us to get our first home.

An easy to read and effective guide to repairing your credit
Mr. Hammond's guide has helped me remove several bad entries in my credit reports. I have advised a few of my friends of his techniques, and they too have had success in removing negative entries in their credit reports. I never realized how easily my credit could be ruined, or repaired. I highly recommend this book! ... Read more

Book Description

In a famous intersection of fashion and literature, the popularity of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe'sThe Sorrows of Young Werther provoked hundreds -- perhaps thousands -- of young Germans to purchase and wear the blue and yellow suit of the novel's protagonist. Their actions not only showed their affinity with Werther and with other wearers of the blue and yellow, but also elevated cultural identification over more traditional elements of social standing, such as employment, education, region, or family. Even aristocratic Prussians forsook their riding garb for Werther's rustic suit.

InThe Tyranny of Elegance, Daniel Purdy examines the coming of bourgeois fashion ( Mode) and luxury consumerism ( Luxus) to eighteenth-century Germany. The liberation symbolized by Werther's suit was illusory, he explains, as fashion itself quickly became a force for conformity as rigid as the sumptuary laws -- such as clothing ordinances -- of earlier centuries. Purdy examines the extraordinary influence of Frederick Bertuch'sMode Journal, which chronicled in obsessive detail the clothing and decorative trends in London, Paris, and other European capitals. He traces the elite reaction against fashion that followed the example of the king, Frederick the Great, who dressed poorly -- in worn and even dirty clothes -- to separate himself from the francophile fastidiousness typical of absolutist armies. The changing notions of personal appearance that swept Europe at the end of the eighteenth century, Purdy concludes, were more than simply new styles reflecting new political ideologies -- they indicated a fundamental shift in the epistemology of the subject and the body.

Book Description

A century and a half of America's consumer economy in one easy-to-use volume.This second edition of the highly successful Value of a Dollar records the actual prices of thousands of items that consumers purchased from the Civil War to the present, along with facts about investment options and income opportunities.The first edition, published by Gale Research in 1993, covered the period from 1860 to 1989.This second edition has been completely redesigned and revised and now contains two new chapters, 1990-1994 and 1995-1999.Each 5-year chapter includes a Historical Snapshot, Consumer Expenditures, Investments, Selected Income, Income/Standard Jobs, Food Basket, Standard Prices and Miscellany.This interesting and useful publication will be widely used in any reference collection. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

An Invaluable Research Tool!
This book is a highly detailed and simply invaluable research tool for writers, historians, teachers, etc. Some books give you a quick sampling -- ie, bread cost so much, milk cost so much, a car cost so much -- without giving you any more specifics or backing up their stated facts with sources. But THE VALUE OF A DOLLAR digs deeper, giving you comparisons (high end cars, low end cars), plus charts of how much people in various professions made (while Elvis made ten million in one year in the '50's, a secretary with typing and shorthand typically earned around $85 a week). You can check out the grocery section to see how fruits, vegetables, and all household staples stacked up against a person's basic salary and how much of their income went for basic necessities -- or look at the cost of entertainments (movies, theater tickets, sporting events, games) in any particular era. Simply fascinating reading, carefully documented (columns typically list which publications the prices or salaries came from). If you're a writer of any kind of history or historian of any kind, don't be without it!

GREAT BOOK
IT IS A GREAT BOOK. I USED IT FOR MY SCHOOL, ON A HISTORY PROJECT I FOUND EVERY THING I NEEDED IN FROM THE YEARS OF1955-1989-1999 I RECOMEND IT TO ALL PEOPLE! ... Read more

Book Description

The spiritual leader of The Church of Stop Shopping takes his anti-consumerist sermon from the stage to the page.

Treat him as any other customer and do not respond to his or his devotees' antics. Ask him politely to leave the store. Call the police if he does not leave.—from an internal memorandum circulated by the Starbucks Seattle head office to all branches, April 2000

The Reverend Billy is a revivalist preacher who leads the Church of Stop Shopping, an anti-consumerist communion devoted to putting the odd into God. Created by the actor Bill Talen, the Reverend first appeared alongside the sidewalk preachers in Times Square during the Giuliani years, bringing his new post-religious theology to eager crowds. In these pages we go inside the Disney Store on 42nd Street ("the high church of retail") to witness staged dramas against consumerism that employ 800 neurotic Disney characters with their "reeling eyeballs and sky-cracking grins" as the mise en scène. We encounter the icon-twisting logic of credit card exorcism performed in front of astonished tourists, and listen to a gospel choir made up of "recovering preachers' kids" singing anti-Starbucks anthems at the cash register of the $5 latte. We watch as the defense of a community garden is turned into an Off-Broadway hit and join with the Reverend as he preaches love and peace to the crowds that gathered spontaneously in Union Square after the attacks of September 11. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Buy this book??
Stop shopping. Good advice.

Mighty Mouse
Mickey on the cross, credit card exorcisms and the anti-consumerist gospel are just a few of the wonderful things you can expect out of Reverend Billy's shows. All of this has been captured on the page in this captivating and passionate book. Funny and wise, who needs a Starbucks coffee when you have Bill Talen to wake you up. ... Read more

Download Description

This text presents new case studies from companies around the world that are successfully reaching today's new hybrid consumer. Discover how markets of one are complementing mass markets; how push marketing is being transformed into interactive marketing ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Finally
An "After The Dust Has Settled" realistic and compelling read on exactly how we all use the web, and several terrific examples of how real businesses - pure play web and brick & mortar - connect. The research, examples, and questions as to how to apply this methodology to every business' day-to-day operations is invaluable for anybody seeking to reach the Centaur in all of us. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1941, Franklin Delano Roosevelt identified "four essential human freedoms." Three of these -- freedom from fear, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion -- had long been understood as defining principles of liberalism. Roosevelt's fourth freedom -- freedom from want -- was not. Indeed, classic liberals had argued that the only way to guarantee this freedom would be through an illiberal redistribution of wealth. InFreedom from Want, Kathleen G. Donohue describes how, between the 1880s and the 1940s, American intellectuals transformed classical liberalism into its modern American counterpart by emphasizing consumers over producers and consumption over production.

Donohue first examines this conceptual shift through the writings of a wide range of late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century social critics -- among them William Graham Sumner, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, Richard T. Ely, Edward Bellamy, and Thorstein Veblen -- who rethought not only the negative connotations of consumerism but also the connection between one's right to consume and one's role in the production process. She then turns to the politicization of these ideas beginning with the establishment of a more consumer-oriented liberalism by Walter Lippmann and Walter Weyl and ending in the New Deal era, when this debate evolved from intellectual discourse into public policy with the creation of such bodies as the National Recovery Administration and the Agricultural Adjustment Administration.

Deftly combining intellectual, cultural, and political history,Freedom from Want sheds new light on the rise of consumerism in modern America and its implications for the philosophy of liberalism and the role of government in safeguarding the material welfare of the people.

Book Description

This book offers a history and cultural analysis of the supermarket and of everyday shopping in twentieth-century Australia. It discusses the rise of the supermarket in the United States and Britain, and its eventual emergence in Australia in the 1960s. This is contrasted with the demise of the counter service grocery store. As well, the views of shoppers in Australia toward the "new" supermarkets are documented through the use of oral history. More broadly, the book involves a critical discussion of what it means to live in a consumer society and of the work of cultural analysts on consumption. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

ACCURATE & RELEVANT - RESEARCH BASED
This is an extremely valuable book for anyone researching or studying the Australian FMCG / grocery business.

It is very accurate and not at all self serving to the industry who are followers not leaders.

It contains a wealth of quantitative information in a structured fashion, while remainingeasy to read.

It is worth buying for anyone who has anything from anassignment to a PhD to do on the topic. ... Read more

Book Description

Just because it's great idea doesn't mean it will succeed. Drawing on the expertise and firsthand experience of inventors, financiers, market researchers, psychologists and sociologist and using examples as diverse as the Classic Coke, Napster, WebVan, the Mars Climate Orbiter and Voice recogniton software. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

The Basic message seems to be ¿Don¿t believe the hype¿
This book covers some of the bases in regard to innovation - in particular it mentions the Diffusion of Innovation Theory, propounded by Everett Rogers among others. He gets a lot of mileage out of failures (such as New Coke and The Smokeless Cigarette) , under the general guise of "what were they thinking", and he clearly describes how foolish ideas can get backing from powerful, influential ideas and how other people then fall into the Emperor's New Clothes Syndrome.
There are a lot of good references in this book to successes, failures and studies relating to the Dot Com boom. One curious omission, in my view, is any reference to the work of Geoffrey Moore, whose work in the marketing of innovative technology products is a must-read for anyone trying to define the topic.

My basic impression of this book is that it is good on description, adequate in referring the reader to deeper, more original, material but very poor on analytical contribution.

Practical commonsense for anyone involved in innovation
Why Innovation Fails is a practical guide reminding us of the many almost obvious reasons causing so many innovations to fail. The book is easy reading, and not academic. At first I was disappointed by this, but the book fits together well and has a seriously useful questionnaire at the end. The books uses examples from the dotcom bust and other modern ideas (the iPod is presented as an innovation that did work). It focuses on why people reject or aren't interested in technical innovation. The questionnaire, for example, asks the innovator to describe a typical early adopter, a typical late majority adopter and to ask what they each want from the innovation. This focus on the launch and growth phase of the product is typical of the book's emphasis on the consumer experience. There is some discussion of types of consumers (early adopters etc), and lots of summaries of key books in the area. My overall impression was that at my company, we need to use more common sense and get more customer research. The book is oddly positive, a message being that if innovations doomed to failure and spotted and killed earlier, more resources will be available for innovations that can succeed.

When I rate books, four stars is "highly recommended". ... Read more

Book Description

This volume brings together the most innovative historical work on the conjoined themes of gender and consumption. In thirteen pioneering essays, some of the most important voices in the field consider how Western societies think about and use goods, how goods shape female, as well as male, identities, how labor in the family came to be divided between a male breadwinner and a female consumer, and how fashion and cosmetics shape women's notions of themselves and the society in which they live. Together these essays represent the state of the art in research and writing about the development of modern consumption practices, gender roles, and the sexual division of labor in both the United States and Europe. Covering a period of two centuries, the essays range from Marie Antoinette's Paris to the burgeoning cosmetics culture of mid-century America. They deal with topics such as blue-collar workers' survival strategies in the interwar years, the anxieties of working-class consumers, and the efforts of the state to define women's-especially wives' and mothers'-consumer identity. Generously illustrated, this volume also includes extensive introductions and a comprehensive annotated bibliography. Drawing on social, economic, and art history as well as cultural studies, it provides a rich context for the current discourse around consumption, particularly in relation to feminist discussions of gender. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Gender and Consumption Historically Explained
In The Sex of Things: Gender and Consumption in Historical Perspective, the authors aim to analyze political demands through consumer history. Victoria de Grazia asks whether consumption a measure of economic well-being, a manner of constructing social hierarchies, or is it a way to relate to the body politic the desires of the people? Within these contexts, three themes are further examined, including the framework of European-American consumerism, the history of consumer culture, and the methodology of feminist analysis.
The purposes of these essays are to provide a historical context for the rise of consumer culture through the transition from the aristocratic to the bourgeois society. Rather than specifically detailing each essay's thesis, I will focus on the particular essays that involve a slightly more historical analysis rather than a critical, theoretical framework (although those are interesting as well).
Jennifer Jones' essay, "Coquettes and Grisettes: Women Buying and Selling in Ancien Regime Paris" tracks the "consumer revolution" between 1650 and 1789, following with a "commercial revolution." The initial transactional atmosphere during this period involved a male consumer and female merchant. This, she explains, was a broader, more public setting for a courtship ritual between the seller and buyer. As salons, cafes, promenading became leisurely pursuits, so did shopping, and it became a form of public life, resulting in more female buyers from all classes in the 1780s. According to Jones, the reasons for women being seduced by goods changed as a result of the Enlightenment: Biblical reasons like Eve seducing Adam were no longer acceptable, so inquiries into female psychology and their mental capacities through "scientific" explanations took hold (35). The female aesthetic sense and imagination became dominant reasons for their desires. These "scientifically-based" explanations were seen as acceptable and permissible, as long as the buying on the part of women were for suitors or husbands. Growing female merchants changed the courtship aspect, and it was replaced by a class system that emphasized the difference between female merchants and female consumers.
Women's work was also largely confined to the home in cottage industries during the late 19th Century. Soon, the transition from producer-based households to modern consumer households led to new democratic ideologies and problems. Anna R. Igra's "Male Providerhood and the Public Purse: Anti-Desertion Reform in the Progressive Era" reveals how the anti-desertion movement regulated man's use of wages to family and ideas of manhood. However, women were still obligated to be domestic to impede desertion. In the end, desertion implicated women as well as men.
To this de Grazia notes while families were seen as providers, it was under the State that passed laws on credit, property, retail, and defined public spending versus private spending (public spending being housing, health, education and pensions). One method to divert the attention of women from their domestic duties was the rise of department stores and commercial districts. Political commercialism fragmented centralized patriarchal systems, and individual ones. Performative politics led to collective politics. De Grazia has also, as previously mentioned, employed the feminist inquiry that combines politics with methodology. This leads us to the question, is consumption for women liberating or repressive?
In "Making Up, Making Over: Cosmetics, Consumer Culture and Women's Identity" by Kathy Peiss, the author of "Cheap Amusements" explains how earlier 20th Century female identity went from "essential, interior self to one formed in marking and coloring of the face." (330) and that commodities became the language that destabilized cultural hierarchies among women. Issues of Race and class were brought to the table by both the marketing of whiteness to African-Americans through products such as Madame C.J. Walker's hair straightener to "exotic" looks disbursed through film media, specifically Cleopatra.
De Grazia admits, as do other scholars of leisure, that there is no unified field of inquiry into consumer history. Ultimately, the book as a collection of essays examines how the consumption of an individual leads to the collective desires of families and communities, which ultimately help to define national character. ... Read more

Book Description

This book provides and up-to-date look at the consumer movement and the intricacies of consumer behavior.Incorporates Internet and e-commerce, media and advertising, consumer consumption shifts, diet and health consumption, and coverage of fraud and identity theft.For those in customer service, marketing, and sales, and anyone interested in consumer science. ... Read more

Book Description

We live in a commercial age, awash in a sea of brand names, logos, and advertising jingles -not to mention commodities themselves. Are shoppers merely the unwitting stooges of the greedy producers who will stop at nothing to sell their wares? Are the producers´ powers of persuasion so great that resistance is futile? James Twitchell counters this assumption of the used and abused consumer with a witty and unflinching look at commercial culture, starting from the simple observation that "we are powerfully attracted to the world of goods (after all, we don´t call them ‘bads´)." He contends that far from being forced upon us against our better judgment, "consumerism is our better judgment." Why? Because increasingly, store-bought objects are what hold us together as a society, doing the work of "birth, patina, pews, coats of arms, house, and social rank" -previously done by religion and bloodline. We immediately understand the connotations of status and identity exemplified by the Nike swoosh, the Polo pony, the Guess? label, the DKNY logo. The commodity alone is not what we are after; rather, we actively and creatively want that logo and its signification -the social identity it bestows upon us. As Twitchell summarizes, "Tell me what you buy, and I will tell what you are and who you want to be."Using elements as disparate as the filmFrench theorists, popular bumper stickers, andmagazine to explore the nature and importance of advertising lingo, packaging, fashion, and "The Meaning of Self," Twitchell overturns one stodgy social myth after another. In the process he reveals the purchase and possession of things to be the self-identifying acts of modern life. Not only does the car you drive tell others who you are, it lets you know as well. The consumption of goods, according to Twitchell, provides us with tangible everyday comforts and with crucial inner security in a seemingly faithless age. That we may find our sense of self through buying material objects is among the chief indictments of contemporary culture. Twitchell, however, sees the significance of shopping. "There are no false needs." We buy more than objects, we buy meaning. For many of us, especially in our youth, Things R Us. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Just Dreadful
As an academic who loves to shop, I was hoping this would provide a more balanced account of the rise and impact of mass consumerism. He is certainly right that academics and other relatively privileged strata have something of a knee-jerk animus to mass pleasure. But the book is a complete failure. It amounts to little more than a defense brief for mass consumerism--and like a good defense lawyer, he ignores evidence that doesn't fit his case, distorts the arguments of his foes, and offers a rosy, unreal view of his client. ... Skip.

Pragmatic view point on consumerism and advertising
An interesting read about the invasive consumerism of the 20th century. His basic take is we buy what we want, it isn't foisted on us by advertsing. All that you see on TV is an ad, including the "news", the sitcom set, ie house, clothes, pots, pans, lamps and has been since the beginning of TV. And that "Democracy" is the freedom to buy what you want when you want it.

He makes a good case that this has been what people "really" want since time imortal. And that no amount of whining about how it isn't good for you can compete with the almighty dollar. Simply put, if you really didn't want it, you wouldn't buy it.

I do agree that he can get long winded in his arguments.

Anyone looking to start up another .com company would do well to read this first.

Pretentious twaddle disguised as scholarship
First, it was quite obvious that the author has some sort of animus against non-materialism, since he seems to glory in taking gratuitous chops at environmentalists, the voluntary simplicity movement, and pretty much anyone who doesn't agree with him. I was thoroughly sick of it by the end of the first chapter.

Second, he does not back up many of his assertions, despite a plethora of footnotes. For instance, he asserts that kitchens have gotten smaller in the last few decades (seemingly as a way of proving that we eat more take out and less home cooked food), without stating whether he means suburban or urban kitchens, new construction or remodelling, apartment, condo or detached kitchens...you get the picture. There are similarly unsupported assertions about trash disposal, landfills, and teenage buying patterns.

Finally, it was *dull*. The only parts that were even vaguely entertaining were the last few chapters, when the polemics were replaced by personal reporting of his trip to a mall. I learned very little about American materialism, and far more than I wished about the author's political biases.

A huge disappointment.

A fascinating, entertaining, and important book!
I first must take issue with a previous review. There is nothing remotely complex about the language Twitchell uses - certainly nothing that would require anyone with a basic vocabulary to need a dictionary. On the contrary, I found that Twitchell is often quite amusing and there were even times I laughed out loud at his astute observations and the entertaining way he presents them. Having said that, I did find one thing slightly irritating - the use of extensive footnotes that could easily have been included in the text without forcing the reader to jump around. Still, that doesn't detract from the important ideas Twitchell presents. You will never look at the world (and particularly the world of adverised products) the same way after reading this. This book, however, goes far beyond merely addressing products and how they are advertised. It addresses the psychology of "meaning" that is fundamental to how each of us construct our innner and outer world. It was given to me as a gift by a friend. I intend to buy several copies and give them to my own friends. I highly recommend it to anyone even if they are not interested in advertising per se. After reading "Lead us Into Temptation" they will be.

Interesting, valid, and not so controversial
Based on the rejection of the "hypodermic" theory of advertising, the idea that we are not hapless victims is something most students of media will here about. Propaganda is not as powerful as we believe, but our own desire to buy is very powerful. His views on the negativity of our consumerism are what make him and his work so different. ... Read more

Book Description

The Impact of Public Policy on Consumer Credit presents a collection of research papers and discussions commissioned to commemorate the silver anniversary of Georgetown University's Credit Research Center in 1999.Nine topics serve as focal points for the volume, with the general theme `What do we know, what do we need to know?' about the functioning of consumer credit markets at the beginning of the 21st century.Because the growth of household debt and the consequences of household debt burden have dominated discussion in both the media and policy arenas for decades, `Credit Growth and the Burden of Debt' is the theme for the first group of three papers.The papers address the cultural evolution of consumer credit in the U.S., the rise in consumer indebtedness and the alarming surge in personal bankruptcies.A second grouping of three papers takes a distinctly policy-oriented tack and examines questions regarding consumer access to credit (mortgage markets and evidence of discrimination), consumer protection through mandatory disclosure of information (Truth-in-Lending regulations), and the general state of financial literacy among the population of young consumers entering credit markets for the first time. The final three papers in this volume examine how technological innovations in risk management (through statistical risk scoring models), marketing (through use of personal information for targeted marketing) and finance (through securitization of consumer loans) have impacted the availability of credit products and sparked new public policy questions. ... Read more

Book Description

An easy-to-read, comprehensive, commonsense look at restaurant service from the guest's point of view. Helps teach the details of good service, develop meaningful middle management training and establish definitive operating guidelines that enhance service. Explores the particular process by which customers form their opinions of restaurant service. Provides a competitive advantage for restaurant operators. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

A VERY GOOD TOOL
This is a very good tool professionals can use to run their places.No matter what style is your restaurant or where in the world is located everything you read in this book solves you problems.Even if you use specialists to train your emploees it is good to read it yourself. The way it is written helps a lot to use the book.Just pick up a paragraph every day and try it like i did.You will see much differnce in your place within a month.

This is a good book for beginner restauranteurs
If you have been in the restaurant business for any length of time you do not need this book. It does not cover anything new. If you are looking for new ideas to satisfy your guests, or for details that you may be overlooking in quality service, this is not the book for you.

This is a GREAT book!
This book is fantastic. I was hesitant to buy it because of the price, but I am so glad I did. It's worth it. It's full of information and suggestions which a lot of restaurant owners & managers never even think about. As a restaurant owner, I would highly recommend this book to anyone in the business. It's full of information & ideas on ways to keep your customers and all of the things that the public notices. It stresses one of the most important keys to restaurant success - all the little DETAILS! It's a book I will keep forever. You won't go wrong buying this one.

culinary books are more intresting if they state oppions.
I think culinary arts is importatn state in america and thier are so many books who don't give the whole picture.. Maybe thier should be...

An eyeopening look at dining out from the guest's perspectiv
I found this book very informative and easy to read. The thrust of the book centers on attention to detail, the task that seems to get lost or forgetten in the day-to-day operations of many restaurants! A great find! ... Read more

Book Description

The buying habits of baby boomers really do differ from those of their parents. The authors show how marketers can use each group's consumption patterns to reach both markets most effectively. Another insight: buying habits of these groups differ according to the product or service offered. By analyzing each cohort's buying habits in various purchasing situations, the book dramatizes the need for customized marketing strategies. Based on two national surveys conducted by the Center for Mature Studies, Georgia State University, the book will be essential for marketing professionals and their academic colleagues. ... Read more

Book Description

The second edition of this successful textbook continues to offer a sophisticated treatment of consumer psychology which is directly related to the concerns of marketing management, especially in terms of market segmentation, product positioning and new product development. It has an international approach that is reflected in language, examples, and scope and it also has a comprehensive and up-to-date coverage of literature and recent research. The new edition takes into account past reviewers and users comments by reducing the amount of material on adaptive/innovative cognitive style and replaces this with a wider range of material on the theme of personality and new product phrase. This edition also includes end-of-chapter questions and suggested further reading. ... Read more

Book Description

Shopping has a lot in common with sex.
Just about everybody does it.
Some people brag about how well they do it.
Some keep it a secret.
And both provide ample opportunities
to make foolish choices.

Choosing and using objects is a primal human activity, and I Want That! is nothing less than a portrait of humanity as the species that shops. It explores the history of acquisition -- finding, choosing, spending -- from our amber-coveting Neolithic forebears to Renaissance nobles who outfitted themselves for power to twenty-first-century bargain hunters looking for a good buy on eBay. I Want That! explores the minds of shoppers in the quest to nourish and feed fantasies, to define individuality, to provide for family, and to satisfy the needs for celebration, power, and choice -- all of which lead us to malls, boutiques, websites, and superstores.

Reviews (7)

Want in one hand, and...
"Columbus killed more Indians than Hitler did Jews, but on his birthday you get sales on shoes" --The Goats

What at first might seem mundane subject matter is made illuminating and interesting by Thomas Hine's engaging narrative, personal and historical examples, and downright deep digging. Excavating our culture of consumption from the perspectives of power, responsibility, discovery, self-expression, insecurity, attention, belonging, celebration, and convenience, Hine unearths the desires and rituals that have made us all shoppers in one sense or another. In the spirit of the quote above, I Want That! points out the fact that we "mix up reverence with consumption." Our every holiday is tied to purchases and a subsequent sale of some sort.

Are women born to shop? Do today's shoppers truly have choices? Why do we buy what we buy? All of these questions and more are answered and explained in a free-for-all spree of analysis of what Hine calls the 'buyosphere.' "The buyosphere," he writes, "is both a set of shopping opportunities and a state of mind. It encompasses the shopping streets of the city, the mall, the supermarket, the home shopping channels, advertisements, and the Internet." Comparing the shopping experience of a Persian bazaar to the non-experience of shopping at Wal-Mart, as well as how humans have moved from hunting/gathering to sharing their surpluses through marketplaces, Hine shows just how far the story of consumption has come throughout history. He even highlights the postmodern aspect of our current ubiquitous marketplace, writing, "There are no fixed identities in the buyosphere."

Shopping is something we all do with little thought as to why or how. As Hine writes, "Whether you are a buyer or a seller, when you are in the market, you're a part of the performance. You're looking. You're learning. You're alive." I Want That! will make you rethink your purchasing habits and why you want to buy what you buy.

A lot in one small package...
Thomas Hine's writing reveals a unique blend of history, marketing and pop culture savvy. Of course, anyone familiar with "Populuxe," his groundbreaking view of consumerism in the 1950's and early '60's, knows this full well.

"I Want That!" continues in that vein. Immensely readable, the book chronicles the history of shopping and consumer behavior, examining *why* humans have liked to shop over the centuries. Taking us as far back as the ancient Egyptians, Hine illustrates how politics, technology, transportation, geography and even religion have shaped our relationship with consumables and our methods of acquiring them. Even those of us who like to shop regard it as a rather mundane experience most of the time, but Hine shows how complex and significant the act of shopping truly is.

Good start, but I wanted more
The previous reviews by C. Goodwin and R. Walker pretty much sum the book up. I liked the book, but would have preferred a little more depth.

Not all it might have been...
As excited as I was about this book when I heard about it, I wasn't sure what to think after reading a few reviews -- several were quite tough on the book for being a bit superficial and anecdotal. Still, Hine -- who writes about design and consumer culture and the like, most famously in the book Populuxe -- has an eye for great subjects, so I decided to check it out. His "cultural history" of shopping is in fact rather slim, at just over 200 pages. And Hine is clearly aiming for a pop style, not an academic one. That's fine, but the reviewers did have a point -- he glosses a lot of things that I would like to have seen explored more fully, and I never could figure out exactly what Hine's motivation was for doing the book in the first place. In many ways he's simply defending shopping as natural human behavior, but he frequently resorts to sweeping generalizations, and rarely presents surprising facts. The result is fine as an overview, but kind of unsatisfying -- and I was particularly annoyed at how vague his end notes/source notes were. On the plus side, this is an excellent book if you're slightly interested in the topic, but don't want to be weighed down with a lot of heavy theory. But if you're *really* interested in the topic, you'll be frustrated -- and you'll end up scrutinizing the bibliography trying to figure out which of the books Hine relied on might be the most illuminating. So in the end I was slightly entertained, but not very fulfilled -- which sort of sounds like a lot of shopping trips I've been on.

Too much and yet not enough
I really wanted to like this book. The reviews were glowing and, as a former marketing professor, I was more than a little interested.

I Want That is a birds eye view of shopping, with pages devoted to everything from gift giving to mall design to deviant buying behavior. There's a history of shopping and a sociology of shopping. Each chapter -- and some of the headings -- could be the topic of a doctoral dissertation. Brevity in this case has become misleading and, frankly,
not very exciting. All the juicy stuff has been edited out!

For example, Hine devotes just a few pages to compulsive buying, yet there has been considerable research on this topic by marketing researchers as well as clinical psychologists. There are correlations with other forms of addiction, while Hine notes only gambling. There are degrees of compulsion that vary by person and situation.

The chapter on attention emphasizes that shoppers can judge without being judged. Hine suggests that friends who join the shopper may be judgmental, implying that friends decrease shopping; however, research shows that people who shop together buy more.

The author cites research that suggests people continue to follow traditional gender roles. The real story is the change. In fact, some observers believe retailing has been transformed by gender roles more than by any other factor. Why do stores stay open 24/7? Why do more teens do the family shopping these days? What about men who are self-described clothes horses? And while women still buy most Christmas gifts, we need too recognize the increasing numbers of single-person households and families who choose to spend Christmas on a cruise.

Anyone who says, "Wow -- a book on shopping! What a great idea!" will probably enjoy this book. Those who are aware of other books on the topic, offering greater depth and insight, will be dissatisfied. This book lacks the focus, depth and analytical underpinnings of Paco Underhill's Why We Buy and Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. And I wish the author had looked at some research published in journals, not just a selection of books. ... Read more