Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer - Hardcover

Silverstein, Michael J.; Butman, John

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1591841232 ISBN 13: 9781591841234

Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover, 2006

Synopsis

The essential follow-up to the BusinessWeek bestseller Trading Up

A BMW in a Costco parking lot? A working class family with a 50-inch plasma TV? What's going on in the mind of the new consumer?

Today's consumers can seem impossible to understand, and even harder to please. For instance, the average mall shopper will spend about $100, then leave when she hits that limit. She'll probably buy shoes rather than clothing, because she doesn't want to think about her dress size. And the store most likely to get her money isn't the one with the nicest display or the deepest discounts-it's the one closest to her parking spot.

In his consulting with dozens of leading companies, Michael J. Silverstein has interviewed thousands of customers, extracting fascinating patterns about what really drives their purchase decisions. His first book, the acclaimed bestseller Trading Up, has taught a generation of marketers about the "new luxury" phenomenon, and why consumers will happily pay a steep premium for goods and services that are emotionally satisfying, from golf clubs to bathroom fixtures to beauty products.

But Trading Up revealed only part of the story of the new consumer. The same middle-class people who are happily trading up at Victoria's Secret and Panera are going on treasure hunts at Costco and Home Depot. And they are often getting as much emotional satisfaction in the discount stores as in the luxury stores. TREASURE HUNT shows how even the most mundane shopping-for things like paper towels and pet food-has become an adventure rather than a tedious chore.

In just about every category, both the high end and the low end are growing and innovation- rich. Many middle-class consumers gladly spend $5 a day for a Starbucks venti latte; others spend forty cents a day on home-brewed coffee, feel good about their frugality, and save up the difference to buy Apple's newest Nano. TREASURE HUNT explains the success of companies as diverse as Dollar General, H. E. Butt, eBay, Commerce Bank, and Tchibo.

But beware: in our bifurcated global market, businesses need a clear strategy for aiming high or low, while avoiding the treacherous middle, where so many have recently stumbled. If your offering isn't exciting enough to inspire trading up, but not enough of a bargain to satisfy the treasure hunters, you'll have no emotional connection with your target audience. And then, as many fallen companies have discovered, your tried-and-true marketing strategies will go into a severe stall.

TREASURE HUNT takes us into the homes of real people making real decisions, and into the CEO's offices of innovative companies finding new ways to accommodate them. Written with the same flair, empathy, and intelligence that made Trading Up an instant classic, this is an essential guide to the moods and habits of the constantly changing consumer.

About this title

About the Author

Michael J. Silverstein is a senior vice president of The Boston Consulting Group and the coauthor of the business bestseller Trading Up. He works with leading companies around the world.

John Butman is the author of more than a dozen books.

From AudioFile

John H. Mayer reads Silverstein's look at the ways the behaviors of middle-market consumers affect growth at both ends of the retail market. The book is directed at marketers hoping to lure today's savvy mid-range shoppers. Mayer's voice offers the right mix of professional and familiar. He details strategies designed to help businesses make intelligent marketing decisions, especially concerning where consumers are most likely to spend their discretionary cash. According to Silverstein, today's consumers never stop searching for more value and have become experts at "saving a buck." Mayer offers an attractive, articulate "radio-voice" as he profiles marketing tactics and consumer economics for the 21st century. S.J.H. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Edition details

• Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1591841232
• ISBN 13: 9781591841234
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 272