Consumer Behavior Books - Page 5

Consumer Behavior (8th Edition)

Michael R. Solomon

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Very interesting textbook, one of the best I've seen! 5 out of 5 stars.
2 of 3 people found this review helpful.

As a marketing major, this consumer behavior textbook has been an asset to my learning so far. Very descriptive with many graphic examples. Uses outside knowledge from today that help the reader to stay alert and interested.

Good Read 5 out of 5 stars.
1 of 2 people found this review helpful.

Useful book, includes thinking on both consumer behavior and relevant market strategies. Good read for marketing beginners.

Editorial Review:

Solomon goes beyond the discussion of why people buy things and explores how products, services, and consumption activities contribute to shape people’s social experiences.

Social networking, sensory marketing, illusion of truth effect, interactive mobile marketing, cross-cultural value differences, impression management, doppelganger brand image, red campaign, CSR, low literate consumer, crowdsourcing, and multigenerational marketing.

For marketing professionals to understand the latest trends in consumer behavior.

 

Chasing Cool: Standing Out in Today's Cluttered Marketplace

Noah Kerner, Gene Pressman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 31 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Stay cool! 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 7 people found this review helpful.

The book `Chasing Cool' is about standing out in today's cluttered marketplace. According to the authors, cool isn't just a state of mind--it's a business. In boardrooms across America, product managers are examining vodka bottles and candy bars, tissue boxes and hamburgers, wondering how do we make this thing cool? How do we make this gadget into the iPod of our industry?

The authors argue that we should be inspired by cool. Cool things lead to big profits. Apple's iPod, for example, is cool. Remember the Sony Walkman of the 70s? It was cool. But the iPod is cooler. You can carry around with you over 20,000 songs (depending on the model), and have enough room to fit a few music videos and blockbuster movies. iPods are so cool, everyone wants to own one. In fact, the crime rate in New York City increased by 30% because of iPod thefts.

Podcasts are the direct result of iPods, and named after them. iPods makes it easy to download podcasts from the internet and listen to them on the go. Apple's iPod opened a whole new way of communication. Even YouTube videos could be transferred to an iPod! The iPod has become the icon of what cool is all about. Companies now ask, "How can we make our product into an iPod?" In other words, what should companies do to make a product as successful as an iPod?

Us magazine is another success story. At first, Us magazine was a monthly magazine that was a complete flop. The editors had no idea what the magazine should stand for. Then a new editor was hired, and she turned the magazine around into something cool. She made the magazine a weekly publication, emphasizing the things she likes. In other words, she made a magazine for herself. She was her own customer. Us magazine suddenly rose in stature and sales, and advertisers flocked to it. Stars are just like us, and Us magazine portrays them as such. For example, Us magazine will have pictures of Catherine Zeta Jones sticking her finger up her nose, and of Britney Spears' dirty fingernails. That made the magazine cool, and the magazine rose to 1.6 million prints in circulation.

The iPod was not the first mp3 on the market, nor the first portable music player. The Sony Walkman, back in the 1970s, was the first portable music player; what the iPod is today. But Sony was not able to keep its Sony Walkman cool, and soon lost out to the iPod. Still before the iPod came the Rio. But it was not cool enough and lost out to the iPod. What the authors are trying to say is that being the first to launch a product is not always the best thing. Their advice is not to aim to be first, but rather to aim to excel at what the company does. First is a dangerous place to be. Come second, and make something better. Follow other companies footsteps, but don't aim to be the leader. It is better to follow someone else's footsteps, and learn from their mistakes, than to have others follow your footsteps and eventually become better than you.

The iPod has truly become a phenomenon, and the authors keep repeating this and using its success as an example in all their arguments. You can now find built-in connections to your iPod in cars, and even on my Honda Goldwing. U2 and Eminem partnered with the iPod! And hey, you can even buy a Jeans with a built-in iPod! How cool is that?

Is your company a slave to today's trends? The authors warn against creating for today. A company should have the vision to create for tomorrow--to seek out what will be cool tomorrow. Hip Hop, for example, has become the iPod of the music world. No one thought Hip Hop will survive. This made the singers more rebellious. Snoop Dog is a perfect example. It is all about giving people what they like; giving them what they think is cool!

The authors say that companies can find out what is cool, and therefore what the new trends are, from the internet and especially in chatting rooms. All the clues to the new trends are here today. It is like a puzzle that must be put together.

Some companies actually fire their employees if they don't make mistakes. Mistakes mean they are making something new. A company can only thrive in doing new things, as opposed to stagnating on the same old thing. Polaroid is a perfect example. They were not quick enough to realize that the cool thing was digital photography. Though they were the first in instant imaging, digital imaging became the next cool thing in photography. Other companies beat them to it! This demonstrates again that being first is not necessary good.

All companies should have trend reports. The US President gets a report everyday on world events. Similarly, companies should receive reports on what the cool trends are. According to the authors, buzz can be bought; consumers can be bought as well. You can spread contiguous info through the internet. To do that, companies hire their own ambassadors to spread a buzz.

Where stars go, people follow. For example, restaurants that Paris Hilton frequents are deemed to be hot. Similarly, a brand watch is deemed hot if worn by a star. Stars do sometimes create trends, and companies should keep a watchful eye on them.

The authors warn against having people wait outside a discotheque for the sole reason of creating a show or an artificial demand. People will go inside the discotheque and find it empty, and this will backfire on the discotheque's coolness. The name of the game is to remain cool, and you cannot do that by deception.

The authors say that if you want to make luxury make it and shut up. Don't advertise the fact that you are making a luxury. Doing so is like a woman boosting that she is beautiful. Besides, what is luxury? What makes a product a luxurious item? Is it its price?

You'll often hear people complaining that music nowadays is not as good as it used to be. The question you should be asking is, `who's asking?' In most likelihood the person complaining is not as young as he used to be. Music is different than it used to be, not better or worse. What was cool yesterday is no longer cool today. Can you see teenagers nowadays listening to Louis Armstrong?

There is a good chapter on risk taking vs. risk management. All companies must take risk, but it should be managed risk. If you think about risk, you would never be able to create. You must face risk to succeed. Take big risks but with risk management. You have to reinvent yourself or you will lose market share.

Less is better; less is more. Tommy Hilfiger is an excellent example of this. They over expanded, and Tommy's apparel became too abundant, available in every department store. They also over advertized. This made it not cool. Customers lost interest in it. The authors recommend to pull back on the reins. Many companies went out of business by over doing it.

I really liked what Christina Aguilera had to say about staying cool. According to her, a singer should not repeat the same style of music over and over again. She also says that being in the public eye means being out of the fans' imagination. She doesn't go to too many parties anymore, for not only does partying keep her in the public arena, but also away from creative work.

The authors say that the only way to stay cool is to kill yourself when you are hot. Sounds pretty drastic! They cite James Dean as an example. Their advice: Stage your own death. Don't live long enough to spoil your image. I'm sure by this they mean your product!

A person might not be cool, but what he does can be cool. Cool must stick.

Cool is to be relevant. Chasing somebody else's cool is a mistake. Christina Aguilera is cool. But having Barbara Streisand dress like Aguilera and sing her songs is not cool!

This is a really great book and is very easy and quick to read. I really recommend it. It was fun reading it!

Editorial Review:

The former creative director and co-CEO of Barneys joins forces with a celebrated twenty-eight-year-old marketing maverick to teach readers how to break through the clutter and achieve a relevant point of difference in this entertaining and imminently readable book.

Credit Repair

Robin Leonard, Deanne Loonin, Kathleen Michon

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Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Perhaps you've had problems with credit. Or perhaps you haven't, but your credit report says you did anyway, nearly 70 percent of credit reports contain errors.

Either way, a less-than-flattering report can hurt your chances of qualifying for a credit card, mortgage or any other kind of loan, it can even get in the way of renting an apartment or finding a job.

But a bad credit report can almost always be improved or corrected. In plain English, Credit Repair shows you how to fix your credit situation quickly, easily and legally. Learn how to:

*avoid overspending

*establish a realistic budget

*get out of debt now

*build a financial cushion

*read and understand your credit report

*get mistakes on your credit report fixed

*protect your social security number

*avoid credit discrimination

*get positive information added to your credit report

*negotiate with creditors

This edition of Credit Repair provides new information about your liability when your credit card is used without your permission, and how to close a credit card account properly. It also includes sample credit reports and lists of agencies and organizations to turn to for additional help.

Star Ware: The Amateur Astronomer's Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Buying, & Using Telescopes and Accessories

Philip S. Harrington

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Total reviews: 17 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Praise for the Second Edition of Star Ware

"Star Ware is still a tour de force that any experienced amateur will find invaluable, and which hardware-minded beginners will thoroughly enjoy."
-Robert Burnham, Sky & Telescope magazine

"Star Ware condenses between two covers what would normally take a telescope buyer many months to accumulate."
-John Shibley, Astronomy magazine

Now more than ever, the backyard astronomer has a dazzling array of choices when it comes to telescope shopping-which can make choosing just the right sky-watching equipment a formidable challenge.

In this revised and updated edition of Star Ware, the essential guide to buying astronomical equipment, award-winning astronomy writer Philip Harrington does the work for you, analyzing and exploring today's astronomy market and offering point-by-point comparisons of everything you need. Whether you're an experienced amateur astronomer or just getting started, Star Ware, Third Edition will prepare you to explore the farthest reaches of space with:
* Extensive, expanded reviews of leading models and accessories, including dozens of new products, to help you buy smart
* A clear, step-by-step guide to all aspects of purchasing everything from telescopes and binoculars to filters, mounts, lenses, cameras, film, star charts, guides and references, and much more
* Eleven new do-it-yourself projects for making unique astronomical equipment at home
* Easy tips on maintenance, photography, and star-mapping to help you get the most out of your telescope
* Lists of where to find everything astronomical, including Internet sites and Web resources; distributors, dealers, and conventions; and corporate listings for products and services

Marketing to Women: How to Understand, Reach, and Increase Your Share of the World's Largest Market Segment

Marti Barletta

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Total reviews: 12 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Why do Best Buy stores offer “Personal Assistants?” Why does MinuteClinic operate in Target and Cub Foods stores? Why does Kimpton Hotels tie in with the national Dress for Success cause? Why is the author of this book called the “godmother” of the new Volvo concept car?
 
In this lively 2nd edition of Marketing to Women, Marti Barletta tells you why corporations are spending more to capture the multitrillion dollar women’s market. Updated success stories, original strategies and applications, and gender-effective advertising “best practices” make this the most comprehensive resource to help professionals create and execute a marketing plan that targets women.
 
An eye-opening new chapter highlights the convergence of the two most significant consumer marketing trends today: the aging of America and the growing financial power of women. Marshalling statistics about inheritance patterns and longevity, Barletta coins the phrase “PrimeTime Women™” to show how yesterday’s “little old lady” will be tomorrow’s “Ms. Moneybags,” a target for myriad industries—banking, brokerage, insurance, health, real estate, travel, and self-improvement, just to name a few.
 
In Marketing to Women, Barletta reveals:
* How and why women reach different brand purchase decisions than men

* How to use her proprietary GenderTrends™ Marketing Model to create strategies and tactics that will win women’s brand loyalty

* How to hook women consumers with new products, relevant communications, smart selling techniques, and the right marketing strategies

* Why smart marketers will tap into the profitable market of women 50 years and older—the “golden bull’s-eye” of target marketing

Going Broke: Why Americans Can't Hold On To Their Money

Stuart Vyse

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Over the last three decades, debt, bankruptcy, and home foreclosures have risen to epidemic levels. To make matters worse, the personal savings rate is at its lowest point since the Great Depression. Why, in the richest nation on earth, can't Americans hold on to our money?
Winner of the prestigious William James Book Award for Believing in Magic and an authority on irrational behavior, Stuart Vyse offers a unique psychological perspective on the financial behavior of the many Americans today who find they cannot make ends meet, illuminating the causes of our wildly self-destructive spending habits. But unlike other authors, he doesn't entirely blame the victim. Bringing together fascinating studies of consumer behavior, he argues that the mountain of debt burying so many of us is the inevitable byproduct of America's turbo-charged economy and, in particular, of social and technological trends that undermine our self-control. Going Broke illuminates everything from the rise of the credit card, to the increase in state lotteries and casino gambling, to the expansion of new shopping opportunities provided by toll-free numbers, home shopping networks, big-box stores, and the Internet, revealing how vast changes in American society over the last 30 years have greatly complicated our relationship with money. Vyse concludes both with personal advice for the individual who wants to achieve greater financial stability and with pointed recommendations for economic and social change that will help promote the financial health of all Americans.
Engagingly written, with startling insights into modern consumerism and with poignant human-interest stories of people facing financial failure, Going Broke offers a provocative new perspective on American economic behavior that is likely to stir controversy and serious debate.

Don't Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy -- and How to Increase Your Share of This Crucial Market

Lisa Johnson, Andrea Learned

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Insightful ! 4 out of 5 stars.
10 of 10 people found this review helpful.

Women are the most powerful consumer force in the U.S., but they do not approach buying decisions the way men do. That's intriguing, but it doesn't mean that exhaustive demographic and sales statistics make interesting reading. Authors and marketing consultants Lisa Johnson and Andrea Learned explain how to direct your marketing efforts to women. Each chapter deals with a different subset of women - old, young, black, white, Hispanic, married, single - but the groups are compared along similar lines and the information is sliced the same way in most chapters. The authors liven up their exposition with short illustrative case studies, but the cases often feature products for which marketers have made no concerted, specific effort to attract female buyers. For instance, the decision to sell single servings of food occurred because of other demographics (more people living alone) and was not intended just to attract women buyers. Still, the thesis here is important enough to carry the authors' occasional tendency to twist product features to fit the theme, as well as their branding jargon. Acknowledging the significance of marketing to women, we recommend this information-packed book.

Editorial Review:

"Don't Think Pink" will help marketers see their brands through a woman's eyes, unlocking the secrets to developing products, services and marketing strategies that truly resonate with female buyers. "Don't Think Pink" reveals: how generational history, culture, life stages, and daily realities influence a woman's buying mind; how the manner in which women buy is more critical than what's being sold; how listening to women earlier and more often leads to more powerful strategies; how to best use the Internet and other technology both in market research and during the buying process; and how to map the way to a bigger slice of the awesome purchasing power of women.

Law For Dummies

John Ventura

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A Good Way to Start Learning About Law 4 out of 5 stars.
36 of 38 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the "how-to" books that are fun to read even if you are not faced with a situation which requires it. This well-written book covers a wide range of legal topics that an American citizen may face one of these days. Much emphasis is placed on things like marital problems, parenting problems, employment issues, consumer and credit problems, etc. Needless to say it does NOT replace a good lawyer when the case is complex, but the author actually encourages you to "take the law into your own hand" and shows you how you can solve a number of everyday legal difficulties without hiring a lawyer.

This book cannot claim to be a complete guide to being your own lawyer or recognizing your legal rights or duties, but I found it a terrific first-step book to read about our great legal system.

Editorial Review:

Get answers to your legal questions -- in plain English!

Find out how to protect your family, your money, your job, and your rights

If you're like most people, you probably don't know much about your legal rights and responsibilities -- until you run smack-dab into a messy legal problem. Now revised and updated, this friendly guide helps you get a handle on a wide range of everyday legal issues, decipher legal mumbo-jumbo -- and come out on top.

Discover how to:
* Protect your child support rights
* Arm yourself against identity theft
* Clean up your credit and improve your credit score
* Hire the right attorney for your needs
* Draw up wills and living wills

The Cult of the Luxury Brand: Inside Asia's Love Affair With Luxury

Radha Chadha, Paul Husband

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Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"The Cult of the Luxury Brand" is the first book to explore how and why an amazing "luxeplosion" is rocking Asia, sweeping up not just the glitzy upper crust, but secretaries toting their Burberry bags, junior executives sporting Rolex watches, and university students in Ferragamo shoes. Hong Kong boasts more Gucci and Hermes stores than New York or Paris. China's luxury market is growing with such gusto that it will single-handedly be the biggest by 2014. Even India, the new kid on the luxury block, has three-month waiting lists for hot items, while in Tokyo, the epicenter of the cult, 94 per cent of women in their 20s own a Louis Vuitton bag. The cult of the luxury brand is so powerful that Asian consumers account for as much as half of the $80 billion global luxe industry. Radha Chadha and Paul Husband explain the paradox of simultaneously pumping up your product's status while pumping it out to the masses. They crack the code of the cult, offering a tried-and-tested approach to creating an explosive following for your brand. They outline a powerful model that explains the spread of luxury in developed markets such as Japan and Hong Kong, while predicting the future course for emerging markets such as China and India. They also examine the phenomenon of "geniune fakes", impossible to tell from the real thing but detracting from its sales. Written by world-leading experts in a highly accessible style, the book draws on over 150 interviews with industry experts, market studies in 10 countries, and the authors' collective experience across Asia. It offers a glimpse of the thriving retail scene, from glorious flagship stores in Tokyo to bustling local markets in Seoul, and compares the various consumer segments to understand the inner motives for their obsession. It demonstrates how the continent's massive economic and social transformation is dismantling centuries-old ways of defining your place in society, and how your spot on today's social totem pole is marked by your Chanel suit and your Cartier watch. Whether you are a business professional targeting the Asian consumer, a marketer interested in trend spotting, or a shopper fascinated by luxury brands, this book opens the door to success.

Inside the FDA: The Business and Politics Behind the Drugs We Take and the Food We Eat

Fran Hawthorne

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Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

The forces that shape America's most powerful consumer agency
Because of the importance of what it regulates, the FDA comes under tremendous political, industry, and consumer pressure. But the pressure goes far beyond the ordinary lobbying of Washington trade groups. Its mandate-one quarter of the national economy-brings the FDA into the middle of some of the most important and contentious issues of modern society. From "designer" babies and abortion to the price of prescription drugs and the role of government itself, Inside the FDA takes readers on an intriguing journey into the world of today's most powerful consumer agency.
In a time when companies continue to accuse the FDA of nitpicking and needlessly delaying needed new drugs, and consumers are convinced that the agency bends to industry pressure by rushing unsafe drugs to market, Inside the FDA digs deep to reveal the truth. Through scores of interviews and real-world stories, Hawthorne also shows how and why the agency makes some of its most controversial decisions as well as how its recent reaction to certain issues-including the revolutionary cancer drug Erbitux, stem cell research, and bioengineering of food-may jeopardize its ability to keep up with future scientific developments.
Inside the FDA takes a closer look at the practices, people, and politics of this crucial watchdog in light of the competing pressures and trends of modern society, revealing what the FDA is supposed to do, what it actually does-and fails to do-who it influences, and how it could better fulfill its mandate. The decisions that the FDA makes are literally life and death. Inside the FDA provides a sophisticated account of how this vitally important agency struggles to balance bureaucracy and politics with its overriding mission to promote the country's health.
Fran Hawthorne (New York, NY) is a senior contributing editor of Institutional Investor and has connections deep within the business and finance communities. Hawthorne has been covering healthcare and business for more than twenty years for such publications as Fortune, BusinessWeek, and Crain's New York Business. She is the author of The Merck Druggernaut (cloth: 0-471-22878-8; paper: 0-471-67906-2).