The Soul of the New Consumer (Paperback)

by David Lewis (Author)
Key Phrases: professional mavens, pseudo loyalty, authentic loyalty, New Consumers, Old Consumers, New Economy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"THE SOUL OF THE NEW CONSUMER is likely to shape the marketing messages you see, hear, and read in the first years of the new century. For anyone in the business of sending those messages, it's an enlightening and compelling guide." -- BookPage, March 2000

"This is such an enjoyable book, and an important and timely one too. With the Internet upon us, the shape and scale of our consumer world is changing by the moment... Empowered by prosperity, the New Consumer is now calling the shots. Every business in the world needs to understand this. Lewis and Bridger's book should become required reading." -- Management Today, March 2000

Why did so many Americans go bananas over John McCain? Why would antiwar, prochoice, tree-hugging Democrats use the Net to throw money at a self-described "Reagan Republican" and root for him with such fervor? David Lewis and Darren Bridger know why. It's because, while most candidates strike voters as blow-dried holograms, there was something real about McCain. He didn't depend on a phalanx of spinmeisters and hadn't lived the despicably careful life demanded of politicians nowadays. On the contrary, he practically radiated authenticity.

And authenticity, Lewis and Bridger tell us in The Soul of the New Consumer,their brief new marketing manual, is what counts when appealing to media-savvy, hype-averse, free-agent customers who have everything they could possibly need except time. Oh yeah, and meaning. They're short on that, too.

For these "New Consumers," the English authors write, "decisions over what to buy and why are based on the core constructs around which their personality and self-esteem are formed. ... The marketplace is their soul and the soul is the marketplace."

They go on to add, echoing the American social critic James B. Twitchell, that "for some people, consumption - in its widest sense - has replaced religious belief as their main source of solace and comfort. Their major choices as consumers are dictated by a need to satisfy an inner hunger rather than an external appetite."

For the rest of the book the writers try to explain how to reach these people, a task at which they are only middling. They have the right ideas - avoid hype, over-deliver, stress customer service and so on - but leave a lot of questions unanswered. Just how many of these New Consumers are there? Assuming they exist in any numbers, aren't they exactly the people you haven't a prayer of reaching through advertising, unless you tell them why your product is better?

This magazine's readers are probably the sort of New Consumers the authors talk about, and so I ask you: When was the last time an ad got you to buy something? Not an ad that alerted you to a product or offer you didn't already know about; obviously such useful advertising can lead consumers, new or old, to buy.

I mean those other ads - the ones with sports stars and actresses, or with women on deserted beaches - the kind that are supposed to make you feel a certain way, and then boom! - lemme at those Champion spark plugs. Who in God's name responds to this stuff? Who even pays attention to it?

Certainly the authors do. They are, after all, marketing consultants, though what they really want to be are scientists: "We equipped our guinea-pig shoppers with miniature cameras to record their shopping experiences. We monitored such bodily responses as blood pressure and heart rate. ... We analyzed electrical activity in their brains as they watched TV commercials."

Although they offer examples of how offbeat entrepreneurs appeal to today's less easily manipulated customers, the authors don't address a more interesting phenomenon: how certain mass-marketers succeed with disloyal "New" and plodding "Old Consumers" alike. Consider Southwest Airlines, not only a favorite with customers but also with investors. The formula seems simple: Get enthusiastic employees to fly people around at less than the going rate. Also, forget the stuffy uniforms and airs. It's just transportation, for Pete's sake.

Home Depot is another example. Not only does it have everything (including knowledgeable help), but I could probably take off my shoe, plunk it on the return counter and get a refund on it. City slickers who've never been to a Wal-Mart would be shocked at how nicely it treats the working folks who shop there. Not New Consumer-ish enough? How about Trader Joe's, the discount gourmet chain whose customer loyalty verges on fanaticism?

For Lewis, Bridger and their ilk, who seem to be the antithesis of the authenticity they urge for their clients, there is a terrifying lesson here. In the future, success in business may depend - the horror! - on selling good stuff at low prices, and being really nice to customers while you're at it.

If this is the future, I think it favors the Internet. The implication, after all, is that traditional advertising is pretty much a waste, especially in reaching the affluent (read: educated) buyers many businesses want. Online, though, companies can target these same people with virtually limitless product information, and let them act on that information immediately. If this seems impersonal, well, nobody really thinks that someday there won't be any stores. Besides, consider the alternatives. The authors predict a boom in "washroom advertising," approvingly quoting a company in this business as saying that audiences are "often captive and fixated on the wall directly in front." Yeah, but what if they ever run out of toilet paper?

---

Daniel Akst is a writer teaching this semester at the University of California at Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. -- From The Industry Standard --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Nicholas Brealey Publishing; Rev Upd edition (April 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1857882989
• ISBN-13: 978-1857882988
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #929,616 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Consumers are Improving, December 11, 2000

By	Edward Scott Haas (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Soul of the New Consumer : Authenticity - What We Buy and Why in the New Economy (Hardcover)

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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Anyone in Consumer Marketing, November 17, 2002

By	R. Kleine (Bowling Green, OH USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating & full of interesting facts, November 7, 2001

By A Customer

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.