Chapter Links

2 Consumer Research Methods

Got Milk? “Heaven” commercial is a television commercial in the long-running “Got Milk?” marketing campaign, which Goodby Silverstein created for the California Milk Fluid Processors’ Board to reverse a decade-long decline inUSmilk consumption.

“Most Americans ae single and they’re changing the economy” describes the recent upsurge in one-person households.

“In Post-Recession Era, Young Adults Drive Continuing Rise in Multi-Generational Living” and “Multigenerational Homes: Multigenerational Living is Back” describe a contrasting trend.

Nielsen’s PRIZM Premier Lifestage Groups describes one of the market researcher’s extensive consumer segmentation studies.

“What’s the Going Rate for Allowances These Days?” investigates the sizes of allowances relative to children’s and parents’ ages.

Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood advocates against marketing to children.

A customer satisfaction survey for airlines by J. D. Powers (2015), summarized in “Airlines: A Transportation or Hospitality Business?, revealed that despite increases in airfare and added fees, airline industry customer satisfaction ratings were at an all-time high.

Nielsen and Information Resources are market research firms that track store-level brand and product sales volume, pricing, promotions at point of sale, and distribution across individual store locations.

Google Analytics tracks online consumer behaviors including product, brand, and other keyword searches, including consumer visits to company sites, and clicks on ads.

Acxiom is a large data broker that regularly collects and sells consumer data from a wide variety of sources.

“Data Brokers: A Call for Transparency and Accountability”—a 2014 Federal Trade Commission report, revealing the magnitude of “big data” brokering and its potential impact on consumers.

Envirosell, founded by retail anthropologist Paco Underhill, conducts extensive research on in-store consumer behavior.

“Are Dogs Children, Companions, or Just Animals? Understanding Variations in People’s Orientations Toward Animals” briefly describes a recent study using in depth-interviews to explore people’s perspectives on their dog companions.

 

3 Perspectives on Products

The Silicon Valley Humane Society filmed the following “mutual rescue“ story that could be based on means-end chain linkages similar to the one above.

“Snickers satisfies you”—A 1980s commercial for the Snickers candy bar.

“Give me a break”—A 1980s Kit-Kat candy bar commercial (compare it with the Snickers one).

“Lambert Pharmaceutical”—Ad Age Encyclopedia article chronicling the rise of Listerine mouth wash.

“Health Effects and Chemical of Concern”—article on the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics website enumerating the potentially harmful ingredients in cosmetics.

“Myth Busted: Steve Jobs Did Listen to Customers”—to access this Forbes article, go to the main website and search by title.

Cnet, Consumer Reports, and Consumersearch are examples of websites providing reviews by experts, along with limited user review summaries.

This brand comparison chart from Barefoot Running Magazine is the one Tasha consulted in her quest for the right pair of minimalist running shoes.

Acute care hospitals in the US are required to report healthcare-related rates of infection to the Centers for Disease Control, enabling consumers to compare hospitals on this component of patient safety, a credence attribute.

Consumers Union’s greenerchoices help clarify which terms on product labels legally require substantiation, hence may be considered search attributes, and which do not, making them credence attributes.

Food labels such as “Oregon Tilth—Certified Organic” engender high trust because the substantiation standards and auditing practices are stringent.

“Symmetric and asymmetric influences of service attributes: the case of fitness clubs”—an article describing research on different types of attributes that determine customer satisfaction.

“Should your kid eat organic? The answer is complicated” A Science News blog post discussing this important issue, illustrating that “organic” may be especially significant for many parents.

 

4 The Consumer’s Journey

Debra is especially attuned to advances in the world of mobile devices. Here are some examples of information she finds interesting, credible, and illuminating:
CNET review article “best Phones of 2014”
(article accessible by searching on cnet)
CNET Review of Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Laptop Magazine’s Best Smartphones 2014
(article accessible by searching on site)
Amazon shows unlocked large-screen phones with user reviews 4 stars and up (Debra reads user reviews for phones larger than her current one.)

Ravi also tracks mobile technology on review sites and in addition, he visits mainstream media pages regularly, e.g., the New Yorker, the New York Times, and his local newspaper’s site, the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Debra visits verizonwireless to find out once and for all which smartphones the carrier offers,

Research shows that many shoppers enjoy the entire journey, including the evaluation stage (Digital Social Media Purchase Process).

Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring” with Thomas Kelly (1999)—Example illustrating how our expectations affect our experience at the second moment of truth

 

5 Sensory Perception in a Consumption Context

This link will take you to the top global brands of 2015 according to the Interbrand market research organization’s annual brand valuation study.
Can you name the cars (or car companies) from their logos? How many of the logos in this logo quiz do you recognize? The answers are on the website.

Here is a video describing research showing that incidental exposure to the Apple logo can makes us think and behave more creatively: Apple really does make you “think different”

For a brief history of Starbucks’ famous mermaid logo, see this Adweek article “How a Topless Mermaid Made the Starbucks Cup an Icon”.

For references to more extensive readings about KFC and its founder, see this Business Insider article “KFC founder Colonel Sanders didn’t achieve his remarkable rise to success until his 60s”.

Even very young children recognize and attach meaning to logos of brands or companies relevant to them, as this video shows: Fresh Impressions on Brand Logos.

“The Pringle as Technology”—an article from The Atlantic providing a brief history of the uniquely shaped potato chip and including one of the initial commercials for Pringles

“Hershey debuts new Hershey Miniatures package”- a Candy Industry association article discussing the change

The Old Spice brand exemplifies the use of package design to introduce a new fragrance and to remind shoppers of its humorous commercials. Click here to see commercials: Old Spice Wolfthorn “Something about Him”.

“The Push for Grown-Up ‘Squeezies’”—WSJ article discussing the appeal of this form of packaging to athletes and other adults seeking nutrition on the go

To get a better idea of what makes a package effective at the first moment of truth, click here to view the worldwide Dieline Packaging Award recipients for 2015.

“Detergent Pods Pose Risk to Children, Study Finds”- New York Times article describing the unforeseen consequences of colorful, attention-getting packaging

“Increasing food prices spark trend of package downsizing”—Boston Globe article discussing manufacturers’ skill at disguising food shrinkage with changes in packaging.

“Slim by Design: Redirecting the Accidental Drivers of Mindless Overeating”—INSEAD working paper on consumption biases and how to overcome them.

“Retailers pump up the volume to help drive up sales”- a Washington Post article giving an example of the informative and mood-altering functions music can serve

“The Effects of Music as an Atmospheric Variable on Consumer Behaviour in the Context of Retailing and Service Environments”- article reviewing previous research on this important topic

“Sun Chips Ditches Compostable Bag”—video illustrating the “loud” packaging.

Famous ad man David Ogilvy wrote this headline for a print ad for Rolls-Royce, “At 60 miles an hour the loudest noise in the New Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock” (“The Best Selling Headline Of David Ogilvy’s Copywriting Career (and 7 others!)”).

“Accounting for Taste”.- New York Times article on the important role of sound in our enjoyment of food

“What is ‘sonic branding’?”—Adweek article explaining how music and sound may be used in branding

Audiobrain and Elias Arts provide brand and product sonification. Their websites show compelling examples of their work building brand identities using music and sound in commercials and other marketing communications.
Audiobrain
XBox 360 by Audiobrain
ELIAS

These sites explain how olfaction works:
The-Senses-A-Primer-Part-II
“What is olfaction?”
“Odour-evoked autobiographical memories”

What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life, by Avery Gilbert, is an excellent book recounting our uses of, and responses to, scents in a variety of contexts.

“Smells Like Team Spirit: Universities Commission Signature Scents”—article describing universities’ uses of “logoscents”

“Gender-congruent ambient scent influences on approach and avoidance behaviors in a retail store” - research article on how ambient scent may affect purchase behavior

 

6 Memory and Priming

This link takes you to an example of a very simple schema for the concept of “animals:” schema for animals.

“Nielsen Announces Top Dogs In CPG Innovation”—discusses the accelerating innovation cycle in consumer packaged goods. How many new products do we remember?

If a new brand in an existing category possesses a significant advantage over current offerings, one strategy for getting consumers to pay attention to it is to design it to look just a little different from the current offerings. Dyson vacuum and Bugaboo strollers are excellent exemplars of this strategy.

While Apple did not invent mp3 players or smartphones, its marketing of the iPod and iPhone showed consumers how these products could enrich and transform the familiar experiences of losing oneself in music, connecting with others, finding the nearest restaurant, coffee shop, etc.— First iPod Commercials
First iPhone Commercials

“Apple wallet to take aim at growing mobile payments market”- discusses how mobile wallets must compete with in-app purchasing ability many brands provide. Think about this in terms of scripts.

“Mere Exposure: A Gateway to the Subliminal”—research article investigating the relationship between exposure to, and liking for, an object

“Dogs on the street, Pumas on your feet”—research article investigating the process of perceptual priming of brand recognition, evaluations, and choices

The website www.stickk.com, created by two economists who wished to lose weight, was the first of several to offer opportunities for people to make “Ulysses Contracts,” commitments for which they could make their future selves accountable.

 

7 Sociocultural and Interpersonal Influences on Consumer Behavior

Hofstede Centre.—site devoted to the work of Geert Hofstede and his colleagues, who surveyed workers over several decades in order to capture systematic differences among cultural values, beliefs, and behaviors.

“15 Unique Wedding Customs from Around the World”- We can infer the general outlines of culturally diverse wedding schemas and scripts from vignettes like those in this Business Insider article.

“Couples are spending more than ever to get hitched”- The average for US weddings now exceeds $30,000

Brides Across America—nonprofit organization providing donated wedding dresses to military brides

“Will Millennials Ruin the Marriage Business?”—Motley Fool article describing a significant intergenerational change in the U.S.: fewer young adults are getting married than in any previous generation.

The annual survey from American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Health and Fitness Journal illustrates how professionals in the health fitness industry serve as referent others, in a unique position to lead the way in fitness and to observe fitness trends as they gather momentum and display staying power.           

In the US, the rising number of educational programs for the health and fitness and clinical exercise professions may be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP,www.caahep.org), the Committee on Accreditation for the Exercise Sciences (http://www.coaes.org), and by additional certification programs independently accredited by the National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA, www.credentialingexcellence.org/NCCA).

The US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts “…employment of fitness trainers and instructors is expected to grow by 13% from 2012 to 2022” (Occupational Outlook for Fitness Trainers and Instructors, cited July 29, 2015).

“Supermarket sales performance closely reflects word of mouth rankings”—brief description of findings of marketing research firm Keller Fay

“Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: What motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the Internet?”.- research article on online word of mouth (eWOM)

Niketalk forums—Nike generates positive WOM by providing opportunities for aspiring athletes of all kinds to engage in conversation.

“The 6 Principles of Persuasion”- This Psychology Today article briefly discusses the principles of social influence that Robert Cialdini’s pioneering research revealed.

 

8 Vulnerability in Adult Consumers

ConsumerLab.com conducts independent lab tests on many brands of vitamins, minerals, and other supplements to check for the accuracy of their ingredient listings and for contaminants or unlisted fillers.
Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep website and smartphone app provide information on toxicity of ingredients in a searchable database of more than 70,000 cosmetics and personal care products

World Health Organization 10 Facts about Disabilities—overview of global statistics on disability

Disability Compendium- annual compilation of US disability statistics

UN Convention on Rights of People with Disabilities Text of the Convention, which was created to “promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities.”

Fifth Quadrant Analytics—a financial consulting firm that studies the linkages between companies’ disability-related practices and profitability
“Sustainable Value Creation through Disability”- Fifth Quadrant’s 2013 annual report on the economics of disability

Disabilityincites—company that works with clients to ensure that their research includes the perspectives of people with disabilities

“The Best in Disability Advertising Awarded to Duracell at ANA Multicultural Marketing & Diversity Conference”—Duracell and its creative Team Saatchi & Saatchi won the first Association of National Advertisers Multicultural Excellence Award in the People with Disabilities category.

“How People with Disabilities Use the Web: Overview” discusses the needs of consumers with a variety of disabilities.

Disney’s venues have long been inclusive. For detailed descriptions of services available to visitors with disabilities, click here: “Services for Guests with Disabilities”

“Unleashing the Power of Employees for Retention of Workers and Customers with Disabilities” -describes Best Buy’s innovative eLearning program

Apple is well-known for its products’ user friendliness. Click here to learn more about its assistive technology for consumers with a wide range of disabilities.

 

9 Children as Consumers

“Flint Combats Lead-Contaminated Water Effects on Child Development”—article describing the lead contamination crisis in Flint, which affected the children in the city’s many low income households

 

10 Nonhuman Animals as Consumers and Consumption Objects

 “Pets by the Numbers”—recent AVMA and APPA survey findings compiled by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)
The Pets for Life team of The HSUS has spent years working in, and collecting data from, our nation’s most underserved communities which lack affordable, accessible pet care. We have found startling differences in pet ownership.

“Pet Industry Market Size & Ownership Statistics”- American Pet Products Association (APPA) data on the US pet owner market

Pet medicines, with sales that rose 15 percent to top 391 million USD in 2015, are among the fastest-growing of all consumer packaged goods (Nielsen report).
This is in large part due to the growth of the senior pet population (see Progressive Grocer, “Caring for Senior Pets”).
Increasing numbers of pet owners are purchasing health insurance for their furry friends (North American Pet Health Insurance Association).

For one of the few in-depth cross-cultural explorations of human views of animal companions, see this research article in the journal Anthrozoös: “Human-Pet Dynamics in Cross-Cultural Perspective”.

A consumer committed to buying an animal of a specific breed still may not need to purchase from a breeder. Many pure-bred animals are rehomed by breed-specific rescue organizations. The American Kennel Club maintains an extensive list of breed-specific rescue groups for dog breeds. A few pure-bred and breed-specific cat rescue organizations exist as well.

Table 10.4, from “Pets by the Numbers” (HSUS) shows where people in the US acquire pets.
“Why Did You Choose Your Pet? ASPCA Research Uncovers Real Reasons”- study answering this very important question for rescue organizations

“Why do we love our pets so much?”- article questioning the oft-cited health benefits of pet ownership.
“Beneficial effects of pet ownership on some aspects of human health and behaviour”- According to this article, health benefits may be mediated by degree of attachment to the animal.

“Cat and Dog Enrichment for Every Context”—abstract from a research article investigating the environmental enrichment our cats and dogs need in order to be happy and healthy.
Increasingly euthanasia is performed at home where animal and owner are most at ease (“Many opt to have pets put to sleep in their own homes”).

Our capacity to love and feel a connection with a member of another species is nowhere more evident than when we lose a cherished animal companion, as shown in this article, “Coping with pet loss”.

Many strays are unwanted litters, and left unfixed, cats and dogs produce kittens and puppies at an amazing rate (Great Plains SPCA).

“Spay-and-Neuter FAQs” -address several of the myths that fuel pet owners’ reluctance to have their animals fixed.

To minimize returns or, worse, pets being passed along or sold to unscreened recipients, consider reframing adoption services in terms of matchmaking, i.e., making optimal matches between adopters and adoptable animals. An example of a “matchmaking” organization is the Pixie Project in Portland, OR.

There are increasing numbers of foster-only rescue organizations. An excellent example is Animal Rescue and Care Fund in Portland, OR.

Furry Friends, a rescue in Vancouver, WA, has an innovative model, sheltering homeless cats in a large, comfortable house that offers plenty of space for them to roam and segregates cats who need their own space in separate rooms rather than in small cages.

Educate yourself about your current or potential animal’s species. There are many excellent resources online, e.g., Catinfo.org and Business Insider’s “The 10 Best Websites for Dog Lovers”.

Don’t adopt an animal because s/he physically resembles a beloved deceased pet. Even a clone is not a copy, as this story from the public radio program This American Life “If by chance we meet again” illustrates.

There are many ways to help animals without adopting one. These recommendations are from Petfinder.com: “Seven Surprising Ways to Donate to Your Local Shelter”:

In its Position Statements on Exotic Animals as Pets, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) argues that exotic animals should not be kept as pets.

For a discussion of US state laws pertaining to private ownership of exotic animals, see Born Free USA’s “Summary of State Laws Relating to Private Possession of Exotic Animals“.
Born Free USA is a national animal advocacy organization promoting wildlife protection and conservation.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cites ownership of exotic pets as a risk factor for emerging diseases, most of which are zoonotic in origin (“Wildlife, Exotic Pets, and Emerging Zoonoses”).

 

11 The Rise of Collaborative Consumption and the Sharing Economy

The authors of Chapter 11 of the book are William Barnes & Greg Hill.

According to the latest AAA Driving Costs study, the annual cost of operating a car in the US is about $8698.

The average car sits unused for about 22 to 23 hours a day. Is there another way? A cheaper way? A more efficient way? Millions are already exploring these alternatives—including Zipcar, Turo, and Uber.

Much of the activity that occurs in the sharing economy is actually renting, as many have pointed out. To put it in the words of a recent NPR broadcast: “What’s Mine Is Yours (For A Price) In The Sharing Economy”.

For discussions of the wide range of terms being used and attempts at interpreting their differences, click on:
The Sharing Economy: A Dictionary of Commonly Used Terms,
A key website on the sharing economy, Collaborative Consumption
“The Sharing Economy Lacks a Shared Definition: Giving meaning to the terms”, a slide presentation by Rachel Botsman

Rachel Botsman is a high profile evangelist on the collaborative economy along with April Rinne.
See Botsman’s TED talk, “The Case for Collaborative Consumption”

A few of the growing number of websites where you can quickly and inexpensively find and utilize spaces and products without buying them new or even without owning them at all:
Craigslist
Getaround
The Quiver, (a surfboard rental site)
the local tool library
Airbnb
In product-service systems, tangible goods are shared or rented through peer-to-peer or business to consumer marketplaces. Examples include:
Turo (formerly Relay Rides—cars),
Sparkplug (musical instruments), and
Peerby (tools, electronics, many household goods).

In redistribution markets, ownership does transfer—for example used goods are transferred from one buyer to the next. Think of the sheer numbers on both sides of an eBay search for a Patagonia down jacket). Redistribution markets may be free (Freecycle) or may involve money (eBay, Stuffstr, uSell, buymywardrobe). Some markets may even involve animate objects... (need a pet relocated to a new owner? Try PetBridge).

Many exchanges are not typical “products”—instead they may involve spaces, labor, and money. Airbnb, utilizing underused bedrooms and entire homes, is an example. Taskrabbit, which typically matches those who need errands and work done around the house with those willing to do it (often close by, in the neighborhood), is another example. Need to fund a creative idea that standard markets or the bank might not finance? Try Kickstarter, which matches those with ideas with those willing to provide the money.

A central proposition in all of these exchanges is that we are using our goods, our spaces, and our skills more efficiently, with the help of technology (see the Harvard Business Review article
“Beyond Zipcar: Collaborative Consumption”).

It is worth pointing out that since 2010 many startups associated with the sharing economy have hit major roadblocks—including Zilok (which still exists) and Landshare (which does not).

In a study titled “The Sharing Economy and Consumer Protection Regulation: The Case for Policy Change,” a group of economists at George Mason University argue that the sharing economy creates value in five basic ways.

It’s worth remembering that only 20 to 25 years ago (that would be 1991-1996) the internet was brand new to most people. From Katie Couric and her crew asking “what is the internet anyway“ in 1994... to late blooming George Bush’s “the internets“ (in 2004), it has taken some time for consumers and citizens to realize the significance of the internet. Gradually, as consumers began realizing they could buy things online with little trouble, many of the hesitations faded. This primed the way for the sharing economy (see the Economist article, “The Rise of the Sharing Economy”)

“How Green is the Sharing Economy?” discusses attempts to quantify the environmental benefits of these practices.

Hello Pandora and Spotify. Bill loves …Kickstarter? Bill is involved in a lot of nonprofit work, and he appreciates how peer-to-peer finance and lending can help the nonprofit sector. It has benefitted an organization where he recently served on the board. The aerial dance company where his wife is a member, AWOL Dance Collective, has also benefited from four separate Kickstarter campaigns, the latest in 2015.

Those crazy high textbook prices he has always had to ask his students to pay through the local Barnes and Noble on campus? Well, put it this way: Bill doesn’t discourage his students from sharing, renting, buying used, and exploring the many online alternatives—such as Chegg.com—to obtain necessary content. It helps that the federal government passed a law mandating that students be provided the ISBNs for their required books in advance of class. (see #3 within). As an educator and academic, there are ample opportunities for Bill to tap into shared resources, from YouTube to Slideshare to Khan Academy to MOOCS—to learn from others, to share with others, and to make class engaging and fun. Bill loves “getting on the same page” with students through Google Docs that can be edited by all to maximize collaboration and group learning. And open access publications are increasingly common...

Bill’s tool addiction has gotten a bit less expensive, now that he has discovered one of the many peer-to-peer tool libraries in the city.

Speaking of addictions, his 7-year-old boy can’t stop begging for new Lego sets to build. (See “Why Legos Are So Expensive — And So Popular” despite losing in the courts.) Ergo, it is not a surprise that Lego sets can be mind numbingly expensive. His boy builds them once, or twice, then scatters them all over the house. New solution? Rent them at pley.com.

Bill has a sailboat on the Columbia River that he co-owns with a colleague. It’s used about 15-20 times a year with a moorage fee of 150 dollars a month. He’s been mulling “sharing” this underutilized asset to help to pay for that moorage….perhaps on getmyboat?

Given what he has read about Uber, including driver unrest over pay and the aggressive behavior of the company as it enters new markets all over the world, Bill is still a bit ambivalent about trying the service.

In 2013 the Altimeter Group authored a concise report titled “The Collaborative Economy,” targeted to traditional firms., many of which are learning to adapt to the changing inclinations of consumers.

Consumers will likely resist any substantial reversion back to “ownership only” and/or “business to consumer only.” According to a 2015 article put out by the Wharton School, “The Sharing Economy Spills into New Markets“, there is no turning back.

For more on the shoguns and their successful attempt to keep new foreign technology and goods out of Japan, click here.

Traditional institutions and the regulators that evolved with them are now scrambling to understand and adapt to change—change that consumers played a major role in creating. Inevitably, there has been some friction. For a discussion, see Clay Shirky in a prescient TED talk in 2005 titled “Institutions vs. Collaboration“. As a US Price Waterhouse Cooper (PwC) report recently argued in a detailed primer on the Sharing Economy, the media, entertainment, and communications industry discovered this the hard way (see page 25).

 

Regulators still need to protect consumers from fraud and unskilled service providers—whether in traditional industries or in the sharing economy. Bad things are always going to happen. But see “New Study Reveals A Greener Way to Travel: Airbnb Community Shows Environmental Benefits of Home Sharing”.

There are also risks to “sharers.” See for example, “Violated: A traveler’s lost faith, a difficult lesson learned.” Airbnb’s existing policies and reaction were initially criticized as inadequate. The company did much damage control over the following weeks, with the CEO penning apology notices with titles like: “We Screwed Up and We’re Sorry.”

Are sharing economy aka “gig” economy workers more vulnerable, more exploited, and underpaid due to misclassification? In the summer of 2015 the California Labor commission ruled that an Uber driver was an “employee” of Uber, rather than an independent contractor, requiring a reimbursement to that driver of just over 4000 dollars in working expenses, a triviality as a single case but with much bigger implications for Uber and beyond. (Click here for a pdf of the ruling). Later an appeals court judge also ruled against Uber in the fall, and a class action lawsuit with many more drivers is now proceeding.

For a good deep dive on sharing economy regulation in the face of complex questions like this, see this downloadable paper—“Does Sharing Mean Caring? Regulating Innovation in the Sharing Economy.”

Different countries, regions, and cultures may have different answers to questions of regulation and fairness, as Germany’s recent resistance to Uber illustrates (see: Uber Germany retreats to Berlin, Munich). Despite challenges and occasional regional setbacks, there is little doubt that at an international level, the pace of growth of the sharing economy is rapid and will likely continue to be rapid (Source: “The sharing economy—sizing the revenue opportunity”).

For a quick synopsis on trends and some more good visuals on the rise of the sharing economy, PwC put together a short video, “Spotlight on the Sharing Economy.”

According to Fast Company, Airbnb now has at least 550,000 listings within 192 countries.

In its recent rebranding Airbnb seemingly attempts to seize on these dual opportunities to meet consumer needs.

Airbnb’s introduction of their recently released and much discussed “Bélo” logo (viewable here on YouTube) might be seen as a test case for sharing economy organizations as they seek to distinguish themselves from traditional institutions.

In a recent Harvard Business Review article “The Sharing Economy is not About Sharing at All,“ the authors argue that consumers generally are much more interested in the access component of the sharing economy

Entrepreneurs will continue to try to create and expand: “Airbnb Takes Its Case to US Mayors’ Conference.”

This directory (at collaborativeconsumption.com) will give readers a sense of the sheer number of sharing economy startups—many of which will fail within five years. As you browse through, note in particular “how it works“ related tabs and links that (clearly and concisely?) explain what each organization is doing.

 

12 Technology’s Impact on Consumer Behavior

In 2015, more than one in four individuals worldwide used a smartphone, and by 2018 eMarketer estimates that smartphone users will exceed two and a half billion, pulling slightly ahead of feature phone users (eMarketer Article “ 2 Billion Consumers Worldwide to Get Smartphones by 2016”).
In theUSadult smartphone users have nearly doubled in the last five years, rising from 35% in 2011 to 68% in 2015, accounting for most mobile phones used (Pew internet “Technology Device Ownership 2015”).
Going online often leads to expensive, even unaffordable, data overages, necessitating periodic service interruptions for those who have no other internet access (“6 facts about Americans and their smartphones,” Pew Research).

In their recently released book Modern Romance: An Investigation, comedian Aziz Ansari and sociologist Eric Klinenberg explore the impact of technology on searching for a partner. Below are four of the many insights they offer based on their extensive worldwide research (“You Texted Her What? Aziz Ansari and Eric Klinenberg on the Way We Date Now”).

Context-aware computing has advanced especially in navigation: cnet review of Magellan SmartGPS

Stanford University’s Recursive Neural Tensor Network, which provides real-time text analysis, advances beyond traditional semantic (word or phrase) analysis to incorporate syntax (sentence structure), leading to greater interpretive accuracy.

Context-driven technology not only facilitates consumers’ activities, it can also be used to enhance consumer-brand relationships. A recent Altimeter white paper by Jessica Groopman offers evidence that the Internet of Things (context-driven technology at its best) may be used to engage customers more deeply with brands. (See “5 Ways IoT Enables Brands to Create Loyal Customers” by going to the Forbes website and searching on the article title.)

“Americans’ Attitudes About Privacy, Security and Surveillance”- Pew internet article discussing results of a survey on privacy concerns

These privacy and information-sharing scenarios were presented to Pew survey respondents, who rated and commented upon them.

This New York Times article“Sharing Data, but Not Happily” reports on a study by the Annenberg School for Communication that shows findings similar to those of the Pew surveys on privacy, i.e., many consumers do not feel that the rewards companies offer them are worth the loss of their privacy, but most feel resigned about their lack of control over who collects their data and how it is used.

Organizations that have a culture of transparency and authenticity ensure that their privacy policies are readily understood. Furthermore, these companies do not routinely share consumer data with third parties. This excellent and insightful article in Harvard Business Review, “Customer Data: Designing for Transparency and Trust”, explores these issues in much greater depth.