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Trading up: The New American Luxury Michael J. Silverstein and Neil Fiske with John Butman Portfolio New York, NY 2003 300 pp. ISBN 1-59184-013-9 $26.95 hardcover ($40.00 CAN) Keywords USA, Consumers, Brands, Product attributes, Pricing Review DOI 10.1108/07363760410525731
Research conducted by Silverstein and Fiske has identified a pattern in consumer behavior really a new business opportunity. Consumers are trading up and paying more for products and services that offer greater value. "America's middle-market consumers are trading up. They are willing, even eager, to pay a premium price for a remarkable kind of goods that we call New Luxury products and services that possess higher levels of quality, taste, and aspiration than other goods in the category, but are not so expensive as to be out of reach" (p. 3). These products the authors refer to as New Luxury goods are traditionally believed to be beyond the means of typical consumers. However, the authors' research shows that consumers are willing to pay more in some categories (trading up) to achieve better value, while paying less (trading down) in other categories. "Almost every American engages in this practice of 'rocketing' spending a disproportionate amount of one's income in a category of great meaning. The combination of trading up and trading down leads to a 'disharmony of consumption,' meaning that a consumer's buying habits do not always conform to her income level" (p. 8).
This book investigates the trading up phenomenon what drives it, how choices...