Trading Up: Why Consumers Want New Luxury Goods... And How Companies Create Them (Revised and Updated)

First published to media acclaim in October 2003, Trading Up revealed how todays middle-class consumers are seeking higher levels of quality, taste, and aspiration than had ever been possible beforein their choices of cars and clothing, vodka and beer, golf clubs and dolls, and much more. The book identified a major opportunity for entrepreneurs and innovators, managers and marketers, in every category of consumer goods and services. Now Michael Silverstein and Neil Fiske have thoroughly revised this BusinessWeek bestseller with new research and new insights into the still- growing phenomenon of trading up. "What are the financial and emotional pressures and social forces that drive product choices? What are the benefits that qualify a premium-price product or service for mass acceptance? And how can an established producer create a successful mass luxury brand?" "In Trading Up, a world-class team of consultants explores these questions and shows how companies create premium brands that appeal to the mass-market consumer. The book is teeming with ideas that are relevant to product developers, business strategists, marketers, and social critics as well as consumers themselves."--Jacket Trading up isn't just for the wealthy anymore. These days no one is shocked when an administrative assistant buys silk pajamas at Victoria's Secret. Or a young professional buys only Kendall-Jackson premium wines. Or a construction worker splurges on a $3,000 set of Callaway golf clubs.In dozens of categories, these "new luxury" brands now sell at huge premiums over conventional goods, and in much larger volumes than traditional "old luxury" goods. Trading Up has become the definitive book about this growing trend. These days no-one is shocked when an administrative assistant buys silk pjamas, or when a young professional chooses only premium wines. 'Trading Up' examines why luxury goods still retail at huge premiums, despite selling in greater volumes than ever before