About the Author

Michael R. Solomon (Auburn, AL) is the author of Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being, the leading undergraduate text on consumer behavior, now in its fifth edition. He is a director of Mind/Share, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in online consumer research.

Editorial Reviews

Cecil Johnson, Special to the Star-Telegram; Star-Telegram June 9, 2003

This is a must-read keep-handy book for 21st-century marketers. Most readers will find the material on marketing online particularly useful

Business Book Review

Understanding consumerspace,as it is depicted here,cannot help but provide marketers with a running head start in navigating&negotiating this future

Business Book Review

"Insightful and provocative, providing Ah! Hah!, but eminently practical inspiration on every page."

Book Description

Once upon a time, marketers barraged customers with hard-sell tactics. Today, consumers use products to define themselves and others. People are swayed not by corporate-generated hype, but by consumer-generated buzz. That means companies must shift their focus away from marketing to people and toward marketing with them. In "consumerspace," firms partner with customers to develop brand personalities and create interactive fantasies. The winners understand that we buy products not just because of what they do, but because of what they mean. Market share is out; share of mind is in.

Conquering Consumerspace reveals the accelerating blurring of traditional boundaries between branded commodities and everyday life. Solomon's timely book presents a new way of looking at customers: recognizing them as partners in an ongoing marketing transaction rather than as passive pawns at the receiving end of a sales pitch. Conquering Consumerspace also defines the place of customer feedback in product conception, design, and production, and why customizability is no longer a luxury option but a requirement.

From online "buzz communities" to theme stores and product placement to guerrilla marketing, what we consume is inextricably woven into our daily life experience, creating both challenges and opportunities for companies to accelerate and deepen their customers' relationships with their products, services, and brands.

Book Description

"Once upon a time, marketers barraged customers with hard-sell tactics. Today, consumers use products to define themselves and others. People are swayed not by corporate-generated hype, but by consumer-generated buzz. That means companies must shift their focus away from marketing to people and toward marketing with them. In ""consumerspace,"" firms partner with customers to develop brand personalities and create interactive fantasies. The winners understand that we buy products not just because of what they do, but because of what they mean. Market share is out; share of mind is in.

Conquering Consumerspace reveals the accelerating blurring of traditional boundaries between branded commodities and everyday life. Solomon’s timely book presents a new way of looking at customers: recognizing them as partners in an ongoing marketing transaction rather than as passive pawns at the receiving end of a sales pitch. Conquering Consumerspace also defines the place of customer feedback in product conception, design, and production, and why customizability is no longer a luxury option but a requirement.

From online ""buzz communities"" to theme stores and product placement to guerrilla marketing, what we consume is inextricably woven into our daily life experience, creating both challenges and opportunities for companies to accelerate and deepen their customers’ relationships with their products, services, and brands."

Book Info

Text explores the new realities of how we market to consumers today. Includes real-world examples; the latest research findings; and current thinking in advertising, sociology, media studies, and more. Provides the tools to market products and services more effectively, both online and off. DLC: Brand name products--Marketing.