Decoding the New Consumer Mind How and Why We Shop and Buy

Take a glimpse into the mind of the modern consumer

A decade of swift and stunning change has profoundly affected the psychology of how, when, and why we shop and buy. In Decoding the New Consumer Mind, award-winning consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow shares surprising insights about the new motivations and behaviors of shoppers, taking marketers where they need to be today: into the deeply psychological and often unconscious relationships that people have with products, retailers, marketing communications, and brands.

Drawing on hundreds of consumer interviews and shop-alongs, Yarrow reveals the trends that define our transformed behavior. For example, when we shop we show greater emotionality, hunting for more intense experiences and seeking relief and distraction online. A profound sense of isolation and individualism shapes the way we express ourselves and connect with brands and retailers. Neurological research even suggests that our brains are rewired, altering what we crave, how we think, and where our attention goes.

Decoding the New Consumer Mind provides marketers with practical ways to tap into this new consumer psychology, and Yarrow shows how to combine technology and innovation to enhance brand image; win love and loyalty through authenticity and integrity; put the consumer’s needs and preferences front and center; and deliver the most emotionally intense, yet uncomplicated, experience possible. Armed with Yarrow’s strategies, marketers will be able to connect more effectively with consumers—driving profit and success across the organization.

KIT YARROW, Ph.D., is an award-winning consumer research psychologist, professor, consultant, and keynote speaker. She chairs the psychology department at Golden Gate University, with a joint appointment as a professor of psychology and marketing, and was recognized as the university's 2012 Outstanding Scholar. Kit writes for Time and Psychology Today. She is also the coauthor of Gen BuY: How Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-Somethings Are Revolutionizing Retail (Jossey-Bass, 2009). Kit is regularly quoted in a variety of media, including the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Marketplace, USA Today, and Good Morning America. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

For more information, please visit kityarrow.com.

Foreword by Paco Underhilll ix

Introduction 1

Part One THe New Consumer MInd

1 Rewired Brains 11

2 Isolation and Individualism 45

3 Intensified Emotions 79

Part Two Strategies to connect with today’s New consumer

4 Technovation 123

5 The Real Deal 137

6 Involvement 153

7 Intensity 167

Conclusion 177

Notes 179

Acknowledgments and Gratitude 199

About the Author 203

Index 205

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