NOTES

Links mentioned in the notes can be accessed online from the book’s website at www.AbsoluteValueBook.com

Introduction

1. There are numerous statements about these widely held beliefs. The ones we quoted happen to be from the following sources. About branding: Brian Solis, “The Importance of Brand in an Era of Digital Darwinism,” The Brian Solis Blog, March 5, 2012, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.briansolis.com/2012/03/the-importance-of-brand-in-an-era-of-digital-darwinism.

About loyalty: “Consumer Loyalty: Isn’t that the Goal?” Chief Marketer, January 6, 2009, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.chiefmarketer.com/database-marketing/loyalty-crm/consumer-loyalty-isnt-that-the-goal-06012009.

About irrationality: William J. Cusick, All Customers Are Irrational: Understanding What They Think, What They Feel, and What Keeps Them Coming Back (New York: AMACOM, 2009).

About choice: The quote is from an article by Alina Tugend who reports that “as psychologists and economists study the issue, they are concluding that an overload of options may actually paralyze people or push them into decisions that are against their own best interest.” See Alina Tugend, “Too Many Choices: A Problem That Can Paralyze,” New York Times, February 26, 2010, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/27/your-money/27shortcuts.html.

About positioning: “Why Positioning Is the Most Important Part of the Marketing Game,” b2bmarketing Blog, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.b2bmarketingblog.co.uk/strategies/why-positioning-is-the-most-important-part-of-the-marketing-game.

Chapter 1: From Relative to Absolute

1. Interview with Jonney Shih, Boston, January 29, 2013; Willy Shih et al., “ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Eee PC,” Harvard Business School case study N9-608-156, 2008; Willy Shih and Howard H. Yu, “ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Eee PC (B),” Harvard Business School case study N9-609-052, 2008; “Small but Destructive,” Economist, June 11, 2009, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.economist.com/node/13832588; Michael V. Copeland, “The Man Behind the Netbook Craze,” Fortune, November 20, 2009, accessed May 15, 2013, http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2009/11/20/the-man-behind-the-netbook-craze/; Suzanne Nam, “The Jonney Machine,” Forbes, November 12, 2007, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/global/2007/1112/024a.html.

2. “Worldwide Tablet Market Surges Ahead on Strong First Quarter Sales, Says IDC,” IDC, May 1, 2013, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS24093213; Jon Fingas, “IDC and Gartner: PC Market Flattened Out in Q2 While Apple, ASUS, Lenovo Remain the Stars,” Engadget, July 12, 2012, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/12/idc-and-gartner-pc-market-flattened-out-in-q2-2012/.

3. “Asustek Computer,” Forbes, May 2013, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/companies/asustek-computer/.

4. In September 2013, Decide.com was acquired by eBay.

5. Itamar Simonson and Amos Tversky, “Choice in Context: Tradeoff Contrast and Extremeness Aversion,” Journal of Marketing Research 29 (August 1992): 281–95. This is also where the story about the bread-baking machine first appeared.

6. A note regarding the 2012 experiment: Consumer searches in real life are often even less structured. Participants were limited to Amazon and were asked to focus on Canon PowerShot cameras.

7. People differ in their tendency to compromise, and the new information environment may affect a tendency to prefer as well as a tendency to avoid compromise options. A study involving identical and fraternal twins conducted by Aner Sela and Itamar has shown that a tendency to select or avoid middle options is to a significant degree a heritable tendency. See Itamar Simonson and Aner Sela, “On the Heritability of Consumer Decision Making: An Exploratory Approach for Studying Genetic Effects on Judgment and Choice,” Journal of Consumer Research 37 (2011): 951–66. A recent study by Briley, Frederick, Sela, and Simonson replicated this finding using a large sample of identical and fraternal twins in Australia.

8. See Susan Fiske and Shelley Taylor, Social Cognition (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1984).

9. Facebook’s Graph Search launched a few months before this book went to print. Emanuel used it occasionally and we can see the potential of such a search tool. Somini Sengupta, “Facebook Unveils a New Search Tool,” New York Times, January 15, 2013, accessed May 15, 2013, http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/01/15/facebook-unveils-a-new-search-tool/.

10. Kathryn Zickuhr and Aaron Smith, “Internet Adoption over Time,” Pew Internet, April 13, 2012, accessed May 15, 2013, http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2012/Digital-differences/Main-Report/Internet-adoption-over-time.aspx.

11. Benjamin Scheibehenne, Rainer Greifeneder, and Peter M. Todd, “Can There Ever Be Too Many Options? A Meta-Analytic Review of Choice Overload,” Journal of Consumer Research 37 (October 2010): 409–25.

12. “Consumer Trust in Online, Social and Mobile Advertising Grows,” Nielsen Blog, April 10, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2012/consumer-trust-in-online-social-and-mobile-advertising-grows.html. And there are signs that trust in strangers may be stronger among younger people. For example, see “Bazaarvoice and the Center for Generational Kinetics Release New Study on how Millennials Shop,” Bazaarvoice, January 31, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.bazaarvoice.co.uk/about/press-room/bazaarvoice-and-center-generational-kinetics-release-new-study-how-millennials-shop.

13. On Amazon’s influence, see T. J. McCue, “Amazon Influences Consumers More Than Google (and Perhaps Facebook and Apple),” Forbes, July 31, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/2012/07/31/amazon-influences-consumers-more-than-google-and-possibly-facebook-and-apple/.

14. Jim Lecinski, Winning the Zero Moment of Truth ([Mountain View,CA]: Google, 2011), accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.zeromomentoftruth.com/,17.

15. Roger Yu “Rising Tech Firm ASUS Seeks to Improve U.S. Brand,” USA Today, January 8, 2013, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/01/08/asus-global-tech-player/1809487/.

Chapter 2: The Decline of “Irrationality”

1. See, for example, Itamar Simonson, “Get Closer to Your Customers by Understanding How They Make Choices,” California Management Review 35, no. 4 (1993): 68–84; Itamar Simonson, “Shoppers’ Easily Influenced Choices,” New York Times, November 6, 1994.

2. Daniel Kahneman, Thinking, Fast and Slow (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2011), 411.

3. Peter Eavis and J. B. Silver-Greenberg, “15 of 19 Big Banks Pass Fed’s Latest Stress Test,” New York Times, March 13, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/14/business/jpmorgan-passes-stress-test-raises-dividend.html; “Federal Reserve Annual Stress Test Fails 4 of 19 Big Banks,” USA Today, March 14, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/industries/banking/story/2012-03-12/fed-stress-test/53514988/1.

4. Irwin Levin and Gary Gaeth, “How Consumers Are Affected by the Framing of Attribute Information Before and After Consuming the Product,” Journal of Consumer Research 15 (December 1988): 374–78.

5. Michael Moss, “Safety of Beef Processing Method Questioned,” New York Times, December 30, 2009, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/us/31meat.html. See also E. J. Schultz, “Beef Industry Bruised by ‘Pink Slime’ Battle,” Advertising Age, April 2, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://adage.com/article/news/beef-industry-bruised-pink-slime-battle/233855/.

6. See also http://www.beefisbeef.com. Bettina Siegel’s blog “The Lunch Tray” can be found at http://www.thelunchtray.com/; the petition against “pink slime” in school food can be found on Change.org: “Tell USDA to STOP Using Pink Slime in School Food!,” March 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-usda-to-stop-using-pink-slime-in-school-food.

7. Shlomit Tzur and Shani Shiloh, “[Why Are Real Estate Prices Soaring? Distortions of Internet Boards],” July 31, 2010, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.themarker.com/realestate/1.587730 (in Hebrew).

8. The situation in Israel, at least at that time, was different. Some progress seems to be happening in regards to consumers’ access to real estate transactions data. For more, see this article (in English): Arik Mirovsky, “Tax Authority Pledges Public Access to Property Database,” Haaretz, February 3, 2010, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/business/tax-authority-pledges-public-access-to-property-database-1.262673.

9. Stephen Nowlis and Itamar Simonson, “Attribute–Task Compatibility as a Determinant of Consumer Preference Reversals,” Journal of Marketing Research 34 (May 1997): 205–18.

10. James N. Druckman, “Political Preference Formation: Competition, Deliberation, and the (Ir)relevance of Framing Effects,” American Political Science Review 98 (2004): 671–86. Similar results were obtained by Yaniv. See Ilan Yaniv, “Group Diversity and Decision Quality: Amplification and Attenuation of the Framing Effect,” International Journal of Forecasting 27, no.1 (2011): 41–49.

11. Eric Johnson and Daniel Goldstein, “Do Defaults Save Lives?,” Science 302, no. 5649 (2003): 1338–39.

12. Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (New York: Penguin Books, 2008).

13. Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, “Judgment Under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases,” Science 185, no. 4157 (1974): 1124–31.

14. Itamar Simonson and Aimee Drolet, “Anchoring Effects on Consumers’ Willingness-to-Pay and Willingness-to-Accept,” Journal of Consumer Research 31 (December 2004): 681–90.

15. David Brooks, The Social Animal: The Hidden Sources of Love, Character, and Achievement (New York: Random House, 2011), 181.

Chapter 3: New Patterns in Consumer Decision Making

1. Ann Blair, “Reading Strategies for Coping with Information Overload ca. 1550–1700,” Journal of the History of Ideas 64, no. 1 (2003): 11–28.

2. Scheibehenne et al., “Can There Ever Be Too Many Options? A Meta-Analytic Review of Choice Overload,” 409–25.

3. For example: Amos Tversky and Eldar Shafir, “The Disjunction Effect in Choice Under Uncertainty,” Psychological Science 3, no. 5 (1992): 305–309.

4. George Stigler, for example, wrote back in 1961 that the amount of search is inversely related to the cost of search.

5. Matt Ridley, “Internet On, Inhibitions Off: Why We Tell All,” Wall Street Journal, February 18, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204795304577221164189123608.html.

6. Interview with Peter Rojas, August 7, 2012. Article about gdgt.com on TechCrunch: Darrell Etherington, “Gdgt Refocuses As the Remedy for Overwhelmed Gadget Shoppers,” TechCrunch, September 4, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://techcrunch.com/2012/09/04/gdgt-refocuses-as-the-remedy-for-overwhelmed-gadget-shoppers/.

Chapter 4: Why We’re Bullish About Absolute Values

1. Robin Henry, “Publisher Fakes Reviews of Books,” Sunday Times, September 9, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/Arts/article1121933.ece.

2. David Streitfeld, “The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy,” New York Times, August 26, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/26/business/book-reviewers-for-hire-meet-a-demand-for-online-raves.html. Rutherford’s website can be found on the Internet Archive, “GettingBookReviews.com,” October 1, 2010, accessed May 9, 2013, http://web.archive.org/web/20101001080542/http:/www.gettingbookreviews.com/Home_Page.html.

3. Sharon Bernstein, “Better Business Bureau Says It Will Change Its Rating System,” November 19, 2010, accessed May 9, 2013, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/19/business/la-fi-bbb-ratings-20101119.

4. Charles Walford, “ ‘There Were Hairs in My Quiche’: TripAdvisor troll admits smearing reputation of award-winning vegetarian restaurant she hadn’t even visited,” MailOnline, February 16, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.dailymai1l.co.uk/news/article-2101957/TripAdvisor-troll-takes-advert-national-newspaper-apologise-smearing-reputation-award-winning-vegetarian-restaurant.html; “TripAdviser [sic] User Apologises for False Reviews,” February 16, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/9085715/TripAdviser-user-apologises-for-false-reviews.html.

5. For example, with Facebook’s Graph Search you can instantly find all “Restaurants in Austin, Texas, visited by my friends.”

6. Press release: Federal Trade Commission, “Firm to Pay FTC $250,000 to Settle Charges That It Used Misleading Online ‘Consumer’ and ‘Independent’ Reviews,” March 15, 2011, accessed July 13, 2013, http://ftc.gov/opa/2011/03/legacy.shtm.

7. The book on Amazon UK’s site can be seen here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Mistress-Martine-McCutcheon/dp/0330504487, accessed May 9, 2013. Incidentally, The Mistress sold pretty well, which is a reminder of the importance of generating interest, which we discuss later in the book. McCutcheon is a household name in the United Kingdom (readers in the United States may remember her as Hugh Grant’s secretary/lover in the movie Love Actually). Like most Amazon reviewers, professional critics did not give it high marks, but the book got extensive publicity.

8. Interview with Bing Liu, November 8, 2012.

9. Streitfeld, “The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy.”

10. Christopher Elliott, “Some Hotels Stuffing Online Ballot Boxes,” New York Times, February 7, 2006, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/07/technology/07iht-hotels.html.

11. David Streitfeld, “Giving Mom’s Book Five Stars? Amazon May Cull Your Review,” New York Times, December 23, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/technology/amazon-book-reviews-deleted-in-a-purge-aimed-at-manipulation.html.

12. Queena Kim, “Yelp Starts Branding Companies for Buying Fake Reviews,” October 18, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/yelp-starts-branding-companies-buying-fake-reviews.

13. Myle Ott, Claire Cardie, and Jeff Hancock, “Estimating the Prevalence of Deception in Online Review Communities,” in WWW ’12: Proceedings of the 21st International Conference on the World Wide Web (New York: ACM, 2012), 201–210.

14. Angie Hicks, interview by Emanuel Rosen, July 23, 2007.

15. Interview with Bing Liu, November 8, 2012. The estimate was mentioned in Streitfeld, “The Best Book Reviews Money Can Buy.”

16. Interview with Myle Ott, November 12, 2012.

17. “Gartner Says By 2014, 10–15 Percent of Social Media Reviews to Be Fake, Paid for By Companies,” September 17, 2012, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2161315.

18. Regarding Hamas and BBB: Joseph Rhee and Brian Ross, “Terror Group Gets ‘A’ Rating from Better Business Bureau?,” ABC News.com, November 12, 2010, accessed May 9, 2013, http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/business-bureau-best-ratings-money-buy/story?id=12123843; Brian Ross interviews the blogger who did this: Brian Ross, “Hamas Got A Rating from BBB,” ABCNews.com, http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/video/hamas-rating-bbb-12188207, accessed May 15, 2013. Lynn Mucken, “Can You Trust the Better Business Bureau?,” MSN Money, March 14, 2011, accessed May 15, 2013, http://money.msn.com/saving-money-tips/post.aspx?post=83b8d5a6-3cdf-46c2-bf59-691223b9e00a. Survey shows that consumers still trust BBB: “Which Contractor Listing Services Do Consumers Trust the Most?,” May 22, 2012, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.buildzoom.com/talk/which-contractor-listing-services-do-consumers-trust-the-most/. Press release: Better Business Bureau, “Better Business Bureau Expels Los Angeles Organization for Failure to Meet Standards,” March 12, 2013, accessed July 13, 2013, http://www.la.bbb.org/article/Better-Business-Bureau-Expels-Los-Angeles-Organization-for-Failure-to-Meet-Standards-40711.

19. Johanna Somers, “Yelp’s Ad Pitch Gets Bad Reviews from Some Seattle-Area Business Owners,” Seattle Times, August 2, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://seattletimes.com/html/businesstechnology/2018837016_yelp03.html. For Yelp’s position see http://www.yelp.com/faq#removing_reviews, accessed July 13, 2013.

20. Todd Wasserman, “Yelp by the Numbers: 61 Million Visitors a Month, $58 Million Revenue,” November 17, 2011, accessed May 15, 2013, http://mashable.com/2011/11/17/yelp-ipo-numbers-stats/.

21. “Consumer Trust in Online, Social and Mobile Advertising Grows,” Nielsen Online, April 10, 2012, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/newswire/2012/consumer-trust-in-online-social-and-mobile-advertising-grows.html.

22. “FTC Publishes Final Guides Governing Endorsements, Testimonials,” October 5, 2009, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm.

23. Interview with Peter Rojas, August 7, 2012.

24. Interview with Michael Luca, November 26, 2012.

25. See Loretti Dobrescu, Michael Luca, and Alberto Motta, “What Makes a Critic Tick? Connected Authors and the Determinants of Book Reviews,” Harvard Business School Working Paper No. 12–080, 2012.

26. Interview with Nina and Tim Zagat, October 29, 2007.

27. Alexi Mostrous, “Woman Forced to Apologise for Fake TripAdvisor Review,” Times, February 16, 2012, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/food/article3321640.ece.

Chapter 5: When Brands Mean Less

1. Interview with Michael Luca, November 26, 2012.

2. Michael Luca, “Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com,” Harvard Business School Working Paper No. 12-016, September 2011.

3. Kendall J. Wills, “Disks and More Disks,” New York Times, June 19, 1983, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/1983/06/19/business/discs-and-more-disks-by-kendall-j-wills.html; see also Wikipedia, “Disc film,” Wikipedia, accessed May 9, 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_film.

4. “Disc Set Photo Sales Spinning,” Chain Store Age—General Merchandise Edition 60 (April 1984): 100.

5. According to one study, 89 percent of new products are line or brand extensions. David A. Aaker, Managing Brand Equity: Capitalizing on the Value of a Brand Name (New York: Free Press, 1991), 208. See also Kevin Lane Keller, Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, 2nd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2003), 581. Keller says it’s 80–90 percent.

6. “Toshiba Slips Further Down in Notebook Sales,” Notebook Review, December 9, 2003, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=1665.

7. Regarding Nokia, see Hayley Tsukayama, “Nokia Broadens Its Smartphone Lineup,” Washington Post, February 25, 2013, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/nokia-broadens-smartphone-lineup/2013/02/25/f49aba30-7f5e-11e2-b99e-6baf4ebe42df_story.html.

8. “Espresso Machine Manufacturers—CoffeeRatings.com,” accessed May 15, 2013, http://coffeeratings.com/machine-listings.php.

9. Amazon.com, “Customer Reviews DeLonghi BCO120T Combination Coffee/Espresso Machine,” accessed May 11, 2013, http://www.amazon.com/DeLonghi-BCO120T-Combination-Espresso-Machine/product-reviews/B000F2HGVE.

10. Barbara L. Kilfoyle “BG,” customer review on Amazon.com, “Find Something Else,” September 23, 2009, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.amazon.com/review/R2IAX37B6BY9GJ.

11. Jen, customer review on Amazon.com, “Great if You Want to Wash Your Counters and Floor!,” July 15, 2011, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.amazon.com/review/R1WTYA85SPX0L8.

12. “What’s Noka Worth? (Part 10),” December 18, 2006, accessed May 15, 2013, http://dallasfood.org/2006/12/noka-chocolate-part-10/.

13. These, for example, were the two first results of a Google search done February 27, 2013: “NOKA Chocolate Exposed!” on SlashFood, and “Noka Chocolate Is a Scam” on Consumerist (links available in the next note).

14. Regarding No¯KA: “What’s Noka Worth? (Part 1),” December 9, 2013, accessed May 15, 2013, http://dallasfood.org/2006/12/noka-chocolate-part-1/; No¯KA’s response to accusations: NOKA_Chocolate, December 31, 2006 (10:54 a.m.), “Statement from NOKA Chocolate,” comment on DallasFood.org, accessed May 15, 2013, http://dallasfood.org/forums/index.php?/topic/119-statement-from-noka-chocolate/; Damon Darlin, “Figuring Out Gift Giving in the Age of $2,000-a-Pound Chocolate,” New York Times, February 10, 2007, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/10/business/10money.html; Nicole Weston, “NOKA Chocolate Exposed!,” December 19, 2006, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.slashfood.com/2006/12/19/noka-chocolate-exposed/#ixzz1utINklfL; “Noka Chocolate Is a Scam,” December 22, 2006, accessed May 15, 2013, http://consumerist.com/2006/12/22/noka-chocolate-is-a-scam/.

15. “Consumer Reports Blender Ratings,” Consumer Reports.org (subscription required), accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/appliances/kitchen-appliances/blenders/blender-ratings/ratings-overview.htm.

16. Interview with Mark Rosenzweig, February 4, 2013.

17. “How Sony Fell Behind in the Tech Parade,” New York Times, April 15, 2012, accessed May 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/15/technology/how-sony-fell-behind-in-the-tech-parade.html. Regarding Sony’s return to profitability see Hiroko Tabuchi, “Sony Doubles Annual Profit Estimate,” New York Times, April 25, 2013, accessed May 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/26/business/global/26iht-sony26.html.

18. “A Pocket Camera Even Pro Photographers Can Love,” New York Times, June 28, 2012, accessed May 12, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/28/technology/personaltech/a-pocket-camera-even-pro-photographers-can-love-state-of-the-art.html.

19. Kevin Lane Keller, Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity, 3rd ed. (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2008).

20. Brad Stone, “Can Amazon Be the Wal-Mart of the Web?,” New York Times, September 19, 2009, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/business/20amazon.html.

21. David Aaker, “Why I Bought a No-Name Computer from a Components Firm,” accessed May 12, 2013, December 15, 2011, http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/12/why_i_bought_a_no-name_compute.html.

Chapter 6: Satisfaction, Loyalty, and the Future of Past Experience

1. Video of Rasmussen’s presentation can be seen here: “Google Wave Developer Preview at Google I/O 2009,” YouTube video, May 28, 2009, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_UyVmITiYQ. The video was viewed more than 9 million times, indicative of the attention this project has gotten.

2. More on the Deloitte study here: “New Deloitte Survey Uncovers the Erosion of Travel Loyalty,” January 22, 2013, accessed May 12, 2013, http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Industries/travel-hospitality-leisure/b8f3794f6d36c310VgnVCM1000003256f70aRCRD.htm; “A Restoration in Hotel Loyalty: Developing a Blueprint for Reinventing Loyalty Programs,” Deloitte, October 2012, accessed May 12, 2013, http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Industries/travel-hospitality-leisure/72ce4f52478ab310VgnVCM1000003256f70aRCRD.htm.

3. Jane Black, “Pushing into BlackBerry’s Sweet Spot,” BloombergBusinessweek, April 3, 2002, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2002-04-03/pushing-into-blackberrys-sweet-spot.

4. Robert Baillieul, “BlackBerry’s Decline in 7 Charts,” The Motley Fool, July 1, 2013, accessed July 13, 2013, http://beta.fool.com/robertbaillieul/2013/07/01/blackberrys-decline-in-6-charts/38850/.

Study regarding BlackBerry: J. D. Speedy, “Blackberry users are ready to move on: Study,” Computing Canada, January 20, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/blackberry-users-are-ready-to-move-on-study/144717. Also see Engadget article suggesting that as early as 2010, 50 percent already were looking elsewhere: Paul Miller, “BlackBerry Users Running Out of Loyalty: 50 Percent Plan to Defect to iPhone or Android,” August 2, 2010, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/02/blackberry-users-running-out-of-loyalty-50-percent-plan-to-defe/.

5. “Mobile Phone Users Lack Loyalty but Rely Heavily on Services,” CMO Council, August 30, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.cmocouncil.org/press-detail.php?id=3709.

6. David Aaker, Building Strong Brands (New York: Free Press, 1996), 21.

7. “Measuring your Net Promoter Score,” accessed May 11, 2013, http://www.netpromotersystem.com/about/measuring-your-net-promoter-score.aspx.

8. Regarding Hyundai: Warren Brown, “Hyundai’s Mission Possible: Beat the Luxury Brands,” Washington Post, April 1, 2007, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/29/AR2007032901431.html. ABC News about Hyundai: “The Hyundai Cinderella Story,” ABC News, April 13, 2009, accessed May 9, 2013, http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/video?id=7312406. See also Nick Bunkley, “Hyundai, Using a Safety Net, Wins Market Share,” New York Times, February 4, 2009, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/05/business/media/05auto.html.

9. Danny Hakim, “Hyundai Near Top of a Quality Ranking,” New York Times, April 29, 2004, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2004/04/29/automobiles/29auto.html. See also Joseph B. White, “Hyundai’s U.S. Sales Gains to Lag Market,” Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2013, accessed July 15, 2013, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324425204578601640134140784.html?mod=WSJ_qtoverview_wsjlatest.

10. For example: the general rise in income has not affected happiness ratings, as documented for example by Richard Easterlin. See Richard Easterlin, “Will Raising the Incomes of All Increase the Happiness of All?,” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization 27 (1995): 35–47.

11. Incidentally, Lars Rasmussen also headed the development of Facebook Graph Search. See Alyson Shontell, “The Guy Who Led the Charge on Facebook ‘Graph Search’ Also Created Google’s Biggest Flop,” Business Insider, January 15, 2013, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.businessinsider.com/lars-rasmussen-facebook-graph-search-google-wave-2013-1.

Chapter 7: Absolute Diffusion: From Pinehurst to Pinterest

1. Everett M. Rogers, The Fourteenth Paw: Growing Up on an Iowa Farm in the 1930s: A Memoir (Singapore: AMIC, 2008), 92.

2. Emanuel Rosen, The Anatomy of Buzz: How to Create Word-of-Mouth Marketing (New York: Doubleday, 2000).

3. Everett M. Rogers, Diffusion of Innovations, 5th ed. (New York: Free Press, 2003).

4. Bryce Ryan and Neal C. Gross, “The Diffusion of Hybrid Seed Corn in Two Iowa Communities,” Rural Sociology 8, no. 1 (1943): 15–24.

5. Mark S. Granovetter, “The Strength of Weak Ties,” American Journal of Sociology 78, no. 6 (1973): 1360–80.

6. For example, a recent study by researchers from Facebook and the University of Michigan confirms the fundamental role of weak ties in such an environment. See Eytan Bakshy, “Rethinking Information Diversity in Networks,” January 17, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, https://www.facebook.com/notes/facebook-data-team/rethinking-information-diversity-in-networks/10150503499618859.

7. Geoffrey Moore, Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling Technology Products to Mainstream Customers (New York: HarperBusiness, 1991). The Bowling Alley strategy is covered in Geoffrey Moore, Inside the Tornado: Strategies for Developing, Leveraging, and Surviving Hypergrowth Markets (New York: HarperBusiness, 1995).

8. For background about the tablet PC see Youngme Moon, “Microsoft: Positioning the Tablet PC,” Harvard Business School Case study 9-502-051, 2002.

9. “Why Tablet Computing Hasn’t Been Big Business,” PCWorld, November 18, 2010, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.pcworld.com/article/211066/why_tablet_computing_isnt_big_business.html.

10. About Pinterest: Jenna Wortham, “A Site That Aims to Unleash the Scrapbook Maker in All of Us,” New York Times, March 11, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/12/technology/start-ups/pinterest-aims-at-the-scrapbook-maker-in-all-of-us.html.

11. Josh Constine, “Pinterest Hits 10 Million U.S. Monthly Uniques Faster than Any Standalone Site Ever—ComScore,” TechCrunch, February 7, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://techcrunch.com/2012/02/07/pinterest-monthly-uniques/.

12. Silbermann’s quote is from an interview at Startup Grind in San Francisco: “Pinterest CEO, Ben Silbermann, Speaking at Startup Grind,” YouTube video, March 2, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1JLc2PYyCa0.

Silbermann’s talks at SXSW in 2012 here: Ben Silbermann, interview with Christopher Dixon, “Pinterest Explained: Q&A with Co-Founder Ben Silbermann,” March 13, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP992413.

13. For February 2013 data, see “Start-up Pinterest Wins New Funding, $2.5 Billion Valuation,” Reuters, February 20, 2013, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/21/net-us-funding-pinterest-idUSBRE91K01R20130221. For April 2012 data, see Alex Knapp, “New Study Pegs Pinterest as the Number 3 Social Website,” Forbes, April 9, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013 http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/04/09/new-study-pegs-pinterest-as-the-number-3-social-website/.

Chapter 8: Pointless Positioning and Persuasion

1. HTC Status commercial with Blink-182 can be seen here: “blink-182—HTC Status Commercial,” YouTube video, uploaded by user ft182tk, August 1, 2011, accessed May 9, 2013 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K3LTdlIyhA.

2. Greg Kumparak, “Failbook Phone: AT&T Already Looking to Ditch the HTC Status, Says Source,” TechCrunch, August 23, 2011, accessed July 14, 2013, http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/32/att-discontinuing-htc-status/.

3. The quote is from Gdgt.com, which gave the phone 71 points: “HTC First,” gdgt.com, accessed May 15, 2013, http://gdgt.com/htc/first/. See also Charles Arthur, “AT&T dumps Facebook phone as Home limps past 1m downloads,” Guardian, May 14, 2013, accessed July 14, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/may/14/facebook-home-app-htc-problems.

4. Greg Sandoval, “HTC to Acquire Majority Stake in Dr. Dre’s Beats,” CNET, August 10, 2013, accessed May 15, 2013, http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20090967-261/htc-to-acquire-majority-stake-in-dr-dres-beats/.

5. HTC Rezound commercial can be seen here: “HTC Rezound, the First Phone with Beats Audio Built In,” YouTube video, uploaded by user HTC, November 11, 2011, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoWBACFnmXo.

6. See, for example, Jack Dorsey’s interview with Kara Swisher at the Commonwealth Club of California: “Jack Dorsey (5/21/11),” YouTube video uploaded by user commonwealthclub, June 10, 2011, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40i21TBC020.

7. Eric Taub, “Nintendo at AARP Event to Court the Grayer Gamer,” New York Times, October 30, 2006, accessed May 15, 2013 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/30/technology/30aarp.html; Marcus Yam, “Wii Invades Retirement Home,” DailyTech, February 22, 2007, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.dailytech.com/Wii+Invades+Retirement+Home/article6191.htm.

8. Andrew Gershoff, Ran Kivetz, and Anat Keinan, “Consumer Response to Versioning: How Brands’ Production Methods Affect Perceptions of Unfairness,” Journal of Consumer Research 39, no. 2 (August 2012): 382–98. See consumers’ perception of versioning under “Damaged Good,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damaged_good (accessed May 9, 2013).

9. John McDermott, “Why AT&T Can Afford to Sell the Facebook Phone for Less than a Dollar,” AdAge Digital, May 9, 2013, accessed May 11, 2013, http://adage.com/article/digital/t-sell-facebook-phone-a-dollar/241373/.

10. Robert B. Cialdini, Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (New York: William Morrow, 1993), 227.

11. Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, and Robert B. Cialdini, Yes! 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive (New York: Free Press, 2008), 6.

Chapter 9: The Influence Mix

1. “Does ‘Liking’ a Brand Drive User Loyalty?,” eMarketer, February 8, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Liking-Brand-Drive-User-Loyalty/1008822. Also see Matthew Creamer, “Even Sexy Brands Struggle with Low Engagement on Facebook,” AdAge Digital, February 28, 2012, accessed My 9, 2013, http://adage.com/article/digital/sexy-brands-struggle-low-engagement-facebook/232993/.

2. See, for example, George J. Stigler, “The Economics of Information,” Journal of Political Economy 69, no. 3 (June 1961): 213–25.

3. We came across the connection with Duck Soup in John Tierney’s article, “Facts Prove No Match for Gossip, It Seems,” New York Times, October 16, 2007, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/science/16tier.html.

4. See “Asch Conformity Experiments,” Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asch_conformity_experiments, accessed May 19, 2013. See also Ralf D. Sommerfeld, “Gossip as an Alternative for Direct Observation in Games of Indirect Reciprocity,” PNAS 104, no. 44 (2007):17435–40.

5. Philip Nelson, “Information and Consumer Behavior,” Journal of Political Economy 78 (March–April 1970): 311–29.

6. There is a third category, “credence goods/attributes,” such as many vitamin supplements, for which quality cannot be assessed even after experience.

7. Neil Buckley “Atkins Puts Hole in Krispy Kreme Profits,” Financial Times, May 8, 2004, 1; Burton D. Cohen, “Krispy Kreme: The Franchisor That Went Stale,” Kellogg School of Management case study, KEL454.

8. Some research that suggests Black Friday deals are not necessarily the best: Stephanie Clifford, “Friday’s Deals May Not Be the Best,” New York Times, November 24, 2011, accessed May 9, 2009, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/25/business/fridays-deals-may-not-be-the-best.html.

9. Amazon.com, “Customer Reviews LitterMaid LME9000 Elite Mega Advanced Automatic Self-Cleaning Litter Box,” accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.amazon.com/LitterMaid-LME9000-Advanced-Automatic-Self-Cleaning/product-reviews/B000H6AK7A.

10. Douglas Rushkoff, Coercion: Why We Listen to What “They” Say (New York: Riverhead, 1999), 93.

Chapter 10: Communication: Match Your Customers’ Influence Mix

1. Regis McKenna, Relationship Marketing: Successful Strategies for the Age of the Customer (Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1991), 12.

2. Al Ries and Laura Ries, The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR (New York: HarperBusiness, 2002), xii. As we point out later, we agree with Al and Laura Ries that PR is increasingly important, but this doesn’t mean that advertising is dead, or that it can only be used to maintain brands that have been created by publicity.

3. We are starting to see evidence for the decline in the importance of top-of-mind recall. A study by McKinsey found that consumers increasingly evaluated brands that were not part of their initial consideration set. For example, consumers added, on average, 2.2 brands to their consideration set of 3.8 cars, 1.4 brands to an initial set of 3.2 auto insurance companies, and 1 brand to an initial set of 1.7 personal computers. David Court, Dave Elzinga, Susan Mulder, and Ole Jørgen Vetvik, “The Consumer Decision Journey,” McKinsey Quarterly (June 2009): 4, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_sales/the_consumer_decision_journey.

4. “LeBron’s Day with the Samsung Galaxy Note II,” YouTube video uploaded by user samsungmobileusa, October 30, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ie0mAnjz1Oc. Article in Slate about this commercial: John Swashburg, “Rebranding LeBron,” Slate, December 5, 2012, accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2012/12/05/lebron_james_samsung_ad_galaxy_note_ii_ad_wins_over_old_lebron_hater_video.html.

5. About Samsung’s ads, see John McDermott, “Samsung’s Ads Are Most Effective of the Year, but Fail to Take Bite Out of iPhone,” AdAge Digital, January 4, 2013, accessed May 12, 2013, http://adage.com/article/digital/samsung-s-ads-effective-bite-iphone/238997/.

6. About Amazon Vine: “What is Amazon Vine?,” accessed May 9, 2013, http://www.amazon.com/gp/vine/help.

7. Interview with Raj Rao, October 22, 2012.

8. PowerReviews was recently acquired by Bazaarvoice.

9. Interview with Brett Hurt, September 21, 2012.

10. Itamar Simonson, Stephen Nowlis, and Yael Simonson, “The Effect of Irrelevant Preference Arguments on Consumer Choice,” Journal of Consumer Psychology 2, no. 3 (1993): 287–306.

11. Ries and Ries. The Fall of Advertising and the Rise of PR, xx.

12. Laura Petrecca, “Small Business Challengers Work on Marketing,” USA Today, April 1, 2011, accessed May 14, 2013, http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/money/smallbusiness/startup/2010-06-04-marketing_N.htm.

13. “Poppa D’s Nuts Debuts in 7-Eleven,” Orlando Business Journal, April 27, 2011, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2011/04/27/poppa-ds-nuts-debuts-in-7-eleven.html.

14. The Lysol Community can be found here: http://www.lysol.com/lysol-community, accessed May 14, 2013.

Chapter 11: Market Research: From Predicting to Tracking

1. Jemima Kiss, “ ‘iPhone Set to Struggle,’ ” Guardian, June 29, 2007, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jun/29/digitalmedia.news.

2. “Anytime, Anyplace: Understanding the Connected Generation,” Universal McCann, 2007, accessed July 12, 2013, http://universalmccann.bitecp.com/um_report_pttp_lr3.pdf.

3. Some background about the difference between markets in this case: Sixty percent of mobile phone users in the United States already had three or more devices like an MP3 player, a portable media device, and a digital camera. So when asked for their opinion about a converged device, only 31 percent of respondents in the United States showed interest in multiple capabilities. The picture was different in countries like Mexico or India, where people liked the concept.

4. For example see, David Pogue, “The iPhone Matches Most of Its Hype,” New York Times, June 27, 2007, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/technology/circuits/27pogue.html.

5. For a review, see for example Paul E. Green and V. Srinivasan, “Conjoint Analysis in Marketing: New Developments with Implications for Research and Practice,” Journal of Marketing 54, no. 4 (October 1990): 3–19.

6. Interview with Tom Thai, August 2, 2012.

7. Background articles about Bluefin: David Talbot, “A Social-Media Decoder,” MIT Technology Review, October 18, 2011, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.technologyreview.com/featuredstory/425787/a-social-media-decoder/; Rachel Z. Arndt, “Bluefin Mine Social Media to Improve TV Analytics,” Fast Company, December 2011/January 2012, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.fastcompany.com/1793473/bluefin-mines-social-media-improve-tv-analytics.

8. John Jannarone, “When Twitter Fans Steer TV,” September 17, 2012, accessed May 14, 2013, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444772804577623444273016770.html.

9. In 2013, Bluefin Labs was acquired by Twitter.

10. Chris Ziegler, “Nokia CEO Stephen Elop Rallies Troops in Brutally Honest ‘Burning Platform’ Memo? (Update: It’s Real!),” Engadget, February 8, 2011, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/08/nokia-ceo-stephen-elop-rallies-troops-in-brutally-honest-burnin/.

11. Willy Shih and Howard H. Yu, “ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Eee PC (B),” Harvard Business School case study N9-609-052, 2008. See also HBR blog: Scott Anthony, “Netbooks: Disruption Interrupted?,” HBR Blog Network, March 17, 2009, accessed May 15, 2013, http://blogs.hbr.org/anthony/2009/03/netbooks_disruption_interrupte.html. Clive Thompson, “The Netbook Effect: How Cheap Little Laptops Hit the Big Time,” Wired, February 23, 2009, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.wired.com/gadgets/wireless/magazine/17-03/mf_netbooks.

12. Interview with Brett Hurt, September 21, 2012. Regarding the Samsung example, see Tara DeMarco, “Revisiting the Cliché, ‘The Customer Is Always Right,’ ” bazzarvoice:blog, May 16, 2011, accessed May 14, 2013, http://blog.bazaarvoice.com/2011/05/16/revisiting-the-cliche-the-customer-is-always-right/.

13. Interview with Brett Hurt, September 21, 2012.

14. Accor case: Ben, “My Forrester Groundswell Awards (Submission),” Synthesio, August 4, 2011, accessed May 14, 2013, http://synthesio.com/corporate/2011/awards/forrester2011/.

15. Interview with Brett Hurt, September 21, 2012; Steve Fuller, Senior Vice President & CMO, L.L.Bean, Presentation at Bazaarvoice Social Commerce Summit 2011, accessed January 17, 2013, http://www.bazaarvoice.com/video-playback/how-customer-conversations-transform-operations.html.

16. This discussion is consistent with prior work on the effect of diagnosticity and accessibility on judgment. J. M. Feldman and J. G. Lynch Jr., “Self-Generated Validity and Other Effects of Measurement on Belief, Attitude, Intention and Behavior,” Journal of Applied Psychology 73 (1988): 421–35

17. Only 6 percent of women surveyed in North America said it’s very important to find information about fashion, jewelry, or accessories, while 12 percent (twice as many) said that they are very likely to share information about this category. Similarly, 19 percent said it’s very important to find information about entertainment, while 38 percent (again, twice as many) said they are very likely to share information about this category. See “How Women Get and Spread Word on Products and Services Tied to Lifestage and Product Category,” Harbinger, October 6, 2010, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.harbingerideas.com/consumer_insight_research.asp.

18. Richard Nisbett and Timothy Wilson, “Telling More than We Can Know: Verbal Reports on Mental Processes,” Psychological Review 84 (1977): 231–59.

Chapter 12: Segment Evolution: From Susceptible to Savvy

1. A video of the session is available here: “Sep. 23, 2010—A Hearing on H.R. 6149, the ‘Precious Coins and Bullion Disclosure Act,’ ” YouTube video uploaded by user EnergyCommerce, July 20, 2011, accessed May, 15 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAQCkrsbUjA#t=0h30m5s. Dr. Bazan’s testimony starts at thirty minutes into the session.

2. Press release: Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office, “Goldline International and Executives Charged with Fraud, False Advertising and Conspiracy,” November 1, 2011, accessed May 14, 2013,_http://www.smgov.net/departments/cao/Content.aspx?id=27883.

3. Los Angeles Times coverage of the settlement: Stuart Pfeifer, “Goldline Agrees to Refund up to $4.5 Million to Former Customers,” Los Angeles Times, February 23, 2012, accessed May 14, 2013, http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/23/business/la-fi-0223-goldline-settlement-20120223. For Goldline’s press release, see “All Charges Dismissed, Goldline Announces; Precious Metals Company Will Continue to Set Standard for Customer Disclosures,” Goldline International, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.goldline.com/santa-monica-dismisses-misdemeanor-criminal-charges; “Goldline Responds to City Attorney’s Misleading Press Release,” Goldline International, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.goldline.com/goldline-international-charges-response. Press release: Santa Monica City Attorney’s Office, “Goldline International Placed Under Injunction, Ordered to Change Sales Practices,” February 22, 2012, accessed May 14, 2013 http://www.smgov.net/departments/cao/Content.aspx?id=29440.

4. For example: Matthew Mosk, Brian Ross, and Avni Patel, “Goldline: We’ll Fight Fraud Charges,” November 2, 2011, accessed May 15, 2013, ABC News, http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/goldline-fight-fraud-charges/story?id=14864468#.UZR6-LVwpas; Jeff Neumann, “Glenn Beck’s Goldline International Under Investigation for Ripping People Off,” Gawker, July 20, 2010, accessed May 15, 2013, http://gawker.com/5591413/glenn-becks-goldline-international-under-investigation; Stephanie Mencimer, “Glenn Beck’s Gold Gurus Charged with Fraud,” Mother Jones, May 19, 2010, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2010/05/glenn-beck-goldline-weiner. Consumer Reports warned that Goldline’s prices for collectible coins were inflated: Consumer Reports Money Adviser, “Can You Trust Goldline’s Advice?,” ConsumerReports.org, August 2010, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2010/08/can-you-trust-goldline-s-advice/index.htm.

5. Data provided to us by Nielsen suggests some link to education and income level, at least as of 2011. Mobile users in the United States with higher income or more years of formal education were more likely to use their mobile device to read product reviews prior to purchase or to compare prices of products. For example, while 68 percent of those with a graduate degree read a product review on their mobile device, only 52 percent of those with a high school diploma did the same. Proprietary data provided by Nielsen, Q2 2012 Mobile Connected Device Report, pp. 25–26, 37–38.

6. Some observers like Cass Sunstein (in his book Republic.com) argue that the Internet contributes to polarization as people choose not to expose themselves to different points of view. On the other hand, scholars like Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse Shapiro argue that most Internet users, even those we would call “extremists,” do not stay within their communities. See Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse Shapiro, “Ideological Segregation Online and Offline,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 126, no. 4 (2011): 1799–1839.

Chapter 13: The Future of the Absolute

1. A video on how Zillow was born can be seen here: “How Zillow started,” YouTube video uploaded by user 3oceans, October 29, 2006, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfVoM6jEiH0.

2. Interview with Oren Etzioni, January 27, 2012.

3. Mark Hendrickson, “Microsoft Acquires Farecast for $115M,” TechCrunch, April 17, 2008, accessed May 15, 2013, http://techcrunch.com/2008/04/17/microsoft-acquires-farecast-for-115m/.

4. Etzioni pointed out to us that the click-through was very much affected by the program’s advice.

5. Richard H. Thaler and Will Tucker, “Smarter Information, Smarter Consumers,” Harvard Business Review, January–February, 2013.

6. The difference can be significant. Fast Company calculated that on a $20,000 car, there can be a $5,000 gap between what the most susceptible consumers and the savviest buyers pay.

7. Tara Siegel Bernard, “Car Dealers Wince at a Site to End Sales Haggling,” New York Times, February 10, 2012, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/your-money/car-dealers-wince-at-a-site-to-end-sales-haggling.html; “The TrueCar Challenge,” Economist, January 7, 2012, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.economist.com/node/21542456; Gregory Ferenstein, “Yahoo Autos Partners with Truecar, Brings Transparency to Car Buying,” Fast Company, January 3, 2012, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.fastcompany.com/1804517/yahoo-autos-partners-truecar-brings-transparency-car-buying.

8. Dinah Wisenberg Brin, “TrueCar Aims to Foster Hassle-Free Auto Deals,” CNBC, March 22, 2013, accessed May 14, 2013, http://www.cnbc.com/id/100582285.

9. Stephen Nowlis and Itamar Simonson, “Attribute–Task Compatibility as a Determinant of Consumer Preference Reversals,” Journal of Marketing Research 34 (May 1997): 205–218.

10. Thaler and Tucker, “Smarter Information, Smarter Consumers.”

11. Oliver Nieburg ,”Chocolate Over-Consumption May be Linked to Parkinson’s Disease—Review,” Confectionary News, April 11, 2013, http://www.confectionerynews.com/Sectors/Chocolate/Chocolate-over-consumption-may-be-linked-to-Parkinson-s-Disease-review.

12. Douglas Bernheim and Jonathan Meer, “Do Real Estate Brokers Add Value When Listing Services Are Unbundled?,” February 2008, accessed May 15, 2013, Working Paper No. 13796, http://www.nber.org/papers/w13796.pdf. In addition, Steven D. Levitt and Chad Syverson found that homes owned by real estate agents sell for about 3.7 percent more than other houses. Steven D. Levitt and Chad Syverson, “Market Distortions When Agents Are Better Informed: The Value of Information in Real Estate Transactions,” January 2005, accessed May 15, 2013, NBER Working Paper No. 11053, http://www.nber.org/papers/w11053.

13. Brad Stone, “Why Redfin, Zillow, and Trulia Haven’t Killed Off Real Estate Brokers,” BloombergBusinessweek, March 7, 2013, accessed May 15, 2013, http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-03-07/why-redfin-zillow-and-trulia-havent-killed-off-real-estate-brokers.

Chapter 14: Absolute Business: A Final Word

1. Darrel G. Clarke and Randall E. Wise, “Optical Distortion, Inc.,” Harvard Business School case study 9-575-072, 1975; Patrick J. Kaufmann, “Optical Distortion, Inc. (C): The 1988 Reintroduction,” Harvard Business School case study 9-589-011, 1990.