The hottest Consumer behavior Substack posts right now

And their main takeaways
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Margaritas at the Mall

Kneeling Bus • 215 implied HN points • 10 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Exercise Internet culture Urban life Evolution Consumer behavior
  1. The concept of exercise is portrayed as peculiar and counterintuitive in modern society, with emphasis on the trend towards optimizing the self.
  2. The digital age has paradoxically renewed focus on physical appearance and maintenance, despite the technological liberation that was once presumed.
  3. There is a critique on contemporary gym culture, illustrating a disconnect between the adapted physical ideals and the practical lifestyle in today's society.

#080 ✰ "LE NEW CONSUMER" manifesto

Objet • 98 implied HN points • 09 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Manifesto Consumer behavior Values Relationships Meaning
  1. The manifesto introduces the concept of 'Le New Consumer' who is an optimist and believes in creating a better world through their purchasing power.
  2. The 'Le New Consumer' values empowerment, balance, intellectual honesty, relationships, questioning intentions, curation, embracing friction, creating meaning, and seeking like-minded individuals.
  3. The manifesto encourages individuals to join the movement and embrace the values of 'Le New Consumer' to make a positive impact on the world.

On Bags, Fanny Packs, and Airlines

Gad’s Newsletter • 20 implied HN points • 18 Mar 24
💼 Business Consumer behavior Operational Efficiency Cost reduction
  1. Baggage fees are disliked by passengers, but they can lead to socially efficient outcomes by incentivizing customers to minimize their use of costly ancillary services.
  2. Charging for ancillary services like checked bags aligns customer behavior with cost-saving measures that benefit the airline and society, ultimately achieving greater operational efficiency and social welfare.
  3. The implementation of baggage fees by airlines can influence customer behavior, improve operational performance, and encourage passengers to travel with fewer bags, contributing to reduced costs and operational efficiency.

The Health of the US Consumer: A DataScore Interview with NielsenIQ

The Data Score • 59 implied HN points • 06 Feb 24
💼 Business Data-driven Decision Making Consumer behavior E-commerce Market Trends
  1. The health of the US consumer in 2024 is complex, influenced by both tailwinds and headwinds, with different consumer cohorts showing varied spending behaviors.
  2. Low-income consumers are spending a higher percentage of their income on e-commerce, indicating potential shifts in spending habits influenced by factors like age demographics and value-seeking behavior.
  3. Analysis of specific industries like travel, home improvement, pet products, and fast fashion reveals changing consumer behaviors, highlighting trends such as a shift to home-related spending and considerations for subscription services like online streaming and pet supply shopping.

Amazon’s Strategic Moves to Counter Temu’s Competitive Edge: The BuyBox Innovation

Gad’s Newsletter • 41 implied HN points • 19 Feb 24
💼 Business E-commerce Competition Consumer behavior Strategic Planning
  1. Amazon is facing competition from companies like Temu, pushing them to innovate strategy like introducing a second BuyBox.
  2. The BuyBox tool simplifies shopping by highlighting one listing, and its introduction boosts marketplace orders, lowers entry barriers for sellers, and can lead to lower prices and higher quality for consumers.
  3. Self-preferencing of Amazon's products in search results may have mixed effects, impacting competition, innovation, consumer choice, and marketplace dynamics.

Colorado Calls For Repair Scores

Fight to Repair • 39 implied HN points • 01 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Repairability Right-to-repair E-Waste Legislation Consumer behavior
  1. Colorado's legislature passed a resolution calling for a national scoring system for electronic device repairs, aiming to make repairability of products easy to understand when buying electronics.
  2. Repair scores, like the one adopted in France, have been shown to influence consumer behavior and create awareness about repairability options.
  3. Repair scores are part of a broader effort to reduce e-waste and empower consumers by making hidden costs of device purchases more apparent.

Weekend Theorys No. 4

Working Theorys • 21 implied HN points • 18 Feb 24
💼 Business Startups Consumer behavior Marketing Innovation Competition
  1. The concept of 'cool' is depreciating faster than ever, leading builders to rethink product longevity. Minimizing time to value and embracing time to lameness are key strategies.
  2. Builders must navigate between the online persona ('netizen self') and real-life persona ('citizen self') to maintain authenticity and relevance in a digital age.
  3. Launching new products in a slow and deliberate manner, focusing on timeless design, and inventing new product categories can help extend the lifespan of a product in a fast-changing market.

Rethinking the Retail Apocalypse: A Closer Look at Retail’s Evolution

Gad’s Newsletter • 23 implied HN points • 12 Feb 24
💼 Business Retail E-commerce Consumer behavior Supply Chain
  1. Despite the rise of online shopping, physical retail locations still play a crucial role in the retail landscape.
  2. The concept of omnichannel retailing, combining online and physical sales channels, has become essential for many retailers.
  3. Understanding consumer preferences and integrating online and offline channels intelligently is crucial for the future of retail.

Car Rentals and Electric Cars are filing for Divorce, for now...

Startupology • 19 implied HN points • 05 Feb 24
💼 Business Transportation Financials Consumer behavior Sustainability Market Analysis
  1. Rental car companies and EVs face challenges like high repair costs and poor infrastructure.
  2. Hertz faced bankruptcy, then aimed to boost business with an EV fleet but is now selling off a third of it due to low demand and high repair costs.
  3. Issues with rental companies and EVs include maintenance costs, customer education, charging infrastructure, and consumer familiarity.

Dissecting the points meta: best practices for user loyalty

Li's Newsletter • 9 implied HN points • 14 Feb 24
💼 Business Tokenization Consumer behavior
  1. Points in loyalty programs are a way to move users up the loyalty ladder by rewarding behaviors with tangible benefits and creating emotional connections with the brand.
  2. When designing a points program, consider if points should target user acquisition or retention, if they should be redeemable, and what types of rewards are enticing for users.
  3. Onchain tokens have advantages over traditional points in terms of composability, but drawbacks like speculation impacting consumer behavior and legal/regulatory challenges need to be considered.

Should Wendy's Introduce Surge Pricing?

Economic Forces • 4 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
💼 Business Economics Pricing Competition Consumer behavior Marketing
  1. Dynamic pricing and price discrimination are complex but can benefit both firms and consumers by adjusting prices based on demand and consumer willingness to pay.
  2. Price discrimination, when done thoughtfully, can lower prices for some consumers while increasing profits for firms, ultimately benefiting both parties.
  3. Despite advancements in digital tools for dynamic pricing, many companies, including Wendy's, are cautious due to the importance of maintaining customer trust and long-term relationships.

The marketplace of rationalisations

Optimally Irrational • 18 implied HN points • 07 Dec 23
🚌 Education Media influence Information Consumption Political Bias Consumer behavior
  1. Consumers shape the features of the modern public sphere by driving the demand for biased information.
  2. Providers of rationalisations compete on quality in a marketplace where reputation plays a crucial role.
  3. Market dynamics in the information sphere highlight agglomeration economies, the influence of demand on supply, and the risk of audience capture.

Governing API Consumption

The API Changelog • 4 implied HN points • 23 Feb 24
🕹 Technology Consumer behavior Developer Experience
  1. Breaking changes in APIs can disrupt consumer integrations, leading to failures. Producers need to understand and mitigate breaking changes to maintain API usability.
  2. API governance faces challenges as consumers may not adhere to contracts, causing uncontrolled consumption and dependencies. Aligning API usage closely to expected scenarios helps manage these issues.
  3. Controlling API consumption can be improved by providing SDKs that offer a standardized way to interact with the API, reducing the risk of breaking changes and fostering smoother interactions between producers and consumers.

Wendy’s Flips on Dynamic Pricing

Gad’s Newsletter • 2 HN points • 04 Mar 24
💼 Business Pricing Consumer behavior Economics Market Dynamics
  1. Wendy's plans to implement digital menu boards with dynamic pricing by 2025 to enhance customer experience and boost sales.
  2. Different forms of pricing like static pricing, time-varying static pricing, and dynamic pricing are used in various industries to maximize revenue and cater to customer needs.
  3. Consumers often prefer fixed pricing over dynamic pricing due to aversion to risk and preference for consistency, but strategies like cost insurance can encourage adoption of more flexible pricing models.

The very real effects of consumers’ hopes

Klement on Investing • 1 implied HN point • 06 Mar 24
💰 Finance Consumer behavior Economic Indicators
  1. Consumer sentiment surveys are essential indicators for future consumption, but some specific questions like the outlook on major purchases can predict consumption better than headline figures.
  2. Consumers tend to be overly optimistic about their future family finances compared to the overall economy, which can impact future consumption growth.
  3. The level of ex ante optimism, comparing expectations for family finances and the economy, can be a powerful predictor of future consumption growth, while ex post optimism influences savings ratios and credit usage.

What's Happening; Consumer Brain rot, Meta's Chatbot launch + Ad News

The Social Juice • 12 implied HN points • 27 Sep 23
💼 Business Marketing Consumer behavior Social media Influencer Marketing Brand Marketing
  1. Marketers should pay attention to consumer behavior changes and the rise of impulse purchases due to information overload.
  2. TikTok's success in the US was driven by fast campaigns that targeted a wide audience and leveraged viral trends.
  3. Consumers, especially Gen-Z and Millennials, show different behaviors on social media that marketers need to understand and adapt to.

Affinity Marketing and the Latino American Fintech Opportunity

Chaos Engineering • 2 implied HN points • 29 Jan 24
💼 Business Marketing Data Analysis Financial Services Startups Consumer behavior
  1. Affinity marketing involves targeting specific customer groups based on shared characteristics or interests.
  2. Hispanics in the US represent a large segment of the population, often working in labor-intensive jobs and having lower educational backgrounds and incomes.
  3. The Latino American fintech market presents an opportunity to provide financial services tailored to the needs of the Hispanic and Latino communities.