great thread ...really thought provoking -- in a good way.
all day i have been seriously struggling with the consumer perception aspect you are trying to drill down on. and, every time i try to get my head around it there is just no way i can reconcile it with most of the list. taking performance completely out of the equation really begs the question: what then is actually left and what is it about a brand that appeals to me?
my take on the list (particularly as initially specified) is that there is nothing special about most of the brands. they are just different versions of an expensive box full of electrical parts. what then is there to get excited about? there is no uniqueness, rareness, interesting back-story -- nothing to compel one's interest.
perhaps this is why i am attracted to the smaller, artisanal brands that fly well under the radar of the mass-affluent demographic. their products are produced in quite small quantities. you get to interact with the owner / designer / builder... its fun to learn about, to (often times) uniquely configure, and then to own this type gear. there is something special about it -- i did not just walk in and plunk down a large sum for a "commodity product". rather, i got a piece of art with a soul that also plays music.
so, perhaps, what i am trying to articulate is that in the absence of SQ as a consideration, price is not something that influences my individual "consumer perception" ...it is the intangible qualities of a brand that make it unique and generate that pride-of-ownership feeling that would be my metric for deciding tier.
in any event, this thread would make a great case study at business schools.
all day i have been seriously struggling with the consumer perception aspect you are trying to drill down on. and, every time i try to get my head around it there is just no way i can reconcile it with most of the list. taking performance completely out of the equation really begs the question: what then is actually left and what is it about a brand that appeals to me?
my take on the list (particularly as initially specified) is that there is nothing special about most of the brands. they are just different versions of an expensive box full of electrical parts. what then is there to get excited about? there is no uniqueness, rareness, interesting back-story -- nothing to compel one's interest.
perhaps this is why i am attracted to the smaller, artisanal brands that fly well under the radar of the mass-affluent demographic. their products are produced in quite small quantities. you get to interact with the owner / designer / builder... its fun to learn about, to (often times) uniquely configure, and then to own this type gear. there is something special about it -- i did not just walk in and plunk down a large sum for a "commodity product". rather, i got a piece of art with a soul that also plays music.
so, perhaps, what i am trying to articulate is that in the absence of SQ as a consideration, price is not something that influences my individual "consumer perception" ...it is the intangible qualities of a brand that make it unique and generate that pride-of-ownership feeling that would be my metric for deciding tier.
in any event, this thread would make a great case study at business schools.
opcorn:
