http://www.pi-consulting.com Pathways to Consumer Insight Wed, 01 Oct 2008 13:13:40 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Homo Sapiens is defined by rationality. Since we mutated into Homo Consumiens, economists believe we are all supposed to be even more logic-driven in our pursuit of self-interest. Really? Maybe somewhere out there super-intelligent extra-terrestrials are monitoring our eBay bids and online purchases, checking the human race ... http://www.pi-consulting.com/2008/10/01/what-were-we-thinking/ The average American adds a tip of between 8% and 37% after an enjoyable meal. Yet 40% of Americans profess to hate tipping as a practice. They are not alone. Australians have a long history of hating the whole idea of tipping, on the basis that “The ... http://www.pi-consulting.com/2008/09/15/pi-believe-it-or-%e2%80%94-what-82-here%e2%80%99s-a-tip-don%e2%80%99t/ To dub? Or to sub-title? Movies on TV are supposed to be entertaining, and Spanish-speaking viewers don’t feel they should have to work too hard at having a good time. For mainstream American audiences, of course, the question scarcely arises, since foreign-language movies from beyond the US ... http://www.pi-consulting.com/2008/09/01/%e2%80%9cdub-titling%e2%80%9d-for-spanish-speakers/ he average American will still order a double cheeseburger and large fries, then virtuously pick a diet soft drink to wash it down with. Since the early 1990s, America’s average bra size has jumped from 34B to 36C. Brassiere company executives attribute this mainly to the above mentioned ... http://www.pi-consulting.com/2008/08/15/pi-believe-it-or-%e2%80%94-what-81-burn-the-burger-not-the-bra/ “Walk? Not bloody likely!” Eliza Doolittle in Shaw’s play Pygmalion memorably declared, “I’m goin’ in a taxi!”. This may be the last recorded expression of unconditional enthusiasm for taxicabs as a mode of transport. In today’s world, you are more likely to hear a string of ... http://www.pi-consulting.com/2008/08/01/taxi-fuggedabadit/ Tech rules. The average American comes up with more commercially exploitable technological innovations and ideas than people from practically any other country. The Finns, for some reason, seem to be the runners-up. Despite this, the typical American faced with a malfunctioning electronic device, notwithstanding his/her membership of the ... http://www.pi-consulting.com/2008/07/15/pi-believe-it-or-%e2%80%94-what-80-hit-it/ God gave Adam a luxuriant growth of facial hair, but every morning his sons laboriously scrape it off again. A huge global industry is based on this curious fact. What do men use to keep themselves clean-shaven? A recent survey in Europe showed that 45% of European males have ... http://www.pi-consulting.com/2008/07/01/shave-it-shweetheart/ Paris is where good Americans go when they die, it used to be said. The same is true about Miami and the Latin Americans. People from all over Hispanic America speak of Miami with a wistful sigh and a flutter of the eyelids, as if it were some ... http://www.pi-consulting.com/2008/06/24/welcome-to-my-yammi/ The Product Placement (PP) industry, as it relates to movies and television, was an American invention, and largely remains an American preserve. This is for the overriding reason that Hollywood, the filmed entertainment world’s HQ and epicenter, is located on American soil. Its executives, financiers and writers dance to ... http://www.pi-consulting.com/2008/05/26/pi-believe-it-or-%e2%80%94-what-79-lights%e2%80%a6-camera%e2%80%a6-pentagon%e2%80%a6/ As this site reported on March 17th, “America’s consumer electronics (CE) industry is grappling with stringent new federal and state legislation to ensure that manufacturers ‘take out the garbage’ as they sell-in new gizmos like HDTV. The issue is a serious one, with the impending switch-off of analogue TV ... http://www.pi-consulting.com/2008/05/09/pi-believe-it-or-%e2%80%94-what-78-tv-it%e2%80%99s-not-garbage-after-all/