Absolute Value

About the Author

Itamar Simonson is the Sebastian S. Kresge Professor of Marketing at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on consumer decision-making, his work has been featured in prominent publications such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Emanuel Rosen is the author of the national bestseller The Anatomy of Buzz. He was previously vice president of marketing at Niles Software, where he launched the company's flagship product, EndNote.

Main Idea

The book Absolute Value: What Really Influences Customers in the Age of (Nearly) Perfect Information by Itamar Simonson and Emanuel Rosen challenges conventional marketing wisdom by revealing how modern consumers make decisions. The authors introduce the concept of the "Influence Mix," a framework for understanding consumer decision-making in an age where information is abundant and accessible. The book argues that traditional marketing strategies, which rely heavily on branding and loyalty, are losing their effectiveness as consumers increasingly base their decisions on absolute value—direct assessments of a product's quality and performance.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Part I: The Shift from Relative to Absolute
3. Part II: How Marketing Changes Forever
4. Part III: A New Framework

Introduction

In the past, consumers made purchasing decisions relative to other things—a brand name, previous experiences, or an advertised message. Today, however, the abundance of information available has shifted this paradigm. Consumers now have the tools to evaluate products individually, based on the absolute value they offer. This shift has profound implications for how businesses market their products and interact with consumers.

The Shift from Relative to Absolute

The 20th-century marketing strategies focused on relative evaluations, where products were compared to those nearby or against past experiences. This approach relied heavily on creating relative quality proxies, such as brand names. However, with the rise of technology and the internet, consumers can now access global information, reviews, and expert opinions, enabling them to make more informed and rational decisions.

"Judgments are still relative, but the reference points can be based on the best of what's available out there." - Itamar Simonson and Emanuel Rosen

Several factors drive this shift: