A History of Mass Communication: Six Information Revolutions Review

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(More customer reviews)This was an excellent book. This book should make a great Textbook in "Media Studies" or "History of Technology."

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This exciting new text traces the common themes in the long and complex history of mass communication. It shows how the means of communicating grew out of their eras, how they developed, how they influenced the societies of those eras, and how they have continued to exert their influence upon subsequent generations. The book is divided into six periods which are identified as 'Information Revolutions' writing, printing, mass media, entertainment, the 'toolshed' (which we call 'home' now), and the Information Highway. In looking at the ways in which the tools of communication have influenced and been influenced by social change, A History of Mass Communication provides students of media and journalism with a strong sense of the way their chosen field affects how society functions. Providing a broad-based approach to media history, Dr. Fang encourages the reader to take a careful look at where our culture is headed through the tools we use to communicate with one another.A History of Mass Communication is not only the most current text on communication history, but also an invaluable resource for anyone interested in how methods of communication affect society. The most up-to-date textbook for mass communications history courses Traces common themes in the complex history of communication An invaluable reference for anyone interested in how methods of communication affect society

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Authenticity: What Consumers Really Want Review

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This is the latest in a series of several books (notably The Experience Economy: Work is Theater and Every Business a Stage and Markets of One: Creating Customer-Unique Value through Mass Customization) in which James H. Gilmore and B. Joseph Pine focus on what Peter Drucker once identified as one of the greatest challenges any business faces: How to get and then keep profitable customers? Their thesis in this latest volume is that marketers need to address the problem of managing "the perceptions of real or fake held by the consumer's of [an] enterprise's output - because people increasingly make purchase decisions based on how real or fake they perceive offerings. These perceptions flow directly from how well any particular offering conforms to a customer's self-image."
In this volume, Gilmore and Pine examine "the authenticity of economic offerings, not the authenticity of individuals in personal relationships, something people also greatly desire but the subject of many other tomes." They cite two exemplars in particular - Disney and Starbucks - because no company "has more affected our collective view of what is real and what is not" than has Disney. As for Starbucks, no other company "more explicitly manages its perception of authenticity, making direct appeals to authenticity in every way" Gilmore and Pine define this new discipline.
Here are some of the specific issues they address with rigor and eloquence:
1. The appeal of "real"
2. The drivers of the new consumer sensibility
3. Three axioms of authenticity
4. Five genres of authenticity
5. Two "time-honored standards" of authenticity
6. Ten elements of authenticity
7. How to be what you say you are
8. How to continue to be "true to self"
9. The nature, extent, and interaction of five key "real/fake polarities"
10. How to sustain the authenticity of what is offered
Decision-makers in any organization (regardless of its size or nature) are provided a comprehensive, cohesive, and cost-effective program by which to address and resolve these and other issues. Of course, even if Gilmore and Pine were in residence, actively involved in the design and implementation of such a program, assistance, it cannot succeed unless the given offering is and remains inherently authentic, That is, it fully meets (if not exceeds) the given consumer's perceptions of the benefits claimed for it.

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Don't Think Pink: What Really Makes Women Buy -- and How to Increase Your Share of This Crucial Market Review

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(More customer reviews)Women are the most powerful consumer force in the U.S., but they do not approach buying decisions the way men do. That's intriguing, but it doesn't mean that exhaustive demographic and sales statistics make interesting reading. Authors and marketing consultants Lisa Johnson and Andrea Learned explain how to direct your marketing efforts to women. Each chapter deals with a different subset of women - old, young, black, white, Hispanic, married, single - but the groups are compared along similar lines and the information is sliced the same way in most chapters. The authors liven up their exposition with short illustrative case studies, but the cases often feature products for which marketers have made no concerted, specific effort to attract female buyers. For instance, the decision to sell single servings of food occurred because of other demographics (more people living alone) and was not intended just to attract women buyers. Still, the thesis here is important enough to carry the authors' occasional tendency to twist product features to fit the theme, as well as their branding jargon. Acknowledging the significance of marketing to women, we recommend this information-packed book.

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