The term
market maven was first introduced by Feick and Price (1987), who defined this type of consumer orientation or market influencer as "individuals who have information about many kinds of products, places to shop, and other facets of markets, and initiate discussions with consumers and respond to requests from consumers for market information" (p.
The subject of this paper concerns one of these special consumers, the
market maven. Though early purchasers and opinion leaders certainly warrant the attention of marketing managers, the ideal target for communicating marketing mix changes that span multiple product categories and involve something more than new product introduction should have knowledge about a wide array of goods and services and the process of acquiring them (Feick & Price, 1987).
The internet maven construct--an outgrowth of the
market maven construct - first identified in the United States, are savvy internet users who act as sources of consumer information for others.
One
market maven said, "People sought them as safe havens in the storm.")
The
market maven has, and shares with other consumers, a wide range of information about a variety of products, stores and other market phenomena (Feick and Price, 1987).
The Internet maven is an outgrowth of the
market maven construct, first introduced by Feick and Price in 1987.
Although not developed as a conceptual complement to or as a theoretical foundation in this study, the questionnaire also contained, for comparison purposes, the complete
market maven scale (Feick & Price, 1987), an accepted measure of one's propensity to engage in general marketplace conversations.
Veteran
market maven's advice: You're in it for the long haul
The researchers also profile online
market mavens, apply the open source philosophy to scientific entrepreneurship, and make the case for an integrated business model innovation approach.
The
market mavens will say, 'Tough noogies, but you picked the wrong company to work for.
Randy Kilgore, VP of advertising at WSJ.com, says that not only can he get a premium CPM for that kind of precision targeting, but that it also broadens his site's appeal because now he can show that he not only has an audience of stock
market mavens but also travel or car fans.
As usual, we put together a panel of
market mavens who can decipher today's investment climate.
