The Passion Premium

Seth commented about the increasing price range within product categories. I'm used to reading about price deflation and how models shop on the High Street, but this got me thinking about who buys the high-end stuff.

There is currrently much media coverage here about the retail adventures of the footballers' wives and girlfriends (WAGs) during the World Cup. In one hour on their latest outing, six of them allegedly spent nearly $100,000 in an hour. Having boosted their stocks hugely to cater to them, the shopkeepers of Baden Baden apparently are changing their window-displays daily to entice these rocket scientists.

But WAGs can't be part of the answer. Or can they? Joi Ito has theorised about the future being about selling a relatively few products at high prices rather than thousands of sales at average prices. These high-price consumers will consist of the real fanatics who are prepared to pay a premium for authenticity. Joi was talking about anime videos, but are the much-mocked WAGs not, in fact, true fanatics for genuine designer schmutter? Their celebrity culture motivation may be highly dubious but it doesn't make their passion any less genuine.