BCG Latest Thinking
The New Consumer—The Treasure Hunters
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Everyone is a treasure hunter, regardless of gender, family status, age, cultural background, or income. Here are just a few who are featured in the book:
Lauren James
- Single, age thirty
- Lauren lives alone in an apartment in Chicago
- She worries about ending up as a lonely "bag lady"
- She trades up on personal care items, apparel, and restaurants
- She trades down on furniture, handbags, and food for home
Alice and Ben Nelson and family
- Suburban couple, mid-forties, three kids
- Ben works as a full-time engineer and part-time hair stylist
- Alice is a part-time nurse
- The Nelsons live in a suburban town and take in about $85,000 annually
- They traded up on a flat-screen television
- They opted out of a family vacation to afford the TV
Jim and Anne Freedman
- Suburban couple, mid-fifties, empty-nesters
- Jim was making a seven-figure income until he lost his business after 9/11
- Anne's $42,000 annual income as a teacher could not sustain them
- They sold their house and many of their possessions
- They have learned how to treasure hunt in order to make ends meet
Hilda, Franck, Johanna, and Andreas Schmidt
- German family living near Munich
- Hilda is a stay-at-home mom; Franck is a salesman
- Hilda shops at hard-discount stores for most goods
- She stockpiles commodities in the basement storeroom to stretch the family's budget
- The Schimdts rarely splurge and Hilda longs for an occasional night out on the town
Arnold and Molly Piso
- Urban couple in their early thirties
- Arnold is a banker and self-proclaimed skinflint
- Molly is a publicist and a would-be spendthrift
- They enter every expenditure into a spreadsheet
- They traded up on a leather couch, even though it doesn't fit into their current apartment, because it was a great deal
Masako Tanaka
- A Japanese "office lady," early twenties
- Masako lives at home with her parents
- She earns a healthy income and has few expenses
- She saves almost nothing because she expects her future husband to have money
- She trades up on gifts she buys while traveling abroad
- She does not participate at all in many categories
Sarah, Rick, Samantha, Carly, and Emily Montfort
- Suburban family with school-age children
- They recently traded up to a new neighborhood in order to gain access to better schools
- They trade down in almost every category in order to pay the mortgage and the kids' expenses
- Rick spends disproportionately on poker and golf
- Sarah sometimes splurges on a shopping day out with friends
- They look forward to a small inheritance that will help pay off debt
