A "Hype Shopper" is someone that blindly buys whatever item/s are popular at that point in time. These types of shoppers are considered to be the "Perfect Shopper", because the companies can control these types of people so easily. Hype Shoppers tend to have the personality of a (Conformist). Which basically follows the guideline "If everyone else is doing it, and I do it, then I'm cool for being the same as everyone else." This causes them to not have their own well established personalties, but rather pick and choose what to BE based on the current Trends. Hype Shoppers also tend to buy name brand items over cheaper generics; because name brand items are considered a "Status Symbol."
A good example of a "Hype Shopper" can be found with the sales of Apple's iPhone PDA. Apple used various media sources such as TV, Radio, and the Internet to create a Buzz around the unknown device. It was promoted as a Must-Have. Apple was so good at this, that Hype Shoppers were more then willing to wait in long lines, spend excessive amounts of money, and deal with numerous service issues; all for the chance to own the so-called "Jesus Phone". Even though the device was unknown at the time in it's performance and offered most of the same features that could be found on PDA's that were being sold for half the price. Some customers spent thousands of dollars on early Termination Fees, iPhone sales off of auction web sites like Ebay, on top of wireless carrier activation fees and contracts. In the end, all because a company was able to control these customers like a dog on a leash. Even after many customers had their phones fail after unlocking them And/Or downloading Firmware updates, these customers still waited in the rain to buy the iPhone 3G.
by the2ndflood July 26, 2008