When the NY Times Book Review section decided earlier this year to ask a large pack of literary lions to pick the "single best work of American fiction published in the last 25 years," there was genuine concern that selecting a single title would actually reduce the amount of fiction the public would read.
Name a winner of a contest like that, the theory went, and people would flock to it and forsake other excellent literature, so strong is the attraction of people to such lists. The attraction is partly the desire for guidance (what serious reader doesn't want to know what the literari respects?) and partly the desire to be fashionable (as in I read what the literari read).
There's no doubt that sales of these excellent books (consult www.nytimes.com for details) will flourish, while works of comparable skill will languish, unless the NY Times asks the same lions to name the 10 best overlooked works of American fiction in the last 25 years.
This consumer predilection to pay too much attention to the product at the top of some arbitrary list is ironic and fairly harmless when it comes to novels, but when it comes to buying the brand at the top of a segment of the auto industry it can lead to the consumer paying way too much money.
This condition seems particularly strong in the minivan segment, perhaps because most of the people who buy these vehicles are looking for an appliance rather than a relationship. So it is that they follow that suspect advise from the auto writers (most of whom hate minivans) embedded in the car companies' marketing departments and buy a Honda Odyssey or Toyota Sienna.
As it happens those two minivans are pretty good choices, unless you are really serious about your family's safety and/or don't mind spending more money than you need to.
On the safety front, neither the Odyssey or the Sienna have crash notification and vehicle location services, which are important for any vehicle but critical in those that regularly carry children. If you're thinking a cell phone is just as good, then you don't know enough about the technology, you don't have a broad enough experience with life-threatening emergencies, or you simply just haven't thought your responsibilities through. I urge you to do that before you live to regret it, or die before you get that chance.
When it comes to paying too much for a minivan, the situation involving the "top picks" is quite amazing. When it comes to quality, reliability, safety (except for crash notification), equipment levels and so on, there's virtually no significant difference between the large number of offerings. So whichever one you buy, you're likely going to have a fairly positive experience, baring the right (or wrong) kind of emergency situation.
But the impressionable or naive buyer who takes those suspect recommendations to heart is quite often willing to pay a premium for those "top-picks," regardless of the fact that none of them is really that much better than the others.
In the face of this curious consumer predilection for taking these specious "top-pick" suggestions too much to heart, many of the companies offering excellent vehicles in the minivan segment are now having trouble meeting their sales objectives.
Name a winner of a contest like that, the theory went, and people would flock to it and forsake other excellent literature, so strong is the attraction of people to such lists. The attraction is partly the desire for guidance (what serious reader doesn't want to know what the literari respects?) and partly the desire to be fashionable (as in I read what the literari read).
There's no doubt that sales of these excellent books (consult www.nytimes.com for details) will flourish, while works of comparable skill will languish, unless the NY Times asks the same lions to name the 10 best overlooked works of American fiction in the last 25 years.
This consumer predilection to pay too much attention to the product at the top of some arbitrary list is ironic and fairly harmless when it comes to novels, but when it comes to buying the brand at the top of a segment of the auto industry it can lead to the consumer paying way too much money.
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| Honda Odyssey (Photo: Honda) |
As it happens those two minivans are pretty good choices, unless you are really serious about your family's safety and/or don't mind spending more money than you need to.
 |
| Toyota Siienna (Photo: Toyota) |
When it comes to paying too much for a minivan, the situation involving the "top picks" is quite amazing. When it comes to quality, reliability, safety (except for crash notification), equipment levels and so on, there's virtually no significant difference between the large number of offerings. So whichever one you buy, you're likely going to have a fairly positive experience, baring the right (or wrong) kind of emergency situation.
But the impressionable or naive buyer who takes those suspect recommendations to heart is quite often willing to pay a premium for those "top-picks," regardless of the fact that none of them is really that much better than the others.
In the face of this curious consumer predilection for taking these specious "top-pick" suggestions too much to heart, many of the companies offering excellent vehicles in the minivan segment are now having trouble meeting their sales objectives.