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Study: Markets Influenced by Elite Consumers

By AAN Staff
december 3, 2003  09:23 am
That consumers shape markets is a truism, but their influence is probably understated and certainly not fully understood. Eric von Hippel, a professor at the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argues that a huge swath of innovation can be traced to elite consumers whom he calls lead users. These imaginative and technically adept consumers spot a need and invent a solution, often changing whole industries, from sports to software.
View full article at New York Times