Karma Queens, Geek Gods, and Innerpreneurs: Meet the 9 Consumer Types Shaping Today's Marketplace

In this guide to reaching a rapidly diversifying consumer population, marketing veteran Rentel divides the purchasing public into nine ""C-types,"" then sets about pinning them to a set of characteristics, interests and exploitation-ready buying habits. Profiles include the ""Karma Queen,"" an alternative-remedy, health-obsessed Birkenstock enthusiast; the ""Innerpreneur,"" a neo-hippie business owner who prioritizes inner peace over Porches; the ""Middleman,"" an immature post-collegiate; and ""E-Litists,"" interested in going green so long as it doesn't cost them style, comfort or quality. In accessible, well-laid out text, Rentel outlines their market-relevant stats, detailing the behavior and fixations of each consumer clique; for instance, when it comes to Middlemen, ""Sex sells; 'relationships' don't."" Using this information, Rentel delineates slick marketing moves for each type, like selling upscale chocolate to Karma Queens, energy bars to the Innerpreneur and big-ticket designer brands to ""Ms. Independents"" (single women committed to themselves, rather than family, feminism or corporate conquest). Though Rentel confesses that his primer is ""not meant to be a comprehensive study of all ... consumers in existence,"" that doesn't forgive his tendency toward easy stereotyping; though it's an interesting, informative read, its utility is limited by a penchant for oversimplification.