Ashraf Sheikh's Expresso Blog (thats Espresso + Expressions)

Motivated to buy?

Why People Buy Things They Don't Need

What motivates people to buy? is it pleasure? Education? Entertainment? Status? or just an Impulse?
Knowing why consumers buy what they do is the secret to predicting how they will behave in the ever-changing marketplace.

"...the best study of consumer purchasing trends since Paco Underhill's seminal Why we buy" (fastcompany.com)

Capelli's Middle East crusade

What can a Wharton professor do in Bahrain, a tiny Persian Gulf monarchy?

Peter Cappelli, a human resources guru at America's top management school, spearheaded a campaign that could shake up the kingdom's economy.

A Knowledge@Wharton article chronicles Cappelli's experience. Like many developing nations, Bahrain -- only four times the size of Washington, D.C. with a population of 675,000, less than that of Indianapolis -- has a surplus of unskilled workers, with official unemployment standing at 10%. This is made worse by cheap labor from Pakistan and Bangladesh, workers who are subject to no minimum wage and not allowed to switch jobs. . Read on