Adam Smith, the grandfather of capitalist economic thought, believed that the nature of the marketplace naturally guides consumers to seek the best product at the best price. As Smith wrote, an item’s “real price …is the toil and trouble of acquiring it.” Using these traditional economic theories, traditional business plans aim to provide a product of comparable quality for a lower manufacturing cost, thereby enjoying a higher profit margin. However, as manufacturing costs have dropped and consumer spending has skyrocketed in the last few decades, consumers no longer depend solely on price and quality to dictate what they buy. In today’s market, consumers are usually more engaged by emotional motivation than rational drivers.

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