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| The Clustered World : How We Live, What We Buy, and What It All Means About Who We Are | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael J. Weiss
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $29.95
Buy Used: $0.28
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New (13) Used (39) Collectible (5) from $0.28
Avg. Customer Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 712188
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.5 x 7.7 x 1.1
ISBN: 0316929204
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.0973
EAN: 9780316929202
ASIN: 0316929204
Publication Date: December 15, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 1-5 of 11 | | NEXT » |
Powerful with Global Implications, Needs a Third Transformative Work November 8, 2003
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
Edit of 21 Dec 07 to add links.
When Howard Dean used the shorthand expression "guys with confederate flags on their pick-ups" he was actually talking about what some call "NASCAR dads" and Michael Weiss calls the "Shotguns & Pickups" cluster (number 29 in his first book, number 43 in this advanced and improved edition).
Although others have written about the nine nations of North America (Joel Garreau), various "tribes" across the nation, and demographics in general, Michael Weiss stands head and shoulders above all of them in providing the definitive reference work that is also a form of novel about America.
With this book he also begins the process of extending his ideas to he world, showing how neighborhoods in 19 countries can be classified into 14 common lifestyles, the bottom three being Lower Income Elderly, Hardened Dependency, and Shack & Shanty....billions of people disenfranchised by amoral capitalism, whose desperate circumstances have not quite made themselves felt, yet, in America.
I have only one major criticism of this book, apart from its obsession with understanding people in order to sell to them--it fails to go the extra mile in understanding the future consequences of each group's economic status and consumer preferences. Although the book very specifically addresses the politics of each group (predominant ideology, 1996 presidential vote, key issues), it lacks the transformation analysis that might be helpful in understanding the political economy dynamics of each group, and what might be required to craft a new national progressive consensus that reduces materialism, corruption, waste, and restores democracy, community, and sustainable national security and prosperity.
Regardless of this modest shortfall, this is an extraordinary book, as was the first that I also own (The Clustering of America). Those interested in how these clusters are coalescing into a new progressive movement that is in-front, deep green, against big business, big money in politics, and amoral globalization, might wish to read Paul Ray and Sherry Ruth Anderson The Cultural Creatives: How 50 Million People Are Changing the World, Search for "Cultural Creatives" or visit culturalcreatives.org. America is changing. This book by Michael Weiss is a brilliant snapshot of where we are today.
I want to save America from its craven politically corupt and economically bankrupt systems. This book is a first step in understanding who we are so we can transform ourselves, and our world, to create a prosperous world at peace.
Other books I recommend, with reviews:
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
Group Genius: The Creative Power of Collaboration
Five Minds for the Future
THE SMART NATION ACT: Public Intelligence in the Public Interest
One from Many: VISA and the Rise of Chaordic Organization
The World Cafe: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter
Useful look at how geodemographic clustering works June 28, 2002
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Weiss gives an entertaining and well-written overview of how geodemographic profiling works. He explains the concept, compares the US profiling to other countries, and talks about its applications in marketing. Finally, he provides a breakdown of the 62 PRIZM clusters that existed at the time that the book was written. It may not be the book to learn about the US (but I don't think it's useless in that regard) but it's definitely the book to learn how marketers see the US.
 Maybe as a reference book May 10, 2002
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I expected something a little more from this book. It breaks down groups of people/markets into clusters and gives descriptions of the clusters one by one. There is not a lot threading it together. Granted, I gave it a quick look and put it on the coffee table for a couple of months. But, I was underwhelmed. I suspect it may be useful for a pure marketing type instead of an armchair sociologist like myself.
Insightful! May 16, 2001
5 out of 12 found this review helpful
Michael J. Weiss documents the way populations have fractured into different demographic and lifestyle groups, or clusters. He gives these clusters catchy names that describe the key lifestyle features which influence their buying behavior, voting, and other choices. This excellent, original, well-researched book focuses on clusters in the U.S., though Canada and Europe are sometimes cited. The book is written in an easy-to-read style, but some may find it difficult to read because of the wealth of detail. Sometimes, it is hard to keep the various clusters straight, particularly in the first few chapters when Weiss refers to them without defining them. However, definition is difficult. These groups are composed of many characteristics, as becomes clear in the last chapter describing the United States' 62 clusters. We [...] recommend this book to those in management or marketing who are developing products, services, and programs for particular niche groups.
 Seductively interesting October 20, 2000
36 out of 37 found this review helpful
I never thought I would find this book as fascinating as it turns out to be. I first saw it on a friend's coffee table, and started paging through it. Then I had to borrow it. The next thing I knew, I was buying a copy for myself. Michael Weiss writes about a demographic analysis technique which explains a strange thing I noticed 20 years ago. I had moved from a a neighborhood full of 20-something recent college graduates in entry-level professional jobs into a tiny little used-to-be-the-butler's-apartment in a very ritzy neighborhood in San Francisco. All of a sudden my junk mail changed. Instead of credit card offers and Book-of-the-Month Club shills, I started getting letters that said things like "We know all about you. When you want to get away for the weekend, you shun Paris and go right to Morocco." Right.This book explains what had happened to me: I had moved from one cluster's neighborhood into another. My address now suggested things about my income, lifestyle and assets that just weren't true. The maps and prose in this book combine to provide a very interesting analysis of how wealth, values and lifestyle are dispersed in this country (and around the world). Clustering was first developed as a marketing tool, and it's undoubtedly a powerful one, but the book works as social commentary, as well. This book is one of the best case studies I've ever laid eyes on of how to make statistical analysis meaningful to the average reader.
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