European Asymmetries. The 6 trends in consumption that are shaping the new Europe is the name of the book written by Francesco Morace, Linda Gobbi and Elisabetta Pasini, in which the Future Concept Lab Research Institute offers new scenarios and ideas focused on Europe, on its distinctness and divergence in terms of the globalized world proposed by the United States, its products and its different ways of thinking and acting, on a plurality that instead of leading to conflict could represent the basis for new development, as well as a fresh new approach to marketing.

The book presents 6 trends in consumption, 6 major companies and 60 photographs taken in 24 cities located on 5 continents which bear witness to the changes occurring in everyday life: a course plotted by Future Concept Lab, that involves a whole new vision of the global concept, providing a map of the advanced present and possible future in Europe: spontaneous innovation, everyday relationships, the quality of the land, the importance of taste and the body, conviviality and the relationship between the generations.

The macro socio-economic and political dynamics presented constitute the new platform of advanced thinking for company marketing efforts and the basis of the 6 trends in consumption analyzed: Convivial Shared Consumption; Arch-typical consumption, Transitive consumption and Transitional Products; Consumption of the Vital Memory, Occasional Consumption and DecontrActive Consumption.

The 6 company case histories constitute as many successful examples of applications involving the proposed trends in as many areas of everyday human life: Eckes in the culture of drinking; illycaffé in the realm of food habits; Nokia in the sphere of interpersonal communication; Swarovski in the world of luxury products, Wella in the domain of physical beauty; and Whirlpool in the area of domesticity.

European Asymmetries – The 6 trends of consumption that are shaping the New Europe
Publisher: Libri Scheiwiller (November 2002)
Language: English, Italian