Could it be that consumers aren’t quite as gullible as marketers, manufacturers, and advertisers have long assumed? Could it be that today’s consumers are smarter and more informed than they have ever been when it comes to deciding whether to buy or pass on a product? Could it be that the age of mindless accumulation is gone for good, replaced by a scene in which consumers consider their purchases carefully and place more value in, well, actual value? A new book answers all of these questions with a resounding YES—and perhaps most surprising of all, the book was written not by an anti-consumerism crusader but by a marketing executive.