Thaistocks.com is a Market Maven.
Connector impulses and the benefits of Market Mavens in our Society.
The word Maven comes from the Yiddish and it means one who accumulates knowledge.
In recent years economists have spent a great deal of time studying Mavens, for the obvious reason that if market places depend on information, then people with the most information must be the most important.
For example when a supermarket sometimes wants to increase sales of a new product they will put a promotion sticker in front of it saying something like "everyday low price". The price will stay the same but the product will just be featured more prominently. When they do this, supermarkets invariably find that sales of that product will do well, in nearly the same way as if they put the product up for a real sales price.
When you think about it this is a potentially disturbing piece of information. Because if we buy more of a product, even if the price has not really changed, then what's to stop a supermarket from ever lowering prices? What's to stop them from cheating us with meaningless "everyday low price’signs. Take this a step further and you can find all kinds of examples which end-up being consumer abuses. And professional and investment services are no exception.
Although most of us don't look very carefully at prices, all the time, some do. Every retailer knows that a very small number of people do exactly this and if they find something amiss, they will say something about it. If the store tries to pull a sales stunt too often these are the people, identified as Mavens, whom will figure this out fastest and complain to management and/or tell their friends and acquaintances and other loose contacts. Perhaps encourage them to avoid that store altogether.
These are the people whom keep the market place on guard. In the US and other places, this group of people have been very effective in keeping retail places and many others more honest. While Mavens are a huge minority, they have and for long are serving a key important purpose. In ten years since this group was first identified, economist have gone through great length to study and understand them better. The have found them in every walk of life and in every socioeconomic group. Some used to call them price vilgantes but the other, more common name for them, emerged as Market Mavens. Mavens are not just about lowest prices, they are also important in detecting bad consumer or service practices. From lawyer to insurance abusive practices, to government idiocies and many others… all across the whole range of economic activity in a capitalist system.
Linda Price, a marketing professor at the University of Nebraska and a pioneer in "Maven research" has made dozens of videotaped interviews with such market mavens. She finds that this group, not only identifies consumer abuses nor are they passive collectors of such information. It's not that they are just obsessed with how to get the best deal or avoid a scam….as she says: "what set's them apart is that once they figure out how to get that deal or avoid the scam the want to tell you about it as well". They are socially motivated in helping people find good deals, identify scams and steer you clear to often little understood professional shortcomings.
Dr. Linda Price goes on to say that well over half of Americans know of a Market Maven or someone close to such a description. Mavens are not obnoxious know it all types, nor are they doomsayers seeing everything in a negative way. They are not angry or negative or mad at the world. Instead, there is something automatic and reflexive about their involvement in the market place and it's not an act; it’s a social instinct to make the world a better place.
Its not so much what they know, but how they pass it along. The fact is that Mavens want to help, for no other reason than they like to help; and in so doing they contribute in making the store or whatever consumer service, a better encounter. Their inherent push is in educating and in helping others with what they know. To be a Maven is to be a life long student and teacher -with an honest calling. They are clever information brokers/experts whom share and trade their deep knowledge about a subject, trade or products with others. They are mesmerizingly open…..and empower others to not get taken for a ride!
They expect nothing in return than perhaps a thank you or some subtle recognition.
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In the under-read book called "The Tipping Point (and) how little things can make a big difference" by Malcolm Gladwell, much praise goes to these Mavens groups which the book rightly calls "a huge minority in numbers". Mavens care enough to say and tell and in so make a big difference in this world of "buyer beware". Along with what the book identifies as the Connectors, the Mavens are people with a rare set of social gifts that make a huge difference. The author praises both very highly and calls these 2 separate groups as a "key element in any society which makes progress".
He further calls this group as follows:
"That's a Market Maven. God bless him. He's what makes the American system great…. Mavens have the knowledge and social skills to start word of mouth epidemics. What sets Mavens apart, though, is not so much what they know but how they pass it along…..the fact that Mavens want to help, for no other reason than because they like to help, turns out to be an awfully effective way of getting someone attention.".
The connectors are individuals whom know allot of people. Not lots of good close friends, but lots of loose ties. The story of the connectors is equally fascinating, as it explains why loose or weak ties are far more powerful then close friends. Paul Revere the 18 century American hero who saved Boston from the English invasion was both a Connector and a Maven. He knew allot of people and saved them from grave malfeasance which was about to happen. And with that Paul Revere became a historical celebrity. But that is another story…
PR of Thaistocks.com is and has always been a sort of Thai stock-SET market Maven. I here regularly identify what we think are superb investment opportunities which are underappreciated by most brokers and investors. At the same time we constructively point out perceived industry abuses or misaligned practices in an objective way. Thereby assisting both Thai stock market investors and the, mighty important to economic growth, Thai equity investment savings sector. Who else is doing this here?
Best Regards,
Paul A. Renaud.
