Resilience
In times of economic stress, NEOs prove to be vital to the recovery of any market because they resume discretionary spending habits much sooner in the economic cycle than Traditionals. NEOs are also significantly more optimistic in poor economic times, scoring on average 20 points higher on measures of consumer confidence. Because NEOs also exhibit a high locus of control over their lives, they see success as a result of their own research and planning; therefore, they rarely turn to luck to bring them success. Instead, they seek out tools that help them to better manage their life. NEOs are far more willing to try something new and are early adopters of emerging technological devices that serve to plan, organize or save them time. For this reason, NEOs love their laptops, GPS tracking systems, and hand-held devices such as iPhones and PDAs.
There is nothing more central to the NEO sense of self than their home. Once a NEO has “consumption arousal” for something that they feel will actively improve their life, the sales approach that forms one of the main elements of the Fingerprint Strategy sees them buy sooner and often at higher prices.
