Nerds make great consumers. They buy their shit in droves. Companies have realized this and have started to exploit them as a demographic.
What bugs me though, is how passionate the consumerism gets and the unhealthiness of it.
Nerd consumers break into two sects mainly, both of which have a high attachment to their hobbies.
1. Those that live in the world of their hobbies.
These are the slash fic writers, the fangirls and stalkers of imaginary people. They mix and match their hobbies like they were an eight year olds random assortment of toys. They have no sense for the meaning of it all, for the intent of the artist behind the hobby and no solid borders between reality and the hobby. They don't care what the meaning of the storyline is, they just want their fanservice. They want Mulder flying a saucer to a romantic sex getaway with Scully, only to have Spike and Buffy the Vampire Slayer showup for a menage-a-trois. There is a childish mentality that never gets the big concept. If you indulge them, they will buy it and buy it like mad. You don't even have to worry about quality, you just have to make another and then another.
2. Those that see the company as their friend.
No big major business wants to be your best buddy. Some nerds forget this. Some geeks, having grown up in perhaps a harsh social world, have learned to take refuge in their hobbies. This practice over the years grows an emotional attachment to the hobby and the product, and a parent/guardian like reverence for the product. They will defend this product tooth and nail. They will accept whatever it gives them, because whatever its doing is kindness. These consumers have no sense of self-respect, no sense of the 'consumer is always right'. They don't complain and take offense to others complaining. Yet again, quality doesn't matter, but for this sect of nerd consumers, you can abuse them quite easily. The fanservice at least asks something of the company, even if its distinguished mentally-challenged and a horrible idea, they demand something in some way. The nerd consumer that is emotionally attached waits for the company to demand something of them. It's freaking weird.
And I don't think these things are common to any sort of situation of consumer and company, or people and bigger organizations. Sports fans get angry when the team sucks. People, some if not the majority, do take action in politics to tackle government. The average consumer does complain about a poor product. The nerd consumer just asks to be babied or asks to be bent over and paddled. They're erasing the consumer's sense of rights and a financial vote.
