Wasps are some of the most common species of insects in the world. But WASPs -- White Anglo-Saxon Protestant -- are a combination of adjectives that describes a highly selective and privileged segment of our society.
Henry is a common name. Found in many Christian societies. Yet, not all Henry's are created equally. Indeed, the most common HENRYs -- High Earning Not Rich Yet -- tend to also be WASPs, or at least many are born white.
Funnily though, old WASPs tend to despise HENRYs, they call them Snowflakes and make fun of their meager millennial wealth.
Weirdness is one of the most exciting things in life. But WEIRD people -- Western Educated Industrialized Rich and Developed -- tend to be a dull crowd.
Interestingly though, marketers, retail companies, and the Internet as a whole love WEIRD HENRY WASPs. Even researchers, myself included, build most of our behavioral experiments from the experiences of these highly uncommon creatures.
This should change. Yet, as with everything, to step away from a named category and market segment we need to start by naming our destination. Does anyone have an acronym for NORMAL?
