October 13, 2006

A Finger on the Pulse of Cool

By JASON M. BRESLOW

Finding out what young adults consider cool is the key to success for advertisers and marketers. College students alone spend billions each year on electronics, entertainment, fashion, and food. So when companies like Nike, Coca-Cola, and Microsoft want to figure out how best to appeal to young consumers, they track down Carl Rohde.

Mr. Rohde, who teaches cultural sociology at the University of Utrecht, in the Netherlands, insists he is "not cool at all." But thanks to his work at the