美国国家公共电台 NPR--The economics behind the pumpkin spice trend

（单词翻译）

The economics behind the pumpkin¹ spice trend

Transcript²

Now that it's fall, it's hard to avoid pumpkin spice everything. Why is this seasonal³ marketing⁴ strategy so ubiquitous?

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

We're now well into fall, a.k.a. pumpkin spice season.

BRUCE CLARK: There's pumpkin spice beer. There's pumpkin spice Oreos. There's pumpkin spice cream cheese, pumpkin spice spam, pumpkin ramen noodles.

MART?NEZ: We called an expert to answer our hard-hitting questions about pumpkin and spice.

CLARK: My name is Bruce Clark. I'm an associate professor of marketing at Northeastern University.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Professor Clark says this flavor trend has lasted almost 20 years, ever since the great pumpkin spice latte craze of 2003. Clark has theories about its staying power.

CLARK: It's got a very strong association. People go pumpkin picking. People put out their pumpkins⁵ for Halloween, and it is kind of a nice, nostalgic thing.

INSKEEP: And the aroma⁶ triggers those memories.

CLARK: You smell that pumpkin spice, and you almost smell fall. It's like smelling food from home. It's like smelling the perfume of somebody that you love. It evokes⁷ all these emotions and sensations that simply looking at something doesn't do.

MART?NEZ: Clark has gone from a scholar of pumpkin spice to a fan.

CLARK: Allow yourself to have an affordable⁸ luxury. Do something nice for yourself. If it's not pumpkin spice latte, do something nice for yourself in another way. It's OK to have an affordable luxury once in a while, especially with the change of the season.

INSKEEP: When I think affordable luxury, I do think pumpkin spice spam. But here's my question. When do farmers finally grow a pumpkin spice...

MART?NEZ: Oh, Lord.

INSKEEP: ...Pumpkin? Come on, a pumpkin spice pumpkin would be great. It's just already spiced.

MART?NEZ: You got to squash that, Steve.

INSKEEP: There - oh, he's here all week. He's here all week.