In the 1980s, the term "cocooning" served as a perfect way to describe the trend toward staying at home and bringing the outside world in. Cocooning was responsible, at least in part, for the explosive growth in VCR sales, the success of restaurants that offered home delivery services such as Domino's and Papa John's, and the popularity of Martha Stewart's home decorating guidebooks, television show, and products.

As a result of this trend, marketers, retailers, advertisers, and brand builders have focused on making their products and services easier to buy and use at home. For example, even Starbucks, which uses a business model built on attracting people to its cafes to socialize with other people, has extended its product line by selling coffee beans, ground coffee, and espresso makers for use in the home.

But now, just as cocooning is being taken for granted by most business executives, the trend is unraveling. Consumers are shedding their cocoons and reconnecting with the outside world.

Let's explore the facts underlying this trend, and its implications.

Depending on your metaphor, those who are emerging from their cocoons are living like "bees" or "butterflies."

A landmark research study among luxury consumers recently documented a clear trend away from cocooning and toward connecting. The study was conducted in association with House & Garden magazine by Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing and author of Why People Buy Things They Don't Need.

This research focused on the luxury market, defined as home-owning consumers with household incomes of $100,000 or more, who purchased one of 14 different luxury products or one of seven luxury services in the past year. According to Danziger, this affluent market segment is the bellwether or early adopter segment for cultural and consumer trends that will ultimately rock the mass consumer markets. As she explains: "In terms of consumer trends, first the rich do it, then everybody else."

Integrating the findings from qualitative and quantitative research, Danziger discovered a leading-edge psychographic segment within the larger luxury market. She calls this segment butterflies. While the distinctions between the segments within the luxury market are subtle, the butterflies stand out as the most "evolved" luxury consumers. To extend the metaphor, the butterflies...