But our friend is missing a key clue. All purchases include information. You don't buy the data explicitly. Its value is implicit in the brand. You didn't buy Virgin Cola at half the price for a reason.
All brands represent an implicit information transaction.
Mass marketers buy ads and give-away the information which makes you buy the Coke. It's easy money. A considered purchase, like the laptop I'm in the process of buying, requires more information. Brands are meaningful, but so are many of the values publishers deliver, like unbiased comparisons of features and performance in the real world, testimonials from credible sources, and news of what's happening to components and component pricing. The fact that sites like Gateway and Dell capture the financial benefits of all this on their Web sites speaks only to the cluelessness of most publishers.