There is a particular group of consumers who tends to like all kinds of products that have FLOP written all over them! Diet Crystal Pepsi and Watermelon Oreos are still remembered fondly by these people, who may be more risk-tolerant than the normals. PS Is that a photo of Bitcoins illustrating this article?!?!! :p

Yes it's an artist's rendition of bitcoins.

I guess such consumers are useful in testing. If they like the product, don't release it. 

"It's not the case that these people are buying goods at 2 in the morning, or something like that," Tucker says. "They're not inattentive. Systematically, they are able to identify these really terrible products that fail to resonate with the mainstream."

A result that "may end up changing management practice"

The researchers are continuing to pursue related research and are interested in looking at how widely the "harbingers of failure" pattern holds in a variety of areas, from everyday shopping to financial markets.