Pseudovariety

by Patrick Appel

Philip H. Howard provides a visual:

Three firms control 89% of US softdrink sales. This dominance is obscured from us by theappearance of numerous choices on retailer shelves. Steve Hannafordrefers to this as "pseudovariety," or the illusion of diversity,concealing a lack of real choice. To visualize the extent ofpseudovariety in this industry we developed a cluster diagram torepresent the number of soft drink brands and varieties found inthe refrigerator cases of 94...