Book Review - Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom
Category Book Review Martin Lindstrom Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy
Ever wonder why you pick up one brand of soup over another, even if the other one is just as convenient, tastes just as good, and costs less? Wonder why some commercials are funny or memorable, but have the exact opposite effect than what the advertisers intended? Martin Lindstrom digs into the subject of marketing and how the mind reacts to it in his book Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy. While you won't be able to run the same types of experiments (anyone have an MRI machine lying around?), you will be able to take a step back and think a bit before you react after reading this.
Contents:
A Rush Of Blood To The Head: The Largest Neuromarketing Study Ever Conducted
This Must Be The Place: Product Placement, American Idol, and Ford's Multimillion-Dollar Mistake
I'll Have What She's Having: Mirror Neurons At Work
I Can't See Clearly Now: Subliminal Messaging, Alive And Well
Do You Believe In Magic? : Ritual, Superstition, and Why We Buy
I Say A Little Prayer: Faith, Religion, and Brands
Why Did I Choose You? : The Power of Somatic Markers
A Sense Of Wonder: Selling To Our Senses
And The Answer Is: Neuromarketing And Predicting The Future
Let's Spend The Night Together: Sex In Advertising
Conclusion: Brand New Day
Appendix
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Most studies related to marketing and the effects on buying habits tend to be "external". That is, they observe the actions of consumers, ask questions, and then try to correlate and extrapolate meaning from that. Lindstrom takes a different tack for his research. He had his study group agree to have magnetic imaging of the brain take place as he asked questions and had the subjects watch different ads, pictures, and shows. What he found was far different than what was expected. You could probably borrow a line from the TV show House... "Everybody lies." This lying isn't necessarily a conscious decision. Instead, Lindstrom found that areas of the brain would "light up" with extra blood flow based on the input it was receiving. Since many parts of the brain are associated with certain functions and emotions (fear, pleasure, etc.), he could see that what people said and how they mentally reacted were two entirely different things.
To take an example... Cigarette packages all come with health warnings. In some countries, the warnings include graphic images of diseased lungs and other failing body parts. This should cause aversion to smoking, right? Not actually... What the brain actually did was react to the warnings by triggering the nucleus accumbens, an area of the brain known to stimulate cravings. What this actually meant is that the warning labels were subconsciously *encouraging* people to smoke! Not quite what the government and medical groups had planned...
I also found the "why did I choose you" chapter interesting. We have associations built up with certain brands and images, often buried deeply enough that we don't even realize it. You may pick up a jar of Jiffy peanut butter thinking there's no real reason behind it. Subconsciously, you're having a mental dialog ruling out Skippy because it's filled with sugar (even if it isn't), Peter Pan because it sounds too childish, generic because you think it can't be very good if it's not branded, and organic because it's twice the price and what does "organic" REALLY mean, anyway? Marketers try hard to create an image that will cause you to associate positively with their product and brand, and often you won't even know why and when it's happening.
I came away from Buyology with a richer appreciation for what's going on every time we pull something off the shelf for purchase. It's not always possible for us to analyze why we're picking one thing over another, as wheeling MRI machines through the store aisles isn't terribly practical. But if you're aware that *every* choice has some element of decision and association happening, you can start to break the cycle that advertisers are trying to build. This is worth reading if for nothing more than to be aware that your freedom of choice is often more limited than you think.
Ever wonder why you pick up one brand of soup over another, even if the other one is just as convenient, tastes just as good, and costs less? Wonder why some commercials are funny or memorable, but have the exact opposite effect than what the advertisers intended? Martin Lindstrom digs into the subject of marketing and how the mind reacts to it in his book Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy. While you won't be able to run the same types of experiments (anyone have an MRI machine lying around?), you will be able to take a step back and think a bit before you react after reading this.
Contents:
A Rush Of Blood To The Head: The Largest Neuromarketing Study Ever Conducted
This Must Be The Place: Product Placement, American Idol, and Ford's Multimillion-Dollar Mistake
I'll Have What She's Having: Mirror Neurons At Work
I Can't See Clearly Now: Subliminal Messaging, Alive And Well
Do You Believe In Magic? : Ritual, Superstition, and Why We Buy
I Say A Little Prayer: Faith, Religion, and Brands
Why Did I Choose You? : The Power of Somatic Markers
A Sense Of Wonder: Selling To Our Senses
And The Answer Is: Neuromarketing And Predicting The Future
Let's Spend The Night Together: Sex In Advertising
Conclusion: Brand New Day
Appendix
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Most studies related to marketing and the effects on buying habits tend to be "external". That is, they observe the actions of consumers, ask questions, and then try to correlate and extrapolate meaning from that. Lindstrom takes a different tack for his research. He had his study group agree to have magnetic imaging of the brain take place as he asked questions and had the subjects watch different ads, pictures, and shows. What he found was far different than what was expected. You could probably borrow a line from the TV show House... "Everybody lies." This lying isn't necessarily a conscious decision. Instead, Lindstrom found that areas of the brain would "light up" with extra blood flow based on the input it was receiving. Since many parts of the brain are associated with certain functions and emotions (fear, pleasure, etc.), he could see that what people said and how they mentally reacted were two entirely different things.
To take an example... Cigarette packages all come with health warnings. In some countries, the warnings include graphic images of diseased lungs and other failing body parts. This should cause aversion to smoking, right? Not actually... What the brain actually did was react to the warnings by triggering the nucleus accumbens, an area of the brain known to stimulate cravings. What this actually meant is that the warning labels were subconsciously *encouraging* people to smoke! Not quite what the government and medical groups had planned...
I also found the "why did I choose you" chapter interesting. We have associations built up with certain brands and images, often buried deeply enough that we don't even realize it. You may pick up a jar of Jiffy peanut butter thinking there's no real reason behind it. Subconsciously, you're having a mental dialog ruling out Skippy because it's filled with sugar (even if it isn't), Peter Pan because it sounds too childish, generic because you think it can't be very good if it's not branded, and organic because it's twice the price and what does "organic" REALLY mean, anyway? Marketers try hard to create an image that will cause you to associate positively with their product and brand, and often you won't even know why and when it's happening.
I came away from Buyology with a richer appreciation for what's going on every time we pull something off the shelf for purchase. It's not always possible for us to analyze why we're picking one thing over another, as wheeling MRI machines through the store aisles isn't terribly practical. But if you're aware that *every* choice has some element of decision and association happening, you can start to break the cycle that advertisers are trying to build. This is worth reading if for nothing more than to be aware that your freedom of choice is often more limited than you think.
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