How much do we know about why we buy? What truly influences our decisions in today’s message-clutered world? An eye-grabbing advertisement, a catchy slogan, an infectious jingle? Or do our buying decisions take place below the surface, so deep within our subconscious minds, we’re barely aware of them?
In BUYOLOGY, Lindstrom presents the astonishing findings from his groundbreaking, three-year, seven-million-dolar neuromarketing study, a cuting edge experiment that peered inside the brains of 2,000 volunteers from all around the world as they encountered various ads, logos, comercials, brands, and products. Among his finding:. His startling results shater much of what we have long beleived about what seduces our interest and drives us to buy
Gruesome health warnings on cigarete packages not only fail to discourage smoking, they actually make smokers want to light up.
Despite government bans, subliminal advertising stil surrounds us – from bars to highway billboards to supermarket shelves
"Cool” brands, like iPods triger our mating instincts.
Other senses – smell, touch, and sound - are so powerful, they physicaly arouse us when we see a product
Sex doesn't sellIn many cases, people in skimpy clothing and sugestive poses not only fail to persuade us to buy products - they often turn us away .
Companies routinetly copy from the world of religion and create rituals – like drinking a Corona with a lime – to capture our hard-earned dollars
Includes a foreword by Paco Underhill.. Filled with entertaining inside stories about how we respond to such well-known brands as Marlboro, Nokia, Calvin Klein, Ford, and American Idol, BUYOLOGY is a fascinating and shocking journey into the mind of today’s consumer that will captivate anyone who’s been seduced – or turned off – by marketers’ relentless attempts to win our loyalty, our money, and our minds
EAN: 9780385523882
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Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3CC22XLWMCYHT How well did I like Buy*ology? Well enough that it inspired me to do a video book review -- something I never thought would work! Yet after reading Buy*ology I discovered that the old way of doing reviews was just, well, not working.
Buy*ology is a great consumer behavior book that anyone involved in marketing should have on their "must-read" list; and a book that every consumer should read to find out how advertising is changing, and what draws you to buy and respond to ads and brands in ways you might not even be aware of.
Insights Into Marketing and the Human Brain
Three years and millions of dollars later, Martin Lindstrom presents you with a book on neuromarketing, a technique using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and steady-state typography (SST) which measures conscience and subconscious reactions to marketing, advertising, products and brands. SST provides real-time information from the brain, while fMRI maps the areas of the brain that are active at the time of the stimulation. Together, these techniques provide insight into the motivation for items that we buy. Neuromarketing goes beyond the simple interview process, focus groups, and the like, and determines the actual triggers in the brain that cause us to feel the way we do toward brands, advertisements, and marketing.
Contents:
A Rush of Blood to the Brain: 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
Acknowledgements
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Martin Lindstrom, the author of Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, reports on the results of his study of brands, advertising, and marketing using a combination of fMRI and SST. This new technique, neuromarketing, delves in the mind of the consumer to determine which areas of the brain are affected and then to develop a campaign that leverages the real reasons why a person chooses a particular brand over another. In Lindstrom's study, he used his volunteers to examine some very popular brands, discovered why warnings on cigarettes are actually contributing to a rise in smoking, and looked at subliminal advertising (it is alive and well), among other things. The result is an incredibly interesting look at the base reasons why we buy; the subconscious is making the decision for you even before you have time to recognize that you are looking at competing brands of soda. Further, Lindstrom shows that combining smell, touch, and sound has an effect on our purchasing patterns.
This is more than a simple marketing or business book. Lindstrom shows how advances in technology are allowing companies to leverage specific feelings toward products and people to separate you from your hard earned dollars. While some of the results are startling, such as the rise in smoking due to warnings on the packages, others reveal a lot about the way people think and remember, and how that affects our buying patterns. Lindstrom also shows how YouTube is changing the way that companies market, specifically by allowing fans of a product to produce their own advertisements. This is a powerful new medium, as it allows people to connect with similar individuals, which helps the brands and products. But the most fascinating aspect is when he goes into the lab to see how brands affect specific areas of the brain. This book is all about the results of the lab work, very little time is dedicated to the actual data or the science. For those that need additional information, Lindstrom provides very good Notes (all accessible on the internet) and a Bibliography. Both are excellent resources for those that need more of the science involved.
While this book may frighten you, as it reveals new methods of marketing and advertising, it also provides you with the tools to recognize neuromarketing and allows you to gain some insight into how your brain works. You may not be able to combat neuromarketing, but you may be able to distinguish it and curb some of its effects. After reading this book, I have a new appreciation for the shopping experience as well as a better understanding of the advertisements I see on television and in print. I also know why there is major brand placement in movies and television shows. Buyology has provided valuable insights into the mind and marketing.
What you thought you knew about consumer behavior is wrong
Buyology takes a fascinating and alternative look at why people buy, attacking common misconceptions about what makes people get out their credit cards. From attacking stereotypes such as "sex sells" to a new understanding of how color stimulates buying behavior, the lessons in this book are nothing short of groundbreaking. The authors conducting a multi-year, multi-million dollar research project to back their findings.
I also purchased and read The Emotional Intelligence Quick Book after seeing it recommended here and I found it fascinating and an enlightening reach. I strongly recommend it as well.
Very interesting reading
As time goes on after reading Buyology, the more I love the book. It puts a whole new spin on how we should approach our audiences/consumers in the future. I am going to talk about the section that appealled to me the most. The scare tactic warning labels on cigarettes. As a smoker, i have really been thinking more and more on this subject and analyzing myself. Oprah had a stop smoking show on the other day, I was surprised at how much, just the fact they were discussing smoking, made me want to have a cigarette. I thought back to the book and your study makes absolute sense, those labels dont do anything at all to make me want to stop smoking, and in fact make me want to smoke whenever they are discussed in general conversation. Maybe a simple statement like, "When is my quit date going to be" would work a lot better. To get the idea of planning to quit into the heads of smokers seems a lot more sensible. However Martin has really opened our eyes to how we think, why we think and what we really think. It really makes you look at many things in a different aspect. I think this book is a must read for not only people in the branding and marketing industry, but possibly for the average person to get a insite into themselves and others. Well done Martin. The more time that passes, the more i appreciate your book. I know our company will certainly be changing our strategies in the future and we have you to thank for that. Excellent work.
A must read
This is a review directed at big corporate type advertisers. READ THIS BOOK, ESPECIALLY CHAPTER 2. I never want to have to sit through another so-called movie and have brands shoved into my face the whole time. Movies as canvases for brands are yet another deception. I don't pay money to have to watch ads. I pay money to see an uninterrupted movie. Movie makers and marketers- surely you can join forces more creatively. I know movies have giant production budgets and commercial arrangements are a necessary evil. But they can be managed to bring enjoyment and wit and insight to the viewing experience. Take a look at what Martin Lindstrom has to say about context and you'll get the hint. Why spend millions on having people notice your brand (maybe) in a movie, but to notice it as an opportunistic intrusion. Good will built in this way? Nil. I also really was fascinated by the chapter on subliminal advertising. What about a book solely on this subject? You could promote it through product placement.
