Buyology

Truth and Lies About Why We Buy

By: Martin Lindstrom

Narrated by: Don Leslie

Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

Based on the single largest neuromarketing study ever conducted, Buyology reveals surprising truths about what attracts our attention and captures our dollars. Among the long-held assumptions and myths Buyology confronts:

Sex doesn't sell - people in skimpy clothing and provocative poses don't persuade us to buy products.

Despite government bans, subliminal advertising is ubiquitous - from bars to supermarkets to highway billboards.

Color can be so iconic that the sight of the robin's egg blue of a certain famous jewelry brand significantly raises women's heart rates.

Companies shamelessly borrow from religion and ritual - like the ritual, made up by a bored American bartender, of drinking a Corona with a lime - to seduce our interest.

"Cool" brands, like iPods, trigger our mating instincts.

The fact is, so much of what we thought we knew about why we buy is wrong. Drawing on a three-year, 7 million dollar, cutting-edge brain scan study of over 2000 people from around the world, marketing guru Martin Lindstrom's revelations will captivate anyone who's been seduced - or turned off - by marketer's relentless efforts to win our loyalty, our money and our minds.

Packed with entertaining stories about how we respond to such well-known products and companies as Marlboro, Calvin Klein, Ford, and American Idol, Buyology is a fascinating tour into the mind of today's consumer.

©2008 Martin Lindstrom (P)2008 Random House Audio

Great read about marketing and buying behavior

Worth the time to read this. I love books that challenge conventional thinking. Martin Lindstrom does a great job.

Why we buy stuff we don't need

With Black Friday coming, I wanted to understand why it is that people go so crazy about buying things. This was an interesting book that deals with the mind of the buyer, and I found it to be an entertaining and informative read. I recommend it if you're interested in psychology, as it had a lot to do with the reasoning of the consumer mind. It was a very interesting listen, and I recommend it

Very Interesting and Intriguing

I was a Marketing major in college and enjoyed the information in this book. It's definitely not a "text" book, but I loved all the tests and explanations of why we buy what we buy. If you have an interest in marketing, advertising, or the likes you will enjoy this book.

New perspective!

As a person involved in advertising and TV commercial production, I found the information to be quite trenchant and revealing, offering a new point of view on the research of consumer behaviors. I really liked the research results of the worldwide government cigarette warning labels and how they actually make people crave cigarettes subconsciously, evidenced by the continued increase of smokers around the world. If the information is correct, which needs to be debated and counter-researched, the whole advertising world will be turned on its head. At the very least, it is an interesting hypothesis on why we have the purchase decisions that we have. I recommend it as the beginning of a new kind of research.

Nice book not super tactical but super useful

One of the best books I've ever read about brand perception and how to craft your brand to be memorable

Understanding the Subconscious of Customers

This book really helped me understand that when marketing to a particular demographic it is really important to move away for rational thinking. and rather think about the sight, smell and/or sound and how that makes your audience feel. Does it create the action you want then to have? Does it make them hungry, desire, happy?

A Marketing Powerhouse of information

A Marketing Powerhouse of information worth every minute of time spent listening. Gain a better understanding of yourself as well as your customers.

Interesting new findings

interesting new information on buy behaviour of customers, some chapters are a little bit long, but new findings

What we think we know versus how we act in buying.

Why do we buy? This is a great book which gets into the differences of what people say / think, and actually do when it comes to purchase time. Think of how many people might say they think low of daytime television like Jerry Springer, but are fascinated and can't help themselves but watch.
You will have to endure a bit of annoying "look at me" ego in areas by the author, but just ignore it and you'll find this captivating and informative.

OK

Decent information, but for a guy with a small business, nothing I can take action with.