The Illusion of Choice

16½ Psychological Biases That Influence What We Buy

By: Richard Shotton

Narrated by: Simon Cole

Length: 4 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

The compelling new book by Richard Shotton, author of The Choice Factory.

Every day, people make hundreds of choices.

Many of these are commercial: What shampoo to pick? How much to spend on a bottle of wine? Whether to renew a subscription.

These choices might appear to be freely made, but psychologists have shown that subtle changes in the way products are positioned, promoted, and marketed can radically alter how customers behave.

The Illusion of Choice identifies the 16½ most important psychological biases that everyone in business needs to be aware of today–and shows how any business can take advantage of these to win customers, retain customers, and sell more.

Richard Shotton, author of the acclaimed The Choice Factory, draws on academic research, previous ad campaigns, and his own original field studies to create a fascinating and highly practical guide that focuses on the point where marketing meets the mind of the customer.

You’ll learn to take advantage of the peak end rule, the power of precision, the wisdom of wit–and much, much more.

You simply cannot afford to miss The Illusion of Choice.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Harriman House (P)2023 Harriman House

Supported by data

It was an excellent listen with a lot of good information. The author did a great job of presenting what on the surface seem like conflicting ideas but introduces data to help explain the nuances and application. I’m not a marketer but I learned a few things from this book.

Insightful

This book contains a good collection of seemingly forgotten tips and tricks for marketing that can pretty easily be applied to other fields.

The reasons why these methods are effective are only explored at a surface level which is unfortunate but does not detract from the book too much.

Where is the accompanying PDF? It is not in the audible app!

Where is the accompanying PDF? It is not in the audible app. Very annoying Amazon!!!!

Why everyone needs to read (or listen) to this book

The way that we make choices, and the way that we want to encourage others to make certain choices, is something that we largely do on autopilot countless times every day.
In this fascinating book, Richard Shotton does an informative and entertaining job of describing the psychology behind some of the most important quirks of human thinking that relate to choice making.
If you’re in business, or lead people (or want to), this is a super handy guide. I’ve liked it so much that I’ve bought the audiobook to listen to while traveling, and also the paperback to make notes in and go back to.

Not much to say

Well, I haven’t much to say about this book other than it wasn’t down my alley and for me it was a waste of money.

However it might be worthwhile for small business owners or people who are new into promotion.

*this review is placed on multiple platforms