Truth & Lie Why We Buy

The five compelling lessons from Buyology by Martin Lindstrom Follow Sagestones Book Club - SBC 1. The Power of Subconscious Influence We often think we make decisions consciously, but our subconscious mind plays a significant role. Brands that tap into deep-seated emotions and instincts can create powerful connections. This reminds us to reflect on our own choices—how much are we influenced by feelings rather than logic? 2. The Impact of Sensory Experiences Our senses significantly affect our perceptions and purchasing behavior. For example, the smell of freshly baked bread can evoke feelings of comfort and nostalgia, making us more likely to buy. This highlights the importance of creating immersive experiences in our lives, reminding us to engage with the world around us more fully. 3. Storytelling Sells Humans are wired for stories. Brands that weave compelling narratives around their products can forge stronger connections with consumers. This encourages us to think about our own stories—how we can share our experiences to engage others and create a sense of community. 4. Brand Loyalty is Emotional People don’t just buy products; they buy the feelings associated with them. Building emotional loyalty means understanding what resonates with your audience. This serves as a reminder to consider how we can nurture our relationships, both personal and professional, by fostering genuine emotional connections. 5. The Role of Trust and Authenticity In a world flooded with choices, trust becomes a critical factor in decision-making. Brands that are transparent and authentic resonate more deeply with consumers. This teaches us the value of authenticity in our own lives, encouraging us to be true to ourselves and foster trust in our relationships.

Martin Lindstrom (born 1970) is the author of the bestseller The Ministry of Common sense - How to Eliminate Bureaucratic Red Tape, Bad Excuses, and Corporate Bullshit. Through unconventional thinking, Martin Lindstrom reveals how to get closer to our customers by eliminating bureaucratic red tape, bad excuses, and corporate BS, whether we’re in the office or behind our screens. An eight-time New York Times best-selling author, Lindstrom’s books have sold 4.5 million copies and been translated Into 60 languages. His books include The Ministry of Common Sense, Buyology, and Small Data. TIME Magazine named Lindstrom "One of the World's Most Influential People," and Thinkers50 listed him one of the world’s top-20 business thinkers of 2021.

Summation: Lindstrom gets all excited about doing brain scans on consumers as they view advertisements and products. Strike 1: Lindstrom seems to think that technology -- all technology -- is neutral. His example is that hammers can do nasty things but there is no need to outlaw, restrict or ban hammers. Fine, I agree. As long as we are talking about hammers, that is. But when discussing companies doing fMRI scans on potential consumers to get at their instinctual, pre-rational impressions of advertisements and products, the BS meter goes off: this is not neutral technology. In Jerry Mander's In The Absence of the Sacred, he makes quick work of the fallacy of "neutral technology." In short, all one has to do is ask a few questions to determine if any given technology is neutral or not. Who has access to this technology? Who will be able to control the use of this technology? Will the control be primarily democratic or will it require bureaucratic, centralized organizations to manage it? Who will primarily benefit from the use of this technology? And mainly, who can afford it? The answers to such questions should show pretty readily if a technology can honestly be considered neutral or not. I don't know about y'all but I can't drop $7,000,000 for an fMRI machine but I'm damn sure that ConAgra, Phillip Morris, and GE can afford it... and subsequently profit from it. Neutral, my ass. Strike 2: Dear Mr. Lindstrom, when writing about your groundbreaking new experiments that delve into the inner workings of consumer behavior, please refrain from starting each chapter with the equivalent of the following: I am now going to blow your mind with the most brilliant, coolest, most insightful bit of research ever. If it truly is all of those things, you really don't have to overtly try to convince me. Jeez, I have to tell a marketer this? Strike 2.5: Lindstrom fails to point out that even if marketing agencies have access to our innermost motivations, humans are not automatons that have to respond directly to the reptilian portion of our brains. Granted, it is extremely difficult to be aware of the drive behind our consumeristic urges, but for that I would point readers to Hooked: Buddhist Writings on Greed Desire and the Urge to Consume. In fact, if anyone is interested in why people buy crappy products they don't need with money they don't have, start with Hooked and leave Lindstrom to his chest thumping. One redeeming feature of the book: Lindstrom does a nice job of showing how effective various advertising strategies are. Product placement in movies and television? Unless the product is essential to the plot, folks just don't remember it. I found his discussion of the ban on tobacco advertising and how tobacco companies have had to get really creative in their marketing to be pretty interesting. It turns out that subliminal advertising works really well for well known, established brands like Camel, Marlboro, etc. But overall, these nuggets weren't worth the effort of sifting through the rest of the rubbish....

What did I think (that teasing little prompt to write a review)? Lindstrom's book reads more like a piece of fiction! If you can wade through the overblown prose (read author's sense of self-importance, borrowed deux ex machina and cliff-hanger endings to various chapters, all of which fizzle out along the way), Lindstrom actually has some sound advice for consumers! If you value your purchasing sovereignty, read this book (and borrow it from the library, so as to avoid 'buying' into Lindstrom's hype). Marketeers are already implementing some of the ideas in this book, rightly or wrongly (and not considering the ethics and the funding of the research Lindstrom undertook). How does a brand smell? Taste? Feel? Look like? Sound? And specifically, given the demographic in which you, as the customer, most likely fit, which representation of these characterisics should a brand/product have in order to engage your 'impulse buy' mechanism? Ultimately, if you can determine what it is that drives you to purchase something, you're better protected against mindless consumerism. It might have not been the point Lindstrom wanted to make, but that's certainly the message I took from the book. Buyer beware.

Given my enthusiasm for Oliver Sacks and some of Malcolm Gladwell's writings, one might presume Buyology would be the perfect blend of the two worlds. One would be mistaken. This book, although a worthwhile read, suffers from an overinflated sense of self-importance. Consider how Gladwell can say obvious things in such a low-key way that you take time to consider his arguments fully. This careful subtlety is lost on Lindstrom, who continually injects the book with references to his own importance as a consultant. He also regularly inflates the actual novelty of the research he is reporting on, referring to it as the largest neuroscientific marketing research effort ever conducted. Such superlatives belie the basic science and make much of this book feel like puffery. Which is a shame because the content, stripped of the puffery and exaggeration, is interesting and scientifically valid. In the hands of a less self-promotional author, the same material might have soared beyond the business shelves of the bookstore to attract the general reader. I recommend the book to people patient enough to sit through the stories of how busy Lindstrom is flying around the world to meet with big name client because at the core of the book lie several interesting nuggets that reveal how the connection between what we think and how we act is not as strong as we would assume.

There are some crazy techniques being used in marketing and they will only get crazier, more intrusive and more subtly manipulative thanks to guys like Martin Lindstrom. He seems a little conflicted about what he does - on one hand he tries to come off as a consumer advocate, exposing marketing tricks so we can be aware of them, on the other he actively employs the same techniques in the companies he works with. He had me going back and forth about whether he is the 'good guy' or the 'bad guy.' Either way, the book is somewhat of an eye opener to the work being done to perfect advertising techniques that are effective despite what consumers think works, and instead basing them on what brain scans show actually works--often two completely different things. I'm only rating it 3 stars because the first 30 or 40 pages were full of repetitive hyperbole building up Lindstrom's research techniques and unprecedented large study group size and generally amazing work only to to be followed by much less than revolutionary results throughout the rest of the book. It's an interesting read, but definitely not as groundbreaking as it's made to sound in the first few chapters. 9 likes

Why oh why do we buy? Martin Lindstrom's Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy and the New Science of Desire goes a long way in answering that question. Lindstrom explains the methods and mechanics used to judge our true buying tendencies. A brief history on past failed practices to elicit this information, as well as the current (and apparently successful) techniques, are discussed prior to the meat of the book, which is mainly about how our brains react to stimulus and how advertisers are tapping into that knowledge, for better or worse. I don't like marketing and advertising, but I love learning how our brains work, and so I enjoyed much of what Buyology had to offer...even the embarrassing parts wherein I discovered I've been duped right along with millions of others into purchasing certain items because of a clever ad. The useful and uselessness of company logos, the "smashableness" of products, historic examples of product failure and success, all of these interesting topics were written in an intriguing, entertaining and engaging manner.

Every now and then, I try to find a marketing-advertising book which I can use in my profession. Unfortunately, I always end up finding books in e-advertising and other online marketing activities which somehow gets outdated with every technological development. I must say, Buy-ology saved me from finding harder in business section at bookstores. After Martin Lindstrom's visit in the Philippines for his talk, I immediately bought my copy and finished reading it. I was not disappointed. I basically bought the book not to know the "truth and lies about why we buy" but to know how to lie and create truth to manipulate the consumer’s behavior. Being a marketer, I must get inside the consumer's brain. Buyology offers a different approach in discovering the "truth and lies about why we buy". Unlike the usual written research and survey, Lindstrom focused on neuromarketing study, whereas he utilized MRI technology to perform brain scans on his subjects to understand their brain activities. Lindstrom uncovered the brain's reactions to advertisements and other marketing initiatives. He studied the brain's response and how it perceives product placements, subliminal messages, superstitions, religion, and even sex in advertising, and among others. By understanding the primary factors, which affects the brain activities, and eventually consumers buying behavior, advertisers and marketers will be able to fully utilize media and improve their marketing initiatives. I find the book interesting, especially his marketing insights and inputs. Though I can't fully grasp the whole process of neuromarketing, since I am not a neuroscientist, the marketing part is useful for me. I am surprised with the results of his research, and it's good to take into consideration the possible effects of advertising strategies to consumers. This book also helped in understanding my own buying behavior. It helps to understand how other companies tried to manipulate my buying habit, so I won't get into unnecessary purchases in the future.

As I got into the book, I kept envisioning a commerical that I have seen of late (one which I cannot remember the product being promoted - go figure!) It's the one where you initially see a smiling face of a young woman. As the camera pans around to the back of her head, you see what is making her smile, what perhaps she is thinking. I believe this commerical to sum up neuromarketing and where we can expect advertising to be in the not too distant future. Advertising gurus will ramp up their determination to link the products being offered with emotional ties of the consumer. Logos alone don't work for the most part. People respond better when more than one sense is involved - sight + hearing + smell. I know my world to be in order when I walk into a bookstore and see all the books on the shelves and "smell" the books and of course the coffee. I learned about several different parts of the brain and their respective functions. I learned lots of new words/phrases - dopamine, mirror neutrons, nucleus accumbens, implicit memory, caudate nucleus, somatic markers. XBOX 360 that's what the commercial was advertising. XBOX 360 that's what the commercial is for.

This was a nice and easy nonfiction read, seeming almost like a vacation after the intellectual beating offered by the likes of Steven Pinker and R. Douglas Fields. But that's faint praise, as this book excelled in ambition and authorial back-patting, but was pretty short on big ideas. The crux of the book is the emergence of neuromarketing, which involves using fMRI and other brain-scanning techniques as a means of truly understanding consumers' loves and hates, rather than just asking the consumers to their faces. One of the main messages of the book is that focus groups, long the bread and butter of market researchers, are on their way out, largely because people either lie purposely when surveyed, or they just don't know what they want, and that neuroanalytical methodology is the wave of the marketing future. If this sounds scary, well, it kind of is, and Lindstrom is careful (perhaps too careful) to calm his readers' fears of dystopian manipulation, mainly because he himself is a big force in pushing these brain-scanning techniques forward. Despite these somewhat pointed criticisms, the book does offer a handful of truly remarkable findings. My favorite among them? That smokers, when shown those disgusting anti-smoking images (man smoking through hole in throat, woman with teeth rotted out), actually experience activation in the nucleus accumbens, which is one of the brain's primary craving centers---yes, the exact warnings meant to dissuade smoking make smokers want to light up. And we never would have found that out in a focus group, right?

Why oh why do we buy? Martin Lindstrom's Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy and the New Science of Desire goes a long way in answering that question. Lindstrom explains the methods and mechanics used to judge our true buying tendencies. A brief history on past failed practices to elicit this information, as well as the current (and apparently successful) techniques, are discussed prior to the meat of the book, which is mainly about how our brains react to stimulus and how advertisers are tapping into that knowledge, for better or worse. I don't like marketing and advertising, but I love learning how our brains work, and so I enjoyed much of what Buyology had to offer...even the embarrassing parts wherein I discovered I've been duped right along with millions of others into purchasing certain items because of a clever ad. The useful and uselessness of company logos, the "smashableness" of products, historic examples of product failure and success, all of these interesting topics were written in an intriguing, entertaining and engaging manner.