Book Review: Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy
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Written by world class marketing guru Martin Lindstrom, Buyology
Upon browsing the library shelves, I came across this fun book title that caught my attention. Buyology was a nice play of words that indicated a collaboration between biology and consumerism – as I have much interest in how our brains interact with money.
The book is basically a compilation of research papers that exposes how the brain reacts to marketing and advertising along with their influences on purchasing decisions – without much of the technical jargon found in a medical journal.
A few of the highlights from the book:
- Advertising works because of mirror neurons. Apparently, we tend to copy, or imagine copying, other people. These sensors are why a baby smiles when you smile and why you buy the clothes on the model in the ad.
- Dopamine, the reason for buyer’s remorse. This neurotransmitter controls your feeling of pleasure. From the point we start anticipate buying “something”, dopamine is released and reaching its highest levels as you walk out the store with that “something”. Soon after, the dopamine levels drop off and we’re sad again. Guess what we do to get that feeling again?
- Selling on rituals. The giddy little practices that are associated with certain products are ways to market those products in a particular way. How did dunking Oreo cookies in milk become a pastime? Did you know that putting a lime wedge in your bottle of Corona was supposedly a tradition started by bet to get the whole restaurant to do it also?
- Sex is distracting. The common notion that “sex sells” may not be true. The person or object of sexual appeal can actually divert our attention from the advertised product and the brand.
Influence on My Shopping Behavior
Ever since I finished reading Buyology, I’ve been analyzing my thought process whenever I see an advertisement or go to the store to buy something. The findings, as a result of Lindstrom’s expensive research project, helped me understand more of what is probably happening neurologically as I’m waiting on line to buy the latest gadget from the Apple store.
Here’s a memorable quote from the book:
“Our emotional brain wants to max out the credit card, even though our logical brain knows we should save for retirement.”
Overview
I recommend everyone read Buyology because you are all human and you all buy stuff. I feel that it would act as a great deterrent to prevent shopping when we take that split second to ponder how our brains are functioning at that very moment. And, if we spend less, we can save up for important things – like an iPad retirement…
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