From the Back Cover

Why did so many people who took the 'Pepsi challenge' say they preferred Pepsi only to carry on buying Coca-Cola?

Why do the majority of anti-smoking campaigns inadvertently encourage people to smoke?

Why does the scent of melons help sell electronic products?

If you're bewildered by these questions, then Buyology will make everything clear. Written by one of the world's top branding gurus, and drawing on state-of-the-art research, it shows why we don't always buy things for the reasons we think we do.

'A fascinating look at how consumers perceive logos, ads, commercials, brands, and products.’ Time

‘A page-turner’ Newsweek

'Continuously thought-provoking’ Management Today

About the Author

New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Martin Lindstrom, is the CEO and Chairman of the Lindstrom company and the Chairman of Buyology Inc. As one of the world's most respected marketing gurus, he advises top executives at companies including the McDonald's Corporation, Nestle, PepsiCo, Microsoft, The Walt Disney Company and GlaxoSmithKline. Martin Lindstrom speaks to a global audience of close to a million people every year. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time, The Economist, the New York Times, BusinessWeek, USA Today and the Sunday Times and his previous book, Brand Sense, was acclaimed by the Wall Street Journal as one of the five best marketing books ever published.

Most anti-smoking campaigns inadvertently encourage people to smoke. The scent of melons helps sell electronic products. Subliminal advertising may have been banned, but it's being used all the time. Product placement in films rarely works. Many multi-million pound advertising campaigns are a complete waste of time. These are just a few of the findings of Martin Lindstrom's groundbreaking study of what really makes consumers tick. Convinced that there is a gulf between what we believe influences us and what actually does, he set up a highly ambitious research project that employed the very latest in brain-scanning technology and called on the services of some 2000 volunteers. "Buyology" shares the fruits of this research, revealing for the first time what actually goes on inside our heads when we see an advertisement, hear a marketing slogan, taste two rival brands of drink, or watch a programme sponsored by a major company. The conclusions are both startling and groundbreaking, showing the extent to which we deceive ourselves when we think we are making considered decisions, and revealing factors as varied as childhood memories and religious belief that come together to influence our decisions and shape our tastes.