Press Release: Buyology by Martin Lindstrom
“Lindstrom takes us on a fascinating journey inside the consumer brain. Surprising and eye opening.” —Ori Brafman, author of the New York Times bestselling book, Sway
Available in Paperback in February 2010
A brand new chapter on today’s economy reveals why condom sales are up 22% and Kit Kat sales are up 17%— along with burglar alarms and toothpaste! And why, even as we enter the aftermath of the recession, American consumers won’t soon revert to their pre-recession shopping habits.
BUYOLOGY
Truth and Lies About What We Buy
By Martin Lindstrom
Does sex sell? What do religion and ritual have in common with successful advertising? Can subliminal advertising really influence our behavior? What effect, if any do health warnings on cigarette packs have on the consumer? We now know the answers thanks to a major scientific study whose surprising findings are revealed in Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom—out in paperback on February 2, 2010, from Broadway Business.
To find out how our unconscious minds influence how we buy, Lindstrom, one of today’s foremost marketing experts, partnered with researchers from Oxford University and launched the single largest neuromarketing study ever conducted—25x larger than any such study to date. In a three-year effort, costing more than seven million dollars and using two of the most advanced, cutting-edge neuro-imaging technologies available today—the fMRI and SST—scientists scanned the brains of over 2,000 people from all over the world as they were exposed to various marketing and advertising strategies including clever product placements, sneaky subliminal messages, iconic brand logos, shocking health and safety warnings, and provocative product packages.
For decades, advertisers, marketers, and consumers alike have held a set of common assumptions about what drives us to buy. Turns out, most of these were dead wrong. His startling results will shatter much of what we have long believed. Some of the many topics Lindstrom explores include:
Faith, Religion and Brands: What connection, if any, exists between religion and our buying behavior? Are there similarities between the way our brains respond to religious and spiritual symbols, and the way they react to products or brands? Could certain products inspire the same sense of devotion and loyalty, as provoked by faith or religion? Just ask the people that wait in line overnight at the Apple store whenever a new product is launched.
Ritual, Superstition and Why We Buy: Do you have a fear of the number 13? Do you always drink your Corona with a wedge of lime, or eat the filling of your Oreo cookie first? Turns out many of the rituals we habitually perform in our daily lives were actually manufactured by companies and marketers to draw us to their brands and products.
Subliminal Advertising, Alive and Well: In 1957, subliminal advertising was banned, but you might be surprised that subliminal messages still surround us and strongly influence our behavior. Consider how tobacco companies continue to sneak their products into our subconscious now that they can no longer advertise on billboards and on television.
Selling Our Senses: Does your heart rate increase when you see one of those signature, robin-egg blue Tiffany boxes? Or maybe you feel your pulse race when you inhale the scent of your new car? Or what about that sense of comfort and safety when you smell a box of crayons? Marketers and advertisers know that our other senses, particularly smell, touch and sound are incredibly powerful and evocative; read about how they use this to draw us to their products.
Somantic Markers, The Recession and You: In a new conclusion, EXCLUSIVE to the paperback edition, Lindstrom reveals why American consumers won’t soon revert back to their pre-recession shopping habits. The current recession has created one big somantic marker linking money and spending to the massive sense of fear and uncertainly that has wracked the world. The result: the very thought of spending triggers fear and anxiety, which sends us running for feel good antidotes like sex, food and security—hence the rise in sales on products like condoms (22%), chocolate (Lindt up 6%), burglar alarms and fire arms. The toothpaste however, is still a mystery.
More than just a wake-up call to advertisers and marketers, Buyology will captivate anyone who has ever been swayed by a commercial or won over by an ad. Through well-known brands such as Tiffany, Apple, Marlboro, American Idol, Corona and more, Lindstrom is able to explain his brain scan findings to reveal what is really going on in our minds when we see or think about a product.
For more information, please visit: www.MartinLindstrom.com.
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MARTIN LINDSTROM is one of the world’s most respected marketing experts. He is the CEO and Chairman of Lindstrom Company and Chairman of Buyology, Inc. (New York and Tokyo) as well as BRAND Sense Agency (London). With a global audience of over a million people, Lindstrom spends 300 days on the road every year, advising top executives of companies including McDonald’s Corporation, Nestlé, PepsiCo, American Express, Yellow Pages, Procter & Gamble, Microsoft Corporation, The Walt Disney Company, Unilever, Nokia and GlaxoSmithKline, amongst others.
Lindstrom is a 2009 recipient of TIME Magazine’s “World’s 100 Most Influential People”. He is regularly featured in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, TIME magazine, New York Times, US Today and Forbes amongst many others, as well as frequently appears on NBC’s Today Show, CNN Money and Bloomberg.
BUYOLOGY: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy
By Martin Lindstrom
Broadway Business; On-sale: February 2, 2010; Paperback, 272 pages
ISBN: 978-0-385-52389-9; Price: $15.00
For more information, please contact Dennelle Catlett at dcatlett@randomhouse.com or at 212-782-9486.