Buyology: The Truth and Lies about Why We Buy

Citation

McCormick, S. (2010), "Buyology: The Truth and Lies about Why We Buy", Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 235-236. https://doi.org/10.1108/10610421011046238

Martin Lindstrom, a world‐renowned marketer, skims the surface of using neuroscience as a marketing tool. This book has 11 chapters packed with relative examples and potential answers as to why we as consumers behave the way we do. To help explain, Lindstrom provides his readers with many in‐depth examples in ten of his chapters. Each chapter uses a different theory as to why we make those ever‐so‐important purchases. Have you ever wondered why you purchased the soap you do? Well, Lindstrom may have the answer for you. He provides a compelling argument for using neuroscience as a marketing tool; however he also offsets the argument by explaining that this methodology should not be the only tool marketers should rely on.

Lindstrom uses two different measuring devices to analyze consumers' mindsets. The first device is a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner, which costs approximately $4 million. The fMRI machine provides a detailed picture of what part of the brain is being used while the consumer views a specific image. The other device used is a SST (steady‐state typography) cap. The SST cap, Lindstrom explains, comes with the benefit of measuring reactions instantaneously.

Chapter 1 covers Lindstrom's largest neuromarketing study ever. He provides his readers with an explanation as to why the Pepsi‐over‐Coca‐Cola sip test failed to show how consumers would react to a whole can of the new Pepsi flavor. Lindstrom points out that an MRI machine may have been able to predict that outcome. He also explains that the cigarette warning labels does nothing more than entice smokers to continue smoking. Lindstrom measured people's brainwaves using an fMRI machine to determine if the warning labels really deterred people from smoking. Overall, this chapter provides his readers with the understanding that consumers do not really know how marketing really affects their buying behavior.

Chapter 2, “This must be the place,” delves into, you guessed it, product placement. Today's consumer only remembers 2.21 commercials he or she has ever seen (p. 37), compared to 1965, when consumers remembered 34 percent of advertisements. This tells us marketers that we have saturated the consumer's mind with advertisements. The end result is that marketers need to grab the consumer's attention by having their products constantly in front of the consumer. So, rather than using only one medium to reach buyers, you need to use multiple mediums at the same time. Lindstrom studied the popular television show, “American Idol” and learned that of only two of the three major sponsors were remembered as being part of the program. He explains that outcome by saying that two of the brands were marketed as a branded logo. The two products that are considered as branded logos were built into the show itself. One product was used by the hosts, the product color was in every camera view, and they even included a couch that was shaped like the logo. The other product was used by the consumer to call in, and it just had a commercial that nobody remembered. This chapter allows his readers to see how product placement is important and that without neuromarketing, we might still be wondering why.

Chapter 3 explains that many consumers purchase products because they want to mirror someone else. He calls this reaction the “mirror neuron” (p. 54). Lindstrom's example of Abercrombie & Fitch is a perfect way to explain how consumers react to someone else's looks. Abercrombie & Fitch hires models to stand in front of most of their inner‐city stores to wear Abercrombie & Fitch clothing. Using an fMRI machine, Lindstrom has the ability to show that the consumer's brain does contain the mirror neuron. He quoted a University of California professor saying, “what DNA is for biology, the mirror neuron is for psychology” (p. 55).

Chapter 4 talks about subliminal messaging, which he loosely defines as, “visual, auditory, or any other sensory messages that register just below our level of conscious perception and can be detected only by the subconscious mind” (p. 70). Today's subliminal message is a little different than James Vicary's idea of subliminal messaging. Lindstrom explains that messages now are simply displayed without a logo, using the company's signature colors and image. This allows the consumer to translate the message on his or her own. The most interesting part of this advertising methodology is how the consumers' guards are dropped when they view the advertisement without the logo compared to when they saw the logo. Lindstrom points out that consumers are more aware they are being targeted when the logo is included in the message. This chapter allows readers to see that using a product color and image enables the consumer to still receive the implied message.

Chapter 5 brings rituals and superstitions to the forefront of why we buy. Lindstrom does an amazing job pointing out that the products that fill our ritual needs tend to be stickier. He explains that there are four different types of rituals in consumers' daily routines and that the consumer tends to build emotional connections with the brands and products that fulfill the rituals. For example, if you use Irish Spring to wash up in the morning, you are more likely to purchase that product over and over again.

Chapter 6 delves into faith and religion. Rituals are normally performed during religious ceremonies, and without specific items, the ritual cannot be completed. Lindstrom looks into whether consumers view products such as Harley Davidson, Nike, and Apple as a religion. Through the use of an fMRI machine, Dr Calvert, a Chair in Applied Neuroimaging at the University of Warwick in England, found that people viewed products like Harley Davidson, Nike, and Apple in a religious fashion. That is, the area of the brain that is active during a religious ceremony would be active while viewing a product that has a membership‐like feeling.

Chapter 7 provides an in‐depth explanation as to how consumers purchase some products according to brand. Lindstrom quotes Socrates telling his student Theaetetus that the mind is a lot like a “block of wax.” “What is impressed upon the wax,” Socreates said, “we remember and know, provided the image remains in the wax, but whatever is obliterated or cannot be impressed, we forget and do not know” (p. 130). Somatic markers are a collection of memories associated with products, brands, and logos. Lindstrom provides two different ways somatic markers are created: through the use of humor and based on past experiences (p. 138). As we all know, a poor experience is very difficult to erase from someone's memory bank. Towards the end of this chapter Lindstrom explains that he has not performed any research on somatic markers; however he does plan on experimenting with the theory for the next edition.

Chapter 8 discusses how companies are marketing to all fives sense more frequently. Consumers in today's market are marketed to visually, so often they began to filter out what is important and what is not. The problem here is that consumers are now missing what interests them. Lindstrom explains that Abercrombie & Fitch has a distinct odor in the store that reminds the consumer of a previous experience. Think back to when you purchased a new pair of Sneakers. Do you remember the scent they had when you opened the box? Or, how about the new car smell? He uses research conducted by Dr Calvert to help explain why it is so important for marketers to pay more attention to the consumer's five senses rather than to just one.

Chapter 9 asks the question, “can neuromarketing help companies create products that we consumers actually like?” If traditional marketing only allots for a 20 percent success rate in new product success, then I think neuromarketing deserves a little more attention. Lindstrom studied how consumers responded to three different television shows using the SST device. The end result was a given, in that we as marketers know that consumers do not know what how they really feel. Or, if consumers do understand how they feel, they do not know how to explain it. This chapter provided great insight that leads Lindstrom to believe that neuromarketing will grow in popularity.

Chapter 10 delves into sex and how it has it has worked its way into practically every advertising campaign. Lindstrom used a study performed by Ellie Parker and Adrian Furnham of University College London to help explain how sex works in advertising. These two researchers studied 60 young adults' reactions to advertisements that contained sexual innuendos. The results indicated that sex does nothing more than sell itself. The chapter provides reasoning to why advertising is used so frequently and how it does not help sell the product marketers are trying to push.

Martin Lindstrom concluded his book by explaining that neuromarketing will increase in popularity. However, he does caution his readers that this methodology will not resolve all of the marketing questions. This methodology should be used in conjunction with other traditional marketing research. This book is perfect for someone who would like to brush up on basic consumer behavior. Lindstrom provides insight into how neuroscience could be used to help ensure a successful product launch.