Neuromarketing is an interesting term which I came across recently when my wife told me about a book I HAD to read, called Buyology (no, that’s not a typo), written by Martin Lindstrom.

What is it about?

In his book, Lindstrom delves deep to explain many things that we thought we previously understood about marketing. Why does certain advertising make us believe that we can look like that supermodel if we wear the same clothes that he or she is wearing? Why does male underwear packaging have pictures of well built, near naked men on the front, and no, it’s not for our wives to perve over or for the pink market.

How does he know this?

He does this using the results of an international, multi-year multi-million dollar study which he conducted fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) scans and SST (steady-state typography) measuring whilst subjects looked at, watched or thought about adverts. This meant that the results were not biased in the usual way results become biased, such as wanting to impress the person or give the correct answer. Our brains don’t lie, our conscious does that.

The biggest realisation for me were the results that were achieved when combining more than the usual sensory appeal of sight with a combination of sight and sound (specific, distinguishable sound which does not just sound like background sounds that you would expect to hear), or site and smell. Although the results are not always beneficial as the Nokia executives found out.

The bad

The only thing I did not like about this book is that it was not available electronically in Africa, so I had to go back to reading it on paper, which in it’s own right was a novel experience