Book Notes: Buyology

From Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom

- As we have seen again and again, most of our buying decisions aren't remotely conscious. Our brain makes the decision and most of the time we aren't even aware of it.

- But despite what we are now starting to learn about how our brain influences our buying behavior, there is still much more yet for scientists to discover. I believe that our national obsession with buying and consuming is just going to escalate, as marketers become better and better at targeting subconscious wishes and desires.

- Remember the more stress we're under in our world, and the more fearful we are, the more we seek solid foundations. The more we seek solid foundations, the more we become dependent on dopamine. And the more dopamine surges through our brains, the more we want, well, stuff. It's as though we've climbed aboard a fast-moving escalator and can't get off to save our lives. Perhaps George W. Bush knew a little something about the brain - when asked what Americans could do to contribute in the fearful, unsettled days and weeks after 9/11, he replied with a simple monosyllabic: "Shop."

- The alternative? A world in which you face the onslaught of advertising with a better understanding of what drives and motivates you, what attracts and repels you, what gets under your skin. A world in which you are not a slave to the mysterious workings of your subconscious, nor a puppet of the marketers and companies that seek to control it.

- So be mindful.