Book Review: Buyology

This book was introduced to me just before I moved to Berlin during a lecture back in Rotterdam. It seemed pretty interesting, to be honest. Amazon’s user reviews were also quite favorable so I decided to give it a read.

Let’s just say that I wasn’t entirely impressed. Maybe it was Lindstrom’s tone of speaking: It was twenty-five times larger than any neuromarketing study ever before attempted. Using the most cutting-edge scientific tools available, it revealed the hidden truths behind how branding and marketing messages work on the human brain, how our truest selves react to stimuli at a level far deeper than conscious thought and hour our minds control our behavior.

Some parts of it read more like a Hollywood trailer text than a book based on good old science. But I digress. In general, the book was interesting. There a lot of really fascinating examples of previous studies (always interesting) about selling, products and product marketing. Lindstrom is also quite a knowledgeable guy and that shows.

Buy it or not? I’d say that the studies themselves are very fascinating, it just isn’t the book that will “overturn your cherished beliefs”, like the Spectator claims on the cover.
Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy