The Buying Brain: Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind

by A.K. Pradeep

If You Understand Brain Basics, You'll Sell More As much as 95% of our decisions are made by the subconscious mind. As a result, the world's largest and most sophisticated companies are applying the latest advances in neuroscience to create brands, products, package designs, marketing campaigns, store environments, and much more, that are designed to appeal directly and powerfully to our brains.

The Buying Brain offers an in-depth exploration of how cutting-edge neuroscience is having an impact on how we make, buy, sell, and enjoy everything, and also probes deeper questions on how this new knowledge can enhance customers' lives. The Buying Brain gives you the key to
- Brain-friendly product concepts, design, prototypes, and formulation
- Highly effective packaging, pricing, advertising, and in-store marketing
- Building stronger brands that attract deeper consumer loyalty

A highly readable guide to some of today's most amazing scientific findings, The Buying Brain is your guide to the ultimate business frontier - the human brain.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction, Business, Economics, Brain, Science, Neuroscience

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Dr. Pradeep founded NeuroFocus in 2005. Now the company ranks as the world leader in the fast-growing neuromarketing research field, with numerous patents for its advanced technologies and a blue-chip client list representing Fortune 100 companies in dozens of categories.

The Advertising Research Foundation honored him with the 2009 Great Minds Award Grand Prize, which recognizes an individual who brings excellence to advertising research in the category of research innovation. He was also named 2010 Person of the Year by the USA India Business Summit for his impressive innovations and achievements in the field of neuromarketing.

His new book The Buying Brain: Secrets to Selling to the Subconscious Mind was published in 2010.

Dr. Pradeep holds a Ph.D. in engineering from the University of California at Berkeley."

Reviews

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm really not sure how to parse this book.

If Pradeep is right, then he's working in an interesting field at the intersection of traditional marketing and neuroscience, aptly named "neuromarketing". The idea is that by measuring brain activity during decision-making, say deciding to buy a car or a new product on the shelf, we can establish with some certainty what advertising and marketing methods are most effective.

The problem I had with this book is the same problem I share with the larger sweep of modern neuroscience: it becomes incredibly sure-footed on scientific quicksand. I have no problem with current trends in brain imaging and lesion studies, as these are useful for what they are. I just cannot accept that EEG and fMRI are revealing useful insights about human thought and action; at best these are correlates of cognitive function (which is why they're called "neurological correlates" instead of "neurological causes").

We don't have anything like the depth of knowledge to establish X means Y type of causation when it comes to internal states of the brain, and to think that modern-day tools can do so is to grossly misrepresent the situation. This isn't helped by the fact that the book draws on the intellectual property of a commercial venture, as it is peppered with methodologies and measures that go by cutesy names, often prefixed by "Neuro". As a result, most of the research providing the conclusions are hidden away behind the veils of intellectual property and client confidentiality.

The premise is compelling and I have no doubt that neuroscience inquiry has promise as an adjunct to sales and marketing efforts (for better or worse -- probably worse). I just cannot agree with many of its conclusions.

[Caroline · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book has an interesting concept, but it goes about it in the wrong way. Neuromarketing certainly has some interesting implications for the field of marketing; however, it is not the 'be all and end all' that the author tries to make you believe. The majority of the book is basically an advertisement for his research company. Although he teases some interesting points and findings, overall I was not sold.

[Marcus Goncalves · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is a bit old (2010), but much of the content still somewhat relevant, as there has been a lag between the discipline of neuromarketing and neurotechnologies availability at that time. While there is not much new in the book (not the author’s fault as the book is kind of outdated), relentlessly positions his company, Neurofocus, approach as the best there is, which I find it a bit biased and slightly unethical. Good read overall.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

I saw Dr. Pradeep speak at SXSW and he was the smartest speaker I heard. His insights into how the brain processes buying impulses, advertising, and so on, were fascinating and original -- and consistent with my research into communications and the brain. So I was thrilled to read his book now that it has come out, and I am pleased to say that it is excellent, insightful, and a very pleasant read. We process something like 11 million bits of information every second. Every second. 40 of those bits are conscious; the rest are unconscious. That means that 99.99 percent of our mental activity is unconscious. We are largely unconscious beings. Get used to it. And, with Pradeep's help, make use of it.

[Rochdi · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is difintely not a business book, it's a neuroscience journal

[Ratan Sarkar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read...

[Benjamin Fernandez · Rating 5 out of 5]

AK Pradeep's neuromarketing company NeuroFocus was acquired by Nielsen in 2011. Which goes to say that it had proven marketing research applications at the time. This book contains the overall working of the proprietary tools and frameworks developed at NeuroFocus and we get an understanding of neuromarketing from a practitioners viewpoint. The NeuroMetric model of measurable metrics are attention, emotional engagement, memory retention and derived metrics of purchase intent, novelty and awareness, together with overall effectiveness gives marketing practitioners a grasp of how the brain evaluates a brand/product.

Some detailed excerpts from the book are below.

Consumer journey framework comprises 1. Awareness 2. Information 3. Inquiry 4. Consideration 5. Purchase 6. Enjoyment 7. Advocacy

Awareness wherein consumer awareness of product/brand is created either in The deep subconscious mind or in the conscious rational state of mind of the consumer.

Information wherein brand provides context and association in the product landscape, amplifying awareness already gained and nudge the customer gently into wanting to know more.

Inquiry is a process, primary initiated by the consumer and has possibly already made up his mind to acquire the product and is trying to justify.

Consideration where in the consumer is actively considering purchasing the product and is comparing the product or service to it's possible alternatives.

people love Novelty and change but we also have a strong needed for constancy and commitment.. the brands in our lives serve a vital human purpose: they give identity, meaning and connectivity to experiences and possessions.

Brand essence framework provides a way to build brand passion through seven dimensions.

Form: physical manifestation of the brand, most tangible sensory and physical connection the consumer has with the brand. It is the face and voice of the brand.

Function: not just any function but those functions that are indispensable and unique to your brand. uniqueness is important because it differentiates the functions of the brand from the more generic functions of the category. the competitive differentiation of a brand, deep in the consumers subconscious provides the truest and most enduring barrier to consumer exit and competitive substitution.

Feelings: The Automatic emotional associations that arrives at the mere thought or mention of the brand.

Values: values that a brand may be connected with either explicitly are implicitly can be personal, spiritual, moral, communal, social, political economic, philosophical, historical, traditional, cultural, National, environmental, legal, life cycle related.

Benefits: the personally meaningful rewards we expect to acquire by using brand. How we'd like the world to see us without ever having spoken a word by implicitly and explicitly associating a brand with a consumer's personal identity such as promoting physical beauty, representing intellectual accomplishment, improving sexual attractiveness, being fashionable and trendy, being in the know, achieving career and financial success, having pride in family, being exclusive and Elite, providing access to power resources, reflecting genetic and racial Pride, supporting the uniqueness of personality.

Commodity brand should focus on form functions and benefits. Luxury brands should focus on benefits, values and feelings

[Ieva Upeniece · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had this book on my ‘to read’ list for more than two years. I really like the relatively new direction of neuromarketing and I’ve read quite a lot on this topic. This book was again about that, but it was published almost eight years ago, therefore I was a bit skeptical about it, not expecting that there could be something new that I didn’t know already. At the end of the day I’m very happy that I read this book since I did learn quite a few new things.

The Buying Brain is a perfect reference book. It not only gives you the theory and explanations, but also proposes several ideas and examples, what are the uses of these neuroscience learnings in real life. The book is split is two parts, where the first one is “introducing the buying brain” and the second one is talking about “engaging the buying brain”.

You can read full review on my blog here: http://www.notesofabookdragon.com/201...
There I also explain more, why I liked it so much.

[Peter P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the book occasionally veers to self-advertisement for Pradeep's own company, NeuroFocus, I would suggest that it might, otherwise, be the single best volume on the power of neuroscience in consumer-behavior. Reading it, as I did, a full ten years after its release, and having read many other books on the subject in recent years, I felt that it still covered all of the essential elements on the subject in a very pragmatic and digestible way and, not surprisingly, with the appropriate research backing the narrative. Highly, highly recommended for anyone seriously interested in the science of consumer-behavior.

[Eya Beldi]

I share Caroline's review:
This book has an interesting concept, but it goes about it in the wrong way. Neuromarketing certainly has some interesting implications for the field of marketing; however, it is not the 'be all and end all' that the author tries to make you believe. The majority of the book is basically an advertisement for his research company. Although he teases some interesting points and findings, overall I was not sold

[Howard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a good chunk of this book in 2012, and made the time to finally finish it today. Of course, 9 years later, it’s a little dated, but still interesting. I found the opening chapters the most beneficially. Interesting too that the author mentioned his company is working with Neilsen.

[Sam Moen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good insight, a little too much on the brain scan selling. Still a must read if you are in marketing

[Rulos Heita]

good

[Oliwia · Rating 3 out of 5]

dużo wiedzy na temat neuromarketingu jednak spodziewałam się od tej książki czegoś innego

[Sandra Strange · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this book because it's so very self promoting. It's actually a manual, based on brain research and this author's commercial enterprise, that helps any retailer or politician sell his product using subconscious appeals. The book is so very calculating and cold that I really didn't like the tone, though the basic concepts are presented clearly and seem factual.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an incredibly fascinating read. There is so much to take in. Dr. Pradeep makes you think about things in very different ways than you're used to and after a while, you can't help but see neuromarketing all around you. Not only did it change the way that I think about some of my work but it changed the way that I think about my own buying behaviours.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro que explica detalladamente la forma de cómo las personas perciben su entorno a través de los sentidos y cómo éstos se ven influenciados para la compra de productos. ALTAMENTE RECOMENDADO!

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth the read, great for knowledge of good in-store experiences

[Troy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's really good information in here, at the same time the author's infatuation with the 'theory' of evolution (presupposing that evolution is fact) discredits this otherwise fine work.

[Stan Bartkus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm on pg 155, just finished a chapter (13) focused on how to prevent a product change disaster similar to "New Coke".

That puts me at chapter 14 of 18 and still discussing a chapter-a-week.

[Velvetink]

tubel

[Mary Samson · Rating 4 out of 5]

one of the best sales books I've ever read