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Brain cells

04.09.08 Graeme Neill

What lies behind our purchasing decisions? Why does someone go through life buying Converse, never once looking at Reeboks when they need a new pair of trainers? These are the sorts of questions behind Buyology (November, hb, £17.99), a new Random House book by Danish branding guru Martin Lindstrom.

He observes that despite $20bn (£11.2bn) being spent each year in the US on market research alone, nine out of 10 new product releases fail. "We cannot ask people about anything in a conventional way and get anything decent out of it," he says. "It's not because we lie as consumers; it's because we are not aware that 85% of what we do as consumers is taking place in our subconscious mind."

His solution was neuromarketing—scanning the brain to determine why consumers make certain choices. This involved spending $7m (£3.9m), multiple experiments over three years, more than 2,000 volunteers, 200 researchers, 10 professors and an ethics committee.

Lindstrom is a fan of quirky facts, frequently peppering the interview with "guess what?" followed by a strange finding. Buyology is full of these. Strong brands such as Harley-Davidson register the same patterns of brain activity in volunteers as religious symbols. Brain scans of smokers revealed that warning labels on cigarette packets were an encouragement to light up, rather than a deterrent. And smell is one of the most powerful tools for a retailer—everyone recognises the smell of Johnson & Johnson's Baby Powder but no one can remember its logo.

Lindstrom claims that because of the accuracy of neuro­marketing, companies in the future will be able to target marketing campaigns and pro­ducts to consumers more effectively. But what about the book industry? Lindstrom is scathing about publishing and bookselling. "One of the most old-fashioned industries I have dealt with in my life," he says.

Lindstrom is dismissive of publisher imprints: "Forget about the bloody imprints—it's a waste of time and money. All you are doing is confusing people and costing more money."

He says the reason why Penguin Classics or John Wiley's For Dummies series work so well is because of their familiar format and eye-catching branding. "People feel comfortable about someone making the choice for them," he says. "I would be more focused on creating fixed formats so end consumers feel comfortable in choosing a book because they recognise it as part of a family."

Making choices for customers is where bookshops can make their mark. Lindstrom describes bookstores as a "mess of information" offering too much choice. "Some of the neuroscience studies have shown that the less you show, the more people buy," he says. "There's a study where we offered people 25 pieces of choc­olate. People chose one piece. When we offered them five pieces, they took three."

His suggestion for a bookstore is ambitious but impressive. It would be filled with thematic top 10s, such as: "If you are horny, this is what you have to read." Music and aromas would be used to reflect the overall number-one seller: "Like cut grass for a gardening book," he says.  The staff should be actors or storytellers: "They should know so much about the book that they should be able to seduce me and find me the book that I want."

Lindstrom argues that bookshops are on the wrong track trying to compete on price and range. "There's one thing they can compete on—the sensory experience. I love to go into a bookshop and smell the smell," he says. "I love the feeling of titles, walking around a shop, touching books, flicking through them. I love to explore and discover."

Going in the opposite direction by "putting tons of books on the shelves, lowering the prices and putting in fluorescent lighting and cold walls" is a mistake, says Lindstrom. "If we did not have our senses, we would not be human beings; we would be dead.

"On the internet, you are using one sense—sight. Bookstores have four senses as a bonus. Use them."

Todays Picks In Depth Graeme Neill author profile Martin Lindstrom

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