For a long time now, I’ve thought focus groups, questionnaires, exit surveys, etc., have been fairly full of crap…

…and it was reassuring for me to read a book that settles it, scientifically.

Martin Lindstrom, author of Buyology, one of the world’s most respected marketing gurus, uses fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to verify how people really feel when subject to different forms of advertisting, TV Shows, and so on.

Basically, fMRI measures the parts of the brain that respond showing when some feels happy & content, fearful & upset, along with all of the emotions in between.

Applying the study of fMRI (and similar technologies) to marketing is called neuromarketing.

In Buyology, I learned that:

• seeing cigarette warning labels makes a smoker want to smoke,
• once dopamine fires up, people buy things they shouldn’t (and until dopamine wears off, they love the feeling!),
• every major religion (including Catholicism, Protestantism, Budism, and Islam) have the following ten common pillars underlying their foundations:

1. a sense of belonging,
2. a clear vision,
3. power over enemies,
4. sensory appeal,
5. storytelling,
6. grandeur,
7. evangelism,
8. symbols,
9. mystery, and
10. rituals.

And guess what…

So do many successful companies (think Apple, Harley-Davidson and Disney)!

Buyology really reinforced the idea that’s been brewing in my mind — which is, there’s a difference between what people say they think, and what people actually think.

If marketers tap into the mind of how people think, and successfully create emotionally engaging content (such as the TV Show “How Clean Is Your House?“) — they have success in creating, and maintaining, an audience.

If you have the time & this interests you, be sure to read Buyology, it’s available on Amazon, and if you have your Kindle, you can get it in 60 seconds or less!

Enjoy!