Business Books

Buying on the brain: using MRIS, a researcher takes a look at what brands we have in mind and why product placement fails. Walking the talk works; the Google chronicles

Buy•ology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy By Martin Lindstrom Doubleday; 240 pages

What do Rosary Beads and Red Bull have in common? A lot, it seems. Marketing guru Lindstrom and his team hooked up 65 people to special MRI machines to find out what their brains revealed about the connection between religion and brand loyalty. For days, the researchers ran images--like those of the Pope and a bottle of Coca-Cola--by the wired subjects. The resulting brain scans were arresting. It turns out that there is virtually no difference between the way the brain reacts to religious icons or figures...

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