Decoded The Science Behind Why We Buy

SCIT Aditya Nishant 12-14 Division B 1203024106 9/10/2013

Decoded The Science Behind Why We Buy

Student Name: Aditya Nishant Submission: 09/09/2013 PRN No: 12030241060 Date of

Book Name: Decoded The Science behind Why We Buy Chapter Title: Decision Science

1. Title: Decision Science: Understanding the way of Consumer behavior. 2. General Subject Matter: The science of why we buy is decoded for us in this book based on research of behavioral economics, psychology and the study of the brain. While we may think we are consciously making all our buying decisions, there are triggers and signals which sway us. 3. Theme: This book sets out to deconstruct the implicit signals directing us towards one product rather than another and, in doing so, effectively debunks many of the pet theories and myths of marketers over the decades. 4. Description, an evaluation and critical analysis of the topic. The first chapter captures the business application of the foundational theories of Daniel Kahneman. This chapter is filled with numerous psychological experiments and insights sourced by Kahneman. The entire first chapter on Decision Science is focused on Kahneman's theory and framework. Kahneman's framework discloses that our brain has two different decision making modes. The first one is the Autopilot (System 1) that is implicit. It is automatic, effortless, associative, and subconscious. It integrates perception and intuition. It is made for fast, automatic, intuitive actions without thinking. It can process a humongous amount of information quickly. The second one is the Pilot (System 2) that is conscious, deliberate, reflecting, and slow. It can process much less information more slowly compared to the Autopilot. The Pilot is engaged whenever we actually think. The Autopilot and Pilot work together. The Pilot and Autopilot have a different neurological basis. The Autopilot is crucially important from a marketing standpoint because it manages the majority of perceptions and expectations underlying purchase

CB&RM Book Review

Decoded The Science Behind Why We Buy

decisions. Motive of the book is to divulge specific strategies to engage the Autopilot of individuals to turn them into customers. So in the end of the first chapter we come to understand the why of consumer behavior. What has emerged is that we have an analytical framework to manage the explicit and implicit level of decision making. The book further builds on this to increase the effectiveness of marketing. 5. Strengths and weaknesses of the material in relation to Consumer Behavior aspects.

Decoded" is a comprehensive look at consumer behavior--what makes people buy--with reference not to stale models based on presumed rationality, but on recent neurological data and studies about real-world consumer behavior. The first chapter addresses the underlying mechanisms that go into decision-making. Using research from eminent scientists around the world, plus many years of work, Barden demonstrates the power of our autopilot in determining buying decisions. This is of critical importance to marketing and advertising executives looking to understand customers goals when they attempt to create or redesign brands, products and advertising. Barden describes how consumers make subconscious decisions based on periphery, experience and intuition (autopilot). He identifies the components of this autopilot, and how our brains make mental associations which we call upon when making purchasing decisions. Weaknesses By its nature, a book of this type is going to be extremely productcentric, but I would have liked to see the arguments expanded to consider the potential impact of the human element in sales and marketing. How can this method understanding how to trigger key goals and responses in customers be applied to face-to-face sales and more major purchases? 6. Personal review and commentary on the topic.

CB&RM Book Review

Decoded The Science Behind Why We Buy

Based on what we have discussed in this summary, marketing appears to be quite simple: We have to create a value proposition consisting of both explicit and implicit goals, translate this proposition into signals that will activate mental concepts within the consumer, and then, if these mental concepts fit with the consumer's active goal better than those activated by competitors, they will buy our brand or product. As a result, we now have a more analytical, evidence-based framework to access consumer decision making. The core insight behind this is the importance of the implicit level of decision making. Integrating this implicit level into our day-to-day marketing practice results in a paradigm shift, giving us an entirely new perspective from which we can manage our products, services, and brands.

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