The Brain Sell: How the new mind sciences and the persuasion industry are reading our thoughts, influencing our emotions, and stimulating us to shop

generates subconscious feelings of relaxation and security—a state of mind that encourages customers to shop for longer and buy more

Brands are symbols of aspirations, representing desired self-qualities, such as sophistication or status. As a result, brand priming can activate goals linked with these desired outcomes and so elicit goal-directed behavior.

That a shopper’s heart beats faster when a bargain is spotted is not speculation on my part but an established fact.

Cognitive dissonance describes the feeling of discomfort we experience when we attempt to hold two conflicting beliefs simultaneously.

“misattribution effect,” which arises when heightened emotions are transferred from the situation that caused them to another object or person.

“misattribution effect,” which arises when heightened emotions are transferred from the situation that caused them to another object or person.

More intuitive purchasing decisions are made deep within the brain, in an area located between the cortex and brain stem known as the limbic system.

Women remained unaffected by the color, possibly because they tend to shop in a more focused and systematic way than men.

TNA is a widely used and, research shows, highly effective technique for transforming a previously “take it or leave it” product into a must-have item. BOGOFS, three for the price of two, or the free pens,