role of the frontal regions of the brain, which are responsible for making purchasing decisions based on information arriving from many different regions, but especially from the emotionally driven limbic system.

“Our emotions are more easily influenced when we are not aware that the influence is occurring.”

“to categorize something is to render it meaningful.”

What brand managers and advertisers seek to do is implant an emotional memory, what I term a “brand worm,” in the consumer’s brain. Once lodged there, it triggers the same feelings and memories whenever the brand is seen. The more people who share this response, the greater will be the impact on your purchasing decisions. Termed the “bandwagon”

It offers marketers the ability not only to take account of the recency and intensity of the consumer’s online activity, but also to make accurate predictions about their future interests and purchases. Behavioral targeting takes account of the fact that websites searched for, checked, and viewed provide a strong indicator of future interests.

in Box 4 are want-needs, those products and services that, once moved into this category in the consumer’s brain, will virtually sell themselves.

anchoring heuristic.

mental fluency, the subjective ease or difficulty of making sense of incoming information.

Recognizing this basic human need, manufacturers and retailers take steps to ensure that customers are, or at least perceive themselves to be, in control of every aspect of their shopping. whether online or in the high street.