by Paul Simister
on November 23, 2016
When I reviewed
Why People Buy by John O’Shaughnessy
on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it a Four Stars rating which means I consider it to be good.
Here is my book review.
A revealing book about consumer theory written for practitioners and academics but it’s nearly 30 years old
I’m fascinated by understanding why people buy what they buy, when they buy it and how they buy it. Generally I feel that far too much of the literature on sales and marketing ignores the buyer and his or her motivations.
This book was first published in 1987 and it was written for both marketing practitioners and for academics and students of consumer behaviour. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on October 17, 2016
The full title of this book by by Richard G. Lewis is
Customer Avatar: Define Your Ideal Customer Profile
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars.
Here is my review.
A short summary that introduces the idea rather than being a definitive source
This short book looks at how to create a customer profile or avatar for the best customer in your market and in particular uses the Facebook Audience Insights to get information. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on October 15, 2016
The full title of this book by Sarah Arrow is
Zero to Psychographics: Your guide to uncovering your target audience using psychographics
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave it Three Stars. This means Worthwhile.
Here is my book review.
A short introduction that’s quite technical
It’s common sense but your potential market is made of up many different types of people in different situations and with different goals and motivations.
When you’re in a one-to-one selling situation, some of the differences are easy to identify (sex, age etc) and some well thought through questions and careful listening can help you clarify exactly what is likely to drive a particular person to need, want and therefore consider buying your product or service. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on October 15, 2016
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk for
“7 Secret Motivators That Drive Your Customers to The BUY Button“,
I gave the book a rating of Four Stars. This means I think it is good.
Here is my book review.
A nice introduction to why people buy
This is a nice, short introduction to buy people buy the things they do and, as a consequence, how you can link your products and services to one or more of these needs to encourage extra sales. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on October 14, 2016
The full title of this book by Lindsay Spencer-Matthews is
“Reading Customers Minds: Why Customers Don’t Buy From You And What To Do About It“.
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a rating of Five Stars. This means I think it is Excellent.
Here is my book review.
Very interesting and well worth reading if you have a colour screen
This interesting book is written by a psychologist with 20 years practical experience who has previously worked in sales and marketing.
The author contrasts what you know and what a customer knows using set theory diagrams. I’m a visual thinker so I like the clarity of this approach but unfortunately the diagrams don’t come out well on a standard Kindle reader with its black and shades of grey contrasts. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on October 13, 2016
The full title of this book by Bryan and Jeffrey Eisenberg with Anthony Garcia is
“Buyer Legends: The Executive Storyteller’s Guide“.
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book a rating of Four Stars. This means I think it is good.
Here is my book review.
Customer persona plus use situation and moments of truth
This book, by introducing the concept of buyer legends, tries to solve a problem with marketing where all the little improvements you make don’t add up to a big improvement because some cancel out others in a one step forward, one step back dance.
Basically a buyer legend is a story that combines a customer persona with a use situation and the moments of truth in the buying process. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on January 8, 2016
The full title of this book by Harry Beckwith is
Unthinking: The Surprising Forces Behind What We Buy
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Two Stars.
Long-winded and very American
Harry Beckwith made his name with the book “Selling The Invisible” which is generally recognised as a classic.
I’m fascinated by the ideas behind why we buy what we buy and academic subjects like behavioural economics and neuromarketing have given us considerable insight into how the mind works and how it can be guided or misguided.
I had high hopes of this book but I found it long-winded. The author makes some good points but the contents feels very padded and it’s hard to pick out the nuggets from the stories. It would have helped to have separated theories and concepts from the examples.
The book is also very American based and therefore, for British readers, much of the power of the many examples is lost because we can’t recognise the cultural references and marketing campaigns. At least I can’t and that’s why I asked for a refund.
This is an important subject but I think there are better books out there.
[bestbooks]
Get To Know Me
[sos]
[6Steps]
by Paul Simister
on May 13, 2015
The full title of this book by Phil Barden is
Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy
In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Three Stars. This means Worthwhile.
Here is my review.
I hoped that I’d get more from it
The book starts with the thinking fast and slow ideas of unconscious and conscious deliberation and then links these concepts into marketing.
It’s mainly written for marketing executives within large fmcg companies and while I found some of it interesting, I’ve come across much of the content in other neuromarketing type books. You might have the same problem. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on March 7, 2014
In my review of
Neuromarketing For Dummies
by Stephen J. Genco, Andrew P. Pohlmann and Peter Steidl posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Three Stars. This means Worthwhile.
Here is my review.
Mixed feelings
This is quite a technical introductory book about the exciting, relatively new field of neuromarketing. If I’d have been reading it for study rather than practical purposes, I’d have finished up with a long list of definitions to learn. [continue reading…]
by Paul Simister
on May 16, 2013
This is the third marketing tip in a series based on
>>> Being Good At Marketing Isn’t A Nice-If But A Must Have
Marketing Tip 3 – Understand The Customers In Your Market And Find Unexploited Opportunities
If you need to find new customers for your business, you need to take a good hard look at your prospective clients and understand:
- What are the common problems?
- How how do those products impact on their business (B2B) or personal lives (B2C)?
- How willing are they to pay to have the problems taken away?
- How much are they prepared to pay?
- What products and services can you provide as solutions to the problems?
- How you can communicate effectively? How can you reach them with a believable message they will pay attention to?
