Do you recall a time when your shop decision has been driven by a good friend, a neighbor or somebody you esteem? Like when you bought a nice pair of shoes you’re best friend was wearing first, or when you got a brand new smartphone seen from a colleague who showed it around in the office. Probably this kind of situations happened many times and I’m pretty sure most of the times you don’t even pay attention to how your purchase decision gets shape.
The power of peer pressure is one of the main topics Martin Lindstrom discusses in his book “Brandwashed” because, as he claims, “the most persuasive marketing messages come from our peers”. Indeed, what’s more powerful than getting a recommendation from a person we trust when we have to make a decision? Sometimes these messages are direct, sometimes they’re hidden and we get influenced without even fully realize. Human beings living in a society like ours, feel the need to belong to something and following peer’s behavior is a way to get accepted by the community.
A couple of days ago I watched the movie, “The Joneses”, that Martin talks about in the book: a fake family planted in a community with the goal to increase the sale of some specific brands. Not directly though, just by influencing the purchase decisions of neighbors and peers living in the area, by driving the latest car model of Audi or inviting friends to play a 3D game on a huge TV screen. Maybe you’ll meet a family like this, made of professionals who earn commissions by promoting brands, in your neighborhood sometimes soon? This is what Martin thinks it’s going to happen.
Also, the book gives a lot of insights on the “tricks” companies use to drive consumers buying a wider range of products and more often, by playing with the psychology and feelings that are part of our nature of human beings. Great informative book and very enjoyable to read, written by a lead expert in brand marketing.
“Brandwashed: tricks companies use to manipulate our minds and persuade us to buy” is available for purchase on Amazon.
