Book Review: Stats and Curiosities: From Harvard Business Review

If you ever took a college course on stats you are likely to recall counting ceiling tiles as more exciting. However, stats can provide all types of useful and interesting information that can spark the imagination. Within the book Stats and Curiosities you will learn about the human brain, business behavior, health, gender relations, and the economy. It provides tid bits of knowledge and insight into some of the most common things we do but have no idea were doing them. 

Did you know that 19% of high status people believe that others smile at them more? It may not actually be true but how people view themselves has an impact on what they see in the environment. Even more interesting powerful people actually believe they are 6 inches taller.  None of it may be true but it seems to pay psychologically to think yourself high status and powerful.

Of course some statistics have large implications for business. Thirty percent of financial professionals feel pressure to either violate ethics or break the law. That coincides with self-reported ethical people earning 3.4% less than their peers who do not report following high ethical standards. When money is the only goal there is natural pressure and punishment to earn more at all costs. Ethical people are internally driven to resist environmental urges.

What is so special about interacting with others? Social participation gives the same mental boost as a big raise helping employees feel positive. Despite the nearly free employee satisfaction push many organizations have not adjusted their environment to maximize the social benefits that develop a sense of community and positive interaction that raises workplace productivity.

Some of the statistics could help improve your sales and customer satisfaction. Helping consumers feel special also helps them make more purchases. By telling someone they were randomly selected to receive a discount they are 3X more likely to buy the product. The way in which our customer service and sales strategies align help in improving sales revenue.

Statistics are a natural part of our lives and scientists take great pains to ensure that their statistics are actually measuring what they say they are measuring. Despite their tedious nature statistics can provide some great insight into human behavior. The book doesn’t talk about how statistics work or the methodology behind such statistics but does provide a lot of interesting trivia information that can be useful for your life and your business.

O’connell, A. (2013). Stats and Curiosities: From Harvard Business Review. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing 978-1-4221-9631-1

Book Review: Unconscious Branding by Douglas van Praet

Modern marketing entails the embedded secrets of unconscious branding. The book Unconscious Branding: How Neuroscience Can Empower (and inspire) Marketing by Douglas van Praet delves into the influences of the unconscious on human behavior and marketing effectiveness. The understanding of neuroscience explains how feelings lead to choices that that result in product sales.

Advertisers and product designers spend billions of dollars every year on creating the right advertising mix to lure potential buyers to their products. Hidden desires and needs seem to drive much of human behavior even though we are often unaware of why we are purchasing products or how it enhances our self-perception. Yet these unconscious forces are pulling us to fulfill these undiscovered needs from morning until evening….perhaps even beyond. 

When Freud discovered his sense of the unconscious, it had a vast effect on the climate of the times. Now we are discovering a more accurate vision of the unconscious, of who we are deep inside, and it’s going to have a wonderful and profound and humanizing effect on our culture –David Brooks

The essence of all marketing is the feeling of being appreciated. This appreciation is based in our need to be part of a biological and cultural network that is connected together to ensure mutual survival. We constantly seek to purchase items that raise our status and fulfill subconscious cravings in order to raise our biological opportunities in society. Appealing to these subconscious cravings encourages the fulfillment of deeply held needs that are not manifested fully on the conscious plane. 

The book will bring you three seven steps of designing a successful marketing campaign. They include interrupting patterns, creating comfort, leading the imagination, shifting feelings, satisfying the critical mind, changing associations and taking action. In essence, the steps are designed to draw people’s attention and then lead them from feeling to action while satisfying any logical misgivings. 

The book doesn’t appear to have a lot of research included in the pages but it does provide some thought provoking explanations on marketing. The theoretical research support is available to intelligentsia and it appears to be a sound understanding of how the subconscious creates motivations and actions. The concepts are broad so don’t expect any specific marketing success advice but it does lead you into some useful concepts that can be beneficial for rounding out marketing plans. 

Van Praet, D. (2012). Unconscious Branding. NY: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN: 978-0-230-34179-1

Blog Ranking: 4.3/5

Price: $21

Website: http://unconsciousbranding.com/