Matt Johnson - Blindsight

Praise for Blindsight

Blindsight is a rigorous examination of how top brands sneak into our brains and grab the best real estate. Deftly mixing neuroscience, psychology, and fun stories, the book is a delight to read; it will grip you from the start, and leave you feeling smarter.

Rich Karlgaard, publisher at Forbes

Ghuman and Johnsons Blindsight is beautifully written and fascinatinga behind-the-scenes tour of the marketing schemes designed to cajole, sway, and hook us. Why do we spend decades of our lives playing games and scrolling through social media feeds? Why do we prefer predictability, but spend so much of our time seeking unpredictable rewards? Why do we ask for dozens of options, but ultimately regret our purchases more often when the choice set is large? Blindsight teaches us how to be smarter consumers who make wise decisions that will ultimately leave us happier, wealthier, and healthier.

Adam Alter, New York Times bestselling author of Drunk Tank Pink and Irresistible

Somewhere hidden between the bright colors, catchy jingles, and strategic placement of advertisements is the psychology behind their influence. This book uncovers this hidden layer of the consumer world and how it affects our thoughts, emotions, and spending habits. A must-read for consumers and marketers alike.

Kendis Gibson, Emmy award-winning journalist and reporter for MSNBC

Blindsight engrosses the reader from the very first page. With an entertaining blend of storytelling and science, Blindsight is a truly eye-opening look into the complex dynamics underlying how brands drive consumer behavior. A must-read book that will have you re-examining both information around you and your own purchase decisions at every turn.

Abigail Sussman, associate professor of marketing at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business

A fun, accessible dive into the ways marketing defines the modern human experience. Prince Ghuman and Matt Johnson bring to life the science behind how Facebook holds your attention, how Star Wars captured the hearts of generations of moviegoers, and selling billions in bottled water to consumers with taps in their homes. This is the perfect book for readers looking to understand what happens when the magic behind modern branding meets the machinery of the mind.

Drew Jacoby-Senghor, assistant professor of management at Berkeley Haas School of Business

Blindsight is a delightful book that opens your eyes to the hidden forces behind every decision and every choice in the consumer world. The book draws on scientific evidence from cognitive psychology, neuroscience, and decision science, and makes it fun and relatable to any audience. If you want to understand the driving forces behind your decisions, if you want to be smarter about your purchases, if you want to know how to improve your spending habits, read this book!

Jiaying Zhao, associate professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia

Johnson and Ghuman artfully combine science, business, and storytelling to help us understand the invisible forces which shape our decisions and experiences. Along the way, they reveal to us all how deeply interwoven consumerism is into the perception of reality itself. The result is a rare book which enriches our understanding of everyday life. A must-read for anyone curious to better understand the world around them and the psychological forces that shape it.

Blake Sherwin, assistant professor of applied mathematics and theoretical physics at Cambridge University

This is not your average marketers how-to book. Fast-paced, clever, and utterly fascinating, Blindsight sheds new light on the deeply rooted beliefs and mental gymnastics that brands tap with precision to create preference. Johnson and Ghuman weave meticulously chronicled science into great stories with thoroughly modern examples that will leave consumers, marketers, brands, or just neuro-curious readers with something to chew on and lots to discuss at your next dinner party.

Carol Caruba, principal at Highwire PR

Equal parts science and storytelling, Blindsight changes the way we see ourselves as consumers. Why does the same wine taste better to us if we think its expensive? Why does a $10 fee seem less significant when tacked on to a larger purchase than a smaller one? Why do we judge original works of art to have greater value than replicas? This book is an engaging journey into the science of marketings influence, and how it impacts how we see the world around us.

Judy Fan, assistant professor of psychology at University of California at San Diego

Blindsight is a refreshing, timely book that will make you examine the secret ways marketing influences you. You wont be able to think about your own consumer life the same way.

Sheryle Bolton, serial entrepreneur

In Blindsight, Ghuman and Johnson make the neuroscience of marketing accessible to all. Drawing creative and insightful connections between scientific studies and the effectiveness of todays marketing strategies, this book achieves a perfect balance of humor and rigor. Blindsight will make you understand yourself betteras a consumer, and as a person.

Natalia Crdova, psychology lecturer at Yale University

Blindsight is an ideal way to gain insight into the incredibly complex interactions between psychology and neuroscience that are underlying the seemingly simple concept of human intuition. Ghuman and Johnson are able to adroitly juggle entertaining, and often hilarious, stories with rigorous scientific ideas that provide marketers, as well as consumers, an important understanding of why we buy what we buy.

James Newell, managing director at Voyager Capital

Blindsight copyright 2020 by Matt A. Johnson and Prince Ghuman

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

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First E-Book Edition: May 2020

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Johnson, Matt A., 1985- author. | Ghuman, Prince, author.

Title: Blindsight : the (mostly) hidden ways marketing reshapes our brains / Matt A. Johnson, PhD, and Prince Ghuman.

Identifiers: LCCN 2019054236 (print) | LCCN 2019054237 (ebook) | ISBN 9781950665068 (hardback) | ISBN 9781950665235 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Consumer behavior. | MarketingPsychological aspects. | Neuromarketing.

Classification: LCC HF5415.32 .J645 2020 (print) | LCC HF5415.32 (ebook) | DDC 658.8/342dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019054236

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019054237

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Copyediting by James Fraleigh

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