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We Know What You Want: How They Change Your Mind
In this handbook for locating the hidden sales messages that bombard us everyday, Martin Howard explains the new techniques that corporations are using to make subconscious approaches without your consent. It covers the five major zones where consumers are being in the retail shopping context, at major events and concerts, through information media, personal friendships, and your computer. Up until recently, there was a social contract that alerted consumers to advertising messages. They were clearly labeled, endorsements were obvious and certain areas were off-limits. That contract has been broken, and many corporations are resorting to underhanded methods to persuade. Our shopping centers, stadiums, telephones, friendships and editorials are all "fair game." Marketing messages have crossed into the social sphere. We Know What You Want points out dozens of examples of how these signals are being relayed and gives you the tools and techniques to decode these messages and make your own decisions. Inspired by the popular book Coercion by Douglas Rushkoff, this book presents key ideas and case examples in a practical, easy-to-follow, illustrated format. Rushkoff himself contributes the Introduction. We Know What You Want has Rushkoff's full support; he calls it "an entertaining yet McLuhanesque 'Medium is the Message,' filled with engaging graphics and provocative but easy-to-follow guidelines for maintaining autonomy in a world made of marketing."
192 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
March 4, 2018
Even though this is a really cool volume on marketing permeating everything, a bit more insight would have been appreciated.
January 4, 2012
I thought this would be a non-fiction work of the standard format, but it seems to be more like a "Cliff Notes" version of "Coercion" by Douglas Rushkoff. Written as a series of bullet points, it presents key tactics for being a savvy consumer; however, nothing here would be considered very revelatory by most normally informed and educated people. I'm not sure who the target audience is: maybe high school teachers who are looking for ideas to incorporate into class discussions about social control, advertising tactics, or the like. There is no substantive discussion; each bullet point directs the reader to a print or electronic resource in case he should be interested to read more.
In fact, some of the material is very poorly cited, and in one un-cited section I found an error. Not an error with important implications for the author's argument--he made a claim about the speed of sound which certainly applies only to the frequency of sound--but, nevertheless, where errors appear and citations are few, one becomes deeply suspicious.
Post-script: In the final analysis, this is one of the worst books I have ever encountered. The author repeatedly cites WIKIPEDIA as his source. I'm not kidding. In one quotation taken from Wikipedia he even includes the Wikipedia citation "[2:]" in the quote--yes, HE WAS TOO LAZY EVEN TO FOLLOW THE CITATION WIKIPEDIA GAVE HIM. Or to tell the reader what [2:] referred to at the time he accessed the article. Or even to simply exclude it from his quote, using ellipses.
The entire work is nothing but a series of poorly substantiated, inflammatory, fear-mongering, sensationalistic fragments. There is no substantive discussion. Where citations are made, they typically reference sources of questionable trust-worthiness. The writing is poor and the layout confusing. Some of his claims are wrong. Others are so vague and poorly referenced that their veracity is impossible to judge. The subject matter is already sufficiently well-established that re-working it for a general audience should be like shooting fish in a barrel. And, yet, the author somehow failed. Amazing that this got published.
In fact, some of the material is very poorly cited, and in one un-cited section I found an error. Not an error with important implications for the author's argument--he made a claim about the speed of sound which certainly applies only to the frequency of sound--but, nevertheless, where errors appear and citations are few, one becomes deeply suspicious.
Post-script: In the final analysis, this is one of the worst books I have ever encountered. The author repeatedly cites WIKIPEDIA as his source. I'm not kidding. In one quotation taken from Wikipedia he even includes the Wikipedia citation "[2:]" in the quote--yes, HE WAS TOO LAZY EVEN TO FOLLOW THE CITATION WIKIPEDIA GAVE HIM. Or to tell the reader what [2:] referred to at the time he accessed the article. Or even to simply exclude it from his quote, using ellipses.
The entire work is nothing but a series of poorly substantiated, inflammatory, fear-mongering, sensationalistic fragments. There is no substantive discussion. Where citations are made, they typically reference sources of questionable trust-worthiness. The writing is poor and the layout confusing. Some of his claims are wrong. Others are so vague and poorly referenced that their veracity is impossible to judge. The subject matter is already sufficiently well-established that re-working it for a general audience should be like shooting fish in a barrel. And, yet, the author somehow failed. Amazing that this got published.
August 7, 2007
The marketers and public relations firms of this world are constantly improving the myriad of ways they have to get inside your head and manipulate you to their way of thinking. This book looks at some of them.
Today’s supermarkets intentionally place popular items, like milk and bread, as far from the entrance as possible. That way, the shopper must pass all those impulse items at the end of each aisle. Also, they are subjected to muzak tracks that will cause them to ignore their shopping lists and stay longer. Have you ever heard of the Gruen Transfer? It describes the moment when a shopper loses control of the decision-making process, characterized by suggestibility and glazed eyes. It is at this time that a shopper is most likely to make an unplanned purchase.
At the local sports stadium, is there any surface, except for the player’s uniforms and the field itself, that doesn’t have a corporate logo? You have probably seen Video News Releases, slick corporate promotions and government messages designed to look like news, even if you have never heard of them. The book also looks at how to engineer public opinion, through front groups, paid experts and targeted messages.
Ebay has said that will ignore their own privacy policy if law enforcement is looking for information on a specific person, and hand over that information without a court order. Everyone is familiar with cookies, spam and spyware on your computer. Not everyone knows that Kazaa software embeds extra, hard-to-find, programs on your computer. They send information on your viewing habits to third-party servers. Advertising and subliminal messages are among the newest trends in computer games. This book also includes a list of actual patents for inventions that involve "regulated subconscious behavioral control by invisible means."
This is a first-rate gem of a book. It is really easy to read. While some might consider the information in this book common knowledge, it is still a rather spooky look at how well They have gotten inside our heads. It is very much recommended.
Today’s supermarkets intentionally place popular items, like milk and bread, as far from the entrance as possible. That way, the shopper must pass all those impulse items at the end of each aisle. Also, they are subjected to muzak tracks that will cause them to ignore their shopping lists and stay longer. Have you ever heard of the Gruen Transfer? It describes the moment when a shopper loses control of the decision-making process, characterized by suggestibility and glazed eyes. It is at this time that a shopper is most likely to make an unplanned purchase.
At the local sports stadium, is there any surface, except for the player’s uniforms and the field itself, that doesn’t have a corporate logo? You have probably seen Video News Releases, slick corporate promotions and government messages designed to look like news, even if you have never heard of them. The book also looks at how to engineer public opinion, through front groups, paid experts and targeted messages.
Ebay has said that will ignore their own privacy policy if law enforcement is looking for information on a specific person, and hand over that information without a court order. Everyone is familiar with cookies, spam and spyware on your computer. Not everyone knows that Kazaa software embeds extra, hard-to-find, programs on your computer. They send information on your viewing habits to third-party servers. Advertising and subliminal messages are among the newest trends in computer games. This book also includes a list of actual patents for inventions that involve "regulated subconscious behavioral control by invisible means."
This is a first-rate gem of a book. It is really easy to read. While some might consider the information in this book common knowledge, it is still a rather spooky look at how well They have gotten inside our heads. It is very much recommended.
January 8, 2011
Well... two stars I guess in that it made me aware of Doug Rushkoff's book Coercion as it is basically is a "visual" guide to his book. Which means that the designer took the book and made it more "user-friendly" and visual.
Really one star because I really found the design of the book obnoxious, confusing and not helpful at all. Page breaks were awkward, etc. (And of course, I am a designer who works with information and type, so one should expect some of this in my review....)
I will look at the original source material at some point. Might be helpful in a teaching situation, but overall, most of it is pretty non-relevatory. Perhaps because Rushkoff's book is about ten years old now.
Really one star because I really found the design of the book obnoxious, confusing and not helpful at all. Page breaks were awkward, etc. (And of course, I am a designer who works with information and type, so one should expect some of this in my review....)
I will look at the original source material at some point. Might be helpful in a teaching situation, but overall, most of it is pretty non-relevatory. Perhaps because Rushkoff's book is about ten years old now.
March 25, 2010
Good start into researching the current tactics used by government, retail companies and the media to influence our buying and thinking behaviour. But, this is the sort of information that shouldn't be believed blindly and from reading one book.
I'm not sure how much of the information contained in the book is author's own words, most seem to be taken/quoted from other sources but I've yet to look through all the links provided in the book.
Docked a star because some links are no longer available and the book seems to be a rehash of Douglas Rushkoff's 'Coercion' only with images and lots of quotes from different sources.
I'm not sure how much of the information contained in the book is author's own words, most seem to be taken/quoted from other sources but I've yet to look through all the links provided in the book.
Docked a star because some links are no longer available and the book seems to be a rehash of Douglas Rushkoff's 'Coercion' only with images and lots of quotes from different sources.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews