The best 35 Neuromarketing books

Made to Stick explains why some ideas become popular, while others wither and die.

The book lays out the most important characteristics of “stickiness”; that is, what makes ideas “stick” in the mind, and how to make them work for you.

• Anyone with an idea to share
• Anyone interested in why some ideas catch on and others don’t
• Every film director, advertising executive, NGO worker and so on.

Influence (1984) explains in detail the fundamental principles of persuasion. How do you get people to say yes? How do other people get you to say yes?  How are you manipulated by sleek salesmen, clever marketing folks and sneaky confidence tricksters? These blinks will help you understand the psychology behind their techniques, enabling you to unleash your own persuasive powers, while also defending against their tactics of manipulation.

• Anyone working in marketing or sales
• People who sometimes find it hard to say no to salespeople or marketers
• Those interested in how their decision-making is constantly being manipulated

To Sell Is Human explains how selling has become an important part of almost every job, and equips the reader with tools and techniques to be more effective at persuading others.

• Anyone who wants to be better at influencing, persuading and convincing people, at work or in their free time
• Anyone interested in the new ABCs of sales

These blinks explain why traditional marketing no longer works, and why to be successful you need to build Purple Cows, remarkable products and services that stand out of the crowd. They also explain how you can reach your target market once you’ve found your own Purple Cow.

• Entrepreneurs
• Marketing professionals and executives who believe that they can survive by not standing out of the crowd
• Anyone interested in why traditional advertising no longer works

Subliminal (2012) shows us as we are, under the bonnet. It’s about how the unconscious mind is in charge, working away like an efficient yet imperfect machine, while we go on with our lives unaware. The reader finds studies, examples and anecdotes about the peculiarities of the unconscious mind, such as the pitfalls of memory recall, choosing a mate, buying a stock or scheduling a project. These are mined from historical events, science experiments and the authors’ own experiences, as well as from his friends in the scientific community.

• Anyone aiming to improve their social skills or persuasiveness
• Anyone who always wanted to know the causes, benefits and flaws of the subliminal mind
• Anyone interested in neuroscience or social psychology

Guy Kawasaki’s Enchantment teaches you how to change the hearts, minds and actions of the people around you, turning them into spirited advocates of your cause. It also provides key steps on the path to building a lasting fascination with your product and company, as well as useful advice on how to resist the enchantment of others.

• People who want to motivate others to join in their life’s mission
• Anybody who manages or works with others
• Anyone who wants to regain control of their purchasing habits

In Fascinate, author Sally Hogshead helps us realize our potential for fascination. By explaining in vivid language exactly how fascination works and how you can trigger it in others, Fascinate provides you, your company and your brand with the tools to fascinate. These “seven triggers of fascination” can help you to increase the odds of success, both in your personal life and in business.

• Anyone who owns or works at a company interested in improving its reputation
• Anyone who’d like to improve their own ability to fascinate others
• Students of psychology interested in the concept of human fascination

Day in and day out we’re bombarded by thousands of brand images, logos and commercials enticing us to buy their products. However, only some ads actually motivate us to whip out our wallets. Why? Using cutting-edge neuromarketing methods, Buyology answers that question and explores the hidden motivations behind our purchasing decisions.

• Anyone exposed to advertising
• Anyone who wants to learn more about the brain
• Marketing strategists and consumer advocates

The Art of Influencing Anyone provides detailed information on how to influence people to do what you want. An invaluable read for salespeople, it is also useful for anyone who wants to learn how to sound more convincing and persuasive.

• Anyone who works as a salesperson
• Anyone interested in how to influence others

Drunk Tank Pink probes the hidden psychological and social influences that shape the way we see, think, feel, and act in the world.

• Anyone who wants to learn about the hidden influences that shape their perceptions and behavior
• Anyone interested in how the weather and scenery affect their moods
• Anyone who thinks their behavior is mostly rational and free of influence from random factors

How can you get people interested in your brand in an age of ad-blockers, vanishing attention spans and colossal consumer choice? Paid Attention (2015) discusses the fast-changing media landscape, and maps out strategies for success that reach beyond banner placement and pop-ups.

• Advertising creatives and executives
• Anyone interested in how digitization is changing consumption and attention
• People puzzled by new concepts of communication and behavior

Priceless (2010) explores the psychological reasons behind the value and price we give to things. Through numerous experiments and case studies in pricing, the author explains how prices influence our purchasing decision and exposes companies that use pricing to increase profit.

• People curious about pricing their products
• Anyone interested in the psychology of value and price
• Customers interested in reviewing their purchasing decisions

Brainfluence (2012) explores the unconscious thoughts and motivations that influence our decision-making process, and offers tips and tricks on how savvy marketers can exploit them. By understanding the mechanisms that cause us to buy (or not buy), you can increase your sales while keeping your customers happier.

• Marketers, managers and business owners, as well as those in the nonprofit sector
• People whose jobs depend on making sales
• Anyone interested in how to best get their message across

Cashvertising (2009) shows how you don’t need a million dollar ad campaign to bring in the customers. All you need to know is how and why we make buying decisions. Full of instantly actionable tips, this book tells you everything you need to know about how to turn your ads into profits.

• Businesspeople who want to know more about consumer marketing
• Anyone interested in the psychological secrets behind advertising
• Professionals eager to become savvier marketers

Unconscious Branding (2012) reveals how marketers can tap into our subconscious, encouraging our participation in and support of company brands. In just seven steps, you’ll discover new strategies to guide your own company toward developing a brand with which customers can build a genuine relationship.

• Marketers who want to create successful ad campaigns
• Entrepreneurs striving to build a great brand
• People interested in how marketers manipulate consumers’ minds

By drawing from brain research and innovative marketing techniques, Neuromarketing (2002) offers insights into how we make buying decisions. Understanding the brain’s ancient decision-making processes will equip you with the tools necessary to close deals and motivate people.

• Anyone in sales and marketing
• People interested in how our brain affects our decisions
• Those wanting to become more influential

All Marketers Are Liars explains how telling your customers authentic, meaningful stories about your business helps you sell your products and build a strong, long-lasting relationship with them.

• Marketers and marketing students
• Anyone who wants to connect with their customers
• Anyone who wants to know why wine tastes better in a Riedel glass

The Brain Sell (2013) reveals innovative tactics that’ll help marketers draw in customers by using the powers of neuroscience. These blinks explore strategies of psychological marketing, body language and sensory allure that every retailer should know, and that every customer should know how to avoid!

• Marketers interested in encouraging their customers to buy more
• Customers who’d like to defend themselves against marketing tricks

The Science of Why (2015) is an insightful and sometimes surprising guide to a question that only the best marketers can answer: why does a customer buy? Read through these blinks to explore the various types of consumers in the marketplace, and give your own marketing greater depth and perspective.

• Businesses struggling to gain a strong customer base
• Marketers who want to approach their target market in a more nuanced manner
• Shoppers interested in how brands entice them to buy

Small Data (2016) is a guide to utilizing minor details about people’s lives to connect with them and sell them on your brand image. These blinks incorporate observations of cultures all over the world to point to the emotions and desires that help brands become household names.

• Marketing professionals and students of human behavior.
• Anyone working to establish a brand.

You May Also Like (2016) dives into the ever-changing world of taste, or what you like and why you like it. Trying to guess whether a consumer will enjoy a movie or buy a product is both tricky science and big business, as a myriad of different factors influences the decisions you make daily.

• Pop culture enthusiasts
• Social psychologists
• Marketers or consumers curious about what influences taste

Influencer (2007) distills the essence of how influence works. In addition to providing examples of real people who are highly adept at affecting change, the authors present information rooted in psychology research and give you the tools you need to increase your influence over others.

• People working in customer service
• Anyone working in public or social policy
• Psychology and sociology students

The Global Code (2015) is about a recent worldwide phenomenon: a global unconsciousness, or code, that contains a new system of values, beliefs and principles. This code is formed and shared by the Global Tribe, a highly mobile and cross-cultural group of people who are setting trends, shaking up the old status quo and becoming the target demographic for global luxury brands.

• Sociology and anthropology students
• People interested in cultural differences and similarities
• Marketers and advertisers who want to make their brand a global success

The Attention Merchants (2016) details the history of the fascinating field of advertising. These blinks will teach you all about the “attention industry,” offering a historical account of how advertising has arrived at its modern incarnation.

• Entrepreneurs and aspiring businesspeople
• Veteran marketers, or those new to the industry
• Tech industry employees, including programmers and developers

Selling with Noble Purpose (2013) is about finding the right balance between making money and doing something meaningful with your life. It allows you to reframe your work by focusing your intention on the customer and how they truly benefit from your product. It’s a perspective that also keeps employees happier, more motivated and effective. Selling doesn’t have to be focused on profits and greed; it can also be about making the world a better place.

• Employees who work in sales or marketing
• Sales executives and managers seeking motivation
• Readers who want a fresh perspective on the world

Eating the Big Fish (2009) gives a strategic overview of how second- and third-tier brands can challenge industry leaders and climb to the upper echelons of the business world. These blinks are full of concrete advice to help emerging brands make a name for themselves in competitive markets.

• Business owners who want to excel in their industry
• Marketing professionals
• MBA students

Alchemy (2018) makes a case for irrational thinking in a world enraptured by logic. Drawing on his first-hand knowledge of the advertising industry and insights from behavioral psychology, Rory Sutherland argues that the world is far too complex to be viewed through a single lens. To solve everyday problems, we must move past superficial analysis and open ourselves up to even the most seemingly nonsensical ideas – which often turn out to be very powerful. Only then can we be true alchemists. 

• Advertisers and brand managers seeking to understand their customers better
• Budding innovators and business strategists looking for new ways to hatch ideas
• Creators stuck in logic overload

The Science of Selling (2016) is a detailed handbook on the science of making a sale. Combining insights from neuroscience and social psychology, this guide presents an evidence-based approach to making a convincing pitch.

• Salespeople looking for an extra edge
• Marketers interested in evidence-based approaches
• Folks who want to learn the neuroscience behind sales

The Hidden Psychology of Social Networks (2020) describes how brands can create effective and authentic content by understanding the basics of human psychology. Drawing on Freudian psychoanalysis, it gets to the bottom of our online habits and shows brands how to connect with people on a deeper level.

• Brand strategists at companies big or small
• Content creators of any type
• Those curious about how brands are trying to get their attention

Branding Between the Ears (2021) explores how marketers can apply the latest scientific insights to their branding strategy. It explores how the human brain responds to advertising, and how consumers really make the decision to buy or not to buy.

• Marketers and salespeople
• Budding entrepreneurs keen to get their venture off the ground
• Psychology buffs looking for fresh insights

Smarter Not Harder (2023) is a guide to biohacking your metabolic, neurological, and epigenetic systems. It will show you how to maximize your well-being by making your Meat Operating System, or MeatOS, do what you want it to do by doing less – by doing things smarter, not harder.

• Lazy people who want to make their laziness work for them
• Anyone looking to improve their well-being
• Tired people looking for more energy

Rewire Your OCD Brain (2021) presents compelling evidence behind the origins of anxiety, and explains how this knowledge can be combined with easy-to-apply hacks to manage obsessive behavior and regain control over your life.

• People dealing with anxiety, compulsive behaviors, or panic attacks
• Anyone trying to understand family members or friends dealing with OCD
• Therapists helping clients to manage their obsessions

Ogilvy on Advertising (1983) offers insights into the world of advertising from the Father of Advertising himself: David Ogilvy. With practical tips on copywriting, design, and media – and a showcase of iconic ad campaigns – it serves as both a guide and a manifesto for aspiring advertisers.

• Copywriters looking to up their advertising game
• Marketing maestros and branding buffs
• General ad enthusiasts

Made You Look (2024) is a guide that draws on the latest neuroscience research to study attention, memory, and what keeps the brain engaged. It presents a four-part framework for creating persuasive content that captures customers’ attention and influences their purchasing decisions.

• Marketers looking to create more compelling campaigns
• Public speakers who want to deliver memorable and impactful presentations
• Content creators striving to produce viral and shareable material

Selling to the Old Brain (2003) explains how people make decisions using the oldest part of the brain, which is driven by emotion, survival, and instinct – not logic. It presents a set of tools to craft messages that connect with this primal decision-maker using visual cues, emotional hooks, and simple, high-contrast language. The goal is to help anyone become more persuasive by communicating in a way the brain is wired to respond to.

• Sales professionals who want more impact
• Marketers crafting persuasive campaigns
• Entrepreneurs pitching to investors or clients