Wasn't discrediting the book at all Matt.. just saying that business men making a living, some getting rich from it have known about perceptive value for a very very long time. They learned about it in their own controlled study environment, their businesses. Their very livelihood depended on the studies success and understanding what motivates one customer or another to buy your service or product has been the difference in a grand success and the soup line so many times. Books such as this can help some to take a short cut to such understanding. Brings to mind a story; years ago on lifestyles of the rich and famous, they were doing a segment on a very successful coffee shop in Japan. Customers lined up daily to buy the coffee, expensive coffee. They even had a cup of coffee that cost $5,000.00. Admittedly they only sold a handful of the $5g cup of coffee a month but gallons of the other. All their coffee was served very well but with the primo cup they had this girl come out all adorned in Japenese finery and served the coffee in the finest of China. Well the interviewer ask the owner what was the actual difference in the coffee. He said.. "It cost $5,000.00." How in tune to the flavor of the coffee would your taste buds be if you paid $5,000.00 for it? Would you savor the flavor a bit more than your last cup of Starbucks?
Both good points, Matt and Mark. I agree that some people have always understood sales and marketing, and we always used to say, oh, he's a born salesman. The recent trend in "behavioral" research has studied these methods scientifically and quantified their effects, figuring out which methods work, which don't work, and which work really really well. You see the effects in marketing, industrial design, economics, and politics, so I think it's useful to understand the motivations behind the applications, the theory behind the practice. And for someone who's not a "born salesman" (more like a "born nerd"), it's useful to learn about these techniques to further my own goals.