Why We Buy

Why We Buy: The Science Of Shopping
by Paco Underhill

Chock-full of fascinating details about the behaviors of shoppers in situ. While clearly a book of shameless self-promotion for Mr. Underhill, he certainly does a good job of it! After reading this book, one is left with far more questions than answers, and an inexorable desire to sit in a shopping mall parking lot for hours on end. Paco Underhill is an academic researcher turned retail marketing guru, by painstakingly perusing through tens-of-thousands of hours of candid footage from in an attempt to glean every possible measurable characteristic about the actual behavior of shoppers. The result is astonishing.

In my opinion, the book does contain a bit too much in the way of opinion and conjecture. Though Underhill does an excellent job of convincing the reader that he is a credible source of information, the last three chapters of the book seem to reach further and further from actual analysis of behavior, and focus instead on his various ideas for practical applications in various industries. While these too are fascinating, they lack some of the impact of the more direct cause-effect relationships demonstrated by the research in earlier chapters of the book.

This book is a pleasure to read, and a quick one at that. Underhill is engaging and enthusiastic. He is a man who loves his job, and it shows. I’ve found it motivating and inspirational, and highly recommend it!