“The Illusion of Choice” by Richard Shotton fails to live up to its promise. Despite the intriguing premise, the execution falls flat, leaving readers feeling underwhelmed and unsatisfied.

Shotton’s exploration of the psychology behind decision-making feels shallow and overly simplistic. Instead of delving into the complexities of human behavior, the book presents trite anecdotes and surface-level analysis that fail to provide any real insight.

Furthermore, the writing style is dry and uninspired, making it difficult to stay engaged with the material. The lack of compelling storytelling or compelling examples only serves to exacerbate the book’s shortcomings.

Overall, “The Illusion of Choice” is a missed opportunity. It fails to offer anything of substance to readers seeking a deeper understanding of decision-making processes. Save your time and look elsewhere for a more fulfilling read on the subject.

I don't work in advertising or marketing but I found this a fascinating insight into human psychology and how advertisers can make use of the way people generally view the world and react to certain situations in order to influence and persuade us into making purchases or thinking in a particular way about a product. It was very interesting, and the book was written in an engaging manner, even for someone new to the topic. There were a lot of references studies and further reading listed for those interested in exploring the subject matter in greater detail.

this book was extremely interesting for me professionally as I am a researcher in decision-making and it really presents the limitations of our thought process and the illusion of choice we normally convince ourselves of having, our brains make decisions far earlier than we think we know...
amazing book on a subject, for both a wide audience and researchers.

This is a very clever book. And it’s clever because it’s using science to explain psychology and human behaviour in a very, very entertaining way. Mr Shotton has taken years of research from all over the world and collated it for managers and small businesses to use it in their marketing.

The book would be ideal for any independent business from a freelance writer to a gardener. The ideas are subtle and easy to use. Many are surprising. A group of people are shown a film with two cars hitting each other and asked to estimate the speed of the cars. If I ask you "the speed at the time they collided" you’ll guess much higher than if I say "the speed when the cars bumped each other" but the speed is the same.

Asking "how important is it to you to vote in the next election" versus "how important is it to you to be a voter in the next election" gets hugely different answers because verbs represent what we do but nouns reflect who we are…

Definitely worth a read if you’re trying to sell your book or convince your clients about something. I’m none of those things and I learned a lot.

I was given a copy of this book by NetGalley

The Illusion of Choice, Richard Shotton

I found this book interesting, particularly in respect of the psychology of marketing. There are a number of things that I was subconsciously aware of, such as repetitive marketing slogans that enable you to remember – a Mars a day helps you work, rest and play; coughs and sneezes spread diseases etc.

I’d particularly recommend this for anyone who is interested in marketing, sales, psychology.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harriman House for a copy of this book, I rate it 3 stars.

Well this one is a total belter of a book!

Unlike so many American counterparts, there are more than enough ideas here to fill the book, all explained succinctly, once, with evidential proof and practical ways of implementing the knowledge. So exactly what you might hope a book like this would be but rarely is.

Well done, Richard Shooter for bucking the trend and delivering a well-researched, readable and practical book on behavioural psychology in Marketing. 👏🏻

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Harriman House, for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Lots of interesting ideas, ideal for those working in marketing, or running their own business like I do. It's presented in an easy to digest, engaging manner, I found the experiments mentioned really interesting. Lots of good examples too. Sometimes I find reference books slow going as I'm trying to process so much information, but I flew through this one. It was interesting and easy to read.

My only regret is that I didn't read a paper copy instead of the Kindle version. Because I can see this is one of those books I would have filled with post its to highlight the most useful tips so I could easily refer back to them in the future.

I picked this book based on my interest in psychology and Richard did not disappoint. There are tons of scientific experiments referred across the book and used to give practical insights into marketing. I think this is a very good practical reference book. I liked it and am sure you will too

An interesting selection of factual non-fiction reads is available and is sure to be appealing to many people for a multitude of reasons. As I am studying a business module for my degree at the moment, I read this, however; it did not provide me with the information I needed, so I only glanced over some parts. For this reason, I will not be reviewing on any socials, but overall, I think this has potential in the right market.

This was interesting and a quick read, however I feel like some of the concepts could’ve been more deeply researched/explained with more examples.

I love psychology and marketing and this summarizes lots of great info. Some of it is already quite well known, but the rest of it is very entertaining and interesting. Recommended for those that want to learn more about human behavior and how you might be influenced.

I really appreciate the free ARC for review!!

If you've read and enjoyed Shotton's first book The Choice Factory, I'd definitely recommend this one. The Illusion of Choice focuses on the psychology of decision-making and the ways in which our choices are influenced by marketing, advertising, and media. Shotton argues that our perception of choice is often an illusion, shaped by a variety of factors that are outside of our control, and provides a practical information on how to make more informed decisions.

The main thing I would praise about the book is how accessible it is. Complicated psychological concepts and theories are broken down, so they're easy to understand. The book draws on a variety of sources, including case studies and academic studies, to provide a really interesting overview of the topic, but it's never overwhelming or stuffy. Everything is explained thoroughly.

Not only does Shotton provides numerous examples and case studies to illustrate how our choices are shaped, he also provides practical hints for making better decisions. He also highlights the importance of being aware of our biases, and using this to seek out diverse perspectives.

I'd recommend this book to anyone who has a marketing based role - whether you're up-to-date on all the latest behavioural science thinking, or completely new to this area, Shotton will guide you through principles, evidence and helpful tips to apply to your everyday working life.

To me this book strikes a perfect balance between too much and too little detail. It is also written in a light, reader-friendly way. Each chapter introduces new concept using real-life examples. It’s all brief yet explained well (and also referenced well so you can go to source material for more details). Then, you get recommendations on how to use these concepts in a way that works in real life according to experiments and data. Everything is bite-size with no fillers or fluff. Great book.

This is a well-researched and clearly-communicated book designed for marketers and business owners. All readers will find the behavioral science interesting. The book is good for consumers, too, because the reader can consider his or her own purchasing habits while learning about these methods and reading about the studies referenced.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC.

I was offered this book as an ARC via NetGalley and found it to be in intriguing insight into the world of marketing. This book is aimed at people working within the marketing field (though those wanting to market their own products would find it interesting too) and so there are lots of suggestions and examples as to how research can be applied. The book is full of studies and research, many of which had surprising or counterintuitive outcomes. Personally I do find people's behaviour fascinating so this was a fairly quick and easy read that threw up some thought provoking examples. If you work in this field or are wondering how to better market your own products in this increasingly freelance economy, this book is worth a read.

I loved this book. Designed for marketers or business owners wanting to drum up business. This book is marvelous.
I am not a marketer nor a business owner, but I found this book absolutely fascinating.
It provided real world experiments in which to convey why certain brands/advertising works.
I loved learning all about the experiments, how the author set up the book (a man going about his work day and the situations that he might encounter), and really all the tricks to set up advertising.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in branding, advertising, psychology, or just needs a good easy read for the weekend.

You will not be bored or disappointed by this book.

I was fascinated by this book, and I think I will look for 'Dumb Ways to Die' on the Internet as I have not encountered it before. It is an example of the way marketing can be influenced by humour. Other ways marketing can become more effective are outlined, such as rhyming, as in the 'Coughs and Sneezes Spreads Diseases' which has been around for a long time, since the Spanish flu pandemic. Apparently there are many ways to increase sales, as well as ways to make writing more effective, like C.S. Lewis wrote to an admirer, that you should not use adjectives like terrible, instead you make your readers feel terrible. There are many ways to influence sales, but this book is interesting to the general reader as well, because it details the many ways that shoppers are influenced by marketing strategies, and for other little gems of information as well. In my opinion the book is a little gem, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to know more about the way the world works.