Herd

Since the Enlightenment, there has been a very simple but widely held assumption that we are a species of thinking individuals and that human behavior is best understood by examining the psychology of individuals. It appears, however, that this insight is plain wrong. The evidence from a number of leading behavioral and neuroscientists suggests that our species is designed as a herd or group animal.

Mark Earls applies this evidence to the traditional mechanisms of marketing and consumer behavior, with a result that necessitates a complete rethinking about these subjects.

To open the mind of the business listener, Herd provides a host of unusual examples and anecdotes, from Peter Kay to Desmond Tutu, Apple to UK Sexual Health programs, George Bush to Castle Lager, from autism to depression to the real explanation for the placebo effect in pharmaceutical testing.