Monday, October 31, 2022

Interesting new book: Immersion: The Science of the Extraordinary and the Source of Happiness

It is by economist Paul Zak.

Click here to go to the Amazon listing. Here is the description (which does not come close to doing the book justice):

"No one raves about boring movies, bland customer service experiences, or sleep-inducing classes. The world is rapidly transforming into an experience economy as people increasingly crave extraordinary experiences.

Experience designers, marketers, entertainment producers, and retailers have long sought to fill this craving. Now, there’s a scientific formula to consistently create extraordinary experiences. The data shows that those who use this formula increase the impact of experiences tenfold.

Creating the extraordinary used to be extraordinarily hard. Immersion offers a framework for transforming nearly any situation from ordinary to extraordinary. Based on twenty years of neuroscience research from his lab and innumerable client applications, Dr. Paul J. Zak explains why brains crave the extraordinary. Clear instructions and examples show readers exactly how to create amazing experiences for customers, prospects, employees, audiences, and learners.

You can guess if your experience will be extraordinary—or you can apply the insights from Immersion to ensure it is."

Dr. Zak and his colleagues have created scientific tools for understanding what is going on in the unconscious brain. Immersion means that a story, movie or commercial gets your attention and emotionally resonates with you. This leads to action such as buying products or donating to charity.

His devices can tell when viewers are immersed in a story or commercial and why based on what is going on in their brains. Very often we don't consciously know what is immersing us. Typical surveys that ask if you liked a movie or commercial do not correlate well with sales. But what Zak finds does and he can advise companies on how to achieve this immersion or alter their movie trailers or commercials to achieve greater sales.

 
Related posts: 

Adam Smith vs. Bart Simpson (yes, it is about Paul Zak) (2011)

Adam Smith, Marriage Counselor (2011)

Great New Book On Neuroscience By Economist Paul Zak. It is called The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity (2012)  

What Do Wall Street Traders Need Just The Right Amount Of? (2012)

Can The Way You Tell A Story Affect How Willing People Will Be To Donate Money To Charity? (2015) 

Does drinking after work work? (that is, does it lead to higher salaries) (2021)

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