Herd

Mark Earls challenges the assumption, widely held since the Enlightenment, that human behaviour is best explained through the psychology of individuals. Citing research by behavioural scientists and neuroscientists, he argues that humans are a herd or group species, and he applies that view to marketing and consumer behaviour, asking how marketers, managers and governments might influence mass behaviour. His examples range widely: Desmond Tutu, Apple, Peter Kay, urinal etiquette, roadside flowers left by strangers for accident victims, the Mexican wave, UK sexual health programmes and the placebo effect in drug trials. A later paperback edition updated the figures and rewrote two chapters to cover the rise of social networking.

Bogdana Butnar, head of strategy at Poke, included it on her Ultimate Books to Read list of advertising titles.