Rory Sutherland’s Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don’t Make Sense

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"The most important thing is to understand that people are not rational. They are driven by emotions, biases, and heuristics. Marketers need to work with these irrationalities rather than trying to overcome them."

His seminal work, Alchemy: The Dark Art and Curious Science of Creating Magic in Brands, Business, and Life, is a bible for anyone who wants to escape the trap of "common sense." However, a specific digital phantom has been haunting the search queries of marketers for the last three years: "Alchemy Rory Sutherland PDF exclusive."

Signaling: Why we buy things not for what they do, but for what they say about us.

• The Example: Expensive hotel lobbies have bowls of free apples. It costs $5/day, but it signals "we care about your health," allowing the hotel to charge $50 more per night.