If organisations have a Holy Grail it is to understand consumers so well that the products and services they offer are those that consumers need and desire. But they are not always that good at assessing what customers want. This is partly, as Earls explains here, because companies make the mistake of asking consumers themselves.

Earls's book is about this lack of self-awareness and especially the fact that most consumers fail to accept the influence other people have on how they think and what they desire. This is why most market research is flawed, Earls argues. It's not good enough to ask individuals to discuss their own thoughts and behaviour and then aggregate that data. Earls says we don't understand our own decisions, so we have little hope of appreciating other people's.

This 2007 title, updated for a paperback release, deserves attention. It offers an excellent balance of thought-provoking theoretical ideas and grounded, practical case studies. Earls has worked for years in marketing and he knows how to engage brand managers. He deserves a bigger, wider audience.