The Mind of the Buyer

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(^172) T H E M IN D O F TH E BUY E R
p sych ol ogic al circle s. W e sh all ta ke this
liberty, however, for in th ese days wh en th e
psych ol ogical a sp ec t of b usi nes s opera tions
i s only dimly rec ognized w e sh oul d be
p a rdone d i f w e s ta t e t hings with sligh tly
biza rre effe c t i n ou r effort s to sh ow th ei r im
p o rtanc e. B u t ap a rt from suc h cl aim s to
a nth rop omorphism, th e I de a i s i mp ortan t
en ough on oth e r ground s to deserve c apitaliza
tion, fo r som etim e s I t is abl e to se t off our
a c ti on s al mo st a ut om a tic ally. Th rough a
kin d o f a c tion t ech nically known a s “ dynam o
genesis” ( see p a ge It oc ca sionally m ay
p a ss ove r in t o a c ti on i mme dia tely an d re sul t
i n a sal e. F o r exampl e, th e Idea, “ ba seball
sc ore” m ay b e st rong enough i n its own righ t
to l ea d on e wi th o u t furth e r delib era tion to
rea ch i nt o th e p ocket fo r a c oin a n d b uy a
p ap e r. S uch a p urcha se is so sho rn of vol un
t a ry ch ara ct eri stic s a s no t to furnish us with
a n ill ust ra tion of th e p sych ol ogical moment.
B u t n o t al l sal es a re o f thi s “ h ai r-t rigge r”
typ e, and mos t Ide a s even th ough ca refully
implan te d i n th e min d do no t l ea d di rec tly to
purch a s e, b u t re quire m anip ulation. Indeed,
such is th e case wi th all o ur delibe ra tive
sal e s. An a nalysi s o f th e fo rtunes of th e Idea,

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