The Illusion of Choice cover art

The Illusion of Choice

16½ psychological biases that influence what we buy

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 Months Free

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Get this deal
Offer ends on 15 July 2026 at 11:59 BST.
More purchase options

The Illusion of Choice

By: Richard Shotton
Narrated by: Simon Cole
Get this deal

£5.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.

Buy Now for £12.20

Buy Now for £12.20

'This book will make you better at your job' – Jonah Berger, bestselling author of Contagious

Discover the psychological biases that shape every buying decision – and how to use them in business.

Every day we make hundreds of choices, many of them commercial.

What shampoo to pick? How much to spend on a bottle of wine? Whether to renew a subscription?

These choices might appear to be freely made, but psychologists have shown that subtle changes in the way products are positioned, promoted and marketed can radically alter how customers behave.

In The Illusion of Choice, Richard Shotton, author of the acclaimed The Choice Factory, identifies the 16 and a half most important psychological biases that everyone in business needs to be aware of. Drawing on academic research, advertising campaigns and his own original field studies, he shows how any business can utilise these biases to win and retain customers, sell more products and make money.

In this fascinating and highly practical guide, you'll learn to take advantage of the peak end rule, the power of precision, the wisdom of wit – and much, much more.

Full of marketing insights, The Illusion of Choice is essential for anyone seeking to understand consumer behaviour.

 Advertising Business Communication Career Success Marketing Marketing & Sales Business
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

No one should be allowed near a layout pad or a keyboard until they have read this book. It is an antidote to the tediously direct and transactional nature of much of modern marketing. (Rory Sutherland, author of Alchemy and vice-chairman of Ogilvy)
This book will make you better at your job. If you’re trying to get your head around behavioural science, or how to apply it, look no further – Shotton has done all the hard work for you. Keep a copy within arm’s reach – you’ll be coming back to it time and again. (Jonah Berger, marketing professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and internationally bestselling author of Contagious)
People behave in surprising ways, often driven by cognitive biases. The Illusion of Choice is a straightforward and practical guide to these biases and how to apply them. An essential read for every marketing professional. (Matthew Syed, Olympian and author of Black Box Thinking)
Some books are designed to be impressive, written in complicated jargon. This book is designed to be useful, surprising, and practical, which is why it’s written in plain English. Those other books look good on the bookshelf or behind your head on Zoom calls. This book you’ll actually use. (Dave Trott, creative director, columnist at Campaign and multiple agency founder)
Richard’s approach to the world and to consumers is both radically different and incredibly scientific. Marketing is usually more about magic than science, but Richard shows us where to find the science and how to apply it to improve every element of our business. His first book, The Choice Factory, is one of my all-time favourites, and The Illusion of Choice is just as good. If you really want to understand your customers then this book is a must. (James Watt, founder of Britain’s largest craft brewery, BrewDog)
The Illusion of Choice explains lesser-known research in an easy-to-read manner to give consumers and businesses insights into how products persuade. (Nir Eyal, author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products)
The Illusion of Choice is provocative and practical. Shotton utilises the best of behavioural science to demonstrate surprising ways you can improve your business. (Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, New York Times bestselling author of Everybody Lies)
A short guide to applying behavioural economics to marketing, this book is both fun and useful. A great little bag of tricks! (Les Binet, group head of effectiveness, Adam&eveDDB)
I learnt a ton through reading this book and enjoyed myself enormously in the process. Compelling, robust and eminently practical, The Illusion of Choice is a powerful guide to the psychological dynamics shaping behaviours in a complex world. (Nathalie Nahai, author of Webs of Influence)
All stars
Most relevant
If you like the choice factory, you will like this too. Clever marketing insights that give you a new perspective

Doesn’t disappoint

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A book that will cross disciplines. Every single thing can be applied with great success in leadership. I have used to great effect the Eskimo joke to illustrate the fact that people have different ways of understanding what standardisation means.

I have listened twice in the row, and it will be my choice to go to place for ideas.

Brilliant

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Lots of great chapters and examples. This is very accessible and takes a lot of pointers from his previous book.

concise and accessible

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A book with Useful concepts and Interesting experiments. I enjoyed it and was taking notes 🤭

Useful concepts and Interesting experiments

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.