Why do we desire what we desire?
Every day, we make choices that feel personal, spontaneous, and free. We buy, we prefer, we select. Yet behind these decisions lies a complex system that quietly shapes what we want, how we perceive, and what we consume.
The Advertising Machine offers a clear and structured exploration of how modern advertising does not simply sell products, but actively constructs desire, organizes attention, and influences everyday life.
Starting from the transition from natural needs to socially constructed desires, the book traces the evolution of advertising into a powerful cultural and economic system. It examines how attention has become a scarce resource, how consumption has turned into a language of identity, and how digital technologies now predict and shape our preferences before we are even aware of them.
Through a logical and accessible approach, the book connects major thinkers such as Arthur Schopenhauer, Thorstein Veblen, Daniel Kahneman, and Herbert Simon to concrete, everyday experiences. Each concept is grounded in real mechanisms that readers can recognize in their own lives.
This is not a theoretical abstraction. It is a practical framework for understanding the environment we live in.
Inside the book, you will discover:
How desire is constructed and continuously renewed
Why attention is the most valuable resource in modern economies
How advertising shapes perception and decision-making
Why consumption functions as a social language
How algorithms anticipate and influence individual behavior
What happens when desire reaches saturation
How awareness can restore a more conscious relationship with consumption
The Advertising Machine provides a simple and rigorous grammar to read the contemporary world. It reveals how advertising, marketing, attention, and algorithms form a single cultural system that surrounds us.
Understanding this system means understanding how we think, choose, and live.
And once you understand it, you can begin to choose differently.
外文書商品之書封，為出版社提供之樣本。實際出貨商品，以出版社所提供之現有版本為主。部份書籍，因出版社供應狀況特殊，匯率將依實際狀況做調整。
無庫存之商品，在您完成訂單程序之後，將以空運的方式為你下單調貨。為了縮短等待的時間，建議您將外文書與其他商品分開下單，以獲得最快的取貨速度，平均調貨時間為1~2個月。
為了保護您的權益，「三民網路書店」提供會員七日商品鑑賞期(收到商品為起始日)。
若要辦理退貨，請在商品鑑賞期內寄回，且商品必須是全新狀態與完整包裝(商品、附件、發票、隨貨贈品等)否則恕不接受退貨。
