Autopilot vs. Intention: How the Brain Actually Decides What to Buy

SPARX Podcast | Intergetik Marketing Solutions | Hosted by Rick Brewer Guest: Brandon Towl, founder of Words Have Impact and Human-Driven Understanding | Published September 2, 2026 Most buying decisions happen on autopilot. Most marketing is built for the part of the brain that isn't driving. On the SPARX podcast, host Rick Brewer sits down with Brandon Towl, founder of Words Have Impact and Human-Driven Understanding, to break down what is actually happening in a buyer's head and which parts of a purchase should be effortless versus deliberate. We talk about why "plan it, then execute it" is the wrong model for marketing, how Amazon strips out every decision except the one that matters, and why the strongest ads still provoke an emotion instead of reciting features. Brandon brings an unusual path to the conversation. He came out of a philosophy and neuroscience program at Washington University, defended his dissertation weeks before the 2008 financial collapse, and built a B2B content strategy company off a business card he laid out in Microsoft Word the night before a BNI lunch. Twenty years later, he uses that same training to answer the question most marketers skip: buying is mostly automatic, and good marketing works with that instead of against it. We also unpack why there is no fixed rational-to-emotional ratio (cars and custom pools sit at one end, Snickers bars and WordPress templates at the other), why B2B versus B2C does not predict how rational a purchase is, and the bridge metaphor that closes the gap between what a business wants to say and what its customers actually care about. In this conversation, we cover: Why "plan it, then execute it" is the wrong model, and what to do instead The autopilot principle: why Amazon removes every decision except the purchase decision What should stay conscious in your marketing, and why the best ads provoke an emotion How to find your own rational-to-emotional ratio instead of forcing someone else's Why "doctor-led" is a selling point to the dentist and a shrug to the patient Maslow in practice, and the mistake of staying in the basement of the hierarchy Where written content still wins in a video-first, AI-generated world "Throw the rope anyway," and how a stronger St. Louis marketing community lifts everyone in it Practical takeaways for small business owners: Your website has about 20 seconds to convince someone you are worth calling Most service businesses need four pages, not forty Put the phone number and the lead form at the top, big, on every page Show proof from people who look like your buyer, because they need to feel like it is for them Connect with Brandon Towl at Words Have Impact and Human-Driven Understanding. Follow Intergetik Marketing Solutions: LinkedIn:   / intergetik   Facebook:   / intergetik   Instagram:   / intergetik   Twitter:   / intergetik   Subscribe for more practical marketing strategy for small and mid-sized businesses. Learn more about Intergetik: https://intergetik.com/