You don't know what you want: How Design, Marketing, and Corporate Systems Quietly Shape Your Desires and Control Modern Consumption

By Emanuel Maia

You believe your choices are your own.
But what if your desires were never truly yours to begin with?

In YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT, Emanuel Maia dismantles one of the most powerful illusions of modern life: the belief in free consumer choice. Through sharp analysis and compelling insight, this book reveals how design, marketing, and corporate structures methodically engineer what you crave, buy, and aspire to become.

From the psychology of scarcity and planned obsolescence to the manipulation of aspiration and identity, this work exposes the silent mechanisms that govern everyday decisions. It challenges readers to question not only products, but the systems shaping their habits, values, and self-image.

This is not a rejection of commerce, but a call to awareness. A guide for designers, thinkers, professionals, and conscious consumers seeking clarity in a world engineered for endless wanting.

If you have ever felt unease in your relationship with consumption, if you suspect the market knows you better than you know yourself, this book will change the way you see choice forever.

You don't just buy products.
You buy stories.
And this book teaches you how to see through them.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0G3XCPB17
• ISBN13: 9798275991635
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 210 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.5" x 11.0"