What's Behind Products That Customers Fall in Love With You don't want customers to just buy your product--you want them to get emotional about it.

From the iPad to Pop Tarts, Southwest Airlines to Amazon.com, some products and businesses seem to have an almost magical ability to generate excitement and loyalty. Now a book by Carnegie Mellon professors Peter Boatwright and Jonathan Cagan--Built to Love: Creating Products That Captivate Consumers--is putting that magic under the microscope. We caught up with the authors to find out how to give customers the emotional experiences they crave--and how essential love is to success.

How can you tell if something is "built to love"?
It doesn't just do the right things, it also makes people feel the right ways. There are actually two dimensions for successful innovation: functionality and emotion.

The iPad is clearly "built to love." Can an unsexy product be, too?
Of course. Here's just one case study: Long-haul trucks. They're excellent business tools, but the living space behind the driver's seat is cramped and drab. Navistar recognized the opportunity and developed the LoneStar truck, complete with a Murphy bed that doubles as a sofa, kitchenette, table to eat and work at, and hardwood flooring. Drivers recognized the truck was designed not just for delivering goods, but for delivering a good and decent environment as well.