Sensory Marketing: An Introduction 1526423243, 9781526423245

Table of contents :
COVER - SENSORY MARKETING
TITLE - SENSORY MARKETING
COPYRIGHT
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 - SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES
CHAPTER 2 - THE SENSORY BRAIN
CHAPTER 3 - SENSORY PRINCIPLES FOR VISION
CHAPTER 4 - SENSORY PRINCIPLES FOR SOUND
CHAPTER 5 - SENSORY PRINCIPLES FOR SMELL
CHAPTER 6 - SENSORY PRINCIPLES FOR TOUCH
CHAPTER 7 - SENSORY PRINCIPLES FOR TASTE
CHAPTER 8 - MULTI-SENSORY PRINCIPLES
REFERENCES
INDEX

Citation preview

Bertil Hultén

SENSORY MARKETING an introduction

Sara Miller McCune founded SAGE Publishing in 1965 to support the dissemination of usable knowledge and educate a global community. SAGE publishes more than 1000 journals and over 800 new books each year, spanning a wide range of subject areas. Our growing selection of library products includes archives, data, case studies and video. SAGE remains majority owned by our founder and after her lifetime will become owned by a charitable trust that secures the company’s continued independence. Los Angeles | London | New Delhi | Singapore | Washington DC | Melbourne

Bertil Hultén

SENSORY MARKETING an introduction

SAGE Publications Ltd 1 Oliver’s Yard 55 City Road London EC1Y 1SP SAGE Publications Inc. 2455 Teller Road Thousand Oaks, California 91320 SAGE Publications India Pvt Ltd B 1/I 1 Mohan Cooperative Industrial Area Mathura Road New Delhi 110 044 SAGE Publications Asia-Pacific Pte Ltd 3 Church Street #10-04 Samsung Hub Singapore 049483

Editor: Matthew Waters Editorial assistant: Jasleen Kaur Production editor: Victoria Nicholas Marketing manager: Lucia Sweet Cover design: Francis Kenney Typeset by: C&M Digitals (P) Ltd, Chennai, India Printed in the UK

 Bertil Hultén 2020 First published 2020 Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of research or private study, or criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form, or by any means, only with the prior permission in writing of the publishers, or in the case of reprographic reproduction, in accordance with the terms of licences issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency. Enquiries concerning reproduction outside those terms should be sent to the publishers.

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ISBN 978-1-5264-2324-5 ISBN 978-1-5264-2325-2 (pbk)

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

ix

Introduction

1

1

Sensory Marketing Principles

5

1.0 Introduction

6

1.1  The Human Senses

6

1.2  The Global Marketing Environment

7

1.3  Individualization as Lifestyle

9

2

3

1.4  Theoretical foundations

13

1.5  What is Sensory Marketing?

18

1.6  Chapter Summary

28

1.7  The Case of Starbucks

29

Further Reading

31

The Sensory Brain

33

2.0 Introduction

34

2.1  The Gestalt Perspective

34

2.2  The Brain as The Black Box

35

2.3  The Senses and the Brain

40

2.4  Brain Gender

44

2.5 Neuromarketing

48

2.6  Chapter Summary

52

2.7  The Case of Coca-Cola and Pepsi

53

Further Reading

55

Sensory Principles for Vision

57

3.0 Introduction

58

3.1  The Human Eyes and Vision

58

vi  Contents

4

5

6

3.2  Characteristics of Vision

59

3.3  Visual Perception and Societal Culture

64

3.4  Service Environments

66

3.5  Brands and Products

72

3.6  Chapter Summary

78

3.7  The Case of Victoria’s Secret

79

Further Reading

81

Sensory Principles for Sound

83

4.0 Introduction

84

4.1  The Human Ears and Hearing

84

4.2  Characteristics of Sound

86

4.3  Sound Perception and Societal Culture

89

4.4  Service Environments

93

4.5  Brand and Products

99

4.6  Chapter Summary

104

4.7  The Case of Coca-Cola

105

Further Reading

107

Sensory Principles for Smell

109

5.0 Introduction

110

5.1  The Human Nose and Smelling

110

5.2  Characteristics of Smell

112

5.3  Olfactory Perception and Societal Culture

116

5.4  Service Environments

121

5.5  Brands and Products

127

5.6  Chapter Summary

132

5.7  The Case of Singapore Airlines (SIA)

133

Further Reading

134

Sensory Principles for Touch

135

6.0 Introduction

136

6.1  The Human Body and Touching

136

6.2  Characteristics of Touch

138

6.3  Tactile Perception and Societal Culture

142

6.4  Service Environments

146

6.5  Brands and Products

151

6.6  Chapter Summary

156

Contents 

7

8

  vii

6.7  The Case of Apple Stores

156

Further Reading

158

Sensory Principles for Taste

159

7.0 Introduction

160

7.1  The Dual Sense of Taste

160

7.2  Characteristics of Taste

162

7.3  Taste Perception and Societal Culture

166

7.4  Service Environments

172

7.5  Brands and Products

176

7.6  Chapter Summary

181

7.7  The Case of IKEA

181

Further Reading

183

Multi-Sensory Principles

185

8.0 Introduction

186

8.1  The Human Senses in Collaboration

186

8.2  The Multi-Sensory Phenomenon

190

8.3  Service Environments as Multi-Sensory Interaction

192

8.4  Brands and Products as Multi-Sensory Interaction

197

8.5  Multi-Sensory Brand-Experience

202

8.6  Chapter Summary

207

8.7  The Case of Kia Motors

208

Further Reading

211

References

213

Index

227

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

As author I am solely responsible for the content of this book. I want to thank my wife Eva for her inspiring comments and support during my work to finish writing the book. Also, special thanks to Matthew Waters and Jasleen Kaur, Sage Publications, London, for your interest, valuable comments, and your patience with me in finalizing this book. For those of you who want to get in touch with me, I may be reached at: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

Sensory marketing is an emergent marketing paradigm in theory and practice (Hultén et al., 2009; Krishna, 2011; Hilton, 2015). Individuals are using their five senses of vision, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting in perceiving and experiencing the environment and the outside world in their daily lives (Achrol and Kotler, 2012; Spence et al., 2014). The five senses contribute to creating individual and personal multi-sensory brandexperiences of brands, products, services, and physical or digital service environments (Hultén, 2015; Petit et al., 2019). A common view is that sensory marketing opens up new challenges and opportunities in addressing an individual’s desires, wants and needs on a deeper, inner personal level than before. Sensory marketing offers companies and marketers a new approach in delivering consumer value, consumer experiences and brand as image through multi-sensory brandexperiences. It allows companies to get in touch with the individual’s body and mind and to establish closer and stronger cognitive, emotional and behavioural relationships. There is a need for alternative approaches based on how companies might attract individuals to their brands, products and services by applying a sensory marketing framework. For students and practitioners, the challenge is to develop a framework or mental model of sensory marketing in comparison with other marketing models. The notion of sensory marketing offers new concepts and models in understanding how individuals react with their cognitions, emotions and behaviours in response to different sensory cues and stimuli provided by companies through their service processes and sensory strategies. It is possible to consider sensory marketing as a new language built upon theories and concepts from disciplines such as consumer behaviour, consumer psychology, consumer marketing, branding and retailing. Sensory marketing is a multi-disciplinary approach integrating established knowledge from the mentioned disciplines. The aim of this book is to assist students, researchers and practitioners in understanding the ideas behind sensory marketing. My goal is to provide a conceptual foundation for developing a sensory marketing framework in identifying the main concepts as well as an understanding of these various concepts from different disciplines that are currently available. I cover the most well-known philosophical and theoretical foundations of sensory marketing based on its connections to the other disciplines and its theoretical foundations.

2  SENSORY MARKETING

This book covers many of the most common concepts and theories available to researchers and practitioners in answering different research or business questions. The book also has a natural connection to my previous books Sensory Marketing (Hultén et al., 2009) and Sensory Marketing: Theoretical and Empirical Grounds (Hultén, 2015). Altogether this book has several new contributions and offers the ‘state-of-the-art’ in sensory marketing.

CONTENT AND STRUCTURE The first chapter ‘Sensory Marketing Principles’ presents the theoretical and empirical grounds of sensory marketing as an emergent marketing paradigm. Why companies and marketers should consider sensory marketing in attracting individuals for their brands, products and services is discussed. A sensory marketing model based on relevant concepts and terms in creating multi-sensory brand-experiences is presented. At the end of the chapter the case of Starbucks illustrates leading sensory marketing principles. The second chapter ‘The Sensory Brain’ presents the human brain as the centre of the senses. The organization, structure and role of the senses in the human brain are discussed. Sex differences between a female and a male brain are analysed based on organizational, emotional and sensory characteristics. Finally, the essence of neuromarketing is discussed and its implications for marketers. At the end of the chapter the case of Coke versus Pepsi illustrates the significance of the human brain in sensory marketing. The third chapter ‘Sensory Principles for Vision’ presents the characteristics of vision related to physiological and psychological aspects. The importance of visual perception is discussed and analysed in relation to individual preferences, group preferences and visual symbolism in societal cultures. The impact of visual cues and stimuli on individual’s cognitions, emotions and behaviour is analysed in the context of brands, products and service environments. At the end of the chapter the case of Victoria’s Secret illustrates leading principles of the sense of vision. The fourth chapter ‘Sensory Principles for Sound’ presents the characteristics of sound related to physiological and psychological aspects. The importance of auditory perception is discussed and analysed in relation to individual preferences, group preferences and sound symbolism in societal cultures. The impact of auditory cues and stimuli on an individual’s cognitions, emotions and behaviour is analysed in the context of brands, products and service environments. At the end of the chapter the case of Coca-Cola illustrates leading principles of the sense of sound. The fifth chapter ‘Sensory Principles for Smell’ presents the characteristics of smell related to physiological and psychological aspects. The importance of olfactory perception is discussed and analysed in relation to individual preferences, group preferences and scent symbolism in societal cultures. The impact of olfactory cues and stimuli on an individual’s cognitions, emotions and behaviour is analysed in the context of brands,

INTRODUCTION  3

products and service environments. At the end of the chapter the case of Singapore Airlines illustrates leading principles of the sense of smell. The sixth chapter ‘Sensory Principles for Touch’ presents the characteristics of touch related to physiological and psychological aspects. The importance of tactile perception is discussed and analysed in relation to individual preferences, group preferences and touch symbolism in societal cultures. The impact of tactile and haptic cues and stimuli on an individual’s cognitions, emotions and behaviour is analysed in the context of brands, products and service environments. At the end of the chapter the case of Apple Stores illustrate leading principles of the sense of touch. The seventh chapter ‘Sensory Principles for Taste’ presents the characteristics of taste related to gastronomic and aesthetic taste from a physiological and psychological point of view. The importance of taste perception is discussed and analysed in relation to individual preferences, group preferences and visual symbolism in societal cultures. The impact of gustatory/aesthetic cues and stimuli on an individual’s cognitions, emotions and behaviour is analysed in the context of brands, products and service environments. At the end of the chapter the case of IKEA illustrates leading principles of the sense of taste. The final chapter ‘Multi-Sensory Principles’ presents how the human senses collaborate and interact through sensory integration. The significance of multi-sensory perception is analysed and discussed as well as the optimal stimulation theory. The impact of multisensory interaction on an individual’s cognitions, emotions and behaviour is analysed in the context of brands, products and service environments. At the end of the chapter the case of Kia Motors illustrates leading multi-sensory principles.

1

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES

CHAPTER CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction

6

1.1

The Human Senses

6

1.2

The Global Marketing Environment

7

The cultural value shift

8

Digital technology

9

Individualization as Lifestyle

9

1.3

Self-fulfillment 11 Identity creation

12

Multi-sensory experiences

12

Theoretical Foundations

13

Theories and models

13

Marketing approaches

16

What is Sensory Marketing?

18

The individual

19

The firm

21

Sensory marketing model

27

1.6

Chapter Summary

28

1.7

The Case of Starbucks

29

1.4

1.5

Questions 30 Further Reading

31

6  SENSORY MARKETING

1.0 INTRODUCTION The chapter gives an overview of the main principles of sensory marketing. The global marketing environment and individualization as lifestyle are presented as prerequisites for sensory marketing. Moreover, the theoretical foundations, theories and models, and leading marketing approaches will be analysed and discussed. Finally, the sensory marketing framework with its concepts and terms will be presented and discussed. After reading the chapter, you should be able to: 1 2 3 4 5

Explain how the global marketing environment and individualization as lifestyle influence sensory marketing in theory and practice. Discuss major theoretical models and theories as well as marketing approaches behind sensory marketing. Analyse sensory marketing for individuals and firms following the leading concepts. Discuss how a company should apply sensory marketing in business practice. Analyse the advantages/disadvantages of sensory marketing in relation to individuals and companies.

1.1 THE HUMAN SENSES Humans perceive and experience the environment and the outside world through the human senses of vision, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting. For companies and marketers, this means it is important to understand how the senses work in perceiving and experiencing brands, products, services, and physical or digital service environments; especially if the goal for companies is to offer and provide their customers with long-lasting and memorable multi-sensory experiences of their brands, products and services. It is evident that sensory information and input from brands, products and services as well as physical and digital service environments influence an individual’s cognitions, emotions and purchase behaviour (Krishna, 2013; Spence et al., 2014). Nowadays, consumers should be treated as individuals and not as a homogeneous group of consumers with similar needs. One of the biggest challenges for companies and marketers today is to provide individuals with a deeper satisfaction of their personal desires, wants and needs. Companies can no longer rely on satisfying only an individual’s basic physical needs but must also satisfy emotional, intellectual, sensory and experience-based needs. The notion of sensory marketing should be understood in this marketing context where the multi-sensory experiences of brands, products and services are highlighted.

An iPhone is more than just a telephone – it is a multi-sensory experience to have fun, enjoy images and google for new adventures for every individual.

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   7

Just imagine an American, Chinese or French teenager who has bought a new pair of expensive running shoes from Asics to be used in a running tour. How should the multisensory experience of the shoes be understood in sensory marketing? It is evident that all the senses are involved: from the information phase when looking at them on the digital website for Asics; during the evaluation and purchase phases in the retailer’s physical store when seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting the aesthetics of shoes; and in the consumption phase when experiencing the running shoes during the running tour and their impact on the whole body through the five senses.

When consuming the shoes during the running tour a conscious body experience, emotional appraisal and a feeling of reward takes place within the individual emanating from the physical feeling of the shoe on the feet as well as the psychological feeling of comfort (or discomfort) of the shoes. It is evident that this bodily experience influences the confidence in the shoes during the running tour as well as the individual’s interest in and motivation for running (Hultén & Pappu, 2018). Altogether, the bodily experience and knowledge are based on the bodily states and the sensory systems through the embodiment of the shoes, which will be further discussed later in the chapter. Today companies and marketers must understand how an individual’s multi-sensory experience is created and embodied in the human body and mind based on how individuals consciously as well as unconsciously perceive and experience various brands, products and services during purchase and consumption processes.

1.2 THE GLOBAL MARKETING ENVIRONMENT Two major driving forces in the global marketing environment put new demands on sensory marketing in theory and practice. Brown (1993) suggests that a post-modern view makes it

8  SENSORY MARKETING

possible to better understand the individual, as a consumer, in contemporary societal culture. This is expressed as ‘the individual’s preference’, ‘different tastes for different people’ and ‘do what you want’, which is what a post-modern view emphasizes (1993: 26). Individual pluralism, diversity or uniqueness is emphasized, laying the ground for the individual’s lifestyle, personal characteristics and social context as key drivers in a sensory marketing context.

The cultural value shift Based on new personal attitudes and values, the ongoing cultural value shift is one of the most prominent driving forces (Inglehart, 1997). In the global research project World Values Survey (www.worldvaluessurvey.org/wvs.jsp) the Inglehart-Weizel cultural map shows two major dimensions of cross-cultural variation in societies all over the world following traditional values versus secular-rational values and survival values versus self-expression values. Countries like Benelux, Germany, France, the Nordic countries, Switzerland and Japan have high scores on secular-rational and self-expressions values. On the other hand, countries like most of Latin America and the US have high scores on traditional and self-expression values. Also, the emergence of the ‘I-society’ promoting individual independence and self-fulfillment has been evident during the last two decades (Howard & Mason, 2001). How should sensory marketing contribute to this development? In 2013 the Swedish consulting firm Kairos Future published a study with the title Global Youth 2013 reporting the dreams and values of 6,500 young people in 11 countries. The respondents came from countries like Australia, China, India, Russia, Sweden and the UK. Two out of three respondents considered that society was too individualistic and that their future was dim. But despite this a lot of the respondents had dreams about a job, a good home and a family. All brands are global in the sense that all individuals in different societal cultures have access to them through newspapers, television, smartphones, websites and online platforms like Amazon or Alibaba. The top 10 most valued global brands for 2017 ranked by Interbrand are Apple, Google, Microsoft, Coca-Cola, Amazon, Samsung, Toyota, Facebook, Mercedes-Benz and IBM. These brands and products give possibilities for an increased individualization with respect to individual desires, wants and needs in relation to what different brands and products might offer. The global marketing environment becomes more and more fragmented based upon the multiplicity of knowledge among individuals that belong to ‘the objective real world’ and ‘the subjective symbolic world’. For many individuals it means establishing a coherent identity and lifestyle to be a subject – not an object – with contradictory, fragmented and multiple identities at the same time. All global brands have in each cultural and societal context a deeper symbolic meaning for individuals related to the five human senses, which will be discussed later.

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   9

Digital technology The individualistic approach has been strongly related to the access of information and knowledge through the growth of digital technology as another prominent driving force. Digital technology through, for example, the Internet, smartphones and social media has opened up new channels of communication and information exchange (Castells, 2010). It is no longer possible for companies and marketers to promote their brands and products solely through traditional advertising and promotion in the clutter of the global digital marketplace. Instead the Internet and social media like Google, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram offer authenticity and transparency among networks of individuals about brands, objects, products, places, retail spaces and services, changing the balance in the power relationship from companies to individuals. Think of all the positive or negative comments given every day about brands, products and services on the Internet. Generations X, Y and Z demonstrate the most prominent change in attitudes, behaviours and values following the cultural value shift. The most common characteristics are their physical and social mobility and ambition to experience the world beyond their local and private boundaries. This mobility has also resulted in a more international and multi-cultural character of the societal culture than before. Its impact on the consumption of, for example, food, clothing and services of various kinds, such as entertainment, travel and education, is obvious among these generations. Nowadays digital technology is the most important communication tool for most individuals in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, the Middle East, North and South America. Blogs, websites and social media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are used for personal and private exchange of information and communication. As soon as digital technology is used with these purposes it is regarded as consumption of multi-sensory experiences. In particular, for generation Z digital technology is a part of their lives already from birth. The technology influences attitudes and values as well shopping and purchase behaviour in both physical and digital retail environments (Petit et al., 2019). There is no doubt that blogs, communities, social media and social networks involve many individuals sharing information about brands, companies, friends and social movements. The most distinctive feature of this type of communication and information exchange is that it allows many individuals to experience both emotional and rational arguments in an open dialogue.

1.3 INDIVIDUALIZATION AS LIFESTYLE In sensory marketing the individual is sovereign and unique when it comes to attitudes, values and behaviours. During the last decade the transition from a collectivistic

10  SENSORY MARKETING

society to a more individualistic society has led to an emphasis for many individuals on individualization as lifestyle. This lifestyle is a result of the cultural value shift as well as the growth in digital technology where the individual is focused. Especially for generations X, Y and Z, the consumption of brands, products and services is connected to emotional, intellectual, sensory and physical needs related to a quest for quality of life and self-realization.

The current lifestyle is a part of a global consumption culture of brands, products and services with the main purpose for many individuals being to create new identities and self-images. It concerns brands such as Apple, BMW, Gap, H&M, Huawei, Samsung, Zara, Victoria’s Secret and other global premium consumer brands. Also, luxury brands like Alfa Romeo, DKNY, Dior, Gucci, Ferrari, Hennessy, Lamborghini, Louis Vuitton, Sephora, TAG Heuer and many others belong to those brands creating prestige and social status. Altogether, this development illustrates the importance of individual consumption as a carrier of personal values in satisfying one’s own ego and quest for self-fulfillment, happiness and personal joy. This lifestyle is based on individuals’ attitudes, values and shopping and purchase behaviour in the consumption of brands, products and places as well as physical and digital retail spaces. For companies and marketers, the crucial question is how to meet these individual desires, wants and needs in supporting many individuals in their search for new identities, social status and self-image on a deeper personal level. It puts the five human senses at the centre of sensory marketing. The three main personal factors behind individualization as lifestyle have been identified as self-fulfillment, identity creation and multi-sensory brand-experiences (Figure 1.1).

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   11

Self-fulfillment The individual’s quest for self-fulfillment (Figure 1.1) is the primary personal factor expressed through new consumption patterns of brands, products and services. Selffulfillment is strongly related to the individual’s quality of life and well-being, with strong connections to the individual’s physical and mental health, in areas such as food, environmental concern, health, medical care, leisure, recreation, sustainability, cultural services or education. Media such as newspapers, television and websites offer articles and programmes on a weekly basis supporting the individual’s quest for self-fulfillment, for example, through diet, exercise or cooking when it concerns food. Furthermore, a clear shift has taken place towards more qualified consumption in these areas connected to personal well-being. This can be illustrated by the increasing consumption of services in Asia, Australia, Europe and North America where more and more individuals are engaged in ‘high value activities’, as opposed to ‘low value activities’, where high and low are related to the individual’s experience and the personal value of the services in question. There is also a clear shift in the consumption of food products to greener and more environmentally friendly foods and services in satisfying personal needs and quality of life.

Quality of life and welfare Self-fulfillment

Qualified consumption Service-related time use

Symbolic content and meaning Identity creation

Shopping and consumption as experience Brands and products as artefacts

Active dialogue and participation Multi-sensory experiences

Emotional and rational behaviour Physical and virtual attendance

Figure 1.1  Individualization as lifestyle Source: Developed from Hultén (2015)

When it comes to the service-related use of time many individuals in affluent societies in Asia, Europe and North America prefer more free time and work less. The goal is to realize their dreams and fantasies through consumption of services such as, for example, cultural events, entertainment, health, leisure, recreation or education. For some individuals it

12  SENSORY MARKETING

means spending more time on leisure activities, for example, shopping, visiting a coffee shop or meeting a good friend. Also, devoting more time to exercising, reading or relaxing as well as surfing the Internet or watching TV is a question of personal self-care.

Identity creation The second personal factor is identity creation expressed through the use and consumption of brands, products and services. Many individuals use brands and products to create an identity and self-image, which otherwise would not have been possible. It is the symbolic content of brands like Apple, ASUS, BMW, Gap, H&M, Huawei, Nike, Samsung or Zara that makes identity creation possible and contributes to one’s self-image. The brand and the product as well as the service may change its character from time to time, such as when the symbolic content is not in agreement with the identity creation that individuals strive for. In sensory marketing it is necessary for companies to adapt to individualization as lifestyle and to understand the current trends concerning individuals’ quest for identity creation. It is obvious that many brands and services are a critical part of an individual’s identity creation, when it comes to developing identity, social status and self-image. Therefore, activities such as shopping and consumption of brands are of utmost importance in the production of identities, self-images and social status, which shows the relevance of symbolic content for many brands. Identity creation takes place on a personal level and is often related to being something else in comparison with what one believes he/she is. A certain brand of shirts or pants can suddenly change a person with a weak self-image and give them and others a new identity and image of who they are. It is in the personal encounters with other people that the new personal identity and image is expressed, and the role is defined in terms of who they are in the circle of friends or colleagues. For many individuals it is a matter of drawing a line between the self and the outside world, so that they are different from ‘the others’ out there regarding, for example, appearance, clothing or hairstyle. In this identity creation process, the search for a personal identity and image is a lifestyle, and is all about which social status, prestige and self-image the individual wants to create and express around themselves. Obviously, aesthetics, language, symbols and sub-culture are prominent features in this process, together with events and happenings in everyday life.

Multi-sensory experiences The third personal factor is the individual’s quest for multi-sensory experiences through the five human senses. The individual’s search for self-fulfillment and identity creation means

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   13

that the individual is involved, active and creative, through their feelings, fantasies and dreams with the whole body. In this highly personalized context, brands, products, places and retail spaces are carriers of an emotional, symbolic content engaging the human body and mind in a sensory marketing context. The perception of multi-sensory experiences is related to Gestalt theory, in the sense that humans are looking for a global whole following self-organizing principles. It means that the whole has a reality of its own independent of the parts and the whole in itself is something more than only the sum of its parts (Koffka, 1935). How brands, products, places and retail spaces are perceived and evaluated is the result of complex interactions among various sensory stimuli. Moreover, the assessment individuals make of a brand or a retail environment, its products and services as well as its personnel, is greatly influenced by how it looks (the visual system), how it sounds (the auditory system), how it smells (the olfactory system), how it feels to touch (the tactile system) and how it tastes (the gastronomic/aesthetic system). Multi-sensory experiences are the personal outcome of an individual’s purchase and consumption processes of brands, products and services when it comes to seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting for many individuals. For experience-based brands and products, such as chocolate, drinks, food and perfumes, more sensory stimuli are related to sight, sound, smell, touch and taste (Troye & Supphellen, 2012). Our judgements and purchase decisions are facilitated when information using multiple senses through sensory interplay can be obtained, made possible by multi-sensory experiences. Nowadays, brands and products like food and groceries have become multi-sensory experiences in terms of aromas, colours and flavours, and laptops and smartphones provide lifestyle entertainment around the clock through design, sound cloud and touchscreen.

1.4 THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS Theories and models As an emergent marketing paradigm, it has been suggested that sensory marketing is a new theoretical and practical contribution giving an understanding of the significant role of the human senses. For a long time, marketing theory and research have neglected the human senses in understanding how brands, products and services should be looked upon as consumer experiences (Achrol & Kotler, 2012). Also, the importance of sensations and sense-making for individuals is highlighted in sensory marketing. Moreover, it is evident that consumer experiences are what people receive from their consumption of brands, products and services through their senses, expressed as ‘People want products because they want the experience bringing services which they hope the product will render’ (Abbott, 1955: 40).

14  SENSORY MARKETING

It is evident that all consumption of brands, products and services involves our senses and responds to our desires, wants and needs, leading to satisfaction (or dissatisfaction) with the choices we have made. The involvement of the sensorium (the senses) lays the ground for an individual’s multi-sensory experiences when it comes to ‘tastes, textures, smells, sights, and sounds’ (Levy, 1999: 6). The human sensorium has the ability to create fondness and preferences for certain things for each one of us in discovering new ways of satisfying our personal desires, wants and needs. The sensory aspects of brands, products and services are related to an individual’s senses and sensations. Many brands and products are sensual in appealing to one or more of the senses making them attractive to many individuals. For that reason, many brands and products highlight the importance of sensory attributes or elements in the consumer experience. Krishna (2011) defines sensory marketing as ‘marketing that engages consumers’ minds and affects their perception, judgment, and behavior’, when it comes to understanding concepts as perceptions and sensations. Furthermore, it is suggested that the five senses impact consumer attitudes, learning and behaviour (Figure 1.2).

SENSATION Haptic

EMOTION Attitude

Smell Sound

Learning/memory

PERCEPTION

Behaviour

Taste COGNITION Vision

Figure 1.2  Model of sensory marketing Source: Krishna (2011)

Sensory marketing is about understanding the importance of perception and sensations based on the five senses, in terms of consumer attitudes, learning and behaviour (Krishna, 2013). It is suggested that different sensory signatures of a brand or a product could be related to a specific sense or to many senses offering sensations to individuals. For example, the pink colour for the breast cancer movement is a sensory signature for vision; the iPod Touch connects touching with hearing when the music player starts when being touched. Embodiment theories suggest that a human’s sensory and motor experiences form the base for higher level cognitive processing, also known as grounded cognition theories (Barsalou, 2008). The term ‘embodiment’ suggests that bodily states and

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   15

modality-specific systems (the senses) create experiences and knowledge in the human brain (Niedenthal et al., 2005). Altogether, studies have confirmed the role of the human body in perception and cognition. The sensory systems induce the perception of a situation; the motor systems induce human action; and the introspective systems induce conscious experiences of emotions, cognitive operations and motivation (Khoury et al., 2017). It means that an individual’s processing of sensory information emanating from brands, logos, scents, songs or other emotional, moral and social concepts is grounded on perceptual, somatosensory and motor resources relating to bodily experiences and body–mind interactions (Hultén & Pappu, 2018). When it comes to physical or digital service environments the term atmosphere has been used in describing the quality of a physical environment or the surroundings of a space. In a restaurant described as ‘having an atmosphere’ it means that the physical environment evokes pleasant emotions. It is suggested that the atmosphere is perceived through the senses, and vision, sound, smell and touch are the main sensory channels in a retailing context (Kotler, 1974). Moreover, the design of the atmosphere is a major marketing tool for producers and retailers even though brand producers often have little control over the retailer’s service environments. In environmental psychology the interplay between the physical environment and consumer behaviour has been analysed. In the so-called stimulus-organism-response approach (S-O-R model) it has been suggested that various stimuli in an environment influence an individual’s approach or avoidance behaviour (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974). Intervening between the environment and the behavioural outcomes of approach or avoidance are three emotional states, namely: arousal, dominance and pleasure (Figure 1.3). It is assumed in retailing that different appropriate stimuli exist in a service environment and a retailer’s task is to stimulate approach behaviour. The experience of a retailer’s physical or digital service environment emanates from visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile and gastronomic/aesthetic stimuli (cues), where the visual stimuli play a major role. Experimental psychology studies have confirmed the effects of different ambient factors such as, for example, colours, design scents, and music. It is evident that various kind of cues (stimuli) impact an individual’s approach or avoidance behaviour in retail settings. Environment

Response

Social

Approach behaviour Stimuli

Physical

Figure 1.3  The S-O-R model Source: Mehrabian & Russell (1974)

Individual Avoidance behaviour

16  SENSORY MARKETING

A framework for how sensory cues/stimuli impact affection, cognition and behaviour in retail settings has been suggested by Spence et al. (2014). It is built upon existing evidence from retailing research about individuals’ feelings, thoughts and shopping behaviour in relation to the five human senses (Figure 1.4). In particular, how various sensory cues and stimuli generate generally positive affective responses among individuals, e.g. to feel better and be more satisfied. Moreover, it is evident that sensory cues and stimuli also impact cognition and behaviour in retail practice, e.g. people eat and drink more when fast-tempo music is played. It is suggested that store atmospherics through sensory cues and stimuli should be understood on a multi-sensory basis, because an individual’s perception of a store environment is holistic: the five human senses interact and do not work in isolation from each other.

Affective - General positivity - Optimal stimulation

Visual

Taste

Tactile

Shopping Behaviour

Auditory

Olfactory

Cognitive - Association - Direct behavioural effects

Figure 1.4  Framework for multi-sensory shopping behaviour Source: Spence et al. (2014)

Marketing approaches One fundamental marketing approach is the well-known 4P model covering the marketing mix of a producer (Kotler, 2000). The model was introduced in the 1960s and is based on micro-economic theory in an exchange perspective. The four Ps in the marketing mix are product, place, price and promotion. In this context goods are exchanged for money in business transactions and no other parameters exist in the model. For that reason, the model has also been called transaction marketing (TM). Moreover, the model is built around a goods logic, where producers and their intermediaries are the main actors in the marketplace. To reach consumers with their offerings, producers apply mass marketing through advertising and promotion, where the characteristics of the product and the price are emphasized. The main purpose of transaction marketing is to recruit new customers, where the producer is seen as the active seller and the consumers as passive buyers. In this producer-oriented view consumers are treated

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   17

as a mass market with average needs without consideration given to any individual and personal desires, needs and preferences in relation to the human senses.

The relationship marketing (RM) model is another important marketing approach based on interaction and network theories as well as social exchange theories (Gummesson, 1999; Grönroos, 2000). The model was introduced in the 1970s and 1980s emphasizing the interactions between buyers and sellers in different marketing processes. These interactions take place in business networks and relationships between companies in business markets for both goods and services. In the same way, interactions take place in networks and relationships between companies and consumers in consumer markets for products and services. The RM model is also built around the assumption that active sellers and active buyers – companies as well as consumers – take part in mutual interactions, develop long-term relationships and two-way communication. The main purpose of relationship marketing is to retain and nurture a company’s customers through customer relationship management (CRM) and customer-specific marketing (CSM). The sensory marketing (SM) model is based on embodied cognition and stimulus– response theories as well as psychological theories (Barsalou, 2008; Krishna & Schwarz, 2014). The model emphasizes the role of sensory experiences for an individual’s judgement and decision-making based on the five human senses. The sensory experiences take place in different contexts for brands, objects, products, as well as physical or digital service environments. The SM model is built upon an experience logic and has its theoretical base in branding, marketing and retailing concepts such as consumer value, consumer experiences and brand as image (Hultén et al., 2009; Hultén, 2011). The TM and RM models have shown

18  SENSORY MARKETING

the inability to meet and satisfy individuals, as consumers, on a deeper, individual level regarding their dreams, fantasies, feelings and fun (Holbrook & Hirschman, 1982). For that reason, the SM model assumes that provided aesthetic, emotional and sensory elements create sensation and sensory experiences for individuals (Table 1.1).

Table 1.1  Marketing approaches – a comparison

Marketing

Strategic marketing

Tactical marketing

Transaction marketing (TM)

Relationship marketing (RM)

Sensory marketing (SM)

Goods logic

Service logic

Experience logic

Exchange perspective

Relationship perspective

Brand perspective

Utility creation

Value creation

Identity creation

Product focus

Customer focus

Sensory focus

Customer acquisition

Customer retention

Sensory experience

Transactional strategies

Relational strategies

Sensory strategies

Price, place and promotion

Interaction and interplay

Dialogue and interactivity

One-way communication

Two-way communication

Production technology

Information technology

Multi-dimensional communication Digital technology

Source: Hultén (2015)

When it comes to a firm’s strategic marketing the shift from a goods logic (TM), to a service logic (RM) and to an experience logic (SM) emphasizes consumers as individuals. In tactical marketing price, place and promotion (TM), interaction and interplay (RM), and dialogue and interactivity (SM) highlight how the marketing models complement each other in providing individuals with consumer value, consumer experiences and brand as image. In the SM model sensory strategies based on the five senses will contribute to a more individual and personal sensory experience of brands, products and service environments. At the same time, TM and RM models might reinforce consumer value, consumer experiences and brand as image through advertising and price offerings as well as relationship building activities. Altogether, no contradiction exists in theory and practice between the TM and RM models on the one hand, and the SM model on the other hand, in satisfying consumers’ desires, needs and wants.

1.5 WHAT IS SENSORY MARKETING? Sensory marketing is an integrative marketing approach and model explaining how firms can apply the five senses in business practice. Especially, when it comes to how individuals might perceive and experience brands, objects, products, places and service environments

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   19

as multi-sensory brand-experiences (Hultén, 2011). It is through the five senses that sensory information is transmitted to the individual’s body and mind and transformed into perceptions, sensations and sensory experiences. I define sensory marketing as ‘a firm’s service process that focuses on sensory strategies with appropriate sensory cues/stimuli with the goal of creating multi-sensory brand-experiences, in supporting the individual’s identity creation through the five senses to generate consumer value, consumer experiences, and the brand as an image’ (Hultén, 2017a: 2). The model is based on the firm, the five senses and the individual (Figure 1.5).

The firm

The senses

The individual

Service processes

Sight

Consumer value

Sound Sensory experiences

Smell

Consumer experiences

Touch Sensory strategies

Taste

Brand as image

Figure 1.5  The firm, the senses and the individual Source: Hultén (2015)

The individual Consumer value In a sensory marketing approach, individuals are to be treated as co-producers and active participants taking part in the service processes of companies. Most individuals also create value for themselves as the ‘sole creator’ of value by consuming and using products as well as services in their everyday life (Grönroos, 2008). For that reason, companies should be value promoters to consumers in offering interactions with various brands, products and services. Companies should promote the creation of consumer value by the different kinds of interactions they have with consumers in their service processes. Holbrook (1999) suggested the importance of values such as interactive, experience-based, relativistic or self-oriented values that individuals could notice and understand in their interactions with companies. For this reason, companies should intentionally provide consumers with goods, services, hidden services, information and so on, to support the creation of consumer value.

20  SENSORY MARKETING

Consumers create value for themselves by collaborating with companies in their identity creation processes. Consumer value might occur in different aspects and across several interactions, from the design of a product to the final consumption of the actual brand used in a certain situation. It is through the identity creation processes that consumer value occurs, forming the basis of the actual consumer experience of the brand.

Consumer experiences Through the service processes companies create consumer experiences regardless of whether or not this is the company’s intention. But a company might intentionally create experiences for consumers that engage them and promote their identity creation. In this case the individual as a consumer must be the focus when it comes to what a consumer experience really is all about. It was suggested that goods and services should be replaced by experiences as the primary source of creating consumer value for companies (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). It is believed that consumer value derives from the consumption experience of the actual product (Holbrook, 1999: 8–9). Moreover, it is said that all products, including goods and services, provide services to consumers leading to good or bad experiences. These experiences relate not only to the physical object itself, which could be a smartphone or a computer, but also to the overall sensory experience of the consumption of the brands or the products. This experience has come to include the flow of dreams, emotions, fantasies and fun as well as product attributes like function, price and quality. An example is a pair of shoes where the experience can be how they look and show how you are in relation to others. This experience is seen to be utterly individual and personal, which is why the experience for one individual cannot automatically be the same for another person. The personal interactions that individuals have with brands, products and service environments lead to experiences, which might differ with respect to associations, background, emotions and interpretations. When it comes to creating awareness and commitment for a brand on the personal level, an experience challenges the human senses (Darmer & Sundbo, 2008). Companies should use five types of customer experiences, i.e. sensory experiences (sense), emotional experiences (feel), cognitive experiences (think), physical experiences through behaviour and lifestyles (act), as well as social experiences related to culture and reference groups (relate) where individuals are looking for positive experiences (Schmitt, 1999). Product experiences, shopping and service experiences, as well as consumption experiences influence individuals directly or indirectly (Brakus et al., 2009).

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   21

Moreover, it is suggested that individuals are looking for a complete experience in terms of a gestalt to get a holistic picture of the different elements in the consumption process.

Brand as image What factors contribute to the brand as image in a sensory marketing framework? Both consumer value and consumer experiences are connected to how the brand as image is established in individuals. Especially, the mental conceptions are a result of how the brand or the product works during consumption when it is used for self-fulfillment and identity creation. The mental image is based on the feelings and thoughts that individuals have about a certain brand based on the characteristics of the physical product and its service elements as well as other components and sensory dimensions. Altogether, how individuals experience and understand the goods and the services used in their daily lives – from where the consumer value is received – lays the ground for the brand as image. Five brand-related processes for understanding the importance of the brand as an image in individuals have been suggested (Schmitt, 2012). One process is about identifying a brand and its category, to create associations when comparing it with other competitive brands. A second process is about experiencing a brand with the help of affective, participatory and sensory dimensions. Another process concerns integrating a brand within the individual by combining information about the brand to get a global brand concept. A result of this could be that both personality and relationships with the brand are established. Many consumers use brands as a cultural symbol, an identity signal or an information stimulus – a process of making the actual brand significant for them. This refers to the process of connecting to a brand and how individuals might create an attitude and become personally attached to the brand. It emphasizes how individuals’ self-fulfillment and identity creation leads to the establishment of the brand as image as well as brand relationships among consumers. This highlights the importance of how active, committed and participatory consumers are major actors in the company’s brand-building processes. Altogether, brand as image plays a major role in sensory marketing when it relates to consumer experiences of brands and products involving the human body and mind.

The firm Service processes In a company’s service process, individuals participate as active co-producers through different kind of interactions. These lay the ground for consumer value, consumer

22  SENSORY MARKETING

experiences and brand as image, especially the perceived quality of the service process. The interactions are related to the service provider’s environment, personnel, technology, systems, information, time, etc. and impact the consumer’s perceptions and experiences about the provided service. In this regard the human senses have a crucial role in service processes in perceiving and experiencing these interactions. The main reason is the possibility for a company to enable their goods or services to be differentiated and distinguished by consumers through seeing, hearing, smelling, touching or tasting and not only through product attributes and benefits such as price and quality (Lindström, 2005). It has also been suggested that individuals should be activated and involved in a service process in achieving self-fulfillment and identity creation. This is often the case in the tourism industry where many service offerings are related to leisure, outdoor and sport activities. It is possible for a company in a service process to create memorable sensory experiences built upon an individual’s interactions and participation in perceiving and experiencing the good or the service. It allows every individual in different societal cultures to involve the five senses. A human’s sensorium as ‘the seat of sensations’ is conducive to the creation of fondness and preference for certain things, and every individual tries to satisfy their personal desires, dreams and needs as much as possible (Levy, 1999).

Sensory experiences A sensory experience is more than just an experience because the human senses are deeply involved. This kind of sensory experience is deemed to impact the whole individual emanating from the various interactions with the environment, the staff or the systems in the service process. It takes place, for example, owing to various cues and stimuli associated with the purchase and consumption of brands, products and services. The individual experience occurs in relation to aesthetic, emotional or sensory elements that create a negative, neutral or positive sensory experience. In this regard aesthetic elements have a major role and marketing aesthetics have been defined as ‘the marketing of sensory experiences in corporate or brand output that contributes to the organization’s or brand’s identity’ (Schmitt & Simonson, 1997: 18). Therefore, aesthetic elements are considered as an emotional part of a multi-sensory experience. Here, I define a sensory experience as ‘an individual’s perception and experience of goods, services and brands through the five senses, which contribute to consumer value and brand as image’. The five senses are the basis for the multi-sensory experience through seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting (Figure 1.6).

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   23

The sensory experience

The smell experience

The sound experience

The touch experience

The sight experience The taste experience

Figure 1.6  The multi-sensory experience and the five senses Source: Hultén (2015)

Sensory strategies Companies might deliberately, through a service process, develop and apply sensory strategies when providing individuals with sensory experiences. It is suggested that individuals are to be looked upon as ‘sensory producers’ when it comes to how they are affected emotionally and cognitively by various sensory cues/stimuli as well as both negative and positive multi-sensory experiences. I define a sensory strategy as ‘a deliberate marketing strategy in a company’s service process with the aim to create memorable sensations by using sensory cues/stimuli, which attracts a special sense or multiple senses simultaneously’. Examples of various sensory cues/stimuli and the sensations linked to the five senses are presented in the following text (see also Table 1.2).

Visual strategy The human eye recognizes every environmental change through the sense of vision and a visual strategy should recognize that something will look different from before.

24  SENSORY MARKETING

A company’s or a brand’s identity is expressed visually in advertising, product design and style, or by visual and verbal identity in contexts such as electronic media, people or websites. There is no doubt that a visual strategy has its focus on creating visual sensations for individuals in purchase and consumption processes. Visual stimuli alone or in combination with other senses, such as the sense of touch, might clarify the visual experience that a brand wants to convey. The iPhone from Apple is an example of how a smartphone based on soft values appeals not only to the sense of sight, through rounded edges as well as different colours on the phone, but also to the sense of touch, through the touchscreen. Table 1.2  Senses, sensory cues, and stimuli and sensations Sense

Sensory cues and stimuli

Sensations

Sight

Design, packaging and logo

Visual

Colour, light and theme Graphic, exterior and interior Sound

Jingle, voice and music

Auditory

Atmosphere, attentiveness and theme Signature sound and sound brand Smell

Product congruence, intensity and sex

Atmospheric

Atmosphere, advertency and theme Scent brand and signature scent Touch

Material and surface

Tactile

Temperature and weight Form and steadiness Taste

Name, presentation and environment

Aesthetic/gastronomic

Knowledge, lifestyle and delight Interplay, symbiosis and synergies Source: Developed from Hultén (2015)

The most prominent cues or stimuli in a visual strategy are design, packaging or logo in different brand or product contexts. In contrast, stimuli such as colour, light and theme often appear in physical or digital service environments. Finally, stimuli such as graphics, exterior and interior relate to various contexts for goods and services.

Sound strategy Humans use the sense of sound to perceive and experience the environment as well as the surroundings. A sound strategy should contribute to an individual’s identity and be

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   25

emotionally appealing. A company’s or a brand’s identity is expressed auditorily and most individuals react positively through their feelings to music or voices. Moreover, most individuals give meaning to various kind of sounds and they often make a deeper interpretation of its meaning on a personal level. For that reason, a sound strategy might provide consumers with auditory sensations, whether they are perceived as pleasant or unpleasant. The well-known brand Abercrombie and Fitch in the US applies music and songs in its store environments to offer the right atmosphere to the customers. It happens that music is played loudly to create the impression of a nightclub, so that sometimes both the staff and the customers begin to dance to the music, which gives the feeling of a live party. Some of the most distinguished cues and stimuli in a sound strategy are music, voices or jingles, creating sensory experiences for a brand or a product as well as service environments. These stimuli can also be of help in providing an appealing atmosphere in a department store, a boutique or on a website, and can in the same way be present as an overall theme. Moreover, companies can provide a sound experience that consists of a signature sound or a brand sound to express its identity. Finally, it must be said that a sound strategy is not only about adding a sound to a service process but also could be about eliminating unpleasant sounds.

Smell strategy It is through the nose and the olfactory system that individuals can perceive and experience different kind of scents. Often this experience of a scent affects many of us on an emotional level. Moreover, scents can create long-lasting memories in humans at a personal, deeper level, given evidence for the fact that a scent from childhood can be drawn upon in adulthood. Following this, a smell strategy can provide consumers with atmospheric sensations, either perceived as pleasant or unpleasant. The French car manufacturer Citroen offers the car buyers the possibility to choose between nine different scents for the car’s interior, which contributes to a positive new car smell and provides the driver with a pleasant atmosphere in the car. It is believed that scents such as lavender, lemon, lotus flower or vanilla might result in safer driving. When it comes to scents as cues and stimuli their natural connection to a product – product similarity – and their intensity are most striking in creating a sensory experience. It is suggested that product-like scents compared to subtle scents have greater impact on a positive sensory experience. In service environments scents help to provide shoppers with a pleasant atmosphere often resulting in increased shopper attention as well as increased satisfaction with the shopping. Furthermore, scents contribute to recall and recognition of brands, hence why companies can develop a scent brand and signature scent or legally protected fragrance brands. Finally, it must be said that a smell strategy also should involve eliminating unpleasant smells in a service process.

26  SENSORY MARKETING

Touch strategy The tactile sense (or sense of touch) allows individuals to perceive and experience physical contact with objects, like goods and services, and people in the environment. It is well known that the tactile sense an  d the kinesthetic system have the strongest impact on a person’s well-being and many people can remember how something feels after touching it. Individuals attach different meanings to tactile experiences in their daily lives based on an emotional response, perceived as either pleasant or unpleasant. A touch strategy is a tactile approach when a company’s or a brand’s identity is perceived and experienced by individuals in a tactile manner to provide a sensory experience. IKEA Norway wanted to create tactile sensations and a sensory experience for their customers and let them spend the night in one of their stores, so they could test their beds. To sleep over was free of charge and it was possible to sleep in a family room, a honeymoon suite or a normal bedroom. Tactile sensations are often expressed through tactile cues and stimuli such as materials or surfaces as well as temperature or weight for products and services. The feeling of a brand or a product emanates from tactile stimuli such as firmness and shape. Moreover, in physical stores individuals’ interactions with brands and products in the service processes are made possible by feeling, squeezing, turning and twisting them. In a café or a restaurant, the tactile sensations for a certain brand might arise by using hard or soft chairs during the consumption process.

Taste strategy One part of the sense of taste concerns gastronomic taste, so-called inner taste, and the other part concerns aesthetic taste, so-called outer taste. Both internal and external taste are important in many people’s consumption and contribute to self-fulfillment and identity creation regarding both what kind of food you eat and what kind of clothes you wear. It means that taste is a highly individual, private matter in different societal cultures and explains why people have many different desires, needs and wants. Following a taste strategy, a company or a brand can express its identity through aesthetic/gastronomic sensations in creating multi-sensory experiences. Heston Blumenthal, the founder of The Fat Duck restaurant in England, has expressed that ‘We eat with our eyes and our ears and our noses. You think about some of the most memorable meals you’ve ever had; the food will be good but it will often be about locating a mental memory and taste is inexorably linked to all the other senses and memory, so ultimately it is all about taste’ (McGrath, 2012). Aesthetic/gastronomic sensations are often expressed through cues or stimuli such as environment, knowledge and presentation providing a multi-sensory experience in a service

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   27

environment for brands, products and services. Moreover, the interactions with other senses concerning other stimuli such as design, scent, sound, texture and weight contribute to a culinary experience based on synergy. Altogether, this highlights how a taste experience is related to the total sensory experience of an individual.

Sensory marketing model In a sensory marketing model companies should provide individuals with multisensory brand-experiences through service processes and sensory strategies. The multi-sensory brand-experience is defined in the following way: ‘A multi-sensory brand-experience contributes to consumer value, consumer experiences and brand as image as well as to individuals’ self-fulfillment and identity creation by engaging the five senses’.

Service processes and sensory strategies and the five human senses

Sensors Sight sensor

Sound sensor

Smell sensor

Touch sensor

Taste sensor

Sensations Visual

Auditory

Olfactory

Tactile

Aesthetic/ gastronomic

Sensory cues and stimulus In relation to vision, sound, smell, touch and taste

Multi-sensory brand-experiences Consumer value, consumer experiences and brand as image

Figure 1.7  Sensory marketing model Source: Developed from Hultén (2015)

28  SENSORY MARKETING

The SM model distinguishes itself from the TM and RM models by emphasizing how a company or a brand can differentiate itself in service processes through sensory strategies based on appropriate sensors, sensations, and cues and stimuli (Figure 1.7). In service processes companies should apply sensory strategies to enhance a product’s or a brand’s emotional and sensual appeal in relation to the five senses. It is well known for strong brands like Apple, BMW, Gap or Gucci to apply sensory dimensions in attracting individuals on a deeper, personal level to clarify the identity of the brand. A multi-sensory brand-experience should be built around the use of sensors, sensations and sensory stimuli following the SM model. As a multi-communication platform, the sensors should communicate sensations and sensory cues and stimuli to individuals as well as receive information through digital tools, technical equipment or employees in service processes. Often this takes place through advertising, social media like Facebook and Twitter as well as websites. Sensations are the psychological reaction to different stimuli and can be defined as an affective response or feeling emanating from a certain sensory strategy. Finally, the stimulus should – in isolation or in interplay – express a company’s or a brand’s identity for the different senses in a concrete way and contribute to a multi-sensory brand-experience.

1.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter presents and discusses sensory marketing principles in relation to the five human senses. Especially, the focus on individuals as consumers has been emphasized. The two main driving forces – the cultural value shift and digital technology – of the global marketing environment have been analysed. Individualization as lifestyle has been presented and discussed as a major phenomenon in a global consumption culture of brands, products and services. Three personal factors, i.e. self-fulfillment, identity creation and multi-sensory experiences, constitute individualization as lifestyle in contemporary societal cultures. The most important part of the chapter presents the theoretical foundations of sensory marketing in terms of relevant concepts and models. Moreover, leading marketing approaches such as TM and RM are analysed and compared with an SM approach. The framework of SM is analysed and discussed in relation to the individual, the senses and the firm. Concepts such as consumer value, consumer experiences and brand as image are related to the individual, and concepts such as service processes, sensory experiences and sensory strategies are related to the firm. Finally, an SM model is presented integrating different concepts related to how companies could apply the five human senses in marketing practice.

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   29

1.7

THE CASE OF STARBUCKS

Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks, discusses in his book Onward how to create multi-sensory brand-experiences of the brand. He states: ‘The unique sights, smells, and charms that Starbucks introduced into the marketplace define our brand… Without these sensory triggers, something about visiting a Starbucks vanished… If coffee and people are our core, the overall experience is our soul…’ (Schultz, 2011: 25).

It is evident that the use of sensory triggers, i.e. sensory stimuli, and sensory strategies explains the success and longevity of Starbucks’ brand. The design, layout and atmosphere of the coffee stores have attracted consumers to visit them around the world. Let us take a closer look at how Starbucks creates multi-sensory brand-experience in the service processes through sensory strategies. Visual sensations that are built on stimuli from the coffee store’s exterior and interior characterize the sight strategy. The green logo ‘Starbucks’ on the outside is a clear verbal signal and communicates the soul of Starbucks to everybody, not only customers. Inside the coffee stores the design is critical to the atmosphere and Schultz states that the stores should have ‘the warm and cozy feeling of a neighborhood gathering place…’ (Schultz, 2011: 25). In many ways the stores are designed to attract customers through soft and warm colours, bright lighting, and uncluttered walls and surfaces. Also, Starbucks’ dress code, as visual stimulus, means that the staff is expected ‘to present a clean, neat and professional appearance when starting every shift … make sure your clothing is clean, hemmed, wrinkle-free and in good repair’ (Starbucks, n.d.). Moreover, the apron should look sharp and be free of holes, tears or stains and the name of the person should be on the apron to give the right face of the Starbucks brand. (Continued)

30  SENSORY MARKETING

When it comes to olfactory sensations and stimuli, Schultz expressed the importance of ‘aroma – perhaps the most powerful non-verbal signal we had in our stores … our people scooping fresh coffee from the bins and grinding it fresh in front of the customer…’. There should be a barista and a strong smell of coffee in every store. Also, the natural aroma of cakes, cookies and sandwiches placed in front of the customer should give a scent experience when the order is given to the staff. The sound strategy emphasizes the importance of auditory sensations through selected pop music and soft voices via the speakers. Starbucks has played music for over 40 years in their stores. Music is a background sound and Starbucks develops unique playlists weekly to be found on Spotify. In the Starbucks app a playlist in Spotify can be saved with the music and songs the customers have heard in the stores and want to listen to again. It gives the customers a chance to get a personalized digital sound experience after their visit to Starbucks. Tactile sensations at a coffee house are provided to the customers by stimuli such as comfortable club chairs and wooden chairs in various colours, designs and material in culturally relevant fabrics. All spaces in a stores offer opportunities for individuals to choose from different types of seating around different kinds of tables, such as round tables or charging tables, often hand-crafted in wood or metal and recycled material if possible. A special cup to keep the coffee warm can be used in combination with a smartphone to measure the temperature of the coffee. Starbucks also encourages customers to touch and interact with laptops and smartphones through free Wi-Fi during their visits. The taste strategy is built on aesthetic as well as gastronomic sensations and stimuli in providing the customers with a taste experience. As already shown the design of the store atmosphere emphasizes aesthetic and sensory elements such as design, lighting, music, smell, material and fabrics in creating sensations through interactions with the other senses. Gastronomic sensations occur primarily through the coffee taste experience and Starbucks has developed a Coffee Experience Bar. In this bar the baristas can show how different brewing methods affect the flavour of the coffee. Customers can choose between four brewing methods and watch the baristas making the coffee in a bar that looks like a chic chemistry lab. It is also possible to buy whole beans and ground coffee in the store or online as well as chai latte tea in order to have the sensory experience at home. Starbucks has a secret menu when it comes to cookies and cream or Oreo frappuccinos, giving the customers the opportunity to create their own taste experiences.

QUESTIONS 1

2

3

List and discuss three main arguments why Howard Schultz emphasizes the importance of sensory strategies and sensory stimuli in Starbucks coffee shops during the service process. The arguments might concern the brand, the competitors and/or the consumers. Do you think you are positively affected by, for example, auditory or olfactory stimuli during your purchase and consumption at a Starbucks coffee shop? If yes, give concrete examples of how this might be expressed in relation to your feelings, mood and behaviour. Discuss from an ethical point of view the use of sensory strategies and sensory stimuli in Starbucks coffee shops. What are the advantages and/or disadvantages for the company and its customers.

SENSORY MARKETING PRINCIPLES   31

FURTHER READING Achrol, R.S. & Kotler, P. (2012). ‘Frontiers of the marketing paradigm in the third millennium’, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 40: 35–52. Hultén, B., Broweus, N. & van Dijk, M. (2009). Sensory Marketing. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Krishna, A. (2011). ‘An integrative review of sensory marketing: Engaging the senses to affect perception, judgment and behaviour’, Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22, 3: 332–351.

2

THE SENSORY BRAIN

CHAPTER CONTENTS 2.0 Introduction

34

2.1

The Gestalt Perspective

34

2.2

The Brain as the Black Box

35

Consciousness versus unconsciousness

35

The triune brain

36

The cerebrum

36

The limbic system

38

The reptile brain

38

The location of the senses

39

The Senses and the Brain

40

Sensory input and perceptions

40

The perceptual process

40

2.3

2.4

Memories of the brain

41

The sensory memory

42

Short-term memory

43

Long-term memory

43

Brain Gender

44

The genetic code

44

Organizational differences

45

Emotional and sensory differences

46

Differences in purchasing and consumption

46

34  SENSORY MARKETING

2.5 Neuromarketing

48

Inside the human brain

48

Neurophysiological techniques

49

Benefits and drawbacks

52

2.6

Chapter Summary

52

2.7

The Case of Coca-Cola and Pepsi

53

Questions 54 Further Reading

55

2.0 INTRODUCTION The chapter gives an overview of the human brain as the black box with the five human senses. Especially, the significance of sensory input, the perceptual process and the sensory memory is analysed and discussed. Moreover, the differences in organization, purchasing and consumption behaviour according to brain gender are presented. Finally, neuromarketing as an emergent research field with its techniques, benefits and drawbacks will be presented and discussed. After reading the chapter, you should be able to: 1 2 3 4 5

Explain how the sensory brain is organized and works within individuals. Discuss the role of the five human senses in the perceptual process. Analyse the human brain according to gender and discuss existing differences between men and women. Discuss how a company could challenge the sensory brain by applying neuromarketing in business practice. Analyse the advantages/disadvantages of neuromarketing for individuals and companies.

2.1 THE GESTALT PERSPECTIVE Individuals perceive and experience brands, objects, products and service environments in a completely individual manner, but the holistic nature of perception is central for every individual. In Gestalt theory the whole – or the Gestalt figure – is greater than the sum of its parts. It is assumed that the parts alone do not create the figure but the relations between the parts do it. Furthermore, it is assumed that the Gestalt is divided into the background and the object and is based on good design, balance and simplicity. The holistic perspective lays the ground for an individual’s consumer values, consumer experiences and brand as image when it comes to how individuals perceive and experience

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different things. IKEA is an example of a global interior retailer providing its customers with a holistic, sensory experience of a bedroom, where colours, design and material are intertwined. The perceptual process through the senses of vision, sound, smell, touch and taste contribute to the holistic perspective. In this process individuals interpret various sensory cues and stimuli translating them into a response such as a positive feeling or changed behaviour.

The individual’s personal feelings and thoughts about the holistic, sensory experience create the mental concept or image in the brain (or mind), which is brand as image. In this context, the human brain is often called the black box when it comes to understanding how individuals perceive and experience the environment and the outside world either consciously or unconsciously.

2.2 THE BRAIN AS THE BLACK BOX Consciousness versus unconsciousness The brain receives through the human senses 11 million bits of information every second as sensory input. Most of this information is received via the human eyes but also the other senses of sound, smell, touch and taste give important information. The brain works with both conscious and unconscious processes and most of the work of a human brain relates to unconscious processes that we are not aware of. The brain represents only 2 per cent of body mass, but it consumes 20 per cent of all energy. From this number only, 20 per cent of the energy is consumed in the conscious processes and the rest of the energy maintains to the resting state of the brain.

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The conscious processes only deal with about 40 bits of information every second and the rest, corresponding to more than 99.99 per cent of all information, is processed by unconscious processes. A common explanation for these processes is that ‘we cannot think of how we think, because we are not aware of the thoughts that we think’ (Pradeep, 2010: 4). These processes impact and control an individual’s actions and behaviours in many ways. It is not possible for most individuals to explain or understand what is going on without a deeper contact with the unconscious processes. The conscious processes are defined as immediate experiences of feelings and sensations (Gazzaniga et al., 2009) and a person’s experience is related to an experiencing self. It is the characteristic of such conscious experiences that shows that awareness on the one hand is linked to consciousness on the other. If an individual observes an advertisement for a brand, he/she is also consciously aware of the ad, which means it is possible to direct attention to certain characteristics such as, for example, colours, design, logo or price. In every societal culture customs, habits, rituals and traditions create a mindset that in an unconscious way tells a person who he/she is in that culture. This is called cultural awareness, meaning that each culture has its own pattern of thoughts and behaviours at a deeper level in the human mind (Rapaille, 2006). Every day various actions, symbols or words have a code that the brain unconsciously uses so we can get dressed, eat what we want and notice what happens around us. In this context the unconscious processes are of importance for individuals in shaping self-fulfillment, identity creation and multisensory brand-experiences.

The triune brain The human brain, often called the triune brain, is built around three different types of brains, which together give the basis for the organization and structure of the brain. These three brains are called the cerebral cortex (cerebrum or primate), the limbic system (mammal) and the reptilian brain (reptile). Many complex, interconnected, neural networks cooperate together allowing us to have lunch, buy a certain brand or visit a Starbucks coffee shop. Altogether, the black box could be better understood if it is seen as a system with different regions or structures working together to give rise to the actions and behaviour they stand for.

The cerebrum Another name for the cerebral cortex is the cerebrum, which is the largest and the dominant part of the brain. It consists of two hemispheres, or halves, of the brain, with different

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characters called the left and the right hemispheres. Each of the two hemispheres has four different lobes called the frontal lobe, the occipital lobe, the parietal lobe and the temporal lobe. The two hemispheres communicate with each other by using different association pathways, linked to a corresponding area in the other half of the brain. The cerebral cortex has intellectual functions in the form of language, learning, memory, perception and thinking. Several relatively independent areas and structures communicate between themselves and with other areas and structures. It is believed that the consciousness of an individual is located in the cerebral cortex, where beliefs and knowledge about us and the world can be found.

The left and right hemispheres The hemispheres do different things and they have significant functional differences. First, they are the same size and look symmetrical, but the left hemisphere is more dominant than the right one. The left hemisphere has a linguistic focus, often called the verbal hemisphere, and is responsible for logic and mathematical calculations, while the right hemisphere is more artistic and has a creative focus (Figure 2.1).

Figure 2.1  Left and right cerebral hemisphere Second, the right hemisphere is more sensitive and is dominated by spatial perception and visual impressions. It also manages feelings and emotions as well as avoiding taking risks. Moreover, the hemisphere is superior when it comes to face recognition and interpreting various facial expressions. Finally, it should be mentioned that several nerve fibres allow communication and cooperation between the two hemispheres and, despite the differences mentioned, they complement each other through their specialties.

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The limbic system This system has a major role for an individual’s learning, memory and motivation. It determines what sensory stimuli an individual reacts to through comparisons of new sensory stimuli and previous experiences. Furthermore, the system is the prime location for emotions, which are localized in the parts called the amygdala, hippocampus and hypothalamus. In the human brain the amygdala has a key role in taking care of different types of emotional responses and experiences. In this part of the brain sensory experiences are established through various nerve cell groups that emanate from, for example, aggression, anxiety or fear. Moreover, it is here that an individual’s sensory impressions get their emotional nuances and tone. The amygdala is also closely linked to other parts or structures in the brain. This means that an individual on the emotional level can remember and save different sensory experiences in the mind. In particular, individuals are more likely to remember positive or negative events compared to neutral ones, depending on whether a positive or negative emotion is experienced. The hippocampus is connected to an individual’s memory and it contributes to the encoding of information as well as the recall of memory images. For this reason, it has a critical role for a person’s learning and memory. It should be mentioned that the hippocampus is also called the seahorse because of its shape, and belongs to the temporal lobe in the cerebral cortex. The primary task for the hypothalamus is to control and manage an individual’s functions such as blood pressure, breathing, sexual behaviour and thirst. This part of the limbic system is also involved in different emotional processes and there are mechanisms that might control and influence an individual’s behaviour through attack or escape.

The reptile brain The reptile brain is a collective term for the cerebellum and the brain stem. This part of the human brain has similarities with a real reptilian brain. The cerebellum has two major functions, namely to be responsible for a human’s reproduction and survival. For this reason it is believed that this part of the reptile brain has the greatest impact on human behaviour and development. The most dominant features of the reptile brain are the ability to process visual stimuli and take care of threats in the surroundings. It is also a fact that the brain prefers pictures rather than words and experiences rather than explanations, making it egoistical and extremely selfish in its nature. Moreover, it is suggested that a person’s instinct is

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expressed through the reptile brain and in choices between emotion, logic and instinct the reptile brain is the winner. This is often the case in a person’s relationships, decisions about consumption and well-being related to cultural awareness. In this sense, culture plays a major role in survival, which people inherit from earlier generations. The cerebellum, which means the small brain (or hindbrain), plays a major role in a person’s motor system. It receives information from different networks about the motion of the body’s organs, as well as joints and muscles. It is said that the cerebellum is crucial in collaborating with the balance organs in a human body. It requires coordination for a person to perform movements through the necessary interaction between different parts of the body. The brain stem has some prominent functions such as controlling and regulating an individual’s vital reflexes including consciousness and body temperature as well as heart rate and blood pressure. Altogether the cerebellum and the brain stem constitute the reptile brain in terms of managing and regulating important parts of a human body in the black box.

The location of the senses The sensory information derived from the senses is taken care of by the cerebrum (or cerebral cortex), which consists of three hierarchical and interconnected main structures, namely the forebrain, which controls the midbrain, which affects the hindbrain. Sensory inputs from, for example, vision and hearing go first to the midbrain, which delivers the input to other parts of the cerebrum. In the cerebral cortex all sensory information and sensory inputs are transformed into conscious perceptions, resulting in conscious actions and behaviour in every human being.

TOUCH

TASTE VISION

SMELL

HEARING

Figure 2.2  The senses in the human brain

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The cerebral cortex is divided into different areas and the most important difference is between the motor and sensory areas. The sensory areas receive a specific type of sensory information from the sensory organs, which is synthesized into the form of maps or pictures built on the sensations that are transmitted through the different sensory organs for vision, sound, smell, touch and taste. For example, visual inputs through the eyes are transmitted to the primary visual cortex located in the back of the brain. In the same way somatosensory information is transmitted from the body and the skin to the sensory cortex in the top of the brain. Sensory inputs from hearing, smelling and tasting are transmitted into other parts of the brain. It is suggested that these structures of the brain work as a kind of leadership centre for the whole human body (Figure 2.2).

2.3 THE SENSES AND THE BRAIN Sensory input and perceptions The five human senses provide individuals with sensory inputs through seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting in isolation or in multi-sensory interplay. The senses contribute to an individual’s cognitions, emotions and behaviour. It has also been suggested that individuals have, for example, a sense of acceleration and weight, a sense of hot and cold, and a sense of pain. Moreover, it is said that different kinds of sensory inputs are treated with clearly distinguished characteristics for every sense. This is evident for the sense of vision, which can identify, for example, colours, design and shapes as contrasts to brightness, darkness and structures. The sensory inputs the brain receives are transformed into various perceptions that might differ between individuals. These perceptions are the basis for how individuals react and act in special situations, and perceptions can occur in more than one way because many of the senses are often in interplay. The sensory organs transmit the sensory inputs that give the brain an opportunity to perceive the same sensory inputs in more ways than one. It happens that the sensory inputs an individual receives are not always connected to the perception that the individual has. Instead, the brain is guessing what one or more of the senses is trying to transmit through the sensory inputs. The reason is that the brain is extremely selective when it comes to choosing the right sensory inputs for an individual. Also, different sensations inside the body tell the brain what a situation is all about, but most people are not aware of these daily sensations.

The perceptual process All humans receive, organize and interpret sensory stimuli generating different kinds of responses as perceptions in an individual. The cues and stimuli are regarded as sensory

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input and are stored in the brain. It means that individuals interpret and experience stimuli based on their attitudes and feelings as well as desires, needs and wants. This is done in a completely subjective way, which the perceptual process is all about (Figure 2.3). In this psychological process the areas of cognition and perception are most active in the human brain. These two are not fully separated but complement each other in some respects. Cognition is a term that includes mental processes and relates to brain functions such as alertness, consciousness, information, knowledge, language, memory and thinking, as well as decision-making and problem solving.

Stimuli Sights

Sensation

Meaning

Sounds Smells

Sensory receptors

Attention

Interpretation

Response

Tastes Textures

Perception

Figure 2.3  The perceptual process Source: Solomon et al. (2013: 119)

A common opinion is that an individual’s interpretation and perception are grounded on the experience and knowledge he/she has acquired about a brand or a product as a part of cognition. In classical psychology, the three concepts of cognition, emotion and volition combine to manage a person’s mind or psyche. Altogether, it shows the importance of sensory input, as sensory cues and stimuli, to how brands and products are perceived and experienced by individuals in purchase and consumption processes.

Memories of the brain One of the most important models of the human memory is built on the assumption that our memory consists of three components, namely, the sensory memory, the shortterm memory and the long-term memory. These memory systems help us to process, store and access information in relation to individual desires, goals and motivations. However, among psychologists no consensus exists about this assumption when it comes to defining the three types of memories. Despite this, it is common to use this model in describing and explaining how individuals receive and process information (Figure 2.4).

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The sensory memory In the sensory memory the sensory information is activated and processed for an individual through the five senses. All sensory information coming from seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting is stored in the sensory memory for a very short time. It is obvious that different events and experiences that are emotionally engaging and stimulating are processed and stored in the memory. The information is present when the senses are stimulated, and individuals save this information for further analysis of its most relevant parts. These memory images impact how individuals react to new stimuli and what experiences they have in the future. Sensory memory Temporary storage of sensory information in a sensory store regarding sight, sound, smell, touch and taste.

Short-term memory Attention Information is passed on to short-term memory.

Storage of information that is currently being used. Has very limited capacity, less than 20 seconds.

Long-term memory Rehearsal Long-term storage depends on rehearsal.

Unlimited storage of information that can be stored over very long periods of time.

Figure 2.4  The three components of the memory Source: Jansson-Boyd (2010: 17)

It must be said that human vision and hearing are not that sharp compared to other animal species, which in turn limits an individual’s ability to receive and perceive sensory information in the best way. For example, for humans visual information disappears within half a second and audio information within 2 seconds. Research has shown that the senses have some limitations in receiving all the sensory information individuals are provided with every day from their environment or surroundings. Every individual has a so called ‘absolute sensory threshold’, which means that if a message is below the sensory threshold it is probably not perceived in a conscious way, but rather in an unconscious way. Also, sensory discrimination might exist for individuals whether or not it is possible for an individual to discover differences between similar sensory information. On the other hand, a general assumption is that some people ignore or avoid some sensory information, and prevent it from entering the sensory memory, while other people allow the same information. The concept of perceptual alertness addresses the fact that individuals are open to and look for messages and sensory information that they prefer. A person’s attitudes, motivations, values, as well as their lifestyle, occupation and social context are the key drivers behind this openness. The concept of perceptual defence means that the messages and sensory information not consistent with an individual’s attitudes, lifestyle and personality are ignored and will be neglected.

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Short-term memory Sensory information goes from the sensory memory to the short-term memory, which has a major function in the temporary storage of such information and stimulus. This memory is also called the working memory and is completely fundamental to an individual’s ability to manage and solve different mental tasks. It provides people in a conscious way with data for specific purposes; for example, a telephone number or a person’s name. Moreover, the memory is known for its capacity to group stored information into meaningful units called chunks. One main function of the short-term memory is to solve complex cognitive tasks such as learning, logical thinking and reading comprehension, and not only to remember instructions, letters or numbers. The memory provides individuals with the opportunity to solve problems by being able to detect differences between similar sensory information and at the same time to manipulate and retain such verbal or visual information. The short-term memory takes care of sensory information processed by individuals such as verbal and visual information during different time periods; for example, from seconds to minutes. It is also characterized by the tendency to have better recall of sensory information that is presented at the beginning or the end. This is called the serial position effect, indicating that the first words of special information are easier to remember when they are already stored in the long-term memory. On the other hand, the memory has a limited storage capacity, which differentiates it from the long-term memory. Individuals do not have the same available storage capacity and it differs from one individual to another.

Long-term memory Sensory information is sometimes transmitted from the short-term memory to the longterm memory because of its importance and meaning for an individual. This transition is related to the information or stimulus itself that already exists in the long-term memory. The memory has no limitations concerning storage capacity – unlike the sensory memory and the working memory – and is treated as infinite. All kinds of experiences people have become memories as soon they have entered the long-term memory and are permanently stored there for the future. The long-term memory allows each one of us to remember different activities or events in what is called the episodic memory, while we remember facts in the semantic long-term memory. The difference between the two is of importance for researchers and practitioners, especially in advertising and commercials where episodic memories are often influenced or triggered by focusing on the experiences many individuals share. One of

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the major differences between the working memory and the long-term memory is that an individual can memorize and recall from the long-term memory sensory information that was received a month or a year ago. Whereas, in the working memory, sensory information must be the focus of attention all the time. A general assumption is that every piece of information in the long-term memory in one way or another is connected to the existing information stored in the memory. This means that associations are formed between information and stimuli, directly or indirectly, which allows individuals to create associated mental networks, which are formed either consciously or unconsciously. These kinds of networks guide us through existing information and influence a person’s judgements and decision-making in purchase and consumption processes.

2.4 BRAIN GENDER The genetic code A contributing factor to the development of a human brain – whether it is a female or a male brain – is the individual’s background and heritage. The differences are created even before birth and gender is dependent on a number of hormones, i.e. oestrogen for women and testosterone for men. The mother’s limbic system together with the hypothalamus play an important role in creating a brain’s gender because they manage human emotions. It is in these areas and structures that the production of hormones takes place, which results in the gender a brain will have. A general opinion is that important differences exist when it comes to how a female brain and a male brain are constructed. These differences might be derived from how

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many of these aforementioned hormones an individual has before birth (Tobert et al., 2009). But also, dopamine, as a neurotransmitter in the nerve cells of the brain, contributes to the differences between men and women. These might also be evident in comparing the physical appearance of men and women. Moreover, differences between men and women are clear and distinct relating to the performance of simple and more complex tasks.

Organizational differences One of the most fundamental differences between a female and male brain concerns a brain’s size and weight. It is suggested that these differences are related to how a brain is proportionally scaled to the physical body size and a male brain is 9 to 12 per cent larger than a female brain (Witelson et al., 2006). Another fundamental difference concerns the organization of a brain. It has been found that the language centre for men is placed in the left hemisphere, but for women it covers both the left and right hemispheres. In studies of brain and head injuries, it has been shown that men and women who receive the same type of injury suffer different kinds of damage. Though men lost the language ability women recaptured the ability despite having an injury to the same area of the brain. Organizational differences might also explain how a male brain versus a female brain works in terms of how men and women prefer to express themselves and use the right words in a difficult situation. It is suggested that women in general have a larger vocabulary than men and learn their first words and build short sentences at an earlier age than men. For that reason, a general opinion is that women have advantages compared to men when expressing themselves and they use language in a better way. However, research also shows that men are better than women in some specialized areas within language. Furthermore, it seems that men often perform certain tasks better than women regarding so-called mental rotation, which emphasizes how an object should be mentally looked upon from a new angle. In daily life mental rotation is about how individuals orient themselves and/or navigate using a map in an unknown environment relating to spatial activities. In this regard a male brain seems to do this better than a female brain, for example when visiting a new city or a new mall for the first time, in terms of overall spatial understandings (Davies & Wilkinson, 2006). When it comes to emotional language and social skills it is evident from research that women are superior compared to men, especially in relation to self-biographical, emotional experiences. Moreover, a female brain seems to store and remember emotional memories from different occasions in a better way than a male brain. An explanation seems to be that a female brain has more developed and intertwined communication between the left and right hemispheres of the brain.

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Emotional and sensory differences A female brain and a male brain lead to different gender behaviours following the organizational differences that exist between the two. It means that men and women differ in how they evaluate products and brands as well as how they think about them. First, it is evident that a female brain is more empathetic compared to a male brain, which is more systematic (Baron-Cohen, 2003). It is generally accepted that women strive for altruistic and reciprocal relationships, while men in general look for competition and power. Second, women seem to prefer more emotional, close contact with others, compared to men, and look for eye contact. One reason that women prefer face-to-face meetings could be that it allows the reading and interpreting of body language and facial expressions. A general opinion is that women seem to have a better understanding of body language than men and also have a better ability to understand facial expressions (Pavlova, 2009). It is suggested by researchers that is an expression of women’s emotional intelligence and can be explained by the communication between the left and the right hemispheres. In contrast to women, who prefer direct eye contact, men might feel uncomfortable with such situations. It is suggested that men prefer more anonymous contact such as using email or phone instead of personal meetings. In the retail sector it is well known that men often don’t contact the staff with questions about brands, function, price and/or quality. When it comes to sensory differences, it is obvious that a female brain and a male brain differ regarding the sense of sight, especially for visual appeal, including colour selection. Women seem to have a stronger visual memory and better night vision and remember visual details more easily than men. Also concerning the sense of sound, it is believed that women pay attention to and notice sound more than men do. One explanation is that a female and a male brain differ in the way they become activated by music. Among women negative and positive emotions from music are processed only in the left hemisphere and its different parts. On the other hand, men process positive musical experience in the left hemisphere but negative experience in the right hemisphere. It is generally accepted that men and women perceive the sense of smell differently. A female brain seems to better detect, discriminate and identify smells in comparison with men. It has also been shown that female babies have a stronger ability to recognize scents than male babies. The sense of touch differs between men and women concerning how sensitive and exposed they are to pain. In particular, a female brain is more sensitive and reacts to pain more strongly than a male brain (Wiesenfeld-Hallin, 2005). It seems that women are also more emotionally affected by both mental and physical pain.

Differences in purchasing and consumption The differences between a female and a male brain are evident when it comes to the context of decision-making in purchase and consumption processes. In these situations,

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the differences are clearer and often expressed in what is typical for a man or a woman as individuals. All of us are in some ways affected by our environment and immediate surroundings and it is a general opinion that men and women make decisions differently.

In particular, in purchasing it is common for men to link the decisions to a specific brand or product. In these situations, it is assumed that men show more irrational decision-making and buying patterns compared to women. On the other hand, women want to have more information and make comparisons between brands and products before a decision is taken. Moreover, a general assumption is that men have a more holistic outlook while women often use more analytical strategies in their purchasing decisions. Research shows that this type of behaviour is gender-based and women seem to improve their performance if more time is given to carrying out a task. In this regard women use more time walking around when shopping. This is the exact opposite to men who move quickly between the shelves of a store because they want to get out of the store faster. It has been suggested that men should be easier to convince about a customer offer because they want to leave a store as quickly as possible, compared to women (Underhill, 2009). In their gender roles it is believed that men have a more masculine, instrumental direction, while women have a more feminine, expressive direction; for example, in household decision-making. In general women seem to focus more on affection and love as well as expressing feelings. Furthermore, women seem to put emphasis on invisible factors like empathy and security and visible factors like personnel, compared to men. When it comes to relationships with a doctor it has been shown that women are more focused on the personal and social aspects, compared to men (Bhagat & Williams, 2008).

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In this type of relationship, it was concluded that women seemed to be more relational and the overall evaluation of the relationship was considered to be more important.

2.5 NEUROMARKETING Inside the human brain As a research field neuromarketing examines and analyses the unconscious feelings and responses individuals show in connection with product evaluation, purchase and consumption of brands, products and services. In particular, it considers how the human brain receives and processes sensory information through various sensory cues and stimuli that might influence individuals’ cognitions, emotions and behaviour. Moreover, neuromarketing examines specifically how emotions and social interactions impact individuals to make product choices and purchase decisions. As a research field, neurophysiological studies of consumer behaviour belong to an emergent marketing paradigm that focuses on the human senses and consumer experiences (Achrol & Kotler, 2012). Especially, they investigate what role different stimulus–response processes have in relation to individuals’ perceptions and sensations. What impact do unconscious processes have and do they support subliminal learning processes among individuals about brands, products and services? In general, neuromarketing is defined as the application of different techniques to investigate an individual’s response in the brain to a special marketing situation. It might consider, for example, how a product looks, how an ad for a service is presented or how some packaging is designed. As long ago as 1881, the Italian researcher Angelo Mosso showed in experiments that when emotional and mental activities occurred within a human being it resulted in increased blood flow and heart rate. By using the latest technologies through brain scans nowadays the purpose is to capture brain activities in different parts of the brain. The term neuromarketing is a combination of two research areas, namely neuro – from neuroscience – and marketing. The term was presented for the first time in 2002 by the company BrightHouse in Atlanta, USA. It cannot be attributed to any particular individual and has emerged organically since that time. Since then interest in this research area has increased, with researchers and professional marketers trying to gain knowledge about, for example, the effects of advertisements on individuals’ behaviour. A general opinion is that neuromarketing, with the help of the latest techniques, goes beyond traditional marketing techniques such as focus groups and questionnaires, which try to gain knowledge about the mental processes behind product choice and product decisions through words. Instead, neuromarketing wants to find out and visualize through images what happens inside the brain. For this reason, brain activities are captured by taking real images of what happens inside the brain and its different parts.

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Neurophysiological techniques The most common neurophysiological methods are the electrical activity (EEG), magnetic fields (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) tests. Each one of them is designed to examine and analyse neural activities in the brain connected to various degrees of attention, cognition and emotion. Also, other methods are used such as eyetracking, which measures the degree of attention through the eyes, and skin conductance response or galvanic skin response, which measures the degree of arousal in connection with an individual’s product evaluation, product choice and decisions. EEG measures the brain activity through neurons. These neurons start to produce an electrical current when a cue or stimulus is presented to an individual. It is possible to examine different frequencies of patterns based on these electrical currents and they are called brain waves. This method offers the possibility to measure brain activity up to 10,000 times per second and this is said to be the speed with which an individual gets information through her/his senses. It is also believed that this shows how quickly individuals form their thoughts about brands, products and services.

A disadvantage with EEG is that it is not possible to locate exactly in which parts of the brain the neurons respond to different stimuli. It is not considered to have enough spatial resolution, making it difficult to argue that brain waves in a special part of the brain are a result of, for example, an advertisement. In contrast to this method MEG measures and take pictures of magnetic fields in the brain. It offers a higher spatial resolution and gives opportunities to examine neural

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activities in the brain through different magnetic fields. A disadvantage is that the pictures are limited to the outer surface areas of the brain and it is difficult to get pictures from the main areas where the cognitive or emotional functions exist. fMRI is one of the most common methods to gather more knowledge about the human brain and is often used to investigate the emotional responses of an individual to an existing cue or stimulus. It is possible through this method to map the parts and structures of the brain where reactions take place concerning an individual’s experience of a special brand. These images have a ten times higher resolution compared with the EEG method and go deeper into different brain parts and structures including emotional responses. A scanner is used to localize in what parts of the brain different neurons are activated in connection with various sensory inputs and stimuli. The images show what blood flow is present in different parts emanating from, for example, an advertisement as a stimulus drawing an individual’s attention. If the brain has more oxygenated blood, called BOLD (blood oxygen level dependent), this can be found in the magnetic field illustrating brain activity compared to rest periods. The following example illustrates what happens in the human brain when using fMRI (Plassman et al., 2008).

Eleven female students who consumed and drank wine at different occasions were asked to evaluate three different examples of French Cabernet Sauvignon wine, each marked with a price. The first wine was marked with its real price of US$5. The second wine was marked with two prices of US$90 and US$10 and the third wine was marked with the real price of US$35. The investigation was done through a fMRI study and it was obvious that the females thought that the more expensive wine tasted better than the cheaper ones. When the perceived price increased it resulted in increased brain activity. A major conclusion is that if an individual believes that she or he is tasting two different wines, even though it is the same wine, but with two different prices, the brain reacts and the more expensive wine tastes better than the cheaper one. A plausible explanation is that the individual believes that they can taste a more expensive wine and so are enjoying drinking it more, indicating that information about the price evidently impacts the perception of the product quality, and so might change an individual’s perception of certain brands.

The greatest advantage with fMRI is that it can deliver high-resolution images of how the human brain reacts to various stimuli. Moreover, the method can handle a person’s nervous system with its specific functions including more than 100 billion neurons at a time. An image is recorded using this latest technology in a few seconds, illustrating the aftermath of an individual’s reaction that occurs within a few milliseconds in the brain. The challenge is to develop and refine the method to produce more detailed images in the future about how the brain and its different parts and structures react to various stimulus. fMRI has been used to examine individuals’ awareness in brand evaluation (Esch et al., 2012). It was shown that the awareness was related to neural activities in the brain and

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that the linguistic coding was higher for unfamiliar and weak brands. In addition to this a stronger activation was found in the brain’s insula for unfamiliar brands compared to strong brands. Moreover, it was found that neural activities were found to be connected to retrieval of information when it comes to familiar brands and this didn’t happen with unfamiliar brands.

A conclusion from the study was that neural activities contribute to the temporary encoding and search processes. It was also evident that individuals process information from previous experiences stored in the brain to be used in the evaluation of brands. In this regard it seems that existing models of brand evaluation rely too little on experiencebased aspects and too much on the cognitive aspects. Famous global car brands like Ford and Daimler Benz conducted neuromarketing studies when examining the market potential for different kind of cars. It was obvious that the respondents had more brain activity in the parts of the brain when sport cars were evaluated – which had to do with rewards – than compared with other types of cars. In another study over 2,000 individuals’ brains were scanned examining their reactions to health warnings, logos, product placement and subliminal images for different brands in advertising and promotional campaigns (Lindström, 2005). A conclusion was that the brain takes care of and optimizes all the stimuli or inputs brands might include. Moreover, it was shown that emotional attachments to brands, rather than rational ones, are considered to be a more important factor in brand choice and purchase decisions. It was also stated, when it comes to the five senses, that what people see might be less powerful compared to what people hear and smell, challenging vision as the most powerful sense for most people.

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Benefits and drawbacks Neuromarketing has the possibility to provide researchers and practitioners with a more realistic picture about what really happens inside the human brain. It is possible to examine and analyse an individual’s feelings and thoughts about brands, products and services at a deeper, inner level of the human brain. Furthermore, neuromarketing can show how individuals perceive and process sensory input as well as cues and stimuli in different parts of the brain. This will give a more accurate picture of a brand’s or a product’s attributes and benefits compared to traditional marketing techniques such as surveys and questionnaires. Especially, neuromarketing offers more precise answers about what feelings and thoughts might arise in an individual from the interactions with different brands and products. This is not so easily done through a survey after a brand-experience has taken place. In this way neuromarketing is of interest for companies in providing them with information about how individuals will react to various kinds of cues and stimuli in the communication process of a brand or a product. On the other hand, the criticism of neuromarketing is that increased knowledge about how the human brain works could lead to companies trying to influence individuals’ perceptions unconsciously through new marketing activities and promotional campaigns. This would not be ethically correct in times when overconsumption, environmental issues and sustainability are on the agenda. At the same time some researchers claim that it would be absurd to ignore neuromarketing and the increased understanding of individuals’ behaviour that it delivers (Morin, 2011). A quantitative study examined how the idea of neuromarketing was appreciated among academicians and marketing practitioners. The data were collected on the Internet and 111 marketing academics, 52 neuroscientists and 56 professional marketers participated. It was found that in the assessment of neuromarketing the three most important factors were the interest and participation in the research area, the knowledge and awareness about the area, and finally, the ethics for all three respondent groups (Eser et al., 2011). The main conclusion from the study was that the application of neuromarketing was not a manipulative approach to marketing and selling brands, products and services. Furthermore, laws and regulations have been suggested to prevent companies from manipulating consumers and infringing on their privacy without their knowledge. In that sense, the application of sensory input and cues or stimuli in selling brands, products and services is a question of ethics, transparency and openness.

2.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter presents and discusses the organization and structure of the human brain as the black box and the centre for the five senses. The knowledge that has emerged about the triune brain, expressed through the cerebral cortex, the limbic system and the reptilian brain, shows how the brain works when individuals perceive

THE SENSORY BRAIN   53

and experience their environment and the outside world. Moreover, the role of the human senses in the perceptual process is discussed and explained in relation to the three different memory systems: the sensory memory, the short-term memory and the long-term memory. The most important gender differences between a male and a female brain are discussed in terms of organizational, emotional and sensory differences as well as differences in purchasing and consumption processes. Finally, the emergence of neuromarketing is presented and neurophysiological techniques such as EEG, MEG and fMRI, including benefits and drawbacks, are discussed. The relevance of neuromarketing for researchers and marketers is further analysed.

2.7

THE CASE OF COCA-COLA AND PEPSI

This case is based on the first scientific study in neuromarketing (McClure et al., 2004). The purpose of the case is to illustrate the use of fMRI scanning in investigating how the human brain reacts when assessing two famous and well-known global brands such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi. The battle between Coca-Cola and Pepsi has existed for a long time, literally since the nineteenth century. Coca-Cola was introduced to the market some years before Pepsi, which entered the market in 1898. Already at that time Coca-Cola was selling one million gallons per year. Pepsi went bankrupt in 1923, as a result of WW1 sugar rationing, and then again in 1931, but came back successfully to the market. For decades the struggle between the two global brands has been, and continues to be, about consumers’ taste buds, the taste of the soda and sugar rations.

(Continued)

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As far as back as the early 1900s the two brands used ads to convince consumers about which soda should be the best for their health. Later, the issue centred on taste, with the launch of the ultimate Pepsi Challenge in 1975, which showed most consumers preferred the taste of Pepsi in blind tests at malls and shopping centres in the US. In 1985 Coca-Cola changed the formula of its core Coca-Cola soda and named it ‘New Coke’ referring to the new taste of Coca-Cola. It was shown in research that the ‘New Coke’ scored higher than either Coke or Pepsi. Of course, Pepsi didn’t agree with this statement and claimed that they had won the battle in the cola wars. So, the question is, will there ever be a true winner in the Coke versus Pepsi battle? One of the first scientific studies in neuromarketing in 2004 examined how consumers’ brains reacted when choosing between Coca-Cola and Pepsi. The study was conducted with the help of fMRI through a blind test as well as a passive experiment including 67 participants. The respondents first drank Coca-Cola and Pepsi anonymously in the blind test and then drank it with knowledge of the two brands. In each test the fMRI machine scanned the brains of the participants. The results from the blind test showed that half of the respondents preferred CocaCola and half preferred Pepsi. Furthermore, it was evident that Pepsi caused a stronger response in the brain than Coca-Cola did. When it came to the passive experiment where the respondents could see the logo of the two brands, three out of four preferred Coca-Cola and not Pepsi. The brain activity changed during this experiment and the Coca-Cola logo had a strong impact on the parts of the brain such as the frontal lobe relating to memories and self-images. This did not happen with the Pepsi logo, which had no impact on the respondents’ brain activities. A conclusion is that a well-known brand such as Coca-Cola has power over the frontal lobe, which controls and impacts consumers’ attention, sensory memory and thinking. Another important conclusion is that when some individuals know that Coca-Cola is consumed, that brand is preferred more than Pepsi. On the other hand, if other individuals don’t know which brand they consume, then Pepsi is preferred just as often as Coca-Cola. The overall findings and conclusions from the study are exciting and show how the brain and its different parts take care of the evaluation and choice of brands, as in the case of Coca-Cola versus Pepsi.

QUESTIONS 1 2

3

Discuss the role of blind tests and why many individuals cannot identify the soda they taste. What are the main reasons for this phenomenon? How would you explain the effect of brand logos, and why individuals, when aware of the Coca-Cola and Pepsi logos, prefer Coca-Cola? Give some possible explanations relating to how the human brain works. Mention three global brands where you would suggest neuromarketing techniques could be used in analysing how consumers emotionally react to advertising and promotional campaigns. Justify your choice, giving some arguments for the choice of brands you make.

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FURTHER READING Bastiaansen, M., Straatman, S., Driessen, E., Mitas, O., Stekelenburg, J. & Wang, L. (2018). ‘My destination in your brain: A novel neuromarketing approach for evaluating the effectiveness of destination marketing’, Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, 7: 76–88. Lee, N., Brandes, L., Chamberlain, L. & Senior, C. (2017). ‘This is your brain on neuromarketing: Reflections on a decade of research’, Journal of Marketing Management, 33: 11–12. Spence, C. (2019). ‘Neuroscience-inspired design: From academic neuromarketing to commercially relevant research’, Organizational Research Methods, 22: 275–298.

3

SENSORY PRINCIPLES FOR VISION

CHAPTER CONTENTS 3.0 Introduction

58

3.1

The Human Eyes and Vision

58

3.2

Characteristics of Vision

59

Physiological aspects

59

Psychological aspects

62

Visual Perception and Societal Culture

64

What is visual perception?

64

Individual preferences

64

Group preferences

65

Visual symbolism

65

Service Environments

66

Visual stimuli

66

3.3

3.4

Architecture 68 Colour 69 Lighting 70

3.5

Interior design

71

Social stimuli

72

Brands and Products

72

Visual stimuli

72

Advertisements and commercials

73

Colour 73

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Design 74 Logos 75 Name 76 Packaging 77 3.6

Chapter Summary

78

3.7

The Case of Victoria’s Secret

79

Questions 80 Further Reading

81

3.0 INTRODUCTION The chapter gives an overview of the sense of vision and its importance in sensory marketing. Especially, the characteristics of vision, its role in different cultures as well as the significance of visual cues and stimuli for brands, products and service environments will be analysed and discussed. After reading the chapter, you should be able to: 1 2 3 4 5

Explain how the sense of vision works at an individual level. Discuss the role of vision in different societal cultures. Analyse the importance of visual cues and stimuli for brands, products and service environments. Describe how a company could apply visual stimuli in marketing practice. Discuss the advantages/disadvantages of visual stimuli in sensory marketing.

3.1 THE HUMAN EYES AND VISION The sense of vision (or sight) is one of the most prominent senses for humans when it comes to how to perceive and experience brands, products and service environments. Four out of ten Swedish women can recall if they have seen ads from H&M in fashion advertising. Throughout history we have used our eyes to experience pleasure and gain meaning about certain things and people have often looked for objects of beauty. In comparison with the other senses of sound, smell, touch and taste, it is generally accepted that the sense of vision is the most important sense. For a company this means trying to capture an individual’s attention by using vision and visualization as a means to convey a brand’s identity, emotions and values. Visual cues and stimuli influence consumers’ purchase behaviour, especially in connection with consumption, sales, purchase quantity and product selection (Krishna, 2008). Furthermore, visual consumption is all about how individuals use their eyes in perceiving and experiencing brands, places, products, objects or service environments.

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In a global consumption culture like ours, the importance of vision is reflected in the increasing number of digital photos, movies, photographs, trailers, as well as television and Internet advertising. At the same time social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter are used by individuals and companies for both commercial and social activities. Especially, Instagram, with its possibility to let participants share photos with each other, offers a visual experience. For many years, marketing stimuli such as advertising and commercials have been dominating in creating awareness among individuals about a certain brand or product. The concept of awareness is one of the most important concepts in connection with the effects of visual stimuli on consumers. But it is no longer enough for a company to use only ads and commercials as a marketing stimulus to influence individuals’ perceptions and experiences of brands, products or service environments. Other visual cues and stimuli like colour, design, exterior, graphics, interior, lighting, name, shape and packaging contribute to an individual’s perceptions and experiences of a brand or a service environment. It is important to highlight these kinds of cues and stimuli in sensory marketing to show its impact on consumers’ affective responses, cognition and purchase behaviour.

3.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF VISION Physiological aspects Visual perception Vision (or sight) is regarded as the most powerful and seductive sense of the five senses. Most of the sensory information we receive comes via the visual sense. Through the eyes approximately 70 per cent of all sensory information is delivered to the brain. The ability to interpret external

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cues or stimuli as visual impressions is called visual perception. It is enabled through the vision organ that allows us to interpret the impressions coming through the eyes. Visual perception means how people perceive and interpret different visual impressions and combine them into a purposive whole relating first to seeing and then to understanding what one saw. In this regard, visual perception belongs to a brain’s cognitive process laying the ground for decision-making and personal actions. When it comes to the cognitive process, visual areas such as visual awareness, visual discrimination and visual memory are involved in various processes in the human brain. Already in the 1930s and 1940s, Gestalt psychologists documented some important principles showing that a human brain through vision can create an image from visual impressions. One of the best examples was that individuals could create a whole by putting the parts of an object together. In German the word Gestalt implies the figure, form or shape of an object or a person, pointing out the holistic approach in understanding the sensory information conveyed to the brain (Figure 3.1). Even though visual information is often incomplete or very incomplete we can understand an image in terms of what it stands for and the message it conveys. Difficulties might exist with visual perception for some individuals in perceiving, interpreting, combining and remembering visual impressions. A lot of factors can explain such perceptual difficulties, but it is necessary that the eyes and the optical system work properly and that the brain can interpret visual impressions in the correct way.

Figure 3.1  The Gestalt

The sensory organ The most important sensory organ of our body is the eyes because two-thirds of the body’s sensory cells are located there. When a light reaches the eye the pupil acts as a

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filter and has the capacity to contract and expand. The light as a kind of electromagnetic radiation, refracted by the cornea and the lens, goes through the eye sending images to the brain. After this, the light passes through the vitreous body and is projected on the retina in the back of the eye, where the retinal sensors notice the light radiation. These sensors send signals to the visual cortex via the optic nerve in the back of the brain and an image is presented on a person’s retina. It is common to compare the eye with a camera, when the pupil can regulate the incoming light, as an aperture. The lens of a camera is often said to correspond to the cornea and the lens in the eye, which refract the light rays to form an image on the retina, which is comparable to a film in a camera. (Figure 3.2). The produced image is always special and unique in the sense that every new image is linked to previous visual experiences.

sclera retina macula vitreous

ciliary body iris anterior chamber pupil cornea

artery optic nerve

lens

vein

rectus medialis ora serrata

Figure 3.2  Anatomy of the human eye

As a sensory organ the eyes allow each one of us to perceive all the differences and contrasts such as, for example, light and dark, large and small, or broad and narrow, which exist in the environment and the surroundings. It makes it possible for everyone to perceive differences or similarities regarding a new design or a new colour of, say, packaging. The light coming into the eye is transformed to the colours forming the base of what we can see. In this regard six distinct colours appear as red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet.

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A general opinion is that the interpretation of visual impressions and visual perception is based on interactions with other senses such as hearing or touch. This allows an individual to make more accurate interpretations of a visual impression than otherwise would be the case. Moreover, it is believed that the visual impressions from multiple senses are more important for interpretation than vision alone. Thus the whole is greater than the sum of parts in perceiving and experiencing a sensory experience.

Psychological aspects Cognitive and affective responses Since the 1960s it has been known that people more easily recall an ad with an image or a photo, in comparison with an ad without an image or a photo. In the 1980s it was found that visual information was superior to verbal information in advertising and commercials. It was also evident that when a consistency existed between visual and verbal information the memory was reinforced. When it comes to attitudes, it has been found that visually oriented ads, compared to verbally oriented ads, were more effective and both created a positive attitude towards the brand as well as communicating various product characteristics. Individuals react more favourably on a more emotional level to a visual ad (Vessel & Rubin, 2010). Furthermore, visual ads influence the memory in the sense that more facts and conclusions were stored and at the same time an emotional response took place in comparison with verbal ads (Edens & McCormick, 2002). It is obvious that visual information impacts our product evaluation resulting in more positive attitudes as well as stronger purchasing intentions. It is not enough to explain people’s behaviour with only the cognitive, mental processes in the human brain: Emotions and feelings too are of utmost importance when it comes to explaining how people react to visual stimuli. Emotionally appealing ads and commercials are more effective compared to other types of advertising. A lot of different visual stimuli can create negative or positive feelings about an ad for a special brand or a product’s design or shape. It has been shown that different television messages created emotions among consumers. The feelings aroused at the moment of exposure to an ad have an impact on the processing of the ad in the brain (Edell & Burke, 1987). Furthermore, to use emotions in advertising and commercials might lead to a more favourable attitude to a certain brand among consumers. The feeling a consumer gets from the ads is transferred to the brand and creates the positive attitude. In research it is evident that a strong relationship exists between the effects of ads and positive brand attitudes. A general opinion is that the feelings an individual has towards emotional ads and messages are expressed in terms of negative or positive valence. This means that a positive valence exists when the person’s emotions are turned to the ad or the message, while a

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negative valence occurs when the feeling disappears. Emotions like friendship, joy, love, optimism and warmth contribute to positive valence, and emotions like fear, guilt, sadness or shame create negative valence. Moreover, it is also assumed that the emotion the individual feels might lead to a corresponding behaviour. It has been shown in several studies that an emotionally appealing advertisement might contribute to a better state of mind, with a happier mood. Moreover, these ads are easier to recall and perceived in a more positive way in comparison with other ads built upon a neutral or negative state of mind.

How can this be explained with consideration to the cognitive mechanisms that impact the emotional process? One opinion is that individuals with a positive frame of mind should be considered as more creative, effective and flexible in their thought processes. This opens up greater association possibilities in relation to the actual brand or product. Another opinion is that individuals could be regarded as mindless when they have a positive frame of mind, meaning that even low quality arguments of a brand in ads could be accepted. Finally, an opinion is that an ad or a message overall is more effective when received by individuals with a positive frame of mind. The positive mood allows the information in an ad to be conveyed on a more unconscious level in the individual (LaTour & LaTour, 2009). When it comes to other visual cues or stimuli, such as colour, design and shape, both cognitive and affective reactions occur in individuals. It is also assumed that they can interact and take place simultaneously. Cognitive reactions emanate from the confidence a product gives an individual in terms of its durability, its ease of handling, how technically advanced it is or the value of consuming it.

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Affective reactions contribute to aesthetic responses, either approval or disapproval, that elicit attention to and positive emotions regarding the product. One opinion is that it is not the product’s functional attributes that create an aesthetic response but rather the design and its sensory characteristics (Bloch, 1995).

3.3 VISUAL PERCEPTION AND SOCIETAL CULTURE What is visual perception? Visual perception means how individuals recognize and interpret existing visual cues and stimuli in the environment and the outside world. The perceptual process is the foundation of human behaviour in a special environment, and the process itself is the source of all messages and signals in the surrounding environment stimulating the human senses. Moreover, the process is based on interaction with the environment and no individual can be isolated from an environment they are taking part of in the process. Through perception individuals receive and interpret external cues and stimuli in the environment and it begins with a sensation process, also constituting a selective process. Individuals don’t notice all stimuli in an environment. Instead most people are looking for things they have an interest in and that offer satisfaction. For this reason, individuals’ visual perception is unique, and they respond to ads, colour, design or packaging and similar stimuli following their attitudes, motivations and social situation.

Individual preferences Some of us notice visual stimuli like colour or design faster than others do, which means paying attention to changes and differences in the environment more quickly. To have unique visual preferences means that what we see through our eyes is immediately registered in the brain compared to, for example, auditory stimuli or haptic stimuli. So visual stimuli get faster attention and less energy is needed to understand and interpret the actual information. Those individuals who don’t have these visual preferences need support from others who can point out what one can see or not see in real-life situations. On the other hand, some of us also have the ability to visualize and create internal, mental images, which many athletes do before major competitions, and in these situations, stimulus-based information is not that important. When it comes to gender differences between men and women it is evident that women can recognize through vision more abstract forms and named objects compared to men. It has also been shown that women have a greater instinctive response to surrounding stimuli compared to men. It has also been suggested that men and women

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process visual, emotional stimuli differently and that women react more emotionally in relation to pleasant and unpleasant images. On the other hand, men show greater activity compared to women for erotic pictures, which could be explained by the genderspecific visual mechanism concerning sexual selection.

Group preferences Cultural differences are evident between different population groups concerning visual perception. It seems as if people from Southeast Asia pay more attention through the fixation of their eyes to the relationship between background elements and the focal object, whereas Westerners fix their eyes more on the focal object and pay more attention to the prominent objects (Chua et al., 2005). Chinese and American people perceive visual objects differently, which depends on how the eyes are fixed on the object in question. It has also been shown that Americans and people from Southeast Asia perceive colours differently. People from Southeast Asia detect colour changes better than Americans when several coloured blocks are expanded into a wider area, whereas Americans are better able to detect colour changes in the middle of an image and can do so more quickly. Moreover, it has been shown that differences exist between three Chinese ethnic population groups regarding colour preferences. Especially, the fact that differences were found concerning the perceived emotions evoked by blue and red hues. The blue colour was perceived as more relaxing and preferred over the red hues in two of the ethnic groups, namely light-skinned and dark-skinned (Chattopadhyay et al., 2010). In general, a preference seems to exist for the colour blue in all cultures, and prominent colour preferences seem to attract stronger feelings among people.

Visual symbolism Many people choose to buy and consume products as symbols in creating an image of the self in the eyes of others. Symbolic values could be, for example, colour, design, shape or style of different products contributing to individuals’ dreams and fantasies about their age, gender or social status (Levy, 1981). In this regard visual stimuli, such as colour and design, have a subjective meaning to many people and create an emotional link between an individual and the actual product. In the literature a symbol is defined as representing something else like an object or an item expressed through, for example, a brand, an emblem, a letter or a sign. It can also be related to an image, a phrase or a word having different meanings to individuals. In different societal cultures symbols can be found performing the function of representing an object or a product.

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Marketers in Southeast Asia who are thinking of a brand’s symbolic impact should be recommended to make use of folksy, taboo, supernatural or religious meanings through colours, numbers or other symbols. The supernatural element attracts most Asians – from card reading in China and healing techniques in the Philippines to ghosts in Japan. The same may be deemed applicable to making decisions on names, where ‘lucky name’ and ‘lucky number’ are important to create positive attitudes towards a company and brand name.

Cultural symbols are often connected to holidays or religious contexts, for example, the red colour associated with Christmas celebrations, whereas in China the red colour is associated with the Chinese New Year, while the Western New Year has no specific colour linked to it. Furthermore, black and orange colours are often connected to Halloween celebration in different cultures. Also, animals, trees, people and zombies are used as symbols in cultures like Africa. Visual symbolism is often crucial in a company’s branding process, when it comes to decisions about the choice of name for a product as well as the choice of appropriate visual symbols; for example, labelling, logos or packaging. Chinese consumers judge a brand name based on its visual attractiveness, while British consumers prefer a brand name based on how it sounds auditorily. In addition, Chinese consumers judge a brand name based on how it appeals to the Chinese way of thinking, and simple, memorable logos and names are favoured. Moreover, in advertising and campaign promotions all the visual elements should constitute a coherent whole.

3.4 SERVICE ENVIRONMENTS Visual stimuli Most individuals feel the atmosphere of a service environment through visual or other sensory stimuli. Non-verbal as well as verbal stimuli are of importance and non-verbal stimuli result in both affective (emotional) and cognitive reactions to service environments. In ‘visual marketing’ – the term refers to how companies might apply non-commercial and commercial visual symbols and signs – a prominent factor is how the visual communication is designed including, for example, the design of ads, logos and packaging (Wedel & Pieters, 2008). When it comes to service environments the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) model suggests that different stimuli impact consumers’ emotional states, resulting in either approach or avoidance behaviour (Mehrabian & Russell, 1974). A service environment is evaluated by individuals according to the degree of emotional stimuli they perceive, and the emotional states are the mediating factors between the stimuli in the service environment and consumers’ behaviour.

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Some classifications of stimuli to be used in service environments have been proposed by Booms and Bitner (1982), Bitner (1992), Ezeh and Harris (2007), and Meyers-Levy and Zhu (2008). It is generally accepted that different artificial objects, signals and stimuli – for example, architecture, ceilings, decoration, design, layout, lighting, material, paint, shop exterior, style and windows – impact consumer behaviour. Moreover, one classification by Ezeh and Harris (2007) suggests ambient factors, design factors and social factors are important, where the latter two refer to the significance of visual stimuli (Table 3.1). Visual cues and stimuli are the basis for how individuals perceive and experience a service environment compared to other ambient stimuli linked to the senses of sound, smell, touch and taste. In Chapters 4 to 7 these types of stimuli will be presented in more detail. Visual stimuli as design factors are suggested to be either aesthetic, like architecture, colour and light, or functional, like layout and signs. The difference lies in how different individuals evaluate and perceive the artistic quality in relation to the physical features of a service environment. The aesthetic stimuli offer, to a larger extent, sensory pleasure in the experience itself while functional stimuli facilitate the individual’s behaviour in the service environment. It is also well-known that visual stimuli are the most useful in gaining an individual’s attention regarding a specific product or the retail environment. In boutiques, department stores, malls, places, restaurants or cities aesthetic visual stimuli impact individuals’ behaviour, cognition and emotions in significant ways. Some of the most common visual stimuli will now be presented and discussed. Table 3.1  A classification of stimuli in a service environment Ambient factors

Background stimuli exist below our awareness

Air quality: −− temperature, humidity, ventilation Sound: −− level, pitch, genre Scent: −− intensity Cleanliness

Design factors (interior/exterior)

Stimuli exist at the forefront of our awareness

Aesthetic and functional:

Social factors

People in the environment

Audience (other customers) and service staff

−− −− −− −− −− −−

architecture, layout lighting, light colour, comfort scale, signage, material texture, pattern shape, style, accessories

Number, appearance, behaviour Source: Adapted from Ezeh & Harris (2007)

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Architecture In architecture, visual stimuli such as high ceilings are of importance to consumers’ psychological well-being and ranked among the three most important architectural features. It is evident that high ceilings might affect how people think about and process information as well as their behavioural responses because high ceilings are intimately connected to an individual’s sense of freedom (Meyers-Levy & Zhu, 2008). Moreover, it is assumed that a sense of space might contribute to more concrete, specific thinking. Aircraft manufacturers use higher ceilings in order to make travellers’ experience of the cabin more positive, even though it is an illusion.

The use of contours on the walls in shopping malls, retail stores or restaurants, whether curved or straight, allows individuals to identify their own bodies – female or male – with their own sex. It is possible to associate gender-related products to a special wall contour in this way and the appearance and contours of the walls could impact an individual’s perception of the store products. From research it has been shown that, for example, colour and material affect individuals’ product evaluation and purchase decisions, which are linked to the perception of the product. Windows as an element in architecture seem to impact individuals’ cognitive processes, especially the thoughts and responses to special products in a shopping environment. Moreover, it seems that individuals do not feel free and are more creative when there is a lack of windows in a shopping environment. The term ‘window shopping’ means that a shopper who is looking at products in a store front window seems to be looking so intently that he or she appears to buy the window itself.

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Colour In ancient Egypt doctors used brightly coloured water to wash their patients in order to cure diseases. Colours as visual stimuli create emotions among individuals in the same way as ads and commercial messages. Moreover, variations in colour shades impact systematic changes in the feelings for a brand or a product. For example, colour shades like blue are more likely to elicit a higher degree of relaxation compared to colour shades like red. To understand the importance of colour it must be noted that light consists of six distinct colours, namely, blue, green, orange, red, violet and yellow in a spectrum. It has been suggested that red and yellow colours are warm, whereas blue and green colours are cool. But the distinctions between the colours are relative; for example, when pairing red and yellow together yellow is warmer than red. The colours black, grey and white are neutral colours. Every individual perceives and experiences colours differently and it is impossible to know how another person experiences a colour (Singh, 2006). What is the meaning of colours? Red is the colour associated with blood, danger and fire; and at the same time with love, passion and sexuality. It is also an energetic and lively colour in the sense that red might symbolize confidence, power and strength. For in-store price promotions red is used to catch the eye and draws attention to special products. In Sweden the colour red is associated with Christmas and the red octagon is a symbol for stop. Yellow is the colour associated with sunshine and the smiley face. It is one of the most visible colours, which is why it is used for street signs, and it symbolizes cheerfulness, energy and joy. Moreover, it is used as a cautionary colour in hazardous areas, for life vests and police cordoning tape. Orange is the colour based on red and yellow associated with activity and energy. It is also linked to oranges, and vitamin C, offering health and welfare, representing creativity and youthfulness. Green is the colour associated with nature and the environment. It represents plant life and growth and is used to represent being ‘green’ in the environmental, organic, sustainable and natural sense of the word. Furthermore, it is said to represent finance and wealth because green is the colour of US money and for that reason it is associated with wealth. Blue is the colour associated with the sky and the sea offering harmonious and relaxing qualities. It is also the most universally preferred colour and it stands for authority and stability. Companies often use the blue colour to communicate trustworthiness and reliability, like BMW, Facebook, Twitter and Samsung. Finally, purple is the colour associated with mysterious or spiritual characteristics, for example the Halloween tradition, as well as majesty or royalty. Often lighter shades represent femininity or sentimentality, while darker shades represent luxury or opulence. The colour experience is different from one individual to another, so it is difficult to know how another person perceives and interprets the meaning of colours in a service environment. But it is evident from research that colours might exert significant impact

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on individuals’ actions and cognitive interpretations in a shopping situation. This effect is related to individuals’ emotionally related moods as well as activity-related arousal. Moreover, it is evident that shoppers in different service environments preferred blue environments in comparison to red because the colour was perceived as more relaxing. Furthermore, shoppers spent longer periods searching for products, which increased the probability of purchases.

Lighting Lighting is seen as an important stimulus, which positively influences an individual’s attention to the entire retail and service environment and its product range. Lighting not only gives information about the space or place itself, it also communicates the content and meaning of the service environment. For example, in a wine store the light had a significant impact on how the shoppers investigated and handled the assortment of wine. It has also been found that additional lighting in a store might contribute to both attracting and retaining customers. The question of whether a service environment should be brighter or have low lighting is crucial, because the level of brightness influences cognitive processes. It is evident that bright conditions lead to lower levels of creativity and among individuals. Many shoppers react more concretely to dimmer lighting through individual and personal reactions. It has been shown that when ambient lighting in restaurants is dim instead of bright individuals seem to order less healthy food. One explanation is that mental alertness is influenced by the luminance of lighting, which affects the choice of foods (Biswas et al., 2017). On the other hand, it is obvious that a dimmer service environment can enhance the interest in the products as well as triggering the shopper’s dreams and fantasies. The stores of Abercrombie and Fitch, the US-based fashion chain, are an example of how dim lighting works in practice. On the other hand, the Apple Stores are completely different, offering shoppers a lighter store experience in terms of white walls and open space. It has been shown that when a bright versus soft lighting environment was varied during a 2-month period in a wine store, the difference in shoppers’ behaviour was obvious. The brighter lighting influenced the shoppers to handle and examine more merchandise, but sales were not affected (Areni & Kim, 1994). Moreover, putting extra lighting on displays in a store environment positively impacted shoppers’ behaviour and the findings were significant (Summers & Hebert, 2001). Lighting offers the possibility of variation in creating attractive service environments from time to time. An example of variation is to display light and dark surfaces, unlit and lit surfaces as well as white and coloured light in the same environment. The Swedish

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athletic store Stadium XXL uses lighting in the shoe department to reflect different seasons, such as green light in the spring and yellow lighting during the autumn. In many other stores lighting is used to change the colour of the products. In grocery retailing fish is often lit up with colder light than meat, because meat should look red. For that reason meat is often displayed under red lighting. Also, for fruit and vegetables lighting is important, for example, to ensure tomatoes look red rather than grey and dull.

Interior design The interior design of a service environment, as visual stimuli, is one of the most influential stimuli in attracting individuals. The first space shoppers face when entering a store is the threshold area and this is the area where the shopper takes the decision to make the transition from the outside world. It is necessary for retailers to clarify and visualize the elements that contribute to a positive, visual experience of a store when entering it. The design of the interior influences the shopper’s decision to enter the store. In this regard background surroundings, colours, displays, lighting, shelving systems, signs and tables as well as other non-verbal symbols create associations with the individual’s desires and wants. When it comes to benches, shelves or tables these are often made of surfaces based on materials such as glass, metal, plastic or wood. The surface of a shelf or a table might create an association with a special context that is important to an individual; for example, sustainability might be evoked by the use of wood, which represents nature, rather than plastic. As such, these stimuli impact the shopper’s assessment of the service environment and influence the decision to enter a store or not.

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Social stimuli Social stimuli include the service personnel, or the staff, and not only the tangible stimuli of a service environment as mentioned. The personnel have a crucial role and influence individuals’ actual behaviour, especially in a restaurant or a department store. The behaviour and style of the staff enhance or suppress the overall experience; for example, aircraft personnel create confidence among customers based on their ability and competence (Kotler, 1974). It is not possible to separate the staff as social stimuli and the service environment from each other. The Swedish furnishing retailer IKEA is an example where the staff has an important role as social stimuli. In addition to the staff, customers are social stimuli in the sense that they can create a positive atmosphere and might inspire other customers through their conduct and behaviour. It is obvious that customers, for example in fashion stores, restaurants, sport bars or tourism events, create content and meaning for different activities and become co-creators of value for both the customers and the company.

3.5 BRANDS AND PRODUCTS Visual stimuli Most individuals are exposed to visual stimuli every day receiving hundreds of explicit advertising messages through emails, SMS advertising, social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, or the Internet, as well as traditional media like newspapers and television. Furthermore, visual stimuli exist on various types of brand and product packaging at home or in stores. Altogether, it makes it impossible for most of us to avoid the visual impact in today’s clutter of messages in contemporary society. The visual experience of brands and products dominates in physical stores as well as on the Internet. It allows visual images to be more important in terms of how brands and products are marketed to consumers than ever before. For companies it is important to communicate their overall corporate identity as well as the brand and product identity through different visual stimuli, such as colour, design or logo. In the case of Apple this is illustrated with the graphic logo in the shape of an apple presented with a product name like iPhone or iPad. To visualize a brand or a product means to create a graphic design that consist of visual stimuli like advertising, colour, design, logos, names, packaging and websites. It is obvious that the visual context where the brands or the products are presented influences individuals’ affective response cognition and actual behaviour. It must also be said that the sense of vision works together with other senses in product evaluation, product decisions and purchase. I will address the issue of multi-sensory interaction in Chapter 8.

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Advertisements and commercials Advertisements as visual stimuli generate attention and interest in brands and products among individuals. A common opinion is that a long-term image of a brand is built and created through advertising at the same time as it might provide a quick, short-term response through price campaigns. It is also evident that most ads are using one-way communication with consumers, who often feel that they do not need to either respond to the ads or pay attention to them. Moreover, ads are very expressive in the way that they present brands and products using visual images and printed words as well as colours and sounds. As visual stimuli advertisements and commercials contribute to affective and cognitive reactions among individuals and impact their purchasing behaviour. As said before, emotional advertising might create different emotions, from disgust to happiness, which influence the attitudes towards a brand or a product. Three emotional dimensions have been identified, namely, joy, excitement and fright. When it comes to types of emotions that might be created by ads, they are divided into positive emotions, such as amused, delighted or playful, and warm feelings, such as affectionate, passionate and hopeful. On the other hand, negative emotions can be evoked, including critical, defiant or angry responses. A common notion is that advertisements should be entertaining, funny or sexy. But despite this, it is questionable whether many individuals really experience the emotions that many ads wish to create. The effectiveness of advertisements has for that reason been challenged yet critics still maintain that advertising manipulates individuals’ emotions in order to evoke attention and interest about brands and products.

Colour Colour as visual stimuli communicates a brand’s or a product’s image by providing various associations for an individual. How colours are perceived by consumers is believed to have significant effects on individual’s memory and purchase intentions. For this reason, a special colour might help an individual to identify and distinguish a brand’s or a product’s meaning and it is evident that colours can be retrieved from the memory. Among American students it has been shown that the colour black was linked to power and wealth and the colour red with love. Furthermore, blue was associated with confidence and high quality while grey was also linked to high quality. Finally, yellow was connected to joy and purple to progress. When it comes to colours attracting consumers’ attention it is assumed that the colour red has the greatest attention value for an ad or a package, because it is a warm colour. Black and white, on the other hand, do not have the same impact. It has been shown in a British study that functional colours like blue correspond better to functional products, while social colours like red are better for social products (McQuarrie, 2008).

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As said before, the colour red is of importance regarding both price labels and packaging to catch an individual’s attention, especially in supermarkets. Also, colour brightness can influence individuals’ attitudes and behaviour about a brand or a product in the way that bright colours correspond to goodness and purity compared to dark colours, which are associated with evil and sin. Moreover, it is assumed that most individuals prefer colours that correspond to their own emotional states if the attitude towards a brand or a product is positive. If this is not the case, there might exist a negative attitude. On a web page, it is obvious that background colours and images influence how different brands and products are perceived in terms of product attributes and product selection. This is especially the case with colours on pricing where a green dollar sign was perceived as the best price compared to red and orange colours corresponding not to price but to safety. Moreover, it is evident that the existence of colours on a website affects how quickly it is downloaded – colours offering a sense of calm encourage individuals to download a special website.

Design In terms of visual stimuli, product design creates attention among individuals and influences both cognitive and emotional reactions, particularly in relation to aesthetics. It is often the appearance or shape of a product that gives the first impressions (Bloch, 1995). Moreover, design has been suggested to be one of the most potent expressions of a brand’s sensory experience. This can be illustrated with the distinctive characteristic of Absolut Vodka reflected in the bottle’s colour and style. In the case of BMW, its timeless style is characterized by the divided engine grill that provides a distinguished front for the car.

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Visual aesthetics, mainly through superior design, aim to differentiate a brand or a product from its competitors, like Absolut Vodka and BMW. It is mainly through the symbolic function of design that individuals can interpret and understand the brands. In many cases marketers might express this symbolism by using, for example, an image of elegance, an innovative look or youthfulness in developing the appearance of new products. The shape of a product involves different components that are mixed together when designing the whole of a brand or a product. It might concern, for example, colour, logo, material, ornamentation or texture, and their mutual coherence. A beautiful appearance or good design is believed to influence an individual’s quality of life and enhance sensory pleasure and stimulation. An unattractive appearance and shape, on the other hand, might contribute to a dislike for a brand or product. Finally, it should be said that the appearance and design of a product can have lasting effects because of its aesthetic attributes. It is also believed that a product’s appearance and shape might impact the beliefs that individuals have about functional attributes such as durability, usability or technology status. Because of this, designers should try to make brands and products engaging and fun for the users and not only think about the appearance and shape. On the other hand, aesthetic reactions are often related to product appearance and shape and not functional properties. It is common that aesthetic and functional values are interlinked and it is obvious that the most successful brands and products offer both values to individuals.

Logos Logos as visual stimuli aim to provide individuals with relevant associations, creating positive emotions about a brand or a product as well as being easy to recognize and remember. It is evident that most individuals are attracted by aesthetic logos and stylish designs. The positive feelings transfer from the brand or the product to the company, meaning that corporate image and brand image are influenced by the logo. This can be illustrated with the logo of Starbucks, a siren, and the name, which goes back to the first mate in the Herman Melville book Moby Dick. The company was founded in Seattle in the Pacific Northwest of the US where whaling and ships were common. When the founders were looking for a logo in 1971 a woodcut of a siren was found in old marine books and it was the right logo for Starbucks. It has been developed over time, but the siren is still there. Most logos are expressed in terms of pictures, symbols or words and are commonly used in advertising to identify the sender of the message. Often logos include the company name and abstract symbols with a closer connection to the brand name, as in the case of Apple (the apple), Mercedes-Benz (the star) or Starbucks (the siren). The Apple

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brand is characterized by the apple as a logo together with a futuristic design, in black and white colours, providing a visual whole for individuals.

Finally, it should be noted that an individual’s attitude to different logos is based on how these logos can provide sensory pleasures, i.e. how the eyes are attracted to the logo, relating to visual perception. In relation to this, colours are also important in providing individuals with enjoyable and positive feelings about a brand or a product.

Name A brand name as a visual stimulus is one of the most important elements in visual communication. The name can provide individuals with positive and prominent associations to a special brand or product. An established brand name might create quick associations, taking less time, in comparison with advertising and personal selling. It is suggested that a brand name should be easy and simple to pronounce, for example, Japp (chocolate), Nescafé (coffee), Lipton (tea) and Yes (detergent), in particular for low engagement products. It will be easy for individuals to remember and recall the brand name in purchasing decisions. When it comes to high engagement products like cars, computers, smartphones, refrigerators and banking services, the brand names are often more complex, making them more difficult to remember and recall. It has been suggested that a brand name should be perceived by individuals as important and well known. Based on consumer knowledge it is possible to establish valuable associations by applying animals, events, people or places already known in the memory of consumers. To evoke an internal, mental picture is of great importance for most

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individuals and contributes to create a link to certain brand names. When it comes to a brand name it can be based on a famous artist or athlete, as in the case of fashion products, for example, Bjorn Borg, Salming, and David and Victoria Beckham. Also, the name of the founder of a company creates associations and personalizes a brand, for example, Gucci, Ralph Lauren and Versace to mention some of the most famous. The concept of brand personality means that individuals treat a brand as embodying several personal characteristics. It means that a brand name of a person should create associations that represent either real or fictional individuals. This can be illustrated with brand names such as Ronald McDonald, Harry Potter and Mother Anna’s Gingerbread.

Packaging Individuals’ perceptions about different products are affected by both extrinsic cues, i.e. external attributes on a packaging, and intrinsic cues, i.e. product-specific attributes such as various sensory properties of a product. Products like cars, clothes, computers, fruit, shoes, smartphones and vegetables are in most cases presented without any packaging in retail stores and it is obvious that sensory attributes like appearance, aroma and surface texture are important for an individual’s perception and liking as well as purchase behaviour at point-of-purchase (POP). However, many other brands and products such as alcohol, beer, candy, chocolate, medicines, soap, soft drinks and tablets are presented in packages and an individual’s perception and liking will be influenced by the extrinsic packaging stimuli (or cues) such as colour, label, logo and text. Many consumers will categorize, for example, both a food item and its packaging as part of an overall product experience. The information received from the packaging leads to certain expected sensory attributes of the product even before it has been consumed and packaging is an important extrinsic cue influencing an individual’s perceptions of brands and products (Pramudya & Seo, 2019). Packaging as visual stimuli has a pertinent role because it is closely connected to many brands and products. Individuals have unique images of these brands in the memory and packaging can in many cases represent the associations with a brand or a product. Especially, in retail supermarkets packaging has a decisive role on the shelves in creating attention among individuals for well-known brands. It is generally accepted that packaging has an aesthetic task regarding the design and shape of the packaging itself. Furthermore, it has a functional task regarding the transport and the storage of the actual brand or product. It has been shown that cute packaging design, through displaying funny cartoon-like pictures or playful colours, increases consumers’ perceptions of product tastiness and at the same time decreases perceptions of product healthiness. Moreover, it was found that consumer purchase intentions for relative vice products increased and the intentions for relative virtue products decreased due to cute packaging (Schnurr, 2019).

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Packaging is seen as a hygiene factor, which means that it should function as intended for the consumers in terms of authenticity, coding, freshness, origin, protection, safety data, traceability and other product information like nutrition values. In particular, the design space should provide information and text, in combination with colours, logos and signs, regarding the product attributes and the actual brand or product. For many boxed products, assembly instructions are necessary and are put inside the box, for example at IKEA. The layered-packaging taxonomy illustrating the multi-sensory customer–product interaction has been proposed (Krishna et al., 2017). It is suggested that packaging has two main dimensions, namely the functionality dimension and the physicality dimension. The latter dimension consists of the outer–intermediate–inner packaging layers where the outer packaging might refer to the paper packaging of a soap or the plastic packaging of bags for chocolate pieces. The intermediate packaging refers to the wrappers of the chocolate pieces to be found inside the outer packaging. Then the inner packaging (or the product packaging) refers to the colour, the form, the shape and the texture of the chocolate pieces or the bar of soap. The functionality dimension refers to the purchase–consumption packaging layers and to what purpose the packaging has. The purchase packaging influences individuals at the time of purchase through the outer packaging, and consumption packaging influences individuals at the time of consumption through the inner packaging and the intermediate packaging (if it is present). This might vary between brands and products, but the proposed taxonomy is of help in analysing the most significant sensory attributes in the customer–product interaction for companies. Finally, it should be said that packaging in many ways has a multi-sensory effect, for example how it sounds, how it smells, how it feels and how it tastes. The multi-sensory principles will be further examined in Chapter 8.

3.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter presents and discusses the sensory principles of the sense of vision. The main characteristics of vision have been described in terms of physiological aspects regarding visual perception and the eyes as a sensory organ as well as psychological aspects regarding cognitive and affective responses. The significance of visual perception has been presented in relation to individual preferences, group preferences and visual symbolism in societal cultures. The most important part of the chapter concerns the analysis of visual cues and stimuli in the context of brands and products as well as service environments. For service environments visual stimuli such as architecture, colour, lighting, interior design and social stimuli have been analysed in terms of the effects on individuals’ cognitions,

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emotions and actual behaviour. Likewise, the importance of visual stimuli in the context of brands and products such as advertisements, colour, design, logos, name and packaging has been analysed. The application of different visual stimuli for companies is described through examples, which illustrate the significance of visual stimuli in marketing practice.

3.7

THE CASE OF VICTORIA’S SECRET

Roy Raymond and his wife Gaye Raymond founded the American company Victoria’s Secret in 1977. The founders’ idea was to transform packaged underwear, which they considered to be ugly, floral-print nylon nightgowns, into more appealing and challenging underwear. In the late 1960s Roy Raymond was embarrassed when purchasing lingerie for his wife at a department store and has expressed: ‘I always had the feeling the department stores sales women thought I was an unwelcome intruder’. The company name was taken from the name ‘Victoria’ after Queen Victoria of the UK, to create an association with the Victorian era. The word ‘Secret’ was added to the name ‘Victoria’ to illustrate what was hidden underneath the clothes of a woman.

The company was sold to Leslie Werner, creator of Limited Stores, Ohio, in 1982, who decided to change the business model of lingerie. The most important decision was to shift the focus from male customers to female customers. Victoria’s Secret was now transformed to market and sell broadly accepted underwear with new colours, patterns and styles to appeal to female buyers ‘that promised sexiness packaged in a tasteful, glamourous way and with the snob appeal of European luxury’ (Tomasino, 2007: 57). (Continued)

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In 1986 Victoria’s Secret was the only national chain of lingerie stores in the US. The first store was established in Stanford Shopping Center, Palo Alto, California in 1977. Today the company has more than 1,000 stores across the US and is the largest lingerie retailer in 2019. In spring 1982, the 12th mail order catalogue was sent out to customers in the US. The catalogue was more sensual than those of the competition, such as Limited Stores, and dominated the catalogue field for lingerie and sexy nightwear. The main theme of the catalogue for a long time was to present lingerie as romantic and sensual but tasteful, in which models were photographed in ladylike poses against elegant backgrounds. The catalogue also offered a more diverse range of merchandise. Before e-commerce started in 1995 customers could call the company and place orders 24/7. In 1995 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, a broadcast on primetime American television, started and is an annual show with a mix of beautiful models dressed in lingerie. The shows are a combination of self-assured strutting for women and voyeuristic pleasures for men, making lingerie into mainstream entertainment. Around this time the company started to cooperate with famous celebrities and models like Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum and Stephanie Seymour. As a result, the brand received more attention and was featured in television commercials. In 1999 the first-ever online streaming of the fashion show took place and the 18-minute webcast was the Internet’s biggest event since inception. The company’s website had a total of 1.5 million viewers and served to create a database of the company’s current and potential customers. They were asked to submit contact details to view the webcast. In 2013 the webcast had 9.7 million viewers but in 2017 it had decreased to 5 million viewers. One of the potential reasons could be women’s changing perception of the brand and its marketing strategy, with stereotypical sexy supermodels who purchase lingerie to impress men. In 1997 the company launched a lingerie line named Angels in a commercial featuring some of the most renowned models. It became a major success and the Angels were featured in various TV commercials and became synonymous with being a contracted model for the brand. From that time the Victoria’s Secret Angels have been recognized in different magazines and the trademark was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2007. The Angels have also done a lot of tours to promote the brand and have been strongly featured on the social media of the brand, for example a short-lived Facebook application in 2013–2014 highlighting the Angels. The Chinese models Sui He and Ming Xi were contracted in 2018 and will be Victoria’s Secret Angels exclusively in China. In 2019 the company decided to cancel its yearly fashion show with contracted models because of the criticism for not embracing models of all sizes and backgrounds on its runway since the start in 1995.

QUESTIONS 1

2

3

Discuss and analyse the choice of the brand name ‘Victoria’s Secret’. What were the underlying motives for the name and how can it be associated with lingerie? Mention some important arguments for why the name ‘Victoria’ was chosen together with ‘Secret’. What are the primary visual cues and stimuli the brand uses in sensory marketing? Discuss and evaluate the most important ones by visiting the company website (www. victoriassecret.com/). Discuss the use of the Victoria’s Secret Angels from an ethical point of view. What are the benefits and dangers in relation to social trends in the light of increased equality between men and women and the MeToo movement concerning sexual harassment?

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FURTHER READING Bloch, P.H. (1995). ‘Seeking the ideal form: Product design and consumer response’, Journal of Marketing, 59 (July): 16–29. Krishna, A., Cian, L. & Aydinoglu, N. (2017). ‘Sensory aspects of package design’, Journal of Retailing, 93, 1: 43–54. Wedel, M. & Pieters, R. (2008). ‘Introduction to visual marketing’, in M. Wedel & R. Pieters (eds), Visual Marketing: From Attention to Action. New York: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 1–8.

4

SENSORY PRINCIPLES FOR SOUND

CHAPTER CONTENTS 4.0 Introduction

84

4.1

The Human Ears and Hearing

84

4.2

Characteristics of Sound

86

Physiological aspects

86

Psychological aspects

87

Sound Perception and Societal Culture

89

What is auditory perception?

89

Individual preferences

90

Group preferences

91

Sound symbolism

92

Service Environments

93

Auditory stimuli

93

In-store music

93

Shopping experience

95

Service level

97

Music congruence

98

Music as intimidation

98

Brand and Products

99

Auditory stimuli

99

Music in advertising

99

4.3

4.4

4.5

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Music in product evaluation

100

Music embodiment

100

Voices in advertising

101

Sound symbolism

102

4.6

Chapter Summary

104

4.7

The Case of Coca-Cola

105

Questions 106 Further Reading

107

4.0 INTRODUCTION The chapter gives an overview of the sense of sound and its importance in sensory marketing. Especially, the characteristics of sound, its role in different cultures as well as the significance of auditory cues and stimuli for brands, products and service environments will be analysed and discussed. After reading the chapter, you should be able to: 1 2 3 4 5

Explain how the sense of sound works at an individual level. Discuss the role of sound in different societal cultures. Analyse the importance of auditory cues and stimuli for brands, products and service environments. Describe how a company could apply auditory stimuli in marketing practice. Discuss the advantages/disadvantages of auditory stimuli in sensory marketing.

4.1 THE HUMAN EARS AND HEARING All of us experience sound in different ways in our daily lives. The sense of sound contributes to an individual’s perception and experience of her/his environment. Furthermore, sound has an important role in expressing our identity and how we are to be perceived. Sound often gives us an understanding of an individual’s emotions and state of mind; for example, if they are laughing, crying, screaming or singing. Already in utero we are surrounded by sound and the mother’s heartbeat is close to us after birth. Later in life the alarm on the smartphone or a well-known jingle on the clock radio wakes up many of us early in the morning. This might be followed by the first commercial on TV at the breakfast table, and in the car driving to school or work you encounter various advertisements with music on the radio. When you enter the fashion store or the supermarket music as well as voices stream out. Later in the evening you might watch your favourite TV programme with breaks for commercials with music and songs.

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Many of us experience voices and music as natural parts of service environments such as department stores, malls or retail stores as well as in many public contexts such as train stations and sporting events, or political or religious contexts. For example, Spotify offers a ‘Fashion Store Music Collection’ to be played in fashion stores (https://open.spotify. com/playlist/). For companies both voices and music are used in providing a sound experience of a brand or a product. The American fashion retailer Hollister offers a ‘2018 Fall Playlist’ at Spotify and the German car maker BMW provides its customers with the possibility to download their favourite music in the ‘BMW Music Collection Playlist’. It is assumed that these sounds induce positive emotions and loyalty to the brand. Often famous artists and their songs contribute to creating positive associations with a certain brand and to remembering the brand. It is well known that people for centuries have memorized a melody or song before the technological breakthroughs of the cassette tape and the CD-ROM. Nowadays, online streaming services offer access to both old and new music through streamed music, for example Apple’s iTunes Store or Spotify. Furthermore, Google offers individuals the opportunity to download music free of charge from Google Play Music and its ‘Music Manager app’. With this rapid development music is easy to handle and is accessible for individuals and businesses in various social contexts. It is possible for every individual to consume music without any limitations and it allows companies to develop and create new sound experiences for brands, products and service environments. Moreover, it is suggested that companies might apply music in marketing and selling brands and products because of its many and varied qualities (Jackson et al., 2013).

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4.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF SOUND Physiological aspects Auditory perception Various sounds provide individuals with sensory information about what is going on in their near environment. In general, sound consist of three different elements: ambient sounds, voices and music. First, an ambient sound is a sound emanating from animals, birds or sound machines. It has nothing to do with humans or musical instruments. Second, voice is a sound coming from a person identified as a voice such as a baby scream or a song by Shakira. It also includes words expressed by someone like famous celebrities in radio or TV commercials that companies often use. Moreover, companies use recorded voices on a daily basis in many encounters such as, for example, the telephone customer service. The voices of the spokesperson are of importance when the message is delivered and has to be seen as the basis for a positive or negative sound experience. Third, music is a sound emanating from instruments, a song or a combination of these in creating beauty, harmony and emotional expressions. It is well known that music has a great influence on an individual’s emotional state, which will be discussed in more depth later in the chapter. But what happens in our brains when listening to a famous melody? Our brains process and store this melody and the words associated with it. This takes place in the right hemisphere, where the text of a song is memorable and remembered. In this sense it means that the words are not interpreted in any logical sense by the left hemisphere. Instead the word order in a song based on rhyming and rhythmic elements can only be processed and stored in the right hemisphere. It explains why many jingles, slogans or songs stay in our memories for a long time.

The sensory organ All individuals perceive and experience sound as the physical process of hearing. The sound waves around us impact the eardrum, causing it to vibrate (Figure 4.1). All kinds of sound are measured in decibels (dB) and their strength is said to be due to the size of the pressure variation. The threshold of pain that an individual might tolerate is assumed to be nearly 120 decibels, while the lowest level of a sound is 0 decibels. When two individuals have a normal conversation, it takes place at around 60 decibels, while a rock concert is around 100 decibels, and a whisper is around 20 decibels. Sounds such as a child crying or scraping noises influence many of us to react at low decibels. Moreover, sounds influence our fears and phobias in the sense that an unpleasant sound might affect our sound experiences in a negative way.

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Otitis externa Outer ear

Bone Eardrum

Cochlea

Wax, shed skin, and pus

Figure 4.1  The structure of the ear

There are certain sounds that we do not give attention to and they are filtered out from the brain. But high and low sounds are easily noticed by an individual; for example, the sound of a computer, a fan or a refrigerator. When the sound disappears many of us react with relief. Silence is also perceived in the brain as a sound and many of us expect another sound to break the silence. What makes the sense of sound different from the other senses, for example, sight, is the fact that it is experienced inside our head in a more intimate way. When you look at an object it is perceived and experienced through the eyes entirely outside the head and separated from an individual’s true self. A sound might contribute to an individual’s frame of mind and different psychological states; for example, as a sense of peace and quiet. It is accepted that sound might contribute to intense emotions and feelings among individuals. This means that music and voices should be considered as the most influential stimuli for a sound experience.

Psychological aspects Emotions and music For many individuals music is of great significance in perceiving and experiencing their own lives and the outside world. Music therapy is believed to contribute to emotional,

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physical and mental well-being resulting in a more positive attitude to life and better self-esteem among individuals. Music provides individuals with content and meaning in two different ways. First, by imitating concrete sounds music might transfer a clear meaning; for example, birds singing, rain or traffic noise. Second, by communicating a special association about a brand, an event or a phenomenon by providing them with emotions, images or thoughts. Furthermore, music is said to be based on three different aspects: sound, behaviour and concept. Music as sound is defined as the auditory signals the musicians produce and the audience perceive and experience. Behaviour is linked to activities such as dance, performance or ritual of great importance for the musical experience. Often these activities have been linked to a historical, psychological or social analysis, where the music has embodied the behaviour. Finally, the concept of music concerns the interpretation of a melody or a song, often related to a special social group in society. In particular, film music often contributes to creating a universal interpretation and understanding of the meaning of music in terms of a music language. Altogether, music and various sounds in a film impact how an individual perceives and experiences the combination of these two; for example, in dangerous or exciting situations from real life. It has been suggested that individuals are influenced by music through emotional content as well as experience-based, emotional reactions (Burner 1990). For this reason, it is possible for music to become an emotional label for a certain brand. Music can be described and analysed through three basic factors: tempo (or time), pitch (or tone) and structure (in the form of the instruments and their volume). Moreover, two categories, contour and convention, have been proposed to express the relationship between music and emotions. Contour relates to, for example, different melodies, tempos and music styles, illustrating the ‘natural’ linkages between emotions and music characterizing human behaviour. In this context, fast music is seen as happier compared to slow music, while the latter conveys melancholy or sadness, illustrated by a sad person walking slowly. On the other hand, conventions are grounded in natural linkages between emotions and music based on an individual’s experiences, fantasies and needs in daily life.

Music and reactions It is evident that music for many individuals expresses their innermost emotions and feelings from true happiness to deep sadness. Music also expresses the diverse emotions present at a higher, general level in all individuals. In this sense music is related to an abstract understanding of individuals’ emotional lives. The cognitive approach claims that reactions are created among individuals, as listeners, based on the emotional content and meaning of music. For example, it is possible for an individual to recognize sadness in a special music genre, while the melody or song does not

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create sadness. On the other hand, the emotional approach claims that the melody or song might cause emotional responses in an individual. Many scholars have another opinion and believe that music does not create feelings but expresses them among individuals.

Krumhansl (1997) investigated 38 music listeners’ reactions to six pieces of music. A survey was used together with 12 physiological measurements of blood pressure, finger temperature, heartbeat, respiratory rate and respiratory volume. The results showed that on average the blood pressure and respiratory rate increased, while the finger temperature, heartbeat and respiratory volume decreased. From the study the conclusions were that the physical reactions that took place were not influenced by the specific emotional associations made with the music, such as frightened, happy or sad.

The influence of music on emotions is not fully clarified, hence why it is possible to state that both the cognitive and emotional approaches might explain reactions to music. But studies have shown that physical reactions take place in individuals when listening to music; for example, chills, faster breathing, higher heart rate, increased blood pressure as well as tears. This reflects the emotional approach illustrated in the example above.

4.3 SOUND PERCEPTION AND SOCIETAL CULTURE What is auditory perception? Auditory perception means how individuals receive and interpret existing auditory cues and stimuli in the environment and the outside world. These stimuli have been transmitted in the air and reach the ears through the sound waves. In many situations auditory perception is essential; for example, when driving a car the sound of another car’s horn gets your attention and avoids a wrong decision. In many meetings with customers fluid communication is of importance, so good auditory perception is needed. For music, auditory perception is essential, especially when you listen to and perceive music as well as when you play the piano or the guitar and it should sound nice. It has been suggested that melodies and music should be regarded as a kind of emotional language, where its parts and structure should characterize different emotions and emotional states (Thompson, 2009). It has also been discussed whether the emotional associations from various melodies and music styles should be considered universal. On the other hand, most cultures have developed a special style of music reflecting its viability and vitality in representing the attitudes, characteristics and lifestyle of that societal culture (Cooke, 1959).

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Individual preferences In every societal culture, language, sound or words convey sensory information in all kinds of communication (Meyers-Levy et al., 2010). This contributes to auditory perception, mainly through music and voices, which impacts an individual’s cognition and emotions at the personal level. In most societal cultures many individuals make use of music in creating a good and positive mood in everyday life. It is generally accepted that a specific meaning, which can be shared by many listeners at the same time, can be conveyed or transmitted through pure instrumental music. As a personal expression, music is used by many individuals to communicate their own attitudes as well as their self-image and personal values. It is evident from research that many listeners classical music perceive the aesthetic expressions of the music, whether or not they are trained to do so. Moreover, it is evident that children perceived an emotional message positively from new forms of music and responded positively as well. One of the conclusions was that there is enough evidence to suggest that musical archetypes exist, indicating that individuals feel and react to music without consideration taken of context, mood or past associations. When it comes to auditory cues and stimuli, such as music, voices or words, compared to visual or tactile stimuli, it is obvious that they affect an individual more deeply. The assumption is that auditory stimuli have a more direct and rapid influence on the brain than the corresponding visual stimuli like advertisements and commercials. An example is the magazine advertisement with a woman laughing that cannot be heard, but when the laughter can be heard in a TV or radio commercial the audience can begin to laugh.

Music styles, personality and sex Music preferences play an important role and music contributes to shaping an individual’s personality just like the physical and social environment. Many individuals create self-images based on their own style of music that they want to show others. If one individual, for example, prefers hard rock as their personal music style, it might result in others perceiving her or him as ‘tough and hard’, which may not be the case. It is obvious from research that music styles such as hip hop, hard rock and rap, are mostly preferred by younger men and teens with a strong circle of friends. Moreover, individuals who are described as reckless and who likes taking risks, and tend to be more aggressive and violent, also prefer these music styles. Individuals with more optimistic and positive personalities seem to be more attracted by music styles such as fast-paced music and jazz, while the attraction for classical music seems to be linked to sensitivity. When it comes to music preferences and social class, research has shown that ‘intellectual’ music genres, for example classical music, orchestral music or opera, mostly

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appeal to higher social classes with high educational background. On the other hand, ‘non-intellectual’ music genres like country, gospel and rap appeal to individuals from the working class with low educational background. Altogether, it is evident that individuals can get a better understanding of other individuals and their group belonging based on knowledge about various musical genres. Men and women perceive music in different ways, especially concerning hard and soft sounding music, respectively. A link exists between femininity and ‘soft’ sounding music, on one hand, and between masculinity and ‘hard’ sounding music, on the other hand. This makes it possible to separate female from male music preferences. The hard music for men is associated with aggression, domination and rebellion, and the soft music for women represents emotions and relationships.

In a study it has been shown that British women use music in everyday life in order to enhance, modify and regulate their emotional state. Music was considered as the most effective tool in creating a positive emotional state, like enthusiasm or relaxation, as well as balancing a negative emotional state, like fatigue or stress (De Nora, 2001). It was also shown that music had an impact on the levels of the hormone testosterone for men and women in the sense that the levels increased for women, but decreased for men.

Group preferences Music is used in many societal cultures as an expression of emotions and experiences among different social groups. It also contributes to enhancing and stimulating their feelings and moods. In Sweden the famous midsummer celebration that includes dancing,

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playing and singing illustrates the inner feeling many individuals have about the bright summer in northern Europe. Another example is the Tuamotus people on the French Polynesian island of Futuna. In this societal culture music is used to create melodies and songs expressing their religious devotion, or to express their longing and passion through love songs as well as anger and grief through sad songs. The Basongye people in Congo assume that listeners relate to individual feelings when they are seeing and listening to a dance or music performance. For that reason, all melodies or songs should include emotions and the musicians should try to provide the listeners with happiness and joy. It is believed in this culture that, for example, playing a funeral song might cause great sadness in everyday life. Is there a natural, universal connection between emotions and music regardless of societal culture? In a study it was shown that Western listeners reacted in the same way as Indian listeners when Indian musicians played melodies and songs. These should deliberately provide the listeners with emotions such as anger, sadness, happiness or tranquility. Moreover, the Western listeners could also relate to the complexity and tempo of the Indian music based on the structural characteristics of the music. A conclusion was that links might exist between emotions and music beyond the actual societal culture (Balkwill & Thompson, 1999).

Sound symbolism The linguistic process of how the sounds of a word provide stimuli about a word’s meaning for an individual is called sound symbolism. It refers to the idea that vocal sounds have meaning and this has been accepted as an influential factor in how different individuals perceive and interpret meaning from, for example, unknown brand names. Research has indicated that phonetic symbolism effects might exist for brand name perceptions that can be generalized across languages in societal cultures such as China, France and Spain. Moreover, it has been suggested that marketers should try to embed universal meaning in their brand names (Lowrey & Shrum, 2007). Through sound symbolism it is possible to have more knowledge about how individuals perceive different brands. In advertisements and commercials each word contributes to its pronunciation resulting in a special meaning of the sound for how an individual might perceive the brand. In order to create a unique sound experience, words, language and sound work together in different societal cultures in a natural way. It is evident that the sound of a word impacts an individual’s perception of brands and products. Moreover, it has been found that the symbolic associations coming from how a specific word sounds are not language specific. An example is that the a-sound in the word ‘father’ and the o-sound in the word ‘bought’ are associated with larger objects. In a study it was shown how an individual’s perception of an imaginary ice cream brand

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was influenced by its word sound (Yorkston & Menon, 2004). The ice cream was called either ‘Frish’ or ‘Frosh’, which resulted in differences between the i-sound ‘Frish’ and the o-sound ‘Frosh’. It was found that ‘Frosh’ was regarded as creamier, richer and softer compared to ‘Frish’, and was the preferred purchase. When it comes to the symbolism of music it is believed music has stimulating effects on the individual’s visual images. Moreover, music contributes to cognitive stimulation in the sense that a listener analyses and categorizes the music and its technical dimensions. It is evident and not surprising that music through the sense of sound influences an individual’s product selection, purchase decisions and actions. In the next section of the chapter this will be further discussed in relation to service environments as well as brands and products.

4.4 SERVICE ENVIRONMENTS Auditory stimuli Most retailers and service providers apply auditory cues and stimuli such as music, sound or voice in creating an appealing and attractive store atmosphere for the customers. The overall purpose is to enhance and provide a memorable shopping experience. It might involve the most popular disco music in the fashion store, the latest popular music in the grocery supermarket or classical flute music in the old city mall. In these service encounters advertisements and TV commercials with music are also applied to catch the customers’ attention and interest through music, sound and voices. In service environments like boutiques, department stores, malls, places, restaurants or service encounters, auditory cues and stimuli impact individuals’ cognition, emotions and behaviour (Michel et al., 2017). Auditory stimuli such as in-store music in different contexts will now be presented and discussed.

In-store music It is well-known from research that in-store music positively influences cognitive variables such as service quality and product perceptions. Especially, calm music creates low excitement that contributes to increasing an individual’s cognitive response in relation to customer service and sales figures. In fact, calm music can be helpful in stimulating the cognitive activity of individuals. On the other hand, highly exciting music can impede cognitive activity and cognitive processes during the service encounter. Altogether, auditory stimuli such as music might influence an individual’s attitudes about a store, its staff and products.

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In-store music also influences emotional variables like arousal, humour and joy, and behavioural variables such as customer frequency and time spent in a store (Bruner, 1990; Turley & Milliman, 2000). It is evident that background and foreground music influence individuals’ perceptions and experiences of different service environments. Moreover, individuals can be affected by various music styles, the tempo of the music, the volume of the music and the degree of recognition. A general conclusion from a meta-analysis is that popular, familiar background music positively impacts individuals, who stay marginally longer, especially when the background music is familiar with a slow pace and low volume (Garlin & Owen, 2006). For example, think of how a fast melody in the supermarket might impact your pace of walking, even though you are not aware of it. The American clothing company Abercrombie and Fitch caters to its young customers by playing loud music in its stores. Why? To answer the question, it is necessary to discuss how tempo and time indicate whether the played music should be perceived and experienced as slow or fast. It is obvious that the pitch and the tempo of music contribute to how the customers perceive and experience the store environment. The loud music of A&F contributes to an in-store experience offering excitement, tempo and a modern atmosphere, appealing to its mostly young customers.

It is evident from research that slow-paced music makes individuals calmer and fastpaced music makes individuals more excited. In a bank environment the customers reacted with greater excitement when faster music was played. Moreover, their attitudes to the staff became more positive and they were more interested in chatting, smiling and saying hello to the employees.

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If the background music is fast – instead of slow – it is obvious that it influences both individuals’ shopping pace and the total sales volume. These results were found in a study of an American chain with medium-sized stores when no music, slow-paced music and fast-paced music was presented. Another result was that when slow background music was played it resulted in calmer customer traffic in comparison with the faster music (Milliman, 1982). The tempo of the music influences how individuals conduct their shopping in a service environment. Music with slower tempo results in slower shopping activities for many individuals as well as spending more time in performing these activities. Moreover, slower tempo music offers greater possibilities for purchasing and this might influence the number of purchases. The effects of slow music have also been observed in a restaurant, leading to customers spending more time during their visits. Moreover, they also spent more money on drink, but on the other hand the slow music did not impact the purchase of food, serving time or the time of leaving the restaurant. It has been shown that high-volume music in restaurants led to higher excitement levels resulting in unhealthy food choices. On the other hand increased sales of healthy foods was influenced by low-volume music as a result of induced relaxation (Biswas et al., 2019). Altogether, research has confirmed the effects of background music in different service encounters and it is evident that the existence of music styles such as classical, familiar and popular has a positive influence on individuals. It is evident that classical music influences individuals to buy more expensive products. Popular music often serves as a distractor and might negatively influence individuals’ ability to pay attention to ads and commercials. At the same time, popular music creates positive emotions influencing individuals’ purchase behaviour (Petruzzellis et al., 2014).

In an American national retail chain selling trendy clothes for men and women in the middle price range the effects of background music were investigated. The background music was chosen with respect to the store’s design and atmosphere and was organized following beat and tempo. The results showed that the background music had a positive influence on the attitudes of the customers towards the sales staff and the service environment because of different degrees of happiness. By evoking positive emotion, the background music contributed to the customers’ perception of the store and it helped to strengthen the image of the store and its attractiveness (Dubé & Morin, 2001).

Shopping experience Foreground music, such as top 40 hits, and background music, such as instrumental style, impact the time shoppers spend in a store compared to no music at all. In one

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study, older shoppers thought that the foreground music meant that they had spent more time shopping, while younger shoppers thought that the background music meant more time shopping. It is obvious that unfamiliar music might negatively affect individuals’ time perception regarding how much time is spent shopping. The younger shoppers were more familiar with the foreground music and the older shoppers were closer to the background music. A conclusion was that familiarity in terms of what music we listen to on a daily basis is crucial in understanding the individual’s perceptions (Yalch & Spangenberg, 1990). When background classical music was played in a centrally located restaurant with a wine cellar, customers bought and spent more money on expensive wine compared to when top 40 music was played. On the other hand, background music had no significant effects on, for example, time spent investigating the shelves of the wine cellar, the number of handled products, the number of purchased goods or the number of tasted wines. Not even the time the customers spent in the restaurant was influenced by the background music (Areni & Kim, 1994). In another study, background music from France and Germany, with national associations, influenced the purchase of French and German wines. The music was played during two weeks in a wine store offering wine with signs for both French and German wines. The results showed that more French wines were sold than German wines when French background music was played and similarly, more German wine was sold when the German background music was played in the store (North et al., 1999). In an experimental study on the effect of auditory cues, different music genres such as classical music, epic music and lounge music were introduced in the coffee department of a Swedish supermarket. The purpose was to investigate the influence of background music on shoppers’ emotions and purchase behaviour. The observations was based on a convenience sample of customers with three experimental groups (n=75) and a control group (n=75). The total number of observations was 300 based on customers between the ages of 20 and 80. The findings showed that auditory cues influence shoppers in perceiving and experiencing a positive atmosphere in the coffee department. There was an increase of 20–30 per cent in shoppers rating their emotions as more satisfied, calmer and more relaxed. Moreover, time spent increased by more than 30 per cent as well as the time shoppers spent walking around the coffee department. Lounge music contributed most to the positive atmosphere as well as the positive emotions compared to classical music and epic music (Hultén, 2017b). It is generally accepted that mental associations, in terms of price, social class or status, are influenced by music. In this case it might be that the classical music style affects individuals’ perception of the store, resulting in a belief that the store has a higher price range than it really has. It is obvious that many individuals cannot remember what characterized the music played after their visits in different service environments. It seems that most individuals

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in an unconscious way relate slow music to a slower pace contributing to a calming effect on the overall shopping experience. Congestion is a phenomenon occurring in many service encounters and music can minimize the negative effects in shopping malls. It is suggested that slow music could be applied to lower the tempo in a crowded service environment. On the other hand, fast music could be used to make the shopping experience more inspiring and livelier (Eroglu et al., 2005). Altogether, individuals’ perceptions and experiences could be changed by music and result in a more positive shopping experience.

Service level Background music positively influences individuals’ perception of the waiting times for queuing and, also, the emotional evaluation of a service encounter in a banking environment. Moreover, it has a positive impact on the behaviour of the customers towards the service provider. By comparing four different auditory stimuli with no music at all in the environment it was evident that the background music contributed to a more distinct emotional response among individuals who had to wait in a queuing line. It was shown that the creation of these positive emotions reduced the negative effects of queuing. Altogether, background music could be an effective measure in reducing customer dissatisfaction with waiting times in service encounters (Hui et al., 1997).

When it comes to the costs of queuing in monetary terms it has been shown that an emotional/social cost is involved in high-cost waiting. In a waiting line in a supermarket both

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a cognitive and an emotional impact from background music were found on individuals. The music contributed to a positive mood, which influenced the overall experience of standing in the queue. However, the perception of the time spent waiting was not affected. One of the conclusions from the study was that music can influence an individual’s cost for queuing, which might be perceived as less or even eliminated in supermarket checkouts (Cameron et al., 2003).

Music congruence The question of how ambient music should be consistent with the whole atmosphere of a service environment is called music congruence. It concerns the music’s possibility to fit with the design, the interior and the overall character of a mall, a supermarket or a restaurant. It is evident that customers are more satisfied when the music matches the service environment, as was illustrated in the earlier example of Abercrombie and Fitch. In a French restaurant congruent and non-congruent music was played and evaluated in terms of fit with the overall atmosphere, the character, the design and interior. For the non-congruent music timeless popular music from a popular French radio station was chosen and for the congruent music modern, pop and dynamic music was chosen. It was shown that music congruence resulted in a low degree of arousal, which led to high pleasure for the customers. This meant that the customers also improved their evaluations of the service quality and the service environment (Demoulin, 2011). It was evident that the music congruence regarding the service environment was perceived and experienced as ‘right’ for the customers. Most of the individuals became more excited on the emotional level, which affected their attitudes to the whole atmosphere as well as the service quality. The overall experience of the restaurant led to a positive influence on the customers’ intentions to return to the restaurant again.

Music as intimidation Classical and opera music might easily scare away individuals from a restaurant or a store when it is played through speakers outside the service environment. It happened at a McDonald’s in Australia, where the teenagers no longer gathered outside the restaurant in crowds. The reason was that the music genre was found to be repulsive. When classical music was played in the London underground to prevent thefts in selected tube stations it had a great influence on certain individuals’ behaviour. Assaults on staff reduced by 25 per cent, vandalism of stations and trains went down by 37 per cent, and thefts decreased by 25 per cent.

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4.5 BRAND AND PRODUCTS Auditory stimuli Companies use famous artists and their voices as well as music to provide individuals with memorable sound experiences of their brands and products. This helps to clarify the identity and values of brands and products as well as enhance brand image in the minds of the customers. The following example from the American fast-food company McDonald’s illustrates this.

The first global marketing campaign for McDonald’s emphasized the strategic potential of music. The aim of the campaign was to introduce a brand sound providing its customers with a unified feeling of the brand. The jingle as a song was written by the American singer-songwriter Justin Timberlake. The song ‘I’m Loving It’ resulted in one of the most famous brand tunes memorized by individuals all over the world. The jingle, based on the vocal hook ‘ba da ba ba ba’ sung by Timberlake, is the longest-running McDonald’s slogan in history. It has been more famous than Timberlake’s own hits until now.

It is important to distinguish between a natural brand sound, for example, the pop when a wine bottle is uncorked, and an invented brand sound in an advertisement or a TV commercial illustrated by a song or a voice. Auditory stimuli such as music and voices have had prominent roles in advertising as well as television and radio commercials for decades. On social media like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter today most individuals are exposed to music and voices in different advertising and promotional campaigns regularly. There is no doubt that they have a huge impact on individuals’ cognition, emotions and purchase behaviour.

Music in advertising Music in advertising can trigger individuals’ emotions and moods, laying the ground for individuals’ attitudes towards brands and products. In this way the music serves as a representative of a brand or product in advertisements and commercials. Even though the music in an advertisement is seen as background music – like in store environments – it has a positive impact on individuals’ auditory perception and attitudes about the actual brand (MacInnis & Park, 1991). In this regard it is evident that fast music results in more attention and slow music means less attention to a radio or TV commercial among the customers. In a study an advertisement was created, and 40 pieces of both instrumental and nonfamiliar music were investigated (Kellaris et al., 1993). It was found that the music in the

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advertisement and its message were more easily perceived by individuals when the music contributed to a congruent message. When the music did not fit with the message of the advertisement many listeners ignored it. In general, music in advertisements and commercials contributes to favourable attitudes, impacts individuals’ behaviour and contributes to developing brand image. It has been shown that an individual’s state mind was influenced when a vague emotional tone was present in the advertising message. On the other hand, the advertising message was evaluated more positively when the music was highly exciting rather than unexciting (Gorn et al., 2001). It has also been shown that the relationship between the music and the product in advertisements influences the product preferences of the individual (MacInnis & Park, 1991). It has been suggested that music is both meaningful and linguistic in the sense that many individuals do evaluate and interpret music in the overall rhetorical perspective of the advertising message. This might lead to emotions, like hedonic feelings, expressing, for example, happiness or joy in the individual self.

Music in product evaluation Brands and products are often evaluated in service environments where background music can influence product evaluation. It has been shown that individuals evaluating pens in one or two colours decided to choose the pen associated with the actual background music they liked. In one study individuals listened to music they liked as well as music they did not like. If the pen they preferred was linked to the music they disliked then the alternative pen was chosen (Gorn, 1982). Furthermore, it is evident that when individuals were evaluating the quality and performance of new stereo speakers, music influenced their mood. In an experimental study the participants listened to music they either liked or disliked, which resulted in a bad or a good mood (Gorn et al., 1993). The researchers also manipulated the respondents’ awareness of the music as the source of their mood; source awareness was high or low. The findings showed that when the participants were under conditions of low music source awareness, they evaluated the products more positively in a good mood than in a bad mood. On the other hand, in the high music source awareness condition no differences were found in product evaluation.

Music embodiment It is assumed that hedonic feelings of individuals are grounded in music embodiment, emanating from the instruments, pitch, rhythm and tempo, or something else. These feelings are thought to be independent of the context: think of how a nursery song

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from your childhood might create memories from your early childhood. In the same way when you are listening to a well-known fast melody it can give you happy dreams and expectations about your future.

As stated before, it is assumed that fast-paced music gives you more positive feelings in comparison with slow-paced music. When it comes to high-pitched tunes, they also create more favourable feelings. It is evident that the importance of music embodiment impacts many individuals’ interpretations of the actual music. In this regard, music is significant for our selves grounded in an interaction with the environment, contextdependent as well as learnt. The music has the ability to trigger feelings based on our previous experiences through music embodiment. In an advertising or commercial context music has the ability to influence an individual’s cognition and emotions in perceiving and understanding the message of an advertisement. It is assumed that a brand or a product can be embodied through music, which has a prominent role in a company’s marketing communications.

Voices in advertising Voices as auditory cues and stimuli in advertisements and TV commercials for brands and products are primarily based upon two significant factors: tone and rate of speech. It is important for a listener to get an understanding of a speaker as well as to perceive and respond to the verbal communication. In a study it was shown that listeners preferred a speaker with a low tone compared to a high tone. One reason for this was that the listeners considered the speaker with a high tone to be more nervous, less credible and less empathetic.

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It is obvious that an individual’s assessment and selection of brands and products is significantly influenced if a brand is pronounced clearly and loudly through phonetic sound repetition. Especially, in an advertisement or a commercial it was found that a brand was more favourably evaluated when the brand name was pronounced with a loud human voice compared to a quiet pronunciation and without sound repetition (Argo et al., 2010). In this regard, phonetic sound repetition influences individuals’ decisionmaking in a positive way for both multiple brand names and product categories. When it comes to rate of speech it is evident that a faster speech rate influences the listeners. A faster speaker is perceived as being more knowledgeable, intelligent and impartial and at the same time seen as more compelling, empathetic and serious. It seems that a faster speech rate offers greater credibility and competence in different advertising and commercial messages. Moreover, the speech rate is based on how fast a syllable is pronounced – 5 seconds in normal speech – and the pauses taken between the different phrases. In a radio commercial context, it has been shown that individuals react more positively to a faster speech rate and adopt a better attitude to the actual speaker. But in the case of a slower rate of speech the actual advertising message could be easier to evaluate cognitively. A conclusion was that the speech rate impacts individuals’ cognition and emotions through various reactions in relation to advertisements and commercials. It has also been shown that in a radio or TV context a faster rate of speech has stopped the individual’s processing of an advertising message. The rate of speech did not reinforce the processing and a conclusion was that the individual’s motivation to process the message – and not the ability to do it – is the most important issue. It was suggested that a low tone could be combined with a faster rate of speech in order to be perceived positively by the listeners. When it comes to gender differences regarding how a female or male voice is perceived by the listeners it has been suggested that a low-tone voice suits men better than women. On the other hand, a high-tone voice suits women better. But the issue remains unsolved and more research needs to be done to clarify if gender differences really exist.

Sound symbolism It is believed that an individual’s experience of a sound is related to specific stimuli and its characteristics. For example, the pronunciation of a brand name or the pitch of a voice can impact the individual’s perception of a brand or product. In product evaluation it is obvious that sound symbolism has a significant effect on an individual’s product perceptions about different product categories. It was found in product evaluation of a brand that when the benefits of the product were clarified through a congruent language sound corresponding to what was expected the evaluation was positive (Lowrey & Shrum, 2007). It has also been shown that manipulating

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product characteristics such as, for example, the sound of electric toothbrushes can lead to individuals perceiving the products as harder or less pleasurable. Sound as well as noise of different kinds belong to brands and products and are of importance in product evaluation, purchase decisions and consumption. Often brands and products are identified through their sound, which can be perceived as either more pleasant or directly unpleasant. For many products the ‘natural’ sound offers the brand a distinct identity and tells us something about how it functions and works. Just think about when you start a car how you want to experience the quiet sound of the engine as you start driving. At the same time, it might give you the feeling of dynamism, power and sportiness. But many brands and products also offer unpleasant sounds perceived as disruptive noise for many individuals such as, for example, computers, household appliances, vacuum cleaners or washing machines. In the case of the vacuum cleaner the sound might be a paradox: the sound shows the power of the motor to absorb dirt and dust but at the same time it gives dissatisfaction to some users because of the unpleasant noise. As just described, the product sound of a car relates to all kinds of sounds that follow the car such as the door sound, engine noise or other disturbing noises when driving. In general, all types of product sounds, as physical characteristics of the actual product, impact the individual’s experience in a negative or positive way. Often experts like acousticians and engineers are involved in creating an attractive sound environment for different products.

A brand sound involves all kinds of sounds that follow the product and are created in order to establish a clear and distinct brand identity. Audio branding as a concept, often expressed as sound brand building, refers to how various types of sounds can reinforce a brand’s identity and enhance brand image. The audio branding is also based on a

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brand’s core values; for example, to be challenging, dynamic, flexible or personal. This is often illustrated with audio logos, jingles, brand songs, brand voices, sound icons or corporate anthems, for successful brands like Apple, BMW, Burger King, Coca-Cola, Ford, H&M, McDonald’s, Mercedes-Benz, Nike and Starbucks among others. A brand song is often considered to be more a commercial song, giving the listeners an association to the presented brand in an ad or a campaign. The song is developed for special target groups or specific stakeholders with the aim of being perceived as a real acoustic brand. A brand voice is a speaking or singing voice providing individuals with appealing associations and emotions through the voice itself. As stated before it is important that the person’s voice with a high or low tone as well as a fast or slow rate of speech is congruent with a brand’s identity and values through its character and personality. An example is IKEA in Germany using a German voice with a typical Swedish accent to deliver the advertising messages in the department stores. A jingle is a song traditionally played in a radio context, and since the 1920s has become synonymous with radio stations. The song was presented in an advertisement’s message about a brand or a product. One of the first brands in the US to launch a jingle was General Mills for the breakfast cereal Wheaties in 1926. Nowadays jingles are commonly used in advertising and TV commercials to symbolize different brands; for example, McDonald’s 2009 jingle ‘I’m Lovin It’ with the famous artist Justin Timberlake. Sound icons are short acoustic signals often connected to a brand song or sound logo. These sound icons are applied in order to communicate and promote a special characteristic of a brand. For example, Coca-Cola applied the clicking sound of an opened bottle to symbolize the freshness of the product. Corporate anthems expressed through hymns or songs of praise involve the whole corporate and brand name. It relates to what has been called sound (or sonic) branding as a framework. These anthems are often linked to general meetings, internal representation, mobile phones with special ring tones as well as email boxes including special sound design in the computers of a company. It might enhance and influence staff commitment and participation as well as create emotional linkages to the overall corporate name and brand name. Finally, it is evident that different acoustic elements connected to music and voice in advertising a brand have significant effects on advertisement recognition, brand awareness, as well as purchase intent. Moreover, it has been found that inappropriate music can influence the brand in a negative way (North et al., 2004).

4.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter presents and discusses the sensory principles of the sense of sound. The main characteristics of sound have been described in terms of physiological aspects

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regarding auditory perception and the ear as a sensory organ as well as psychological aspects regarding cognitive and emotional responses. The significance of auditory perception has been presented in relation to individual preferences, group preferences and sound symbolism in societal cultures. The most important part of the chapter concerns the analysis of auditory stimuli/ cues in the context of service environments as well as brands and products. For service environments auditory stimuli such as in-store music have been analysed and discussed in relation to product choice and shopping experiences, service level, music congruence and music as intimidation. Likewise, the importance of auditory stimuli as music and voices has been analysed and discussed in the context of brands and products in relation to music in advertising, music in product evaluation, music embodiment, voices in advertising, as well as sound symbolism. The application of different auditory stimuli for companies is described through examples, illustrating the significance of auditory stimuli in marketing practice.

4.7

THE CASE OF COCA-COLA

The American beverage company Coca-Cola has for decades applied a music strategy to build emotional ties with its customers and to engage with them. It is possible to say that music belongs to the DNA of the brand. The company used opera singers and musicians of the days of their print advertising in the late nineteenth century. In the 1950s Coca-Cola’s commercials were using music and artists as a standard operating procedure. For example, Coke’s iconic 1970s commercial ‘I’d like to buy the world a Coke’ is well known by many of that generation. The tune was so popular that it sold millions of copies as a single at that time.

(Continued)

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Around 2008 Coca-Cola appointed their first Global Music Marketing Manager. The person in charge is responsible for all the various components of music branding from collaborations with artists to music endorsements as well as events, festivals and sponsorship of artists. For the last 20 years music has been a major part of the core branding and is used in brand-specific music programmes as well as product strategies. For Coca-Cola music is about feelings and the right music strengthens the experience of the brand and drives sales. For example, when the right music is presented in the right promotional activity it contributes to communicating with the customers on a deeper level. The global marketing campaign ‘Open Happiness’ in 2009 was introduced to fight the massive clutter and significant media fragmentation that emerged at that time. Coca-Cola wanted to develop a marketing initiative that could break through the clutter and went beyond traditional advertising. The ‘Open Happiness’ theme in the US was also presented in newspapers as print ads, in-store advertising, in outdoor advertising and in television commercials. The first ‘Open Happiness’ song was presented in an American television commercial and was later released as a single. It was a collaboration with artists and musicians. The ‘Open Happiness’ theme was also introduced in many countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and South America with songs produced by local artists and musicians. Altogether, the theme was a great success and in the blogs the phrase ‘open happiness’ increased 774 per cent the day after the first single was released in the US. In the top ten Google hits the music from the campaign was number one. The global campaign in 2017 ‘Taste the Feeling’ is anchored in compelling visual storytelling through hundreds of images. Each shot combines familiar Coca-Cola icons, like the contour glass bottle and red disc, with elements of both intimacy and mystery. Music plays a key role in all ‘Taste the Feeling’ communications. A song produced by former artist and producer Avicii and featuring soulful singer Conrad Sewell serves as the ‘Taste of Feeling’ campaign anthem. It includes a new audio signature inspired by the sounds of enjoying a Coca-Cola – the pop of the cap, the fizz and, ultimately, refreshment. Coca-Cola is central to each part; without it, there is no story. For Coca-Cola, brand sound, music and sonic branding have been a part of the communication for a long time. The audio signature is the ‘five-note melody’ and is integrated across all communication of the brand from TV to digital to mobile and everywhere where sound should be present. Also, the noise of the bottle cap belongs to the most distinguished elements in sonic branding.

QUESTIONS 1

2

3

Discuss and analyse the use of artists and music in Coca-Cola’s global campaigns. What are the main reasons to link music and songs to a beverage like Coke? Mention three reasons from the company’s point of view for a sensory marketing perspective. Discuss and analyse the ‘Open Happiness’ campaign on a global and local level. Why was the campaign successful and what were the main reasons for that? Present three arguments and exemplify what you mean. Criticism of Coca-Cola has concerned issues such as business practices, environmental impact and health effects coming from consumer groups, environmentalists and gate keepers. The classic Coca-Cola has a high calorific value from sugar with various health effects on its consumers. Evaluate and discuss how the use of music might influence individuals negatively and result in various side effects concerning quality of life.

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FURTHER READING Argo, J., Popa, M. & Smith, M.C. (2010). ‘The sound of brands’, Journal of Marketing, 74, July: 97–109. Michel, A., Baumann, C. & Gayer, L. (2017). ‘Thank you for the music – or not? The effects of instore music in service settings’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 36: 21–32. Treasure, J. (2011). Sound Business: How to Use Sound to Grow Profits and Brand Value. Kemble: Management Books.

5

SENSORY PRINCIPLES FOR SMELL

CHAPTER CONTENTS 5.0 Introduction

110

5.1

The Human Nose and Smelling

110

5.2

Characteristics of Smell

112

Physiological aspects

112

Psychological aspects

114

Olfactory Perception and Societal Culture

116

What is olfactory perception?

116

Individual preferences

116

Group preferences

118

Scent symbolism

120

Service Environments

121

Olfactory stimuli

121

Ambient scents

121

Mood and behaviour

124

Scent symbolism

126

Brands and Products

127

Olfactory stimuli

127

Scents in advertising

127

Scents in product evaluation

128

Scents in services

129

5.3

5.4

5.5

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Mood and behaviour

129

Scent symbolism

130

5.6

Chapter Summary

132

5.7

The Case of Singapore Airlines (SIA)

133

Questions 134 Further Reading

134

5.0 INTRODUCTION The chapter gives an overview of the sense of smell and its importance in sensory marketing. Especially, the characteristics of smell, its role in different cultures as well as the significance of olfactory cues and stimuli for brands, products and service environments will be analysed and discussed. After reading the chapter, you should be able to: 1 2 3 4 5

Explain how the sense of smell works at an individual level. Discuss the role of sound in different societal cultures. Analyse the importance of olfactory cues and stimuli for brands, products and service environments. Describe how a company could apply olfactory stimuli in marketing practice. Discuss the advantages/disadvantages of olfactory stimuli in sensory marketing.

5.1 THE HUMAN NOSE AND SMELLING The sense of smell works in an unborn child already after 12 weeks in the womb of the mother. In the foetal stage an individual can perceive and experience various kind of scents, i.e. aromatic chemicals, emanating from the food the mother eats. The ability to smell is developed before birth, in contrast to vision – it takes years before an individual has developed full sight. Furthermore, it is possible for individuals to remember scents or fragrances from early childhood and to relive them in another personal context later in life giving happiness and joy. Smell is also of utmost importance for an individual’s gastronomic or physical taste and it is believed that scents lay the ground for taste perception and taste experience. It is assumed that various scents might generate up to 80 per cent of an individual’s perceived taste. Brands like Coca-Cola and Pepsi would not taste as they do if different scents did not have a prominent role in the taste experience. A general assumption is that different scents or odours, either artificial or natural, influence an individual’s cognition, emotions and behaviour (Spence et al., 2014).

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Just the fact that fragrances unconsciously impact an individual’s mood in a negative or positive way illustrates the effect of scents. A classic example is the smell of newly baked bread at home or in a bakery when you pass through, which for most individuals happens in an unconscious way, giving the impulse to buy some bread or cakes. It is evident that some individuals lose an emotional dimension of their daily lives if they cannot smell things in their surroundings. This might result in feelings of sadness and depression. In ancient times scents were often used as perfumes in societal cultures to highlight an individual’s power, social status and wealth. Scents were also seen a royal gift in ancient Egypt and scents were prominent in the Roman Empire in perfumed bath water. For a long time, it was seen as something luxurious for an individual to smell good, but nowadays it is a rule rather than an exception. For that reason, scents in Eastern and Western cultures have been gradually developed during the last centuries, through new sophisticated methods and applications used in preserving and presenting scents. When it comes to developing new scents the top ‘noses’ tend to be male as the hormonal fluctuations of women do not fit with the sensitivity of a nose. In the perfume capital of Grasse in France, where top secret perfume scents for famous brands such as Armani, Chanel, Dior, Gucci and Kenzo have been developed during the last 300 years, the profession of being a perfume composer has passed from father to son. Around 200 male noses exist in the world with the ability and capacity to create new, secret fragrances.

Scent marketing refers to how companies should be able to apply and make use of various scents in their marketing activities and strategies (Morrin, 2010). It is obvious that

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scents play a crucial role in creating attention and attracting individuals to certain brands or products. Especially, retailers use scents in service environments to stimulate individuals’ cognition, emotions and purchase behaviour. It has been shown that the introduction of an ambient scent in a retail environment influences shoppers to touch the products, stay longer and increase their purchase of the products (Hultén, 2012). Nowadays it is easy for retailers to apply scents inside and outside their stores through what is called nebulization technology. By using this technology, it is possible to spray liquid aerosols in, for example, a mall, a restaurant or a supermarket, close to the shelves or in the shelves. Furthermore, fragrances can also be easily distributed via an air and ventilation system or through a fan, hence why scent marketing has become more common and popular among companies.

5.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF SMELL Physiological aspects Olfactory perception All of us perceive and experience scents and odours directly through the nose and its olfactory cells. Each one of us has around 5 million olfactory cells in the nasal cavity and the sense of smell can detect more than a trillion scents. Moreover, each of these cells is specialized in identifying individual scents and a unique factor is that no transformation of the scent takes place on its way to the brain. The olfactory bulb, i.e. the brain’s basic odour area, receives electrical signals from the olfactory cells. These signals then send information to other specific parts of the brain, and in the cerebral cortex this information is processed in order to characterize a specific scent or odour (Figure 5.1). The study of the function and organization of the sense of smell by Richard Axel and Linda Buck, the 2004 Nobel Laureates in Physiology and Medicine, gave new insights and knowledge about its prominent role in perceiving and experiencing scents. The sensory organ is detailed and small, located in the top of the nasal cavity that consist of three floors. Usually the air a person inhales during normal and quiet breathing goes via the bottom two floors. When you start to hold a rose to your nose the air goes on to the third floor. The actual scent is perceived more clearly and distinctly because the scent molecules come closer to the olfactory receptors in the back of the nose. All of us can perceive and remember an unbelievable amount of different combinations of scents. The reason is that each fragrance consists of several distinct scent molecules. Because of this design the olfactory system allows every human being to experience the smell of a newly bloomed cherry tree in the summer as well as remember and recall the perceived scent later.

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Olfactory Bulb Olfactory Tract

SM

Olfactory Nerves

L EL

Figure 5.1  The anatomy of the nose

The time it takes for an individual to smell a specific scent and record it in the human brain is estimated to be about 400 milliseconds, nearly half a second. In comparison, a visual image falling on the retina of the eyes is registered in the brain after 45 milliseconds. Furthermore, it takes time for the brain to respond in a negative or positive way to the actual scent and it requires twice as long to perceive a scent compared to a visual image. So the sense of smell is the slowest of the five senses. The sense of smell is also seen as a synthetic sense meaning that if two scents, for example, chocolate and liquorice, are perceived together, it would smell different and new for each of us. It would certainly not smell like ‘chocolate liquorice’ and it is impossible to say what it would smell like. This indicates that it is also difficult to know how individuals will perceive and experience ‘new scents’ coming from special chemical compositions in the fragrance industry. Furthermore, it has been suggested that an individual’s experience of various scents can be explained by what is called trigeminal stimulation and genetic differences (Herz, 2007). The fact that scents might have an emotion linked to a specific odour is what trigeminal stimulation stands for. Each one of us has a sense for a scent emanating from the pain fibres, temperature or touch, in our faces and noses. It is well known that an ammonia odour gives a burning feeling and that the smell of mint is perceived as cold among most individuals. Following this the trigeminal stimulation system is triggered by various scents and odours in various ways. For example, a rose triggers trigeminal stimulation to a lesser degree in comparison with the smell of a skunk, which might bring individuals to tears because it is so strong. In the same way most individuals get tears in their eyes when

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smelling pepper or chopping onions. But how individuals perceive and experience different scents and odours can also be explained by each human being’s genetic code. Since every individual is unique with different olfactory receptors constructed genetically these directly impact how we on a personal level perceive and experience fragrances, scents and odours in the environment and its surroundings.

Psychological aspects It is assumed that human beings perceive and experience scents physically first and after that cognitively and/or emotionally. The psychological experience always occurs automatically within an individual and is either positive or negative. In that sense no cognitive or emotional efforts are required for individuals to experience various odours and scents. The immediate individual response to a scent is to dislike or like it as well as to get closer to it or just ignore it. Furthermore, it is not possible to correct a scent experience afterwards. Remembering a scent experience leads to an emotional memory association because scents and odours are connected to our long-term and short-term memories. It is believed that the functional and emotional experience of a scent happens at the same time, but the assessment relates to the emotional experience (Herz, 2010). In comparison with other sensory stimuli such as colour, design or texture, it is said that scents, as olfactory stimuli, induce more emotional memory experiences among individuals. It is evident that an individual’s ability to recognize a scent is related to the memory of an earlier scent experience. In a study it was shown that 70 per cent of the respondents after being directly exposed to a specific scent could remember the scent. After a year the number was only reduced to 65 per cent. Moreover, it is evident that olfactory stimuli might evoke more emotional memories compared to memories evoked by auditory, tactile or visual stimuli. It is also believed that scents linked to such experiences might create and stimulate certain emotions such as happiness, joy or rage, influencing an individual’s behaviour and mood. Sometimes an individual is so strongly affected that tears might appear, based on an individual’s past experiences and memories associated with happy or unhappy life events.

Affective responses For a long time, a general opinion has been that an individual’s scent preferences are embedded in the genes and are innate. But studies have shown that an individual’s perceptions of special fragrances and odours are learnt and not innate (Herz et al., 2004). It seems that an individual’s scent preferences cannot be natural because many children are

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indifferent to various scents in their childhood. The reason could be that they have not learnt what a bad or a good smell stand for. Through what is called associative learning an individual learns how a scent should be connected to her or his previous experiences in relation to hedonic scent perception. It might happen when a fragrance or scent causes an emotional state associated with previous experiences of a scent influencing an individual’s mood and when a fragrance or a scent generates an emotional response based on the hedonic content (Herz, 2010). It is obvious that associative learning impacts an individual’s hedonic perception of scents. A study showed how mothers of young children consuming coffee, garlic and smoking cigarettes during the pregnancy influenced their children’s smell preferences in comparison with mothers not consuming such items.

Cognition It is assumed that if a hedonic scent perception impacts an individual’s mood it might also influence cognitive behaviour. It has been shown that humour and mood affect the creativity of an individual in the sense that individuals show a higher degree of creativity when they are in a good mood compared to a bad mood. The problem-solving ability of individuals was improved when pleasant ambient scents were introduced compared to a non-pleasant scent in service environments. Moreover, it has been shown that employees working in a service environment with pleasant scents seem to do a better job. It was reported that they used more effective work strategies, set higher goals and were more effective compared to colleagues in a nonscented service environment.

Effects The perceptual process of the sense of smell is relatively slow when it comes to identifying scents and odours present in the environment and its surroundings. It takes rather a long time for an individual to process this information. The duration of scents and odours in the environment may also vary because of the airflow and temperature, making the duration of the perceptual process more doubtful. Most individuals can adapt to a scented store environment and after some time the awareness of the scents disappears slowly. It is also possible to neutralize a strongly scented environment to deter customers leaving the store to avoid the scent, for example, in a perfume store small cups of coffee beans might neutralize the fragrances for the customers. Finally, it should be mentioned that pleasant scents might create a personalized meaning for many individuals. They are often linked to positive emotions, like being happy or in love, while unpleasant scents create negative emotions such as being sad. An individual

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might have problems with putting words on a smell but a scent can be remembered better than a visual image. In this way scents and odours have effects on an individual’s cognition, emotions and behaviour.

5.3 OLFACTORY PERCEPTION AND SOCIETAL CULTURE What is olfactory perception? Olfactory perception means how individuals receive and interpret existing olfactory cues and stimuli in the environment and the outside world in everyday life. Environmental factors such as humidity, temperature and wind condition impact an individual’s perception of a scent. Some of us prefer to present ourselves with respectable fragrances or scents at home, at school or at work because people around us will be aware of a bad or a good smell. Moreover, many of us have formed habits when it comes to eliminating unpleasant odours through taking a bath in the evening or shower in the morning. Each societal culture has its own social norms in defining what is a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ scent. When an individual gets the compliment from other people that ‘You smell so good’ it shows acceptance for how they prefer to present themselves in relation to others. Also, odours emanating from body sweat, old food or old garbage represent different meanings in different societal cultures. These smells and odours might be perceived and experienced completely differently by individuals in terms of olfactory perception.

Individual preferences An individual’s olfactory perception is strictly individual and personal. Everyone has a unique scent identity: what is called a ‘fragrance fingerprint’. This ability is innate and comprises an emotional evaluation of all olfactory cues and stimuli that a person receives on a daily basis. All of us evaluate scents and odours by hedonic rather than analytical approval or disapproval. It is evident that the most basic and immediate reaction of an individual to a scent or an odour is to like or dislike it. It happens automatically and we do not think about whether or not the scent was pleasant in the moment it reaches the nose and the nasal cavity. We never raise the question: ‘What kind of smell was that?’ A general assumption is that an individual’s perception of a scent is positively influenced by the familiarity, intensity and pleasantness of the scent. A common explanation is that most individuals perceive and experience pleasant and known scents as positive, i.e. familiar scents are preferred compared to unfamiliar scents. The intensity of a scent has to do with whether or not an individual prefers the scent. It might happen that a pleasant scent

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with a high level of intensity is perceived as too strong, which may result in the scent being unpleasant. In this case the hedonic experience of the scent becomes negative. Most individuals perceive smells such as decayed plants, old milk and skunks as unpleasant. On the other hand, floral scents are perceived as pleasant for most individuals. Moreover, it is obvious that newborn babies can perceive and react to pleasant food smells using their facial expressions just a couple of hours after they are born. The question is whether an individual’s scent preferences and hedonic responses are innate, natural or learnt. One opinion is that humans have some degree of predisposition for liking or not liking different types of odours and scents. If the scent of a rose is valued as a good scent compared to the scent of a skunk as a bad scent it would mean that the reaction is innate. The following example illustrates how scents might affect individuals.

The novel Perfume written by Patrick Süskind is based on a main character completely without body odour. But he was born with a special sense of smell; he never forgets a scent. With the help of his unique skill, as a perfume developer, he can manipulate the emotions and behaviour of people around him by giving himself different scents. The main point of the novel is that scents create an effect, but that those who react to the scents are largely unaware of it, which also emphasizes the scent’s mysterious nature.

On the other hand, in a learning perspective it is suggested that all humans are born with a hedonic ability to like or not like scents. In this regard the emotional association means that individuals prefer certain scents and not others as a result of associative learning. Then, the emotions occurring from the hedonic olfactory perception are the stimulus itself related to the actual odours and scents. Moreover, it is evident that scents as stimuli impact the individual’s memory and many individuals might remember these scents for a long time during their lives in comparison with visual images. It is believed that 90 per cent of women and 80 per cent of men can associate a specific scent with their individual experiences and memories.

Age and gender Women’s olfactory perception is somewhat stronger than men’s when it comes to discovering, discriminating between and identifying various scents. Even at the infant level it is assumed that female children might perceive scents better compared to male children. In general, the conclusion is that women seem to have a stronger sense of smell. Another factor that might explain how men and women perceive and experience scents is related to the women’s menstrual cycle. During the ovulation period women are more sensitive – up to 10,000 times – in comparison with men. For that reason, the sensitivity to scents for women seems to be higher during this period compared to males.

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It is also believed that women suffer more from over-sensitivity to scents; for example, fragrances and perfumes resulting in illness or nausea. When it comes to individual differences, mental and physical health seems to impact the ability to perceive and feel scents and odours. Also, factors such as age and impulsivity affect an individual’s scent preferences (Morrin & Chebat, 2005). It is also assumed that people’s sensitivity to scents and odours starts to deteriorate around the age of 15 to 20. Moreover, it has been shown that among older shoppers their willingness to make purchases significantly decreased when applying an ambient scent in a shopping mall (Chebat et al., 2009).

Men and women’s ability to drive a car was influenced in a positive way when a pleasant lemon scent was introduced in a car simulator. Especially, the ability to handle the car on the road was improved and men did a little bit better compared to women. Moreover, it was evident that men and women improved equally regarding the ability to brake quickly. A conclusion was that in daily life pleasant scents might improve an individual’s alertness in various environments where no scents were present.

Group preferences Individuals from different societal cultures perceive and prefer scents and odours differently. This can be illustrated by how the smell of cheese is much appreciated by individuals in Western Europe while individuals in Southeast Asia perceive it as a rotten odour. In this regard olfactory perception is a cultural phenomenon influencing how individuals might perceive a scent or an odour differently as well as creating memorable scent experiences.

Lemon, mint, VIM, freshly washed clean sheets, mountain smell, Alps, ventilated spaces, freshly cooked food, GLADE

Garbage, old food, musty, stale air, dirty clothes

Christmas smell, forest, candles, beer, wine, cookies, Christmas food, warmth, homely, fireplace, sausages

Church smells, flowers, stones

Low emotive: Clean place

Low emotive: Unclean place

High emotive: Happy/celebratory

High emotive: Sad/funeral

Source: Lawin and Wijaya (2010)

Germany/UK/France

Context

Flowers, candle, earth

Pie, ham, Christmas tree, pine, cake, candles, turkey, chocolate, eggnog, snow, champagne

Garbage, spoiled food, sewage, stuffy, stale

Pine, chlorides, detergents like TIDE and CHEER, fresh air, lemon, strawberry, orange, grapefruit, mountain breeze, ocean breeze

US

Table 5.1  Cultural associations of smells in low and high emotional contexts

Burning, Bhopal leaves, incense

Curry, spices, sweet smells, cake, herbs, oil lamps, incense, whisky

Garbage, stale, spoilt food

Citrus, fresh air, meadows and mountains, lemon and lime, orange, sunny smell, VIM, TIDE detergent, paint, flowers

Pakistan and India

Joss sticks, floral, ash, incense, burnt paper, porridge

Fresh notes, Chinese cookies, barbecue pork, coconut oil, cake, fried chicken, oranges, money smell, liquor, carbonated drinks, fireworks, herbs

Garbage, salted fish, smoke, sour, burnt, dust, rotten food, stuffy

Lemon, lime, lavender, floral, DETTOL, TIDE, sunned, citrus, mint, lime, woody, running water, Alpine mountains, air freshener, fresh paint, detergent, KIWI, GOOD, MAID

Singapore, China, Malaysia

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In a high emotional context characterized by being excited, happy or sad, highly culture-specific scent associations are often developed. This illustrates the importance of an individual’s own societal culture in understanding the meaning of scents in relation to, for example, Christmas or the Chinese New Year. In a low emotional context characterized by a place that was clean or unclean the scent associations were rather universal regarding its character. Here scents such as air spray, citrus and natural fragrances were associated with a clean room (Table 5.1). In Ethiopia, among the Dassanetch people, the smell of cattle stands for fertility and social status. Because of this, individuals use the cattle urine to wash their body and hands illustrating the attractiveness of the smell. In China, people associate burning smells from heat with bitter tastes and the colour red. Furthermore, in countries like Brazil and Senegal some tribes give meaning to various scents based on their own scent classifications in order to distinguish between them.

Scent symbolism Many individuals have a problem giving a symbolic label or a symbolic word to an odour or a scent, the so-called tip-of-the-nose effect, even though it is possible for each one of us to differentiate between experienced scents from earlier situations in our lives. When it comes to the Proust phenomenon, emanating from the French writer Marcel Proust, it is about the sudden occurrence of a powerful memory from earlier scent experiences. It is accepted that a special scent can evoke an individual’s emotional memories in the sense that forgotten experiences suddenly appear in the mind. It is also assumed that scents as cues and stimuli evoke memories among individuals that are always seen as significantly more emotional compared to the memories coming from other sensory stimuli. In this regard people experience the feeling of having been sent back to the time and the place of the memory in question. For this reason, scents can focus on specific emotions based on emotional scent experiences with an impact on the mood and the behaviour of individuals. In ancient times, the sense of smell was nicknamed ‘the secret seducer’ with the ability to dissolve an individual’s resistance to different erotic and sexual temptations. Moreover, scents as symbols have been used for decades by artists and models to evoke cultural, emotional and psychological connections. The entire physical body can be reached through the sense of smell resulting in an immediate emotional reaction in an individual, which is not possible only through the eyes and the sense of vision. Nowadays, it is obvious that fragrances, perfumes and incenses as olfactory cues and stimuli symbolize the power and strength of the sense of smell in comparison with the visual images of the sense of vision. One reason is the fact that various scents seem to work on a more subtle level when it comes to the unconscious perception of

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an individual. The visual experience of a phenomenon, through scents and odours, as symbols, might be transformed to a multi-sensory experience. In general, scents and odours, as symbols, are linked to different races or social groups with their own special characters. Moreover, an assumption is that body odours are dependent on genetic factors, cultural contexts, as well as consumed food. It is also believed that most people only notice odours or scents from people outside the group one belongs to. Today it is not so common as before to highlight social belongingness and social identity with a special societal culture and its scent connectedness. On the other hand, scents as invisible symbols might still play an important role for many individuals in giving meaning in different personal and social contexts.

5.4 SERVICE ENVIRONMENTS Olfactory stimuli In service environments like hotels, restaurants, retail stores or shopping malls, companies might apply scents and fragrances in creating an appealing atmosphere for the customers. As olfactory stimuli, scents enable affective and cognitive as well as behavioural reactions among many individuals. For example, the introduction of an ambient scent in a casino resulted in a significant increase of games on slot machines. A general assumption in biological research is that olfactory signals of different kinds, for example, in the form of airborne chemical substances, can deliver messages between animals, on the one hand, and between animals and plants, on the other hand. These substances are produced by an individual of one species and another individual of a different species uses them as information. Following this reasoning companies might apply various olfactory stimuli in communicating with individuals in a service environment. Especially, a service might be perceived as more concrete and tangible when a scent is present, resulting in a more memorable shopping experience. Ambient scents as olfactory cues and stimuli will now be presented and discussed.

Ambient scents Ambient scents influence an individual’s olfactory perception of a service environment with significant effects on cognition, emotions and actual behaviour (Spence et al., 2014). An ambient scent in, for example, a Home Depot department store should be prevalent and not connected to a special product or product category such as, for example, bedding and bath, furniture, kitchen, lamps or linen. It means that ambient scents could be applied in any type of physical service environment – but not in a digital environment – with the purpose of offering a more attractive and pleasing atmosphere for the customers. It might also result in staying longer in the service environment, a more positive assessment of the

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brands, the products and the services, as well as future intentions concerning increased return visits, time spent and money spent. When it comes to the impact of ambient scents two different aspects should be mentioned (Gulas & Bloch, 1995). An ambient scent is directly linked to an object, such as, for example, the sweat smell of a staff member or a special product like washing powder. The scent is also a part of the overall physical environment of a restaurant, a store or a supermarket. In this case the actual scent represents all the products and the services in the environment, because the aim of the scent is to create an attractive and engaging atmosphere in the service environment. It has been shown that ambient scents influence children’s and parents’ choices and purchases of food in a supermarket and a middle school cafeteria. When exposed to an indulgent food-related ambient scent – such as a cookie scent – it resulted in a lower purchase of unhealthy foods in comparison with no ambient scent or a non-indulgent food-related ambient scent – like a strawberry scent (Biswas & Szocs, 2019). In a shopping mall it was shown that the customers became more motivated to assist strangers to find the right way when ambient scents with the aroma of new baked bread or fresh coffee was introduced. The ambient scent also influenced staff members who believed that they were more effective, achieved higher goals and were using more effective strategies in their daily work. Altogether, ambient scents contribute to an individual’s feeling of comfort and well-being in service environments. The importance of ambient scents in physical service environments is related to the olfactory congruence or incongruence with the environment. Does the natural scent really fit with the products sold? For example, flower stores should smell of flowers and restaurants should smell of freshly cooked food and nothing else. It is all about ambient scents being congruent with the context in which they appear. Another question is whether the present ambient scent really influences the customer’s cognition, emotions and purchase behaviour. It is believed that customers waiting and queuing in stores have been less impatient because of the presence of an ambient scent. Finally, pleasant ambient scents perceived

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by the customers have positive effects on cognition, emotions and purchase behaviour while unpleasant scents, like odorants, might have negative effects resulting in negative reactions. The concept of place marker refers to how companies or organizations might use specific scents in relation to a store or a mall as well as a city, a square or a street. The idea is that different unique scents should create a special feeling for the place in question where the actual scent works as a place marker. On the other hand, retailers should not use scents as a place marker and instead use scents to create an image of a store. Furthermore, ambient scents can be applied in different places to create memories among individuals. For example, Miami has developed a unique scent that allows every visitor in Miami to associate the scent with the city and it is a mix of baby powder and citrus. It is believed that this special scent should capture the feeling of appreciation, excitement, sea and sun: the essence of Miami.

Scent associations In service environments like boutiques, coffee shops, malls, stores and supermarkets, productspecific scents appear and it is evident that these scents influence an individual’s perceptions and experiences of the environment as well as the existing brands, products and services. It has been shown that the presence of scents might lead to a more flexible and variety-seeking behaviour when the customers are looking for a suitable product (Bone & Ellen, 1999). A scent’s product resemblance means how well a scent has a natural link to a specific product, meaning that an orange should smell like an orange and nothing else. In the case of The Body Shop, the store atmosphere has natural scent connections to the brands and the products on the shelves that often gives the store a specific smell.

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When it comes to service environments like retail settings the question is what kind of ambient scents should fit with an otherwise odourless environment (Parson, 2009). The point is that most physical service environments do not smell by themselves but product-like scents might appear and influence the customers. Examples of odourless environments are fashion stores and electronic stores, while natural scents appear in bakery stores, coffee shops, florist stores, perfumeries or cosmetics shops. For example, the Swedish home interior retailer IKEA has not introduced ambient scents in their odour-free stores and follows the recommendations from the Swedish Allergy Association about the possible negative side-effects of scents. In a study by Parson (2009) it was assumed that a bookstore, a lingerie store and a kitchen appliance store had no product-specific scents linked to their environments. In a lab experiment they were characterized by having three different scenarios, namely, no scent at all, a non-associated scent and an associated scent. In a survey each participant was asked about what kind of scents they thought could be associated with the products in the stores. The results showed that the book store could be linked to a coffee scent, the lingerie shop with a perfume scent, and the kitchen appliance store with a soap fragrance. A conclusion from the study is that an associated scent in a normally odourless store could influence positive responses from the customers. But if the pleasant scent is not related to the products and the services of the store it might cause negative emotions or behaviours. In practice it means that it is possible to introduce ambient scents in odourless stores as an easy and cost-effective way to create an appealing atmosphere. Still, the question remains what kind of scents should fit with the products and the services that the odourless store provides to its customers.

Mood and behaviour A general assumption is that an individual’s mood is influenced by olfactory perception through various ambient scents. However, few studies can give scientific evidence to support this assumption. In a meta study it was found that only 16.1 per cent of 22 reported empirical studies could give significant evidence (Bone & Ellen, 1998). Despite this, it is believed that various scents impact an individual’s mood and purchase behaviour (see Table 5.2). Table 5.2  Effects of scents Citrus

The scent can improve mood and cognitive performance

Mint

The scent reduces stress and increases mental concentration

Vanilla

The scent is one of the most attractive scents, it can increase comfort and reduce stress

Lavender

The scent has a relaxing effect and eases anxiety and insomnia

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A study investigated the effects of a pleasant, citrus scent (a combination of grapefruit, lemon and orange) sprayed out in a shopping mall environment every 10 minutes (Chebat & Michon, 2003). It was shown that the scent contributed to establishing a positive perception of the physical service environment with a significant impact on the mood of the customers, which indirectly influenced their perception of the quality of the different products and services. An important conclusion was that the ambient scent also increased the relaxed customer’s propensity to buy. Among individuals an ambient scent might create a positive mood as well as behavioural responses based on the emotional associations that are made in relation to the actual scent. But it is difficult to know if these associations might be linked to previous scent experiences. On the other hand, it can happen that individuals can connect to and remember a scent from previous scent experiences. The following example illustrates how the use of scents can influence people’s perception and mood in a physical service environment.

At Florida Hospital’s Seaside Center they have created environments in the hospital that will contribute to the patients’ well-being and health. The company has done this through the use of scent machines, which spread scents of the ocean, coconut oil and vanilla in a hospital environment. The scent of vanilla is used, for example, in the fMRI room, where the scent is said to help people feel less claustrophobic.

It is evident that pleasant, ambient scents in service environments influence an individual’s emotions and purchase behaviour through increased time spent, i.e. staying longer in a store, spending more money as well as a higher propensity to make a purchase. Especially, the olfactory congruence with the brand image also influences an individual’s attitude, arousal and perception of the store atmosphere (Errajaa et al., 2019). Moreover, it has been shown that when the actual scent is congruent with the environment, its products and services, customers spend more time collecting and processing information about the products and the services. For example, the introduction of a lavender scent (not lemon) influenced individuals in a pizzeria to stay longer and they spent 15 per cent more time in the store (Guéguen & Petr, 2006). It has also been shown that individuals think they have spent more time in a pleasantly scented environment than the actual time spent there. In a study by Spangenberg et al. (2006) female and male shoppers spent more time in the clothing store and its departments when the applied ambient scent was congruent with the rage of clothes on offer. Furthermore, a feminine fragrance was introduced in the women’s departments and a masculine scent in the men’s departments. In this regard a conclusion is that a fit between the actual scent, the gender and the products is necessary and not only between the actual scent and the products.

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Finally, it should be mentioned that the intensity of a scent, i.e. the extent to which a scent is strong or weak, impacts an individual’s cognition, emotions and purchase behaviour. A scent must not necessarily be strong to influence individuals and even weak scents might impact the perception and mood of individuals.

Scent symbolism Ambient scents in physical service environments can work as symbols of earlier memorable scent experiences and enhance an individual’s scent experience. It is generally accepted that different scents contribute to an individual’s feelings of comfort and wellbeing. Certain scents, for example, basil, cinnamon, citrus and lavender, influence people to be more relaxed, whereas scents like peppermint, rosemary and thyme contribute to a more refreshing feeling. Moreover, scents such as cardamom, chocolate and licorice might offer a feeling of romance among individuals. A scent like vanilla is an important ingredient in a lot of perfumes and it is said to be associated with lovely childhood memories. As a scent symbol vanilla has become connected to attributes like kindness, softness and warmth, but also is linked to purity and simplicity. Also, in other contexts, not only for perfumes, the term ‘pure vanilla’ symbolizes the honest, the pure and the unadulterated.

A study showed that the vanilla scent had a significant impact on the approach/ avoidance behaviour of shoppers in a fashion store as well as on money spent and the number of purchases (Spangenberg et al., 2006). Furthermore, in service environments such as surgery and waiting rooms it is evident that the presence of vanilla has positive

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effects in reducing fear and stress. Six out of ten patients reported that they were less fearful during magnetic resonance imaging when a vanilla scent was present. The effects of vanilla and cinnamon, as warm scents, and eucalyptus and peppermint, as cold scents, were investigated in a store (Madzharov et al., 2015). It was evident that shoppers showed more attention towards high-end products when warm scents were present. These scents seem to have the ability to change an individual’s olfactory perception of higher social density in-store. At the same time the environment around them was deemed to be more ‘socially dense’ or more crowded. Because of the loss of perceived control of the social environment shoppers prefer to buy premium products to get power and status back.

5.5 BRANDS AND PRODUCTS Olfactory stimuli For decades scents have been applied by companies to create an appealing, emotional connection to their brands and products, through so-called scent manipulation. But it is also a question of giving the actual brand an identity that distinguishes it from the competitors. As said before, an ambient scent in a physical service environment might impact the overall olfactory perception of a brand for an individual, but the introduction of a product scent is directly related to a specific brand and its products. For example, it has been shown that freshly baked cinnamon buns in a coffee shop evoked sexual arousal among young men. When it comes to product scents the application can be designed as 1) a primary product attribute, 2) a secondary product attribute and finally 3) advertising and sales promotion measures. If a product scent is the primary product attribute the actual scent characteristics influence individuals to pay attention to and probably make a purchase of the actual brand. Often this is the case for products like air fresheners, hygiene products or perfumes, where people want to smell good or use a pleasant scent in their homes. When a product scent is a secondary product attribute the actual scent is used in creating an emotional association to a certain brand. It might happen if the product is odourless and a company wants to develop a special type of product scent that could be congruent with the product. For example, car manufacturers apply scents in order that customers remember a specific brand based on their associations with the brand. On the other hand, many customers, especially in the US, like the brand new smell of a car and want only that smell when they buy a new car.

Scents in advertising A general opinion is that different scents in a scent strategy can be expressed visually in ads and commercials through illustrations and images based on an individual’s

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previous experiences. It is explained by the emotional reactions, either bad or good, relating to the different scent experiences for an individual. In this regard companies might be using the connection between a product scent, the associations it creates and the memories of individuals. Often in advertising and promotion product scents are used to provide a special buzz word around a brand. It appears in the context of scented billboards, scented magazines, scented newspapers and signs. An example of this is the cooperation between Starbucks coffee shops and the Omni Hotel, where the hotel guests were given a so-called ‘scratchand-sniff’ tag in the USA Today newspaper. When the hotel guests received the newspaper a tag that smelled like blueberry muffins was included to inspire them to buy muffins at Starbucks, which was closely situated to the Omni Hotel. But it is not guaranteed that a scent strategy works all the time and the following example illustrates this.

The California Milk Processor Board introduced ‘Got Milk?’ – a scented outdoor advertising campaign at five bus stops in San Francisco. The idea was to catch people’s attention by getting them to think about cookies and to provoke fantasies about dipping these cookies in milk. But the campaign failed and was taken down because many individuals complained about the smell at the bus stops. So instead of having a successful scent strategy the result was an anti-odour and anti-allergy message from people.

Scents in product evaluation It is believed that scents are the most influential olfactory stimuli with their ability to trigger an individual’s memory and associations. Especially, when it comes to bringing up emotional memories in comparison with other sensory stimuli for vision, sound, touch and taste. For companies it means that scent strategies could be developed in enhancing a brand’s identity and that product scents play a major role in product evaluation. Laird (1932) showed the impact of product scents on individuals’ product evaluation in a door-to-door survey. It was found that when women evaluated silk stockings scented with a floral scent the evaluation was more positive. Usually, silk stockings provided the customers with a mildly unpleasant odour at that time. On the other hand, it is obvious that printed ads with glued ‘scratch-and-sniff’ tags do not positively influence an individual’s product evaluation (Bone & Ellen, 1998). Instead a negative effect was found because the actual scent was not perceived as congruent with the advertised product. When a pleasant scent is present in a room, individuals spend more time studying product packages on a computer screen (Morrin & Ratneshwar, 2003). An explanation is that the ability of a scent supports an individual in remembering a specific brand just

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because of its scent. Especially, in product evaluation it is evident that scents influence and enhance an individual’s memory. Krishna, Lwin and Morrin (2009) investigated specific product scents – as secondary product attributes for products such as facial tissue and pencils – and their effects on individuals’ memories. The results of the first study, where the memory image of scented pencils and non-scented pencils was examined, showed that the actual product scent influenced the memory image of the product information. A conclusion was that the effect of the scented pencil had an impact, both short-term and long-term, on the memory image of the pencil. In a second study non-scented/scented facial tissues were investigated in a nonscented/scented room with both the product scent and the ambient scent present. A conclusion was that the product scent was more effective compared to the ambient scent in the room in enhancing the memory image of the product information. It was also obvious that the product scent resulted in long-lasting association possibilities between other product attributes and the scent up to two weeks after the exposure. Following this conclusion product scents seems to be very effective for companies to apply in enhancing the memory image of a single brand or product.

Scents in services Product scents work in relation to physical products and the question is whether the same reasoning is valid for services delivered by service companies. A core service is untouchable and intangible, which is a key difference compared to physical products. On the other hand, it has been suggested that services could become clearer and more visible by applying scents in physical service environments like shops and supermarkets where the core services are provided to the customers. This is also the case in many service companies like hospitals, hotels and restaurants. Service companies should consider four important aspects before adding a ‘service scent’ to their offerings, especially whether it should contribute to enhancing brand identity and competitive advantage in relation to the competitors. First, should a scent be present or absent; second, the pleasantness or unpleasantness of the scent; third, how does the scent fit with the actual service provided; and finally, how should the relationship between the scent and the individual’s memory be expressed in creating the associations with the service.

Mood and behaviour It is believed that memory associations influence an individual’s hedonic experience of scents. Furthermore, an ambient scent or a product scent contribute to more emotional and mood-rich memories than other sensory stimuli for vision, sound, touch and taste.

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Especially, these scents might result in special emotions affecting an individual’s mood and behaviour. It is well known that pleasant scents, for example, baby powder and perfumes, influence an individual’s mood positively. Likewise, it has been found that unpleasant odours or scents such as rotten fish or aged cheese resulted in a worse mood for some individuals. When it comes to the importance of mood it has a well-known impact on the affective and emotional states among individuals. For example, it influences an individual’s creativity and those who are in positive mood are more creative than those with a negative mood. It has been shown that when an ambient scent such as walnut (compared to an unpleasant scent) was introduced in a physical service environment, people’s ability to solve problems increased. The presence of an ambient scent or a product scent in a social environment enhance individuals’ productivity as well as willingness to assist other people, for example, customers or staff members.

Scent symbolism Companies use product scents in order to express and symbolize a brand’s identity in relation to customers and shoppers. The main opportunity is to build emotional associations and establish memories and give the opportunity for individuals to experience and remember the actual brand. However, due to the fact that product scents are invisible and do not provide any kind of visible information it is said that visual and verbal stimuli have a greater impact when it comes to how a scent is perceived. An example is the Febreze Air products introduced by Procter and Gamble, which aimed to make younger consumers perceive air scent products as cool and trendy. One of the products named Scentstories was designed as a CD player, which included play and stop buttons that released scents instead of music. A scent brand or an olfactory brand is a scent registered as a trademark legally. In order to be accepted for registration in the US, all applications, with samples, must be smelled by a government examiner at the US Patent Office. A scent brand must be represented graphically at some authorities to show how it can be perceived and interpreted in order to avoid subjective elements. Furthermore, a scent brand also must show how it distinguishes itself from other brands and products, which might be tricky. An example of a registered olfactory brand in the US is the ‘Flowery Musk Scent’ in Verizon Stores. In the application it was expressed that this smell should differentiate their retail stores ‘from other communications and consumer electronics retailers in an increasingly crowded field’ (Greene, 2013). It was accepted as an official trademark in October 2014. Another registered trademark is the ‘Bubble Gum Scent for Sandals’ owned by the Brazilian Footwear company Grendene. In June 2015 the company trademarked the product line of bubble gum-scented jelly sandals. The application sent to the Commissioner

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for Trademarks received a note saying ‘The applicant … respectfully submits the enclosed sandal as evidence’ (Greene, 2013). For products with natural contained scents such as bananas, coffee and oranges, it makes no sense to register an olfactory brand. A manufacturer of a coffee brand who wants to register such a brand must demonstrate what distinguishes the product from the brand when it comes to the smell of coffee. It would be very difficult to claim what could be different due to the natural smell of coffee that is an inherent part of the product.

For products without any natural contained scent it is easier for a manufacturer to ask for a registration of a scent brand. In this case no natural association or connection exists with the product and it is possible to create a suitable scent that might be logically connected to the brand. This can be illustrated with case of the Dutch company Senta and its olfactory brand for tennis balls. They contain ‘the smell of fresh, cut grass’ and have been protected because the scent was enough clear and distinctive in an objective way. Not all olfactory brands have a smell giving a natural association and connection with the brand as in the case of Senta. For these brands the focus is to offer a scent experience that differentiates the brand from its competitors. But it is necessary for the scent to regularly belong to the actual product in creating a scent experience among individuals. A signature scent is a scent not registered as a trademark but used by companies as a symbol. It means that the scent is connected to and associated with a specific brand and expresses the brand’s identity. The main reason for a company to create a signature scent is its ability to appeal to an individual’s emotions and memories about the actual brand, illustrated in the following example.

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Westin Hotels have developed a signature scent based on white tea with the purpose to express the brand’s identity and personality. Especially, the scent expresses the lifestyle feeling the brand wants to provide to customers during their stay at the hotel. When the customers are leaving the hotel they are offered the chance to purchase ‘The White Tea Collection by Westin’ including scented candles and oils to bring the scent back home. It gives them the opportunity to feel the brand once again in their home environments.

A signature scent might have the same significance for companies as a colour, a font, a logo or a texture in creating associations with a certain brand. Moreover, a signature scent can be a well-known scent and may not be unique in any special respect. The fact that a signature scent is not legally protected does not mean it is without influence on an individual’s emotional associations and memories. Rather, the fact that the scent is known facilitates its function as a symbol for a special brand. An example of a signature scent (or aroma) is Singapore Airlines’ fragrance ‘Stefan Floridian Waters’, a blend of rose, lavender and citrus, applied in the flight attendants’ perfume, the aeroplane interiors and blended into the hot towels given out on take-off (Lindström, 2005). Altogether, the application of olfactory brands or signature scents, as symbols for brands and products, provides companies with opportunities to create and establish emotional associations and long-lasting memories of a brand.

5.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter presents and discusses the sensory principles of the sense of smell. The main characteristics of smell have been described in terms of physiological aspects regarding olfactory perception and the nose as a sensory organ as well as psychological aspects regarding cognitive and affective responses. The significance of olfactory perception is presented in relation to individual preferences, group preferences and scent symbolism in societal cultures. The most important part of the chapter concerns the analysis of olfactory cues and stimuli in the context of service environments as well as brands and products. For service environments olfactory stimuli such as ambient scents have been analysed and discussed in relation to scent associations as well as mood and behaviour. Likewise, the importance of olfactory cues and stimuli is analysed and discussed in the context of brands and products in relation to scents in advertising, scents in product evaluation, scents in services, mood and behaviour, as well as scent symbolism. The application of different olfactory stimuli is described through examples, illustrating the significance of scent stimuli for companies in marketing practice.

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5.7

THE CASE OF SINGAPORE AIRLINES (SIA)

In Asia Singapore Airlines is one of the most successful brands and has for a long time been one of the most profitable airline companies globally. The company also has the reputation of being a trendsetter and industry challenger. In 2017 Singapore Airlines was ranked 33rd in Fortune’s list of the ‘World’s most admired companies’ as well as being the highest-ranked Asian company at that time. The same year TripAdvisor ranked SIA the Best Major Airline in Asia Pacific and it received a ‘Travellers’ Choice 2017 Award’.

The history of the company goes back to 1972 when Singapore Airlines was established after a decision from the Malaysian and Singapore governments to start separate airlines. At this time no domestic routes existed, and the company had to start to compete with international airlines for new routes as well as get access to airports, secure flight slots and landing rights, and attract new customers. The company wanted to appear as one of the best airlines and decided to represent ‘Superior Quality’ of service through the SQ-code. In 1995 the company launched ‘KrisWorld’ in all flight classes as an advanced in-flight entertainment system. In 2007 it became the first airline in the world to fly with the largest aeroplane, the Airbus A-380. Today SIA flies to over 145 cities around the world. In 1972 the idea of ‘The Singapore Girl’ was born when the flight stewardesses would wear a special uniform – the sarong kebaya – designed by Pierre Balmain. It is evident that this strategy has been very successful and ‘The Singapore Girl’ has become a brand icon with an aura around her and a nearly mythical status. It is possible to say that ‘The Singapore Girl’ illustrates the hospitality and values of Asia, often described as caring, elegant, gentle, serene and warm. There is no doubt that ‘The Singapore Girl’ is a symbol of SIA’s commitment to service and quality excellence. Singapore Airlines has from the beginning built its brand on a product/service differentiation strategy based on brand attributes such as best technology, excellent (Continued)

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customer service, genuine quality and innovation. During its 47-year history it has been of importance to remain faithful to the eminent brand attributes that have created the successful brand. In order to succeed SIA has been a pioneer concerning in-flight experiential and entertainment innovations and was the first to introduce a choice of meals, free alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, free headphones, hot towels with a unique scent, personal entertainment systems and video-on-demand in all cabins. When it comes to excellent customer experience strategies applied by SIA, one is to provide customers with the best-in-class flying experience. It includes looking for familiar flavours to make the passengers feel at home. The menus are created to showcase the various culinary influences from the regions in Asia. For example, the flight menu offers authentic premium jasmine tea from Fuji, green tea from Japan and masala from Assam as well as wines from different parts of the world. In order to enhance the in-flight customer experience SIA has introduced a personal company scent exclusively created for the experience. It is called ‘Stefan Floridian Waters’ and is a fragrance mix emanating from citrus, lavender and rose. The patented aroma has become a distinct and unique trademark of Singapore Airlines. The scent is present on the flight attendants, in the cabins, on the hot towels and through the entire fleet. Customers who remember the unique scent describe it as exotically Asian, distinctly feminine and smooth. Moreover, customers seem to recognize the scent when coming back for subsequent flights with Singapore Airlines.

QUESTIONS 1

Discuss and analyse the development of the signature scent ‘Stefan Floridian Waters’. What are the main arguments for Singapore Airlines to introduce scents linked to the SIA brand? Mention three arguments and justify the decision from a sensory marketing perspective. 2 Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of introducing a signature scent in a service environment like the cabin of an aircraft for the crew and the passengers. Mention at least one advantage and disadvantage for each group. 3 Discuss the use of the signature scent from an ethical point of view. What are the side effects in relation to how the scent might influence an individual’s cognition, emotions and actual behaviour during a flight?

FURTHER READING Herz, R.S. (2007). The Scent of Desire: Discovering Our Enigmatic Sense of Smell. New York: Harper Collins. Morrin, M. (2010). ‘Scent marketing: An overview’, in A. Krishna (ed.), Sensory Marketing: Research on the Sensuality of Products. New York: Routledge, pp. 75–86. Spangenberg, E.R., Sprott, D.E., Grohmann, B. & Tracy, D.L. (2006). ‘Gender-congruent ambient scent influences on approach and avoidance behaviours in a retail store’, Journal of Business Research, 59: 1281–1287.

6

SENSORY PRINCIPLES FOR TOUCH

CHAPTER CONTENTS 6.0 Introduction

136

6.1

The Human Body and Touching

136

6.2

Characteristics of Touch

138

Physiological aspects

138

Psychological aspects

140

6.3

6.4

6.5

Tactile Perception and Societal Culture

142

What is tactile perception?

142

Touch symbolism

145

Service Environments

146

Tactile stimuli

146

Touching brands and products

146

Being touched by others

148

Brands and Products

151

Tactile stimuli

151

Haptic touch in product evaluation

151

Haptic touch and other stimuli

152

Touch symbolism

154

6.6

Chapter Summary

156

6.7

The Case of Apple Stores

156

Questions 158 Further Reading

158

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6.0 INTRODUCTION The chapter gives an overview of the sense of touch and its importance in sensory marketing. Especially, the characteristics of touch, its role in different cultures as well as the significance of tactile cues and stimuli for brands, products and service environments will be analysed and discussed. After reading the chapter, you should be able to: 1 2 3 4 5

Explain how the sense of touch works at an individual level. Discuss the role of touch in different societal cultures. Analyse the importance of tactile cues and stimuli for brands, products and service environments. Describe how a company could apply tactile stimuli in marketing practice. Discuss the advantages/disadvantages of tactile stimuli in sensory marketing.

6.1 THE HUMAN BODY AND TOUCHING Imagine what it would be like to live and perceive the world around you without the feeling of touching humans or objects. The individual experience would not be built upon physiological and psychological interactions transmitting the tactile information that creates a feeling about brands and products (Peck & Childers, 2003). You would not be able to, for example, pick up a loaf of newly baked bread and find out whether it is fresh or a few days old or feel how a smartphone fits your fingers when touching the touchscreen.

There is no doubt that the sense of touch is crucial for humans when it comes to getting a feeling about brands and products by touching them. An individual’s physical and mental interaction with brand and products in various service environments has an immediate

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impact on the consumer’s cognition, emotions and purchase behaviour (Spence et al., 2014). In what has been called tactile marketing brands and products in service environments should be available in both a real and virtual context in offering customers physical as well as mental interactions, as illustrated in the following example by Howes and Classen (2014: 138).

Apple stores are designed to attract customers through a futuristic sensory aesthetic in glass and steel, with uncluttered walls and surfaces… Apple sales staff are trained to be warm but not pushy, and to encourage visitors to touch and interact with the products on display. Customers, indeed, are invited to think of the store as a play space. As a result, Apple stores serve as a sensory embodiment and promotion of the Apple brand as much as (if not more than) they serve as sites for retailing electronics.

The sense of touch is one of the most active senses together with vision, and they collaborate in identifying and processing sensory information about humans and objects. An individual discovers an object in two ways: first by finding it with the eyes and then by picking it up for detailed and deeper investigations. This is done through different hand movements and the fingertips are the main tool to discover the characteristics of different physical objects and things. It is evident that most individuals want to interact with brands and products in service environments by touching them to allow physical inspection. The possibility to touch objects also means that sensory information is received giving feelings about a brand, which increases an individual’s confidence in the actual brand. Moreover, an individual’s ability to touch the brand might also result in positive emotions, which can enhance positive attitudes and experiences of the actual brand. In different purchasing situations touching is of great importance in giving positive effects for brands and products, which can be reflected in the fact that impulse buying often takes place. On the other hand, touching an object might also influence a person’s behaviour in relation to other humans and not only in relation to the physical products and the staff of a store. A warm cup of tea or coffee in someone’s hands makes them more friendly towards the people around them (Williams & Bargh, 2008). Furthermore, if an individual is touched by, for example, a member of the store staff it is obvious that the perception of the store, the staff and the service level is influenced. When an employee puts a hand on a customer’s arm and they touch each other during the inspection of a product, this kind of touching might result in customers staying longer in the service environment as well as being more positive towards the actual store. Finally, when it comes to digital technology such as the Internet and different websites, the lack of ability to use the tactile sense for product evaluation is a major challenge for companies to overcome, when touching is a prerequisite for purchasing different brands and products. Especially, for clothing, electronics, fashion and other touch-related products where the sensory information is necessary for an individual’s purchase decisions.

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6.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF TOUCH Physiological aspects The sense of touch (or the tactile sense), sometimes called the haptic system, is activated when we use our hands, feet or skin to touch an object or a person. In many ways our fingers and hands explore these things and can be said to constitute the brain’s connection to the world outside ourselves. During physical contact with a person or an object we consider temperature, texture, weight or other attributes. This contact results in both physical and mental interactions with significant effects on an individual’s cognition, emotions and actual behaviour. It is believed that the sense of touch is the first of the human senses to develop, followed by smell, taste, hearing and vision. Already in the embryonic stage of a foetus, sensory information and feelings go through the skin and the foetus reacts to touch after seven weeks. As the body’s largest organ, the human skin corresponds to an area of approximately 2 square metres. The skin structure is shown in Figure 6.1.

Hair shaft Sweat Pore of sweat gland duct Epidermis Melanocytes Dermis Nerve fibres Lamellated corpuscle Artery Vein

Hypodermis Arrector pili muscle Hair follicle

Sweat gland duct

Sebaceous gland

Sweat gland Artery Vein Fat

Figure 6.1  The skin structure

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The sense of touch works primarily through its touch receptors transmitting signals to the sensory cortex. The receptors are placed in different parts of the body and the signals are received and stored in relation to the number of receptors in the whole body. For example, the fingertips have more space in the sensory cortex than the entire back, showing the sensitivity of our fingers and hands. This is explained by the fact that the receptors are located more closely on the fingertips and further away from each other on the back, around 70–90 mm distance.

The haptic system As early as the mid-1960s the tactile sense was accepted as a tool for receiving information about one’s own body, especially the skin with its feelings emanating from objects or people around us (Gibson, 1966). The haptic system enables an individual to get this information about the total body surface area as well as the entire human body and its parts by using the joints, muscles and tendons. Haptic perception is the information an individual receives about her/his movements through what is called the kinesthetic sense. When it comes to touching objects and people the fingers and hands are important, and the fingers can examine various objects by wrapping around them. Moreover, the fingers are used for exploring products and have the possibility to follow, for example, a smartphone’s lines and shapes. Most individuals use circular movements when exploring the structure of an object or a product as well as pressure to find out the degree of hardness of the object or the product. In some cases, individuals have a static contact with an object to feel the temperature and often just hold an object in their hands to find out its weight. A general conclusion is that if an individual wants to know more about a famous brand, they should feel it, pick it up and hold it as well as explore its shape and style with their fingertips. Overall, sensory mechanisms are found in an individual’s joints, muscles and tendons, giving valuable information about, for example, an armchair’s roughness, texture, softness or stability. It is believed that the tactile sense, with active touching, is an explanatory sense rather than a receptive sense. Using one’s hands or fingers to pick up or touch an object means that stimulation occurs. But the palms are not as sensitive as the fingertips, and how an individual experiences touch is to a large extent related to the finger movements of a person. For that reason, active touch, expressed as touching, should be distinguished from passive touch, expressed as being touched. It means that active touch comes from the skin of an individual perceiving a touch, while passive touch is related to someone else. When it comes to the effects of passive touch, it is well known that the hormone oxytocin

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is disengaged in the body, when being touched, for both men and women. For many individuals this results in a feeling of increased well-being, relaxation and lower levels of stress, especially after multiple touches.

Psychological aspects The sense of touch plays an important role in an individual’s intellectual development concerning cognition and emotions. These psychological functions are a result of an individual’s physical contact from early childhood. It is assumed that empathy can be expressed and communicated through the tactile sense. Moreover, the sense seems to have the ability to awake an individual and the hands of chiropractors, doctors, hairdressers and massage therapists influence an individual’s satisfaction and well-being. In general, many individuals through touch can identify and recognize an object as a brand or a product. The tactile sense can categorize different objects through a sensory processing information system in the human brain. This allows an individual to encode different stimuli of an object in relation to feeling and touching and to store this information in the memory. For example, it is possible for an individual to remember if an axe is sharp, a stone is hard or a tennis ball is soft.

Hedonic and instrumental touch It is believed that touch could be divided into hedonic touch and instrumental touch. Individuals who are touching objects in terms of hedonic touch often find it more interesting or fun and they seem to have a more hedonic need. Often the sensory aspects of a brand or a product are more focused and there is a need to touch in an exploratory way. For these individuals the desire to just feel the product by touching it is most important. At the same time, it does not necessarily mean that a purchase will take place (Peck & Wiggins, 2006). On the other hand, instrumental touch compared to hedonic touch is related to ‘touch to get non-haptic product information’, ‘touch to purchase’ or ‘touch to get haptic product information’. Instrumental touch means that individuals touch a brand or a product to get more information and knowledge about its characteristics, such as softness, type of textile or extensibility in product evaluation. It is assumed that instrumental touch can be considered as an end, maybe resulting in a purchase (Peck & Childers, 2010). Many individuals will only buy a brand or a product if it fits with their expectations and thoughts about how it feels on the body or in the hand. This is especially true for products that come into intimate contact with a person’s skin, for example, linens, pants, sandals, t-shirts or towels. Some people rub the product they are interested in against different parts of the body, such as the arms, face, hands or legs, to have a feeling about its quality and other product characteristics.

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Research has shown that an individual’s attitudes and purchase behaviour are influenced by positive emotional reactions after touching and feeling brands and products. Especially, when no product-related information is accessible at the pointof-purchase in a store. For that reason, it has been suggested that companies should encourage customers to have close physical and psychological contact with their brands and products. Moreover, it is believed that an individual’s assessment of how enjoyable a product is, and its quality, might be elicited by hedonic touch. Also, the length of time a product has been touched can impact an individual’s purchase decision, expressed by Shedon and Arens, cited in Spence and Gallace (2008) in the following way.

After the eye, the hand is the first censor to pass on acceptance, and if the hand’s judgment is unfavorable, the most attractive object will not gain the popularity it deserves. On the other hand, merchandise designed to be pleasing to the hand wins an approval that may never register in the mind, but which will determine additional purchases... Make it snuggle in the palm.

Moreover, Spence and Gallace claim that by changing a product’s shape or the surface layer the tactile experience will be different for many individuals. The fact that a product has a distinct design or shape does not mean that the tactile qualities are dominating in the minds of the customers. Instead, the visual experience of a distinct shape through vision might be the reason for buying the product. This shows the dilemma between tactile qualities of a product such as surface, texture or weight and visual qualities such as shape or size.

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A general conclusion is that hedonic and instrumental touch might result in an appreciation of a certain brand or product when it comes to tactile characteristics. Furthermore, it is evident that individuals seem to like a brand or a product better if it has been held and touched by their fingers, hands or skin before a purchase decision is taken.

6.3 TACTILE PERCEPTION AND SOCIETAL CULTURE What is tactile perception? Tactile perception means how individuals receive and interpret being touched by someone or touching the materials of an object or another person. Every individual has a unique tactile perception in both personal relationships (to be touched by someone) and in relation to the physical properties of an object (touching a brand or a product). In the fourth century BC, the Greek philosopher Aristotle suggested that the tactile sense was linked to sexual touching and seen as the most important sense of the five senses. Human reproduction and survival were not possible without touch and feeling through sexual stimulation. Many efforts have been made to find the fundamental dimensions of tactile perception in relation to products. When it comes to the perceptual dimensions of tactile textures, between two and five distinctive dimensions have been identified in psychophysical research like macro and fine roughness, warmth, hardness and friction (wetness and stickiness). Another example is the grouping of stimuli into two perceptual dimensions such as ‘rough/smooth’ and ‘slippery/adherent’. It is evident that tactile perception plays an important role in societal cultures, when it comes to how individuals perceive and interpret tactile stimuli.

Individual preferences All people investigate and touch objects and people in a completely individual way, which also applies to how individuals react to touching. As stated before, an individual’s feeling can be related to either 1) being touched by an object or a person, or 2) touching an object or a person. It is believed that the feeling is context-dependent, and it is obvious that for some people the effect of touch on their behaviour seems to be stronger compared to other people. It has been shown that people are different when it comes to individual needs for touch. This is because individuals when touching and examining a brand or a product have different personal preferences about receiving information. The desire to know more about brands and products is present in both adults and children. Especially, an

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individual’s motivation or preference for touch is an important factor expressed through the proposed term need for touch (NFT) (Peck & Childers, 2003). Individuals with high NFT have a greater need for touch and want to know more about the products compared to others. Some individuals will be frustrated if they do not have the possibility to investigate the products they want by touching them. On the other hand, it is enough for individuals with lower NFT to investigate the products only with the help of vision. It is suggested that more written information could compensate some individuals for the inability to investigate the products in more detail (Peck & Childers, 2003). However, for motivated individuals with higher NFT the desire to touch and feel the products is an important part of the tactile experience. For non-motivated individuals with lower NFT an image can be of help in product evaluation. There is no doubt that the packaging of a product is of importance for manufacturers and retailers when it comes to how it should be designed for inspection through touch or vision in product evaluation. Differences exist between individuals when it comes to whether or not to touch a product. But differences also exist in different situations motivating individuals to touch prior to purchase, especially, when it comes to how touch and the amount of touch impact an individual’s decision-making. It has been shown that when a product is moved from the shelf to the basket some individuals investigate it, while others spend time exploring the product by touching and feeling it before a purchase decision is taken. Moreover, it is believed that an individual’s desire to examine a product by touch is described as problem-solving and at the same time exciting, fun and imaginative, as well as providing sensory stimulation. When it comes to how individuals are touched by something, for example, an object, or someone else, for example, a person, the physical contact impacts individuals’ behaviour towards other people as well as how they feel themselves (Ackerman et al., 2010). In a study, individuals had to choose between different types of chairs to sit on, while holding rough and smooth puzzle pieces as well as heavy and light clipboards. It was evident that individuals’ willingness to compromise in a negotiation was different, depending upon what kind of chair, such as hard or soft, was available. To choose to sit on a soft pillow rather than a hard chair meant that the person was less willing to compromise. To be touched by another person in an unconscious way might influence an individual’s satisfaction and well-being, illustrated by the following example. In a university library a female librarian was lightly touching the students’ hands when they returned the library card. After the visit to the library the students were asked about their experiences at the library. They were asked if the female librarian smiled or touched them when giving back the library card. The findings showed that the students believed that the librarian smiled at them, but she did not touch them. It also transpired that the students whom the librarian touched enjoyed the library and life in general more in comparison with the other students whom she did not touch.

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Group preferences In general, it is evident that physical contact between people is considered to be of great importance in everyday life regardless of societal culture. It is often the case that people use tactile attributes such as cold or warm in describing other people. Because of this it is assumed that tactile touch symbolizes deeper emotional and human values among groups and societal cultures. Among many people the skin of the body is the boundary between themselves and the outside world. It means that some people avoid touch in the sense that they do not want to be touched by someone else, perhaps because of a lack of trust and confidence in the person in question. On the other hand, friendship and trust is symbolized through a handshake or a hug between two individuals regardless of group belonging or societal culture. In Europe, the US and Australia the handshake is a very common greeting between both men and women. The right hand is used for greetings and the left hand is seen as ‘the dirty one’. But the Eskimos rub their noses and in France and South America men and women give each other kisses. In the Asian world the handshake is not appreciated and is seen as aggressive, especially in Japan and Taiwan. Often it is better to bow and to nod with the head, meaning to shrink one’s ego. In the Arab world it is more accepted to embrace somebody else as a symbol for friendship and trust between two men and between two women. For religious reasons a woman’s hand should not be touched or kissed by a man.

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Gender differences A general opinion is that men and women react differently when it comes to touching and feeling. It is believed that women have a greater need for touch in product evaluation of clothes and shoes compared to men. On the other hand, men seem to have a greater need for touch when it comes to instrumental dimensions, like function and quality, but not in order to get an emotional feeling about the actual product. It is possible to communicate emotions by being touched by someone. In a study it was shown that men communicated anger in a group of people, when at least one group member was a man. Likewise, sympathy was communicated by women, when one group member was a woman. It is evident that men and women communicate emotions through touch in different ways (Hertenstein & Keltner, 2011). Moreover, regarding physical contact, both men and women seemed to touch the opposite sex more than their own. Especially, women touched the opposite sex more than men did.

Touch symbolism In general, many people use touch as a symbol for the feeling of belonging and being embraced in relation to relatives and friends. Often in personal relationships being touched is an expression of care, empathy, love and warmth. On the other hand, a painful and scary feeling of being touched is an expression of discontent, disapproval, hate and coldness. Based on such experiences people can be characterized as warm or cold, which often happens in daily life. Touch has two diametrically opposite dimensions in terms of being perceived as either chilly or hot, giving emotional associations to people, service environments, brands and products. It highlights the importance of touching and being touched in various social contexts. For example, tactile symbols have been developed as an alternative form of communication and are used to assist totally blind people to understand communication by using their hands. People are represented by a circle in textured wallpaper and emotions are represented with a heart in plain poster board. An individual’s life is touched in many ways by different activities, experiences and unexpected situations. Just remember what happens when we touch a hot stove and we immediately try to soothe the burn with cold water or butter from the refrigerator. How did you react when your best friend hit you in the face? Also, words can touch us and result in either joy or unhappiness. Touch as a cultural symbol has many meanings in societal cultures and has a connection to our inner and deeper understanding of human life. Often the expressions ‘Let’s keep in touch’ or ‘Keep me in touch with what is happening’ are used for this purpose.

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6.4 SERVICE ENVIRONMENTS Tactile stimuli In physical service environments like bank offices, restaurants, shops and department stores tactile stimuli influence our sense of touch. Not only in relation to touching brands and products for product evaluation but also how tactile stimuli can contribute to creating an appealing and pleasing atmosphere around us. Tactile stimuli will affect our cognition and emotions of the actual service environment when it comes to how the air feels, the materials feel, how the temperature as well as the texture feel and influence us. To encourage touch the atmosphere and design of a service environment have important implications for an individual’s touching behaviour. If the atmosphere and the design lead to physical and mental interactions with brands and products, which otherwise would have been ignored, it might result in unplanned purchases and impulse buying. When it comes to digital online service environments, physically touching brands and products is impossible. Images or text about product attributes and characteristics are a complement but can never replace physical touching as an important element in an individual’s product evaluation and purchase decision.

Touching brands and products It is believed that individuals look for physical and mental interactions with brands and products in order to know more about their characteristics. To touch and feel goods, such as bread, glass, shoes, smartphones or t-shirts, offers sensory information and sensations about the goods before making a purchase. It is further assumed that confidence in a special brand is dependent upon whether an individual can receive sensory information by touching and feeling the brand in a service environment (Peck & Wiggins, 2006). In a grocery store it was found that a sign at point-of-purchase with the text ‘feel the freshness’ influenced customers to touch and feel the actual product. Moreover, many individuals were impulse-oriented when the sign was present compared to when the sign was missing. This was the case for both individuals with a high NFT as well as those with a low NFT (Peck & Wiggins, 2006). It was also evident that positive attitudes were created towards the actual brand if the customers were encouraged and motivated to pick up, touch and feel the brand or product. It means that companies should use the store environment to allow customers to touch and feel brands and products. Also, the eyes reading a sign contribute to touching behaviour that otherwise would not be taking place. In this regard vision and touch collaborate to give individuals sensory information about the actual brands and products.

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A study examined to what degree products with material properties, bath towels and rugs, as well as products with geometrical properties, rolls of film and videotape, were touched and felt by individuals in a physical retail environment or in an online environment (McCabe & Nowlis, 2003). Questions ranged from ‘I did not touch the product’ (0) to ‘I touch the product very much’ (7) and ‘I did not feel the product’ (0) to ‘Feeling the product helped me to a large extent’ (7). The findings showed that people preferred to choose products with material properties from the physical retail environment where they could touch and feel the products, rather than from a digital online environment. The conclusion was that the sense of touch gives new sensory information through picking up and touching the products physically, especially in relation to tactile stimuli such as hardness or softness. Touch offers an emotional experience through feeling the product, which the eyes never can convey. For companies the conclusion is that for brands and products with material properties, such as clothing, footwear and furnishing, most people should have the possibility to physically touch and feel the products in a physical environment. Probably, these products will be more successful in this environment compared to a digital environment. Also, when these products are described in terms of their tactile attributes, such as hardness or softness, the individual’s preference for the products will increase. When it comes to digital environments a challenge for many retail companies is the lack of possibility for their customers to touch brands and products. The question has been raised about how to overcome this lack of tactile information. On the one hand, this issue seems to have been resolved for many individuals by making a purchase, having the items delivered to the home, and evaluating and testing the products in a more natural environment, compared to a fitting room. Returning these items to the online retailers is often free of charge or a very low cost, which encourages many individuals to send returns and there is no need to visit a physical store for product evaluation. But on the other hand, it is believed that brands and products for which customers require multi-sensory information are less likely to be purchased via the Internet. For example, garments like a shirt, a t-shirt, a skirt or a sweater that require physical contact through the sense of touch are more difficult to evaluate in a digital online environment. For that reason, many individuals prefer to visit a physical store for product evaluation before making a purchase decision. In a survey the need to touch and feel the products purchased in a digital online environment was investigated (Citrin et al., 2003). The questionnaire consisted of 69 statements about the individual’s evaluation of different brands and products in a purchasing situation. A 7-point scale was used to find out how important tactile input was in relation to statements like ‘I believe that it is necessary to touch a product to evaluate its physical properties’, ‘I need to touch and feel a product in order to evaluate whether I will like the product’, and ‘I need to touch a product to evaluate its quality’.

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The findings of the study showed that one of the hypotheses was confirmed, indicating that a greater need for tactile input should result in less use of the Internet for making purchases of clothing (‘touch and feel’), cosmetics (‘touch and smell’) and fashion (‘touch and taste’) products. But for products like books, CDs, electronics or video no significant effect of the need for tactile input was observed. Moreover, another hypothesis was confirmed, indicating that, compared to men, women have a greater need for tactile input when making products evaluations. The main conclusion of the study was that many individuals are discouraged from making purchases in digital online environments because their high need for tactile input cannot be satisfied. This is especially true for brands and products with a high degree of tactile stimuli for product evaluation. For retail companies with experience-based products, such as the examples mentioned earlier, the conclusion is that they should focus on shopping stimuli such as price and product quality instead of sensory stimuli. The argument is that retail companies must stimulate the senses of touch, smell, sound and taste in a sufficient way among individuals.

Being touched by others Interpersonal contact is believed to be as important for an individual as the need for food. It is also believed this type of personal contact is needed throughout an individual’s whole life. Especially, for children interpersonal contact plays a crucial role in their relationships with their parents in developing and strengthening the relationships. It is also evident that children have reduced anxiety and stress when they are touched by their parents.

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It is further assumed that by being touched by another person one forms a positive image of that person. The personal touch itself might impact the commitment between two people and reinforce that commitment. The touch might also impact the emotions and thoughts of the person being touched about the person who does the touching and might result in a sense of belonging as well as increased confidence and trust between them. In physical service environments an individual’s perceptions of brands and products are influenced when customers are being touched by staff members. Just the fact that a member of the staff at some point touches an individual customer by putting their hand on the arm of the customer or by letting their hand touch the hand of the customer results in a positive reaction. It is obvious that this kind of unconscious touch influences an individual’s image of a brand or a product and results in a more positive response. In a study, three field experiment were conducted examining how individuals’ behaviour and perceptions in restaurants and shops were influenced when being touched by staff members (Hornik, 1992). The first experiment involved 286 shoppers, who each received a four-page catalogue with information about products, prices and discounts, and other information when they entered a bookstore. When the catalogue was received a man or woman lightly touched the upper arm of some of the customers. Before leaving the bookstore, the shoppers were asked about money and time spent in the store and they were asked to fill out an evaluation form, with a chance to win in a lottery. Based on the findings it was shown that for the shoppers who had been lightly touched by a man or a woman when entering the bookstore, time spent was significantly higher compared to shoppers who had not been touched. When it came to sex differences it was obvious that female shoppers were more influenced by touch in comparison with male shoppers. Moreover, shoppers who were touched spent 22 minutes in the store while shoppers who were not touched spent 14 minutes in the store. It was also found that money spent was higher for the shoppers who were touched and they were more friendly towards the store staff compared to the shoppers who were not touched. Following this experiment, a new field experiment was conducted based on the findings. The new experiment involved 248 female and male guests visiting a restaurant and they met four female and four male waiting staff during their visits. The wait staff were selected according to their physical attractiveness and four of them were considered to have low attractiveness and the other four high attractiveness. The purpose of the experiment was to find out the effects on the guests when a man’s or a woman’s arm was touched for 1 second by either a waitress or a waiter, when they asked the guests if everything was under control and fine. The experiment took place during the weekday evenings for a couple of hours. The findings showed that the female guests gave the highest tips after being touched by an attractive waiter. On the other hand, male guests gave the lowest tips on average

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even to a waitress with high physical attractiveness. Altogether, it was evident that both female and male guests who were touched by the waiters/waitresses gave around 2–4 per cent more tips in comparison with other guests who were not touched. When it comes to the evaluation of the waiters/waitresses it was shown that female guests who had been touched evaluated the male waiters highest. Also, all guests who had been touched had a significantly higher evaluation of the waiters/waitresses compared to those guests who were not touched. Finally, for the evaluation of the whole restaurant visit it was obvious that the guests who were touched also gave the highest evaluations. A main conclusion from this experiment was that a clear correlation exists between customers being touched and their subsequent positive evaluation of the restaurant and the waiters/waitresses as well as giving a larger tip. Finally, a third experiment was conducted involving several solitary shoppers in a supermarket. The purpose of the experiment was to investigate the shoppers’ reactions to a demonstration of taste samples, while the demonstrator touched the shoppers. At the same time, the demonstrator was interested in finding out if the taste of the sample was acceptable to the shoppers and if they were willing to purchase it. It was found that of the shoppers who were touched physically by the demonstrator, nearly nine out of ten perceived the taste sample as fine, compared to those who were not touched by the demonstrator, where only six out of ten perceived the taste sample as fine. Also, female shoppers who were physically touched were more interested in making a purchase of the actual product in comparison with male shoppers. The main conclusion was that touch, in the sense of being touched by someone, impacts an individual’s behaviour and women seem to react more positively to touch than men. In a field experiment the impact of interpersonal touch through a handshake was examined in a Swedish retail store (Johansson & Krnjajic, 2012). The observations were conducted on two Fridays between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m. as well as on two Saturdays between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. with 50 respondents each in the control group and the experimental group. A male employee was present in the customer area and was told to shake hands with the customers, as a welcome gesture. An interview took place when the customers left the store with questions about the handshake, the employee’s service quality, as well as the store environment. The conclusion was that nine out of ten respondents perceived the handshake as pleasant, which was found to be statistically significant. Comments on the handshake included, ‘It felt like he knew who I am, and I was happy’ and ‘You felt welcome to the store’. On the other hand, the perceived handshake had no significant impact on the evaluation of the employee’s service quality or the store environment. When it comes to sex differences it was evident that women did not perceive the handshake as being pleasant in comparison with men who did, which was also statistically significant. In other words, women perceived the handshake as more negative and perhaps perceived it as a dominant male gesture. For men the handshake has been a common courtesy historically and is more natural between men.

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6.5 BRANDS AND PRODUCTS Tactile stimuli Tactile cues and stimuli like hardness, material, shape, softness, texture or weight are important elements in a brand’s or a product’s identity. There is no doubt that the shape of an iPhone or the weight of an ASUS laptop influence an individual’s product evaluation of tactile characteristics. A common opinion is that the optimal way for an individual to examine and penetrate the tactile characteristics of a brand or a product is to touch it with the hands and the fingers (the haptic system). An example is the UK supermarket group Asda letting its customers touch and feel the texture of different brands of toilet tissues. The retailer removed the wrapping from toilet tissue in its stores, which led to a significant sales increase, and a 50 per cent increase in shelf space for the products. Moreover, it is suggested that the more tactile characteristics a product has, the more likely it is that individuals will touch and feel it before a purchase decision is taken. In print advertising campaigns touch can be communicated to individuals in relation to different brands and products. An example is L’Oréal’s campaign in the UK for skincare products. The ad was presented on two pages with the first page rough and wrinkled and the second page silky and smooth. The ad promised smooth and wrinkle-free skin, similar to the texture and feel of the special paper when touched. Another example of using touch in advertising campaigns is the introduction of Lubriderm, an intensive moisturizing skincare product range from Johnson & Johnson. A full-page Lubriderm ad with a model wrapped in a bath towel was printed on slightly textured paper that illustrated the sensation of rough skin. The arms and shoulders of the model appeared on this rough surface, which was printed as an overlay that the readers could peel off. If that was done the same model appeared on smooth paper, thus illustrating the rejuvenated, softer skin. The results of the campaign were a 16 per cent increase in sales compared to previous year. More recently, the US company Immersion conducted a test of ads in cooperation with IPG Media Labs. The results showed that ads from Arby’s, BMW and Royal Caribbean that included forced feedback sensations had a 62 per cent increase of feelings of connection to the brand. Moreover, it was shown that excitement and happiness with the brand increased in comparison to ads without haptics (Magnarelli, 2018).

Haptic touch in product evaluation When people are using their fingers and hands in product evaluation it has been shown that what people say and what they do is true (Peck & Childers, 2004). It was obvious that many individuals spent longer touching products with many tactile stimuli, such as

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sweaters and tennis racquets, compared to products with few tactile stimuli, such as cereals and toothpaste. These products lack tactile stimuli as material characteristics and are often evaluated through the eyes only, based on visual stimuli on the packaging and its verbal information. Moreover, the role of tactile stimuli in product evaluation of real sweaters and virtual sweaters based on images has been examined (Holbrook, 1983). The findings showed that tactile stimuli such as texture and weight were perceived through both touching and feeling the sweaters. It was also evident that knitting and materials had a major role in the haptic touch of the sweaters. A conclusion was that the real sweaters were preferred in the product evaluation compared to the virtual sweaters based on the images and verbal descriptions. A classification of products has been suggested according to an individual’s need of haptic touch as either low degree, moderate degree or high degree (Abhishek et al., 2014). Among products such as apples, bed linen, cell phones, clothes, sofas and soft toys a high need for touch was evident. Products such as cushions, digital cameras, oranges and rugs had the next highest need for touch. Finally, the lowest degree of touch was related to products like electric appliances, glassware, household products, pens and other kind of accessories. The conclusion is that people have a desire to touch both hard and soft products to get a feeling about the product quality, even when it is a famous brand or a low price product. This might be the reason why products such as fruit and vegetables require a high or moderate degree of haptic touch. Finally, it is evident that an individual’s perception of fast-moving consumer goods such as biscuits and soap is influenced more by visual stimuli than tactile stimuli (Marlow & Jansson-Boyd, 2011). The surface structure of the actual packaging was manipulated. On the outside of a biscuit or a soap box three types of structure were tested in the experiment. The three biscuit or soap boxes were shown visually, followed by a blind tactile evaluation of the three structures. Thereafter, a combined tactile and visual evaluation was made of the three different boxes each with its own unique structure. The findings showed that the visual information was more important than the tactile sensory information. In grocery stores most individuals rely on the visual information of the packaging and normally do not spend time touching the products. It means that the visual experience is more prominent in purchase decisions. Moreover, a conclusion was that the significance of haptic touch might depend upon what type of product it is and the amount of time an individual is willing to spend on product evaluation.

Haptic touch and other stimuli The interaction between vision and touch means that different stimuli are perceived by one of the senses to a higher degree than the other. The visual system is stronger in receiving sensory information than the tactile sense and together they dominate the

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individual’s perception of different brands and products. When it comes to fashion choices vision and touch seem to offer the most detailed information about brands and products. When a blazer is evaluated by an individual, in general, material characteristics such as structure, temperature and weight as tactile stimuli are emphasized more compared with visual stimuli. When it comes to buying denim jeans the importance of visual and tactile stimuli has been investigated through in-depth interviews (Rahman, 2012). The respondents had the opportunity to see and touch seven different pairs of jeans. The brand names and the price tags on the jeans were not possible to identify and other product attributes were covered with tape to avoid bias. The findings showed that the structure of the jeans was the most important stimuli in the tactile evaluation as a quality indicator. By using their hands and fingers the respondents evaluated the structure in terms of heat (thermo-physiological), softness (sensory comfort), thickness, robustness or weight (sustainability) of the jeans. The conclusion was that before an individual’s final purchase decision it is important to touch and feel the texture of the jeans.

It has been suggested that ‘haptic’ products influence an individual’s touch behaviour because the product characteristics are best evaluated through the hands and the fingers (Balaji et al., 2011). Many individuals prefer to touch brands and products such as apparel, chairs, fabrics, furnishing and paper, etc., which can be said to be haptic in nature. In these examples a prominent feature of the products is the surface structure, which gives relevant sensory information when haptic touch is used in product evaluation. The effects of visual and auditory stimuli on an individual’s approach behaviour as well as desire to touch and feel laptops has been investigated (Hultén, 2013). The experiment

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took place in the computer section of a department store of a German home electronic retailer. The company was interested in having more knowledge about how to stimulate the customers to approach the computers on the shelves and touch and feel them. Most customers just passed by the shelves and never stopped and touched the products. In the first experiment it was assumed that a red sign with the text ‘touch me’ on one of the computers on the shelf would have a positive effect and stimulate individuals to approach the actual laptop. The results significantly confirmed this assumption with an increase of about 50 per cent of the customers getting closer to the shelf at point-of-purchase. Another assumption was that the red sign also should have a positive effect and stimulate individuals to touch the actual laptop on the shelf with the hands and the fingers. The results showed an increase of about 75 per cent in the customers touching and feeling the actual laptop. Furthermore, it was assumed that the red sign also should have a positive effect on the time customers spent touching and feeling the laptop. Also, this assumption was confirmed, and time spent significantly increased from 1 second to 2.2 seconds. In the second experiment it was assumed that a red sign together with a personal voice should have a positive effect on individuals approaching the actual laptop on the shelf. The personal message from a local male radio voice was played for 10 seconds and the message was: ‘Hey there, have you missed what I have to offer you? Do you know that you may touch me, test me, and handle me to better experience me and my possibilities?’ The findings confirmed the assumption, with a significant increase of 64 per cent of customers approaching the point-of-purchase.

Touch symbolism Companies can use haptic touch to provide individuals with certain feelings about a brand or a product. Touch symbolism refers to the process whereby the touch of an object or a product creates meaning to an individual. It is all about how important the feel of a brand or a product is for an individual. The weight of a product is often associated with durability and quality and can be felt in the hands. Furniture is expected to be more valuable when it is heavy. It has for many years been argued that how a product feels can impact people’s decision about whether or not they will buy it. Packaging is an area where haptic touch is important for many companies. Especially, when it comes to how the brand or the product feels in the individual’s hand and the impact this can have. For brand producers of a shampoo the texture of the shampoo bottle could be crucial in convincing individuals about the advantages with the actual brand. If a shampoo is designed to straighten hair perhaps the outside of the bottle should have a sleek, smooth feel. Probably, this kind of texture would be a better attribute and symbolize the shampoo’s ability. The feel of the bottle might convince individuals to buy it and associate the brand with sleek, smooth hair.

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Haptic signature refers to how companies connect individuals to brands and products through haptic touch. Smartphone producers like Apple and Samsung design their iPhone and Galaxy phone with touchscreens as haptic signatures when it comes to using or holding the phones. Also, car producers such as Audi, BMW, Ford, Jaguar, Kia, Lexus, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Volvo and Volkswagen use haptic signatures to connect customers to the cars, in terms of driving and using the cars in different ways. Another example is the well-known Coca-Cola contour bottle, which is seen as the brand’s haptic signature and a part of the brand knowledge among individuals. It has been shown in research ‘how brand-related haptic sensations automatically activate brand knowledge and how this influences a brand’s cognitive accessibility or brand choices’ (Streicher, 2012: 920). Moreover, when the bottle was reintroduced in the consumer target market, a sales increase of 12 per cent was reported, mainly explained by the tactile aspects of the packaging design. To create haptic experiences with the help of customers is an opportunity for companies. It means that the product evaluation is connected to touch activities that individuals should perform. An example is the beauty retailer Sephora, which offers free hands-on tutorials in applying the art of ‘contouring’. An instructor takes the customer through a step-by-step application of everything from primer to highlighter. By using the hands and the fingers of the customers the haptic experience is created and the feel of the products emanates from the individuals themselves. The British global market research company Millward Brown has proposed that when people evaluated hand-held items the feel of the actual smartphone was more important to them than how it looked. Also, smartphones that are made of metal and not plastic casings seem to be heavier and mores solid, increasing the value for many people. In other words, the product should fit with the expectations of how it should feel when we hold it with our fingers and hands. The same reasoning concerns products that are in close contact with our skin like clothing, pillows or shoes (Spence & Gallace, 2011). Haptic technology refers to the use of pressure, texture, vibration and other tactile sensations. The technology is used for example in game controllers and joysticks in gaming as well in clocks, smartphones and other devices with the opportunity to provide individuals with tactile feedback. An example is the Apple Watch in 2015 with its special ‘Taptic Engine’ providing the wearer with haptic feedback. When a button on the touchscreen is pressed or when a notification is received (or an alert) a slight vibration is sent out from the watch to the wrist. This mechanism allows a user to send vibrations to someone else to get another person’s attention or to communicate with other individuals at a very discrete level (van den Bergh & Behrer, 2016: 188). Another example is the American TV Channel Showtime giving its audience a touchbased experience when promoting their show Homeland. When using the Showtime app on the smartphone and watching the trailer people could perceive how the device started

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to vibrate at the same time as an explosion took place on the screen, providing an immersive experience. In Argentina a waistband was developed by the diaper brand Huggies to give the husbands of expectant mothers the opportunity in real time to follow, experience and feel the movements of their baby (Batey, 2016). Digital signage is based on signage systems evolving from static displays in service environments to dynamic experiences for individuals. It covers multiple sectors like location-based entertainment, navigation and kiosks, out-of-home advertising, retail and workplaces. Individuals touching screens today do not get the tactile sensations (or haptic feedback) they expect because the screens are based on audio-visual experiences. But new haptic technologies will incorporate haptic feedback into larger or fixed screens and emphasize audio-visual-haptic experiences in the future. It will result in better responsiveness, more interactivity, more personalization and increasingly social experiences.

6.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter presents and discusses the sensory principles of the sense of touch. The main characteristics of touch have been described in terms of physiological aspects regarding the haptic system as well as psychological aspects regarding hedonic and instrumental touch. The significance of tactile perception is presented in relation to individual preferences, group preferences and touch symbolism in societal cultures. The most important part of the chapter concerns the analysis of tactile cues and stimuli in the context of service environments, brands and products. For service environments the importance of touching brands and products as well as being touched by others has been analysed and discussed. Likewise, the importance of tactile cues and stimuli for brands and products is analysed and discussed in relation to haptic touch in product evaluation, haptic touch and other stimuli, as well as touch symbolism. The application of tactile cues and stimuli is described through examples, illustrating the significance of tactile stimuli for companies in marketing practice.

6.7

THE CASE OF APPLE STORES

Apple is one of the most famous and valued global companies with well-known brands for computers, notebooks and smartphones. The Apple Store is a major component of the brand-experience expressed by CEO Tim Cook as ‘Apple Stores are the face of Apple for almost all of our customers… People don’t think about the Cupertino headquarters; they think about the local Apple Store’ (Milot, 2012). The concept of the Apple Store is quite different compared to traditional electronic retailers, which do not offer a true touch experience for their customers.

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The layout of the Apple Store has a futuristic sensory aesthetic based on glass and steel as well as uncluttered surfaces and walls. The layout has been trademarked and should imply that the products on the tables and the shelves being sold are also futuristic, clear, straightforward or uncluttered. The Apple sales staff members are willing to assist every customer and have a deep and passionate knowledge about the products. Furthermore, the staff members have been trained not to be pushy but warm in taking care of the customers, and to encourage visitors of the stores to interact with the products on display. In an Apple Store it is possible for everyone to touch all products in the store without feeling uncomfortable or guilty about the situation. The Apple Store should be seen as a play space and serves as a sensory embodiment of the Apple brand just as it serves as a service environment for retailing electronics. When the Apple Store opens in the morning all computer screens are positioned around 70 degrees to get the right angle. The angle is not perpendicular 90 degrees but open enough to have the screen’s content visible to the customers. At the same time, the screens are closed enough to motivate the customers to touch the screen and adjust it to their ideal viewing angle. The environment invites the customers to perceive and experience the products on their own terms and they can stay in the store for product evaluation if they want. Apple allows its customers to try out every product; for example, they can browse the Internet on an iMac, play a game on an iPhone or examine the latest gadget from Apple. The Apple Store on Regent Street in London is visited by many customers to check new products or just read emails or listen to music. In the Genius bar customers can make reservations and get help from an Apple expert to get hands-on hardware support. The expert gives advice, solves problems and offers technical support, thereby strengthening the brand’s identity and image. (Continued)

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Why do many individuals love the Apple Stores? One reason is the possibility to examine and test the products by touching them, followed by a wish to buy them and become an owner. Apple sales staff don’t have to sell the products actively because the touch experience results in customers buying the products. An important remark is that the earnings of the Apple Store space in 2012 were approximately $6,050 per square foot compared with Tiffany & Co’s revenue of $3,017 per square foot.

QUESTIONS 1

2

3

Discuss and analyse the development of the Apple Store concept. What reasons can you find to explain the establishment of the concept? Mention two reasons from the company’s point of view. Analyse why the Apple Store concept works as a haptic signature for the Apple brand globally. Discuss and evaluate the concept with respect to how individuals, by touching the different products such as the iPod, iMac and iPhone, might perceive and experience the feel of the products. Do you find any problem with the touch signature from an ethical point of view? Are there any side effects that might negatively or positively influence the customers in product evaluation? Mention at least two examples of such side effects and discuss them more in detail from an individual’s standpoint.

FURTHER READING Balaji, M.S., Raghavan, S. & Subhash, J. (2011). ‘Role of tactile and visual inputs in product evaluation: A multisensory perspective’, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 23, 4: 513–530. Hultén, B. (2013). ‘Sensory cues as in-store innovations: Their impact on shopper approaches and touch behaviour’, Journal of Innovation Management, 1, 1: 17–37. Peck, J. & Wiggins, J. (2006). ‘It just feels good: Customers’ affective response to touch and its influence on persuasion’, Journal of Marketing, 70, October: 56–69.

7

SENSORY PRINCIPLES FOR TASTE

CHAPTER CONTENTS 7.0 Introduction

160

7.1

The Dual Sense of Taste

160

Gastronomic taste

161

Aesthetic taste

162

Characteristics of Taste

162

Physiological aspects

162

Psychological aspects

164

7.2

7.3

7.4

7.5

Taste and other senses

165

Taste Perception and Societal Culture

166

What is taste perception?

166

Taste symbolism

171

Service Environments

172

Taste stimuli

172

Tasting samples

173

Tasting aesthetics

174

Brands and Products

176

Taste stimuli

176

Taste goods

177

Taste symbolism

180

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7.6

Chapter Summary

181

7.7

The Case of IKEA

181

Questions 182 Further Reading

183

7.0 INTRODUCTION The chapter gives an overview of the sense of taste and its importance in sensory marketing. Especially, the characteristics of gastronomic taste, its role in different cultures as well as the significance of gastronomic cues and stimuli for brands, products and service environments will be analysed and discussed. After reading the chapter, you should be able to: 1 2 3 4 5

Explain how the sense of taste works at an individual level. Discuss the role of taste in different societal cultures. Analyse the importance of gastronomic cues and stimuli for brands, products and service environments. Describe how a company could apply taste stimuli in marketing practice. Discuss the advantages/disadvantages of taste stimuli in sensory marketing.

7.1 THE DUAL SENSE OF TASTE Individuals rely upon their personal taste when it comes to decisions about different brands and products as well as what service environments to choose. The sense of taste is dual in the sense that it considers both inner taste – through the tongue – and outer taste – through the eyes. It is generally accepted that aesthetic values in various product offerings are related to appearance, enjoyment and joy, which are related to good taste. Aesthetic values are significant for many individuals who are looking for hedonic products, i.e. goods or services emphasizing appearance, colour, shape, style and texture. Most individuals seem to prefer aesthetic values before functional values in their choice of products. By adding these aesthetic values to cars, fashion, food, home furnishings or smartphones companies can offer more experience-based products. It is in this context that internal and external taste should be understood. It is obvious that gastronomic taste as well as aesthetic taste are of importance in an individual’s product evaluation, purchase decisions and consumption. Especially, when it comes to how individuals perceive and experience the two dimensions of taste (Figure 7.1).

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Gastronomic taste Gastronomic taste provides us with gastronomic sensations and experiences emanating from a coffee shop or a restaurant visit and the consumed dishes. It gives individuals various physiological and psychological reactions in relation to the food and the food products that satisfy both the need for physical survival as well as emotional and social satisfaction (Krishna & Elder, 2010). For example, in Sweden individuals spend billions of dollars each year on creating exotic and fascinating dining experiences, which is the highest cost in the household budget.

Taste as concept

Inner taste:

Outer taste:

Gastronomic taste

Aesthetic taste

Taste experience

Figure 7.1  The concept of taste Source: Hultén (2015)

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Moreover, for many individuals the meal is the third most time-consuming activity including cooking, and also is one of the most important economic activities. Humans are the only creatures that use different kinds of herbs and spices to flavour their food in order to have a positive dining experience. Also, the impact of other sensory elements from the smell, sound and feel of food through to touch are of importance in having a multi-sensory taste experience. For example, when you drink a glass of wine the aroma of the wine goes through the nose and the taste goes through the tongue as well as how it feels in the mouth. It provides you with positive or negative emotions about how attractive or unattractive the actual wine is.

Aesthetic taste Aesthetic taste provides us with aesthetic sensations and experiences coming from an object, a brand or a service environment. When it comes to hedonic products the importance of aesthetic taste is crucial and it is generally accepted that our own personal taste impacts the friends we choose to see, what car to buy, what restaurants to visit, or how to decorate our apartment or house (Schmitt & Simonson, 1997). In general, the term aesthetics is related to an individual’s sense of beauty and a theory of beauty. An individual’s sense of beauty has to do with the aesthetic sensibility of an individual in relation to what can be expressed as an individual’s good taste. In this regard, good taste might contribute to the appreciation of various brands and products with hedonic values, but lead to unequal outcomes. Two individuals can perceive and experience a Chesterfield chair in completely different ways with opposite product evaluations as a result. All individuals have the right to their own good taste and in this case none of them is right or wrong. It is assumed in research that an individual’s aesthetic taste is based on both objectivity and subjectivity and cannot be said to be completely objective or completely subjective.

7.2 CHARACTERISTICS OF TASTE Physiological aspects Gastronomic taste is related to our tongue, which gives us the taste sensations we perceive and experience during our daily consumption of food and beverages. There are approximately 10,000 taste buds on the tongue but there are also taste buds in the throat (Figure 7.2). Each taste bud consists of between 50 and 100 individual cells sending sensory information to the brain on the chemical composition and qualities of what we eat and drink.

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Women have more taste buds and are more sensitive compared to men when it comes to evaluating dishes and drinks. It could mean that women in some ways seem to have better taste because of having more taste buds in the mouth and in the throat. Moreover, infants also have taste buds on the inside of their cheeks resulting in the best taste ability.

Microvilli Taste pore Tongue

Papilla

Taste bud

Figure 7.2  Taste bud The taste buds have a very short lifecycle of about a week because they are quickly worn out by what they are exposed to every day. They are immediately replaced with new ones in an ongoing process that starts to slow down as early as the age of five to ten years. For this reason, many individuals find later in life that they don’t have the same experience of eating and drinking as before. To perceive the same taste a more intense experience is necessary, which can occur through using, for example, more herbs and spices. This phenomenon can be illustrated by the fact that older people often do not like candy and other sweets, because they don’t find them as tasty as children do. An opposite example is that older people often like drinks such as beer, cognac or whiskey, because of their strong flavours that are easier to detect by their deteriorating taste buds, while most children experience these drinks as too flavourful. Furthermore, it can happen that people lose their taste ability because of disease at any time, and not only because of increased age.

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It is well known that taste sensations emanate from all the parts of the tongue and not only from some specific areas. The nerve fibres of the taste buds capture all five different flavours from food and drinks – bitter, salty, sour, sweet and umami – together at the same time in a similar way. But the body does not have five different biochemical processes and cellular interactions, which is why individuals cannot completely distinguish five clean flavours. In this regard, umami is a taste experience described as ‘aromatic’ or ‘delicious’, which is different from the other four flavours. It is believed that these five flavours in combination give every individual the actual taste experience of everything from ciabatta and wine to chocolate and milk. The sensory input from not only the sense of taste but also the other senses makes it possible for individuals to have a distinguished taste. When we drink a cup of coffee 80 per cent of the taste comes via the nose and its olfactory receptors. Because of this people often say that a cup of coffee never tastes as good as it smells, which differs between individuals. Moreover, this reasoning can be illustrated by how a meal is presented on the plate (sense of sight), how a dish sounds when chewed (sense of sound), how a dish smells (sense of smell) and how hot or spicy the dish is as well as its texture (sense of touch). It is obvious that our senses collaborate with each other and work together, which is explained by the concept synaesthesia. Every sense has its own connections with the brain, but it might happen that a connection from one sense is crossed by another sense. It happens for example when the eyes look at a green colour and the smell of freshly cut grass is induced or when the eyes see a yellow lemon inducing a sour taste sensation within the individual. It is generally assumed that most individuals have some type of synaesthesia. It is especially evident when a person can express, for example, that ‘a colour can have a taste’, ‘food can be heard’, or ‘a sound felt’. In this regard a taste experience for an individual is influenced by other senses, which means that the taste is connected to how a dish looks, how it smells or how it sounds when it is consumed.

Psychological aspects The sense of taste is one of the strongest emotional senses and is often expressed in everyday life. Many people prefer to use verbal expressions like ‘it is a matter of taste’, ‘it can become a bitter history’, or that another person is ‘sour’ or ‘sweet’ to illustrate what good taste is all about. Of course, an individual’s frame of mind and mood are influenced by what they eat and drink daily through their perceived natural taste. An example is the need for coffee breaks at work or at home, or what the Swedes call ‘fika’, where the intake of various beverages and foods increases quality of life as well as reduces stress. When people are going to visit a coffee shop or a restaurant most of us try to remember through our sensory memory (or long-term memory) what would be the best option.

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Particularly, in terms of happiness and enjoyment when it comes to a decision about what food or dish to choose or what grocery store or restaurant to choose (Rozin & Hormes, 2010), most of the decisions we make are related to the previous taste experiences that we can remember. A hedonic taste experience means a pleasurable experience of the actual taste experience coming from the consumption of beverages and food. How we perceive and experience the hedonic experience is based on perceived and remembered pleasure and enjoyment from earlier visits to a store or a restaurant. The peak of the pleasurable experience has the most impact on how individuals remember and recall the overall taste experience. The endpoint of that experience is often noticed if the enjoyment of a restaurant visit is prolonged because it takes too much time to get the bill from the cashier. This delay will impact the recollection of the taste experience, but, on the other hand, how long the experience lasted is not considered in the sensory memory. Many people seem to remember the taste experience itself but not its duration. For example, an individual’s first sip of delicious wine is remembered regardless of the number of subsequent sips. Similarly, if an individual takes double or triple portions of a favourite dish, this probably has an impact on the perceived pleasure, but has no obvious effect on remembered enjoyment (Rode et al., 2007). It should also be said that an individual has a higher expectation for their favourite dish compared to another dish because of the recollection of previous taste experiences.

Taste and other senses Our taste perception and taste experience are influenced by the other senses of sight, sound, smell and touch as a multi-sensory experience. It has been shown in research that colours have a significant impact on the taste experience. In a study it was found that when five participants observed the colour of a fruit drink all of them could identify the flavour. But when the participants tasted the drink only one of the participants could identify the flavour (DuBose et al., 1980). A general opinion is that growing flavour intensity is due to growing colour intensity indicating an interaction between the sense of taste and the sense of sight. Another interaction has been shown between the sense of sound and the sense of taste. In an experiment, participants’ perceptions of the quality of potato chips were examined (Zampini & Spence, 2004). It was evident that when the sound of chewing potato chips was changed in terms of frequency and volume the participants perceived the potato chips to be fresher when the sound was higher. In the experiment the participants wore headphones so they could listen to their own crunching and had a microphone in front of them in a sound safe booth. The changing levels of frequency and sound had a significant impact on the participants’ perceptions of the quality of the potato chips. When it comes to the interaction between the sense of smell and the sense of taste it is more obvious. The proximate placement of the nose to the mouth gives a natural connection

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between the two in perceiving and experiencing various smells and tastes. Most people smell the food, before injesting, first outside the mouth and then later when chewing the food inside the mouth. It is suggested that the concept of aroma is the combination of smell and taste, which is why the two have strong connections in a taste experience. Finally, the interaction between the sense of touch and the sense of taste influences taste perceptions and taste experiences. It has been shown that the shape of a disposable glass influences an individual’s taste perceptions of the water to be drunk (Krishna & Morrin, 2008). In the study a fragile, weak glass was compared to a solid, hard disposable glass and it was found that individuals preferred to drink the water in the solid, hard disposable glass.

7.3 TASTE PERCEPTION AND SOCIETAL CULTURE What is taste perception? Taste perception means how individuals receive and interpret gastronomic stimuli as well as aesthetic stimuli in the environment and the outside world. All individuals have their unique taste perceptions in relation to other people and in relation to the physical properties of an object, a brand or a product. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the senses of taste and aesthetics were closely connected to each other. As a universal model and prerequisite for people’s actions and good judgement it was suggested that a virtuous person should show a sense of taste, especially in relation to an individual’s appearance and behaviour in displaying good taste for clothing and food. From the beginning taste was considered as an individual, private matter. It was believed that good taste was obvious for everybody and should not be discussed. Moreover, what felt or tasted good was also both beautiful and good for all human beings. For that reason, every person could distinguish between the beautiful and the ugly or what could be right or wrong. Nowadays, taste is more emotional than rational, in the sense that individuals can develop their own taste according to personal desires, wants and needs. It means that taste has become an important factor in identifying social differences in various societal cultures. The French philosopher Bourdieu has proposed that each one of us has a cultural capital, besides financial resources, based on our experiences, knowledge, tastes and global view. Taste is considered to be an important part of an individual’s cultural capital and is believed to be ruled by cultural and social status. An individual’s consumption of goods and services shows how the cultural capital becomes objectified by the choices we make. These choices contribute to the construction of personal and social relationships in societal cultures and taste is considered as an ‘identity marker that facilitates interactions’ between people in personal and social contexts (DiMaggio, 1987: 444)

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Individual preferences No universal taste exists among societal cultures and all individuals have their own personal and unique gastronomic taste just like our fingerprints. The future tastes of a child are developed in the womb of the mother and the tastes are based on the composition of the saliva. This is grounded in heredity and genes together with the diet of an individual. For example, people with salty saliva prefer more salty foods and they are more used to a higher sodium content in the mouth. However, heredity and genes are not the only factors that might explain individual food preferences among children with an average age of 3.5 years. In a British study at University College London investigating 2,686 British twins it was found that their food preferences could not be explained by heredity and genes. Instead their food preferences could be explained by learning and environment, as a result of the food that the children had the possibility to consume and eat during their childhood. Another interesting result was that genetic factors could explain why many individuals did not eat different kinds of food or their aversion to trying new food. For example, liking for fruits, proteins and vegetables is strongly influenced by a person’s genes. On the other hand the family environment could encourage children to taste new foods followed by a variety of flavours and textures (Fildes et al., 2014). People are different when it comes to how individuals use the time spent for various activities and events such as the enjoyment of a dining experience. It is believed that individuals in general make a choice between, on one hand, reducing the expectations of having time to remember an event and, on the other hand, increasing the expectations of an upcoming event by having time to remember it. It can be illustrated by the

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following two examples: ‘The second visit for the lovely meal can create expectations for many hours’ or ‘A fine meal can take two hours, but the memory of the meal may remain for dozens of hours in the coming years’. It is believed that individuals prefer and favour certain expectations and memories in relation to specific areas of interest. But these expectations and memories are not to be accepted as generally valid. An example is when individuals are presented with three different dishes comprising meat, potatoes and vegetables: some individuals choose to eat their favourite dish first, while others choose to eat the favourite dish last, and some individuals do neither. A general opinion is that most individuals have an open and positive attitude to dishes and food overall. But some people who dislike or like dishes and food do so because of the societal culture they belong to. It is believed that no general smell preferences exist among individuals in any societal culture but on the other hand bitter tastes, extreme temperatures in the mouth as well as sour or salty tastes might create aversion and reluctance for certain dishes and foods. Moreover, sweetness is for many individuals related to a positive taste experience but some individuals dislike sweets because of their taste experiences when they grow older. But also innate negative attributes might exist for some tastes; for example, bitter tea or bitter food as well as dishes flavoured with chilies or ice-cold beverages. Many individuals do accept and learn to like dishes and foods with negative attributes regarding them as positive taste preferences. The first reason is that these individuals seem to appreciate and enjoy the negative taste experience emanating from bitter, salty or very acidic tastes as well as iced coffee and tea. This kind of negative experience is seen as the taste experience in itself. This kind of experience can be compared with other experiences such as fear when riding a rollercoaster or sadness when listening to a song. The other reason for accepting dishes and foods with negative attributes is that many individuals enjoy the negative experience as masochism. Often the brain does not identify the negative attributes as a threat and for many individuals they want the brain to control their bodies when enjoying irritating tastes or despicable chilli peppers. In the latter the level of burning is the challenge for many individuals to test themselves to accept when it starts to become too painful. It is no doubt that emotions and feelings play a major role in the choice and consumption of beverages and food. Many individuals eat more when they are depressed or sad while others eat more when they are happy and satisfied. Impulse eating and high calorie intake among individuals might be explained by unawareness of the emotional impact on their behaviour. Some people also prefer to consume specific foods in a specific mood and spirit; for example, to drink and consume bottles of beer when watching football on TV or at a stadium.

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Age and gender It has been shown that no gender differences exist between boys and girls between the ages of 2 to 9 years old in perceiving tastes like caffeine, citric acid, sodium and sugar. When it comes to gender differences between men and women it is obvious that men do not perceive such a high level of sugar in soft drinks as women do. On the other hand, women do not perceive such a high level of salt in soups as men do. It should be said that few research studies have been done and they offer contradictory results. The sensitivity to food for men and women was examined in a study by Michon et al. (2009). Altogether 274 respondents including 87 men and 187 women participated in a survey. The aim of the study was to look for gender differences between how men and women perceived sensitivity to taste, smell, hardness, texture and identifying objects in the mouth. From the findings significant gender differences were identified and women had a higher degree of sensitivity in identifying various kinds of flavours, especially to assess bitter, sour or sweet intensity, to recognize bitter tastes, to recognize scents, as well as to recognize an object in the mouth using the tongue. The observed gender differences in recognizing scents were between 20 and 40 per cent for each scent and it might be explained by the fact that women have been more involved in cooking compared to men historically. For that reason, women seem to be better at recognizing and naming a scent. On the other hand, men had a higher degree of sensitivity in chewing ability, which women did not have. Regarding how to perceive hardness and objects in the mouth no significant differences were found between men and women. The main conclusion from the study is that significant gender differences exist. It means taste and scent experiences might be perceived totally diversely by men and women in everyday life.

Group preferences In everyday life the sense of taste – as a social sense – plays a decisive role in creating experiences and interactions among people. Beverages, food and meals are shared between individuals and do not take place in isolation. Interaction happens on a daily basis in the business life and in the social life between different actors and friends. For example, at home, in the kitchen or in the dining room, all members of a family might share their experiences and thoughts about the joys and the problems they have. A business lunch often takes place to get to know the other party when building or maintaining a business relationship. The consumption of beverages, food and meals is a major social activity influenced by other people present at a breakfast, lunch or dinner. It is evident that the presence of others might increase as well as decrease the amounts of beverages and food consumed. Moreover, the length of the meal might result in people drinking and eating more

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compared to when they are alone. For example, a French dinner takes around an hour because the beverages and the food have to be tasted and savoured together with general socializing and interesting discussions around the table. There is also a question about how beverages, food and meals in a social context – with friends or strangers – might impact a person’s mood. To eat a meal together with other people might increase the taste sensations, which could be based on a prepared dish as a social product enhancing its flavour (Krishna & Elder, 2010). An example of this is frozen food products in advertisements, which are often consumed alone rather than in a social context, for example, a birthday party or a summer party. For some people the taste perceptions of frozen food products might change if consumed in a different social context together with other people compared to when alone. Among different societal cultures beverages, food and meals have a prominent role in celebrations and many social events. There is no doubt that drinks and meals as a social phenomenon are used for personal socializing and contribute to enjoyable and happy personal experiences. Often the consumption of beverages, food and meals is treated as a reward following the cultural or religious traditions of a culture, for example, during the celebration of American Independence Day on 4 July, the Christian Christmas and the Muslim holiday of Ramadan. Why are beverages, food and meals of such importance in these kinds of celebrations for human beings? One of the most important functions for people’s well-being and quality of life is the nutrition of individuals, which must be satisfied every day during a lifetime. It is all about survival, which can only be ensured for every individual by the consumption of beverages, food and meals. Even though beverages, food and meals are treated as physical refills, joy and happiness are also expected as an outcome of the consumption for many people in different societal cultures. On the other hand, it is not only the physical function that is important: historically the aesthetic function of beverages, food and meals has been significant for many people. For example, a dinner presented as a lovely buffet on a table offers many people various taste sensations through colours, scents and other sensory elements. Also, the gift of a chocolate box to a woman in a romantic encounter or the invitation to a date with a newfound boyfriend or girlfriend in a prestigious restaurant illustrates the number of social functions that exist. In many Western cultures, beverages, food and meals have important ethical and moral dimensions for both men and women; for example, the question of calorie intake and obesity. In this case it might be that joy and happiness are replaced with disgrace and guilt among many individuals. For example, soft drinks with a high sugar content are often replaced with pure water. The impact of societal culture on beverages, food and meals as well as their sensory properties has for a long time been expressed with the term ‘kitchen’ or ‘cuisine’. The term corresponds to the French word cuisine and various food cultures are often described and

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analysed using this term; for example, ‘Chinese cuisine’ or ‘French cuisine’. This focuses upon the main components of the kitchen such as staple goods, preparation techniques and flavouring principles as well as other components such as pans, utensils and table manners. For example, in Chinese cuisine rice is a staple good and the wok technique is used to keep its consistency and taste. Moreover, ginger, red wine and soy sauce are the basis for taste principles.

When it comes to the seasoning of food in different societal cultures it has been developed for generations. Seasoning traditions are easy to distinguish in Africa, Central and South America, China, India, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia. The methods are grounded in complex mixtures of spices, as in Indian cuisine, or using only one spice in a meal, such as the coconut in the South Pacific islands.

Taste symbolism It is generally assumed that taste preferences for individuals and groups in terms of gastronomic taste experienced through the tongue should be looked upon as a biological concept. On the other hand, aesthetic taste is assumed to be a cultural and social phenomenon showing the differences between people and groups in judging what is bad or good taste. This is clear when individuals interpret and understand, for example, art, brands, fashion, consumer goods and styles in completely opposite ways. In every societal culture aesthetic and gastronomic taste builds upon the individual’s ability to make their own judgements about what is appropriate, beautiful and fine. There is no doubt that taste is related to different cultural and social phenomena, which

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impact the social dynamics and personal relationships between people. Following this assumption, it is not possible to separate aesthetic taste from its meaning as a symbol for various cultural and social phenomena. This leads to the conclusion that no single idea of taste exists shared by all individuals in a society. It is generally accepted that different tastes among socio-economic groups in a society are related to education and social origin. Especially, in relation to specific aesthetic preferences as well as attendance at various cultural events. This means that one of the most important factors explaining taste preferences is social belonging and social class. In this kind of context, it is crucial to identify and understand the different meanings of taste in every societal culture. Moreover, it is believed that taste and consumption are closely connected to each other, and that an individual’s taste preferences for beverages, clothing, fashion, food and meals directly influence purchase decisions in terms of good taste. On the other hand, bad taste also exists as social norms in every societal culture among certain groups of people. Often artists and comedians shock their audiences by using bad taste to challenge the established values of a societal culture. But what is considered bad taste might differ between people and societies and from one time to another. Sometimes retail companies, for example, design and sell provocative or vulgar products that challenge existing norms and values in a society.

7.4 SERVICE ENVIRONMENTS Taste stimuli In service environments like boutiques, coffee shops, department stores, malls, restaurants and retail stores different kinds of aesthetic and gastronomic stimuli impact the sense of taste. It is common in retail stores to taste product samples; for example, a new apple juice or a new type of French cheese. Also, in bookstores, cinemas, home furnishing stores or at gas stations the experience of the service environment is enhanced through offering customers different taste experiences, which is illustrated with this example.

The American cinema theatre Landmark, Westside, Los Angeles, says it boasts the best theatre food in the city. There is a full-service wine bar – which, in addition to red, white and bubbly, has a pretty great beer list – offering happy hour discounts and cappuccinos. It also has a tasty and reasonably priced menu with fancy eats (like a prosciutto and provolone sandwich and an artisan cheese plate) alongside more traditional theatre favourites like the hallowed Hebrew National hot dog served on a bun from La Brea Bakery. (www. timeout.com/los-angeles/film/the-11-best-movie-theaters-in-los-angeles)

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Furthermore, aesthetic stimuli such as design, interior and style also influence individuals’ taste perception and taste experience of the service environment. Especially, the interior with its chairs, floors, lightings and ceilings as stimuli are of utmost importance as expressions of aesthetic taste.

Tasting samples Many individuals take the opportunity to taste sample products when demonstrated or displayed in department or retail stores. It is not only about tasting products with the tongue but also touching products with the hands to get a feel for the sample products. It highlights the interaction between the sense of taste and the sense of touch often necessary in different product contexts. It has been shown that customers shopping in supermarkets and looking for snacks in bulk containers used their hands to pick up the boxes with the snacks inside. After that, they also picked snacks out of the boxes to taste and chew on. While this behaviour was not sanctioned by the supermarkets, it shows the individuals’ interest in tasting and touching the products. Furthermore, obese and non-obese shoppers behaved differently when they were offered doughnut samples in supermarkets. For obese shoppers the received doughnut samples resulted in buying more doughnuts, which was not related to the fact that they were hungry. But for non-obese shoppers the doughnut samples satisfied the hunger they had during the visit. A consequence was that they didn’t buy any more doughnuts compared to obese shoppers. A general opinion is that the taste experience that gives individuals the greatest pleasure is based on an emotional reaction; for example, when individuals taste cacao, chocolate, coffee, cheese or wine. It is believed that an individual’s taste experience consists of an affective component and an informative component. The informative component involves the sensory attributes such as hardness or the sweetness of a taste experience, as well as other characteristics like brand name, health-related issues, packaging and quality aspects. On the other hand, the affective component involves the emotional reactions related to delight, enjoyment, pleasure and satisfaction. Moreover, it is assumed that an individual’s pleasure in beverages, food and meals is dependent on both the affective and informative components. It is evident that when a person’s taste experience is more influenced by the affective component, the degree of pleasure is higher, whereas the informative component leads to a lower degree of pleasure. When it comes to tasting product samples by individuals it is evident that distractions increase the impact the affective component, i.e. the emotions. Even though the more objective informative component could influence the taste experience. After tasting the sample products, the affective component influenced the subsequent product choices that were made (Nowlis & Shiv, 2005).

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To get a free sample when shopping might create positive feelings among shoppers. It is well known that this kind of gift might awake more creative and flexible thought processes among people. It has been shown that significant interaction exists between the impact of a positive effect of a gift and variety-seeking behaviour. In an experimental study the positive effects of receiving a small bag of candy or sugar-free gum in relation to three different product categories – gourmet cuisine, sandwich crackers and soup – were investigated. The conclusion was that the shoppers who received a positive gift that tasted good had more variety-seeking behaviour compared to the shoppers who did not receive any gift. It has also been shown in two empirical studies that the perceived quality of a store brand was significantly enhanced when shoppers were tasting two different food products in-store. In this case the participants assessed the quality of the food products, and their quality perceptions of the store brand increased when the brand was of high (versus low) quality (Sprott & Shimp, 2004).

Tasting aesthetics Aesthetics is defined as how something feels and looks when it comes to a brand, a person, a place, an object or a service environment. A general opinion is that aesthetics is based on elements and principles linked to the appreciation of beauty and nature. The meaning of aesthetics tells us about the appearance of an object or a person in terms of how pleasant and positive it is for an individual. Aesthetic qualities emphasize how a certain feel to an image can be created; for example, warm colours in a restaurant might contribute to a sense of beauty and harmony.

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It is believed that people express their personal taste through the consumption of drinks, food or clothing. On the other hand, individuals might have more knowledge about some products compared to others related to hedonic consumption. It is evident that tasting aesthetics is of great importance in this context. It is not obvious that an individual has both good knowledge and good taste about, for example, music but sometimes it happens. An individual with high knowledge knows about music theory and other aspects but it is not the same as having very good taste. More common is that an individual has either good knowledge or good taste when it comes to music. It is assumed that in understanding an individual’s attitudes and preferences both knowledge, as a cognitive dimension, and taste, as an emotional dimension, are of importance (Hoyer & Stokburger-Sauer, 2012). These are related to the reasons individuals have for their purchase and consumption behaviour, on one hand, the affective (hedonic) motives, and on the other hand the functional (instrumental) motives. These premises are of significance in studying hedonism and hedonic dimensions when it comes to consumption of brands and products (Homburg et al., 2006). Even though tasting aesthetics is seen as a subjective, personal phenomenon following the old saying ‘every man to his taste’, an individual’s taste should not be questioned. But it is also accepted that uniform principles for aesthetic taste or aesthetic pleasure exist among humans. For that reason, people can perceive the same building, hotel, mall, restaurant or service environment as beautiful, as people have done for hundreds of years. Aesthetic taste is also regarded as an objective phenomenon when it comes to tasting aesthetics. Many individuals exercise tasting aesthetics by choosing and selecting brands, objects or service environments based on their attitudes and preferences. Following this tasting aesthetics is an ultimate expression of an individual’s social belonging, status and social group. How taste makers in the ‘fine-dining’ restaurant industry as service environment develop tasting aesthetics is illustrated here.

Taste makers are highly influential individuals or social groups who, by laying down the rules of what constitutes good or legitimate taste, may strongly influence aesthetic and economic identifications and practices among both consumers and producers of cultural products. Taste makers, by imposing a canon of rules and standards, establish an aesthetic trend and determine what is a legitimate taste. Arbiters of taste may have farreaching symbolic effects and material consequences for the whole cultural field. (Lane, 2013: 342–343)

In the process of taste-making the leading gastronomic guides like Michelin or Red Guide, the British Good Food Guide and the German Gault Millau are the most influential ones. The Michelin Guide is based on established procedures of assessing restaurants all over

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the world with one to three stars. The assessment is based on five criteria; namely, the quality of produce, the mastery of flavours and cooking, the creativity of the chef, value for money and the consistency of the kitchen’s achievement (Lane, 2013: 350). To be awarded three stars in the Michelin Guide it is necessary to show all-round excellence, and elegant surroundings and faultless service as well as chefs who must adhere to the basic principles of French haute cuisine. On the other hand, many chefs are open to influences from other world cuisines as well as other national and regional traditions. There is no doubt that on the three-star level not only excellent cooking is rewarded but also restaurant ambience and service are of importance. In fine-dining restaurants (with full service) it is evident that the physical environment quality in terms of ambient conditions, facility aesthetics, spatial layout and seating comfort significantly influences the hedonic attitude among individuals towards a restaurant’s brand (Hwang & Ok, 2013). It has also been shown that a direct relationship exists between a customer’s dining experience and restaurant atmospherics. Especially, retail atmospherics like ambience, facility aesthetics, spatial layout and window view have a significant impact on dining satisfaction. Moreover, these factors also positively influence the return intentions of restaurant patrons as well as their willingness to spread positive word of mouth (Heung & Gu, 2012). Altogether, it is suggested that good food, attentive service as well as a comfortable atmosphere with a focus on facility aesthetics are crucial factors in tasting aesthetics. How is it possible for companies to let people be tasting service environments? It must be said that tasting aesthetics belongs to all the five senses of sight, smell, sound, taste and touch. It is generally believed that the senses interact in creating multi-sensory experiences of service environments like Apple Stores or Starbucks as well as brands like BMW or Huawei. How individuals perceive the interior with the eyes, the scents with the nose, the music with the ears, the gastronomic taste with the tongue and the chairs with the body lays the ground for tasting aesthetics. In the next chapter the multi-sensory experience will be further discussed and penetrated.

7.5 BRANDS AND PRODUCTS Taste stimuli For many companies, gastronomic stimuli like raw materials, flavours, spices, nutrients and product quality as well as aesthetic stimuli like colours, structure, composition and food design are important elements in a food brand’s or a food product’s identity. There is no doubt that gastronomic stimuli for beverages, dishes and food are evaluated by all individuals by the tongue (and the nose), while aesthetic stimuli are evaluated by the eyes. The interaction of the gastronomic and aesthetic stimulus to assess and evaluate,

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for example, drinks, meals and all kinds of food brands and food products is necessary for most individuals. It is well known that various taste stimuli in terms of product attributes might result in taste sensations among people. Often flavours and spices are of importance, either natural or based on a composition of different chemical compounds added to cooking, dishes or to food. On the other hand, product quality as taste stimuli might create sensations based on the quality of raw materials, its effectiveness or tolerance, as well as other external product attributes like price, service and warranty. The concept of product quality is based on the mentioned attributes also related to such factors as craftsmanship, durability and reliability in terms of an individual’s cognitive evaluation. The possibility to identify American beer brands based on their taste characteristics was investigated among individuals. A couple of beer brands were chosen, and the beer’s quality was rated by letting the randomly selected respondents taste the beer. The results showed that it was not possible for the respondents to distinguish a specific brand from the other because the label of the bottle had been removed. Furthermore, the favourite beer brand could not be ranked higher than other brands because it was not possible to identify the actual brand through its label. A conclusion was that taste alone was not enough to evaluate beer brands as evaluation is also dependent upon the interaction with the eyes and the sense of vision. When it comes to evaluating the product quality of ice cream, an individual’s emotional reactions are also of significance. The negative or positive influence of coffee and strawberry flavour on emotional attitudes was examined in an experiment. It turned out that individuals with an already existing positive emotional attitude also had a significantly higher emotional reaction. This was also followed by a significantly higher perception of the product quality of the ice cream. Furthermore, it was found that individuals with an already positive emotional attitude had fewer negative thoughts about the ice cream and more positive thoughts. A conclusion is that both cognitive and emotional reactions in product evaluation lay the ground for the evaluation of the total product quality.

Taste goods For a long time, there has been a generally accepted distinction between search goods and experience goods. The product quality is often known in advance for search goods and many individuals look for them, while the product quality for experience goods is not known before purchase and consumption. A third product category – taste goods – has been proposed for fashion products (Phillips & McQuarrie, 2011). The arguments behind this category are twofold and the first one considers the fact that an individual’s preference builds upon subjective taste, which is why the product quality cannot be measured in an objective way. The second argument considers the possibility for an individual that a particular fashion product might create an experience before it has been purchased.

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For all brands and products where the aesthetic component is in focus, taste goods should be possible to distinguish from other products by sensory stimulus such as colour, design, form, material, shape, style or texture. This would allow individuals to have a subjective interpretation of fashion products, so that a product which one individual finds appealing and attractive is perceived in the opposite way by another individual. It is possible to say that taste goods as a visual phenomenon are related to a visual experience involving visual taste – and not a real taste experience. In advertisements for fashion products in fashion magazines this is often the case where only images are present without any verbal arguments. On the other hand, if no verbal arguments are present it is more difficult for individuals to assess the functional product quality of the actual fashion product.

Tasting samples For food manufacturers it is important to have clear and distinct gastronomic tastes in product evaluation made by individuals. It is important that individuals can distinguish a new taste from the actual taste of a beverage or a food product. Moreover, the taste consistency must not be different from one production batch to another if the new taste is to be successful in the competition between brands and products. Often food manufacturers perform tests by their own experts to check and validate the taste consistency. Manufacturers can also use taste tests in identifying the individuals with the ability to discriminate between brands and products based on gastronomic taste. The so-called triangle tests can show if an individual can identify the sample, out of three presented samples, that is different. Can individuals really distinguish the right taste or is it just about guessing? The following example illustrates how individuals perceive tastes in a blind taste (Biedekarken & Henneberg, 2006).

In Germany 12 leading brands of ice cream were investigated in a blind test. The brand name was unknown to the respondents during the blind test, but they tasted all the brands. The results showed that the most famous brands were perceived as having mediocre taste. But when the brand names were known to the respondents, they were judged as the best.

It is also possible to use a method called paired comparisons in getting individuals to discriminate between tastes. Three taste samples are given and one of them is different from the other two. Then individuals rank the most preferred taste and the least preferred taste. If the different taste is ranked as the least preferred, or the most preferred, the individual has made the right choice. On the other hand, if the different taste is ranked

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between the two identical tastes, it has not been possible to distinguish the taste samples from each other. This method is the most sensitive method in discriminating between different tastes. It has also been found that individuals might discriminate between individual attributes of a brand or a product not only based on taste differences (Hoegg & Alba, 2007). An experimental study investigated the effects of manipulating external product characteristics for the product category orange juice. Appropriate colour differences such as shades similar to orange as well as variations in sweetness were applied. It was further assumed that these external characteristics should not influence the gastronomic taste.

The findings of the first experiment showed that individuals could perceive the colour differences. Moreover, it was evident that the conflict between colour, as an expression for gastronomic taste, and as an expression for aesthetic taste, showed an advantage for the colour. A conclusion was that fine and subtle colour differences offset each other and do not influence an individual’s expectations about delicious taste. In the second experiment individuals’ perceptions of differences in etiquette were examined. It was shown that this manipulation made no difference and the individuals could not discriminate between etiquette and gastronomic taste. Altogether, a fine and subtle colour manipulation results in an effect when it comes to discrimination. Also, haptic characteristics such as hardness/softness or roughness/smoothness have been examined in relation to how individuals perceive food (Biswas et al., 2014), especially in terms of chewing and obesity. The findings showed that individuals made higher calorie estimates based on the food’s softness and smoothness. A conclusion was that companies, by changing the haptic characteristics of food products, could influence the calorie estimates, the consumption volume and the food choices made by individuals.

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Taste symbolism Companies use gastronomic and aesthetic taste to induce special feelings and thoughts about a brand or a product among individuals. Taste symbolism refers to the process whereby the tasting of a beverage or a food brand gastronomically and/or aesthetically causes joy and pleasure within individuals. It provides individuals with experiences and knowledge about food brands and products to be kept in their memories. It is assumed that all individuals make their evaluations of, for example, beverages, dishes and food products, as an objective assessment. But this is not true because the assessment is built upon the chemical composition of the taste receptors in the mouth of each individual and is therefore subjective. Moreover, an individual’s knowledge, beliefs and values concerning food brands and food products are of significance in purchase decisions. This lays the ground for an individual, subjective opinion and many individuals do their assessment based on acquired knowledge. Especially, the socio-cultural elements influence many individuals’ perceptions of beverages, dishes and food products in relation to environmental, health and sustainability issues. An example of the assimilation effect is the experiment with the brand Perrier and the Old Fashioned Saltzer. The respondents preferred Perrier compared to the other brand when the labels of the two bottles were visible. But when the labels were invisible the respondents had no preferences with regard to product choice. In this case it is believed that the earlier knowledge from tasting Perrier was activated when the label was shown. When it comes to the assimilation effects as a result of the interplay of the social and individual level the current societal culture plays a prominent role. It is the symbolic content of beverages, dishes and food that most individuals adapt to and use in their purchase decisions in an unconscious way. The individual’s taste perceptions are therefore based on the current human values about drinks and food, laying the ground for positive taste symbolism. It has been shown that many individuals’ attitudes and taste assessments are influenced by cultural symbols and human values (Allen et al., 2008). A general opinion is that fruits, grains and vegetables symbolize distance from social power while red meat symbolizes social power. The findings revealed that those individuals who ignored the importance of social power, represented by the red meat in a ‘beef roll’, could prefer an ‘alternative vegetarian roll’. Those individuals had a more positive attitude and a more positive taste assessment after tasting the vegetarian roll compared with the beef roll. The same happened when tasting a ‘Pepsi drink’, symbolizing values of enjoyment, excitement and social power, compared with a ‘Woolworth Homebrand Cola’, ignoring these values. The individuals with the same values as the ‘Pepsi drink’ represented had a more positive attitude and taste assessment of the ‘Pepsi drink’ in comparison with the other drink they tasted. Taste signature refers to how companies connect the sense of taste to food brands and food products through an individual’s gastronomic and/or aesthetic taste. Many companies offer their customers coffee, water and snacks to provide them with a ‘taste’ of the brand and a

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positive taste experience. The Scandinavian airline company, SAS, has improved the taste experience for passengers when flying at high altitudes by giving the bread an extra pinch of salt and the salad is kept fresh and crisp by varying the content. The dry air in the cabin as well as the temperature changes taking place during a flight make the food taste different. For many brands, for example, Coca-Cola, Danone and Lipton Tea, it is obvious that the different flavours of beverages, yoghurt and green tea create taste signatures. An example is the Coca-Cola Vanilla that was introduced as a flavour after the company had found out that Coca-Cola lovers added vanilla flavour to their Cokes. Retail companies like bookstores, clothing stores, department stores, interior stores and petrol stations are also incorporating tastes by offering their customers in-store beverages, candies, cakes, coffee, hot dogs and other food products to broaden and strengthen their brands. To apply tastes in different contexts might be a useful strategy for companies that need to emphasize how ‘it tastes’.

7.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter presents and discusses the sensory principles of the sense of taste. The main characteristics of taste have been described in terms of physiological aspects regarding gastronomic taste as well as psychological aspects regarding gastronomic and hedonic taste. The significance of taste perception is presented in relation to individual preferences, group preferences and taste symbolism in societal cultures. The most important part of the chapter concerns the analysis of gustatory/aesthetic cues and stimuli in the context of service environments as well as brands and products. For service environments the importance of tasting product samples and tasting aesthetics have been analysed and discussed. Likewise, the importance of gustatory/aesthetic stimuli for brands and products is analysed and discussed in relation to taste goods, tasting samples and taste symbolism. The application of different gustatory/aesthetic stimuli is described through examples, illustrating the significance of taste stimuli for companies in marketing practice.

7.7

THE CASE OF IKEA

IKEA is one of the largest furniture retailers in the world and was founded by Ingvar Kamprad, Elmtaryd, Agunnaryd, Sweden, in 1943. The famous retail chain designs and sells furniture, often ready to assemble, home products, kitchen appliances as well as other appropriate goods and services for the home. The name of the company is an acronym based upon the initials of Ingvar Kamprad (the name of the founder), Elmtaryd (the farm where he lived when young) and Aggunaryd (the home village in Småland in southern Sweden). (Continued)

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In every local IKEA store all over the world, customers are offered a delicious taste of Sweden based on affordable, honest and ‘everyday’ meals. It was Ingvar Kamprad’s idea from the beginning that beverages, meals and food should be available for the customers during their visits to the stores. The first IKEA restaurant was opened in Älmhult, Sweden, in 1960. At every restaurant a variety of food is provided from Swedish meatballs, to cakes and coffee. Also, meals are available according to the time of day; for example, a cooked breakfast, brunch with salmon, and a full dinner of meatballs are offered during opening hours. One of the reasons behind the establishment of the restaurants was that it is difficult to do business with hungry customers. Customers are recommended to take a break from the shopping tour and visit the restaurant with its pleasant and relaxing environment. Often customers spend some hours walking around in the stores and exploring the products they have an interest in. Many customers need a break to sit down, relax and think about what products to buy and make purchase decisions. In a situation like this an IKEA restaurant is a place to recharge and sample a taste of Sweden. It also encourages the customers to stay longer in the store and identify themselves with the Swedish identity and low prices. Everybody visiting the local IKEA store such as singles or whole families are welcome to the restaurant. The children are offered highchairs, changing areas and play areas at the IKEA restaurant. A visit to the restaurant might have different purposes in satisfying the visitor’s hunger such as enjoying a breakfast, lunch, dinner or just a fika (the Swedish for coffee break) based on a cup of coffee or a cold drink with a tasty cake in the afternoon. After checking out from the store it is possible for the customers to grab a quick pickme-up at the IKEA Bistro. Before leaving the store, the customers also have the possibility to explore the great assortment of drinks, meals, snacks and more food products at the IKEA Swedish Food Market. Altogether the IKEA food concept with the restaurants, the bistro, and the food market incorporates different ways for the customers to get a taste of Sweden.

QUESTIONS 1

Discuss and analyse the role of the IKEA restaurants for the company and its customers. Why is it important to offer individuals the possibility to taste Swedish meals and food during a visit to the local store? Mention two reasons from the company’s point of view and two reasons from the customer’s point of view.

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2

3

Explain why the IKEA food concept works as a taste signature for the IKEA stores globally. Discuss and evaluate the concept with respect to how by tasting the brand individuals might perceive and experience the gastronomic and aesthetic feel of the brand. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of a taste signature from an ethical point of view. What positive and negative consequences can you identify? Mention at least two examples of such consequences and discuss them more in detail from an individual’s perspective.

FURTHER READING Allen, M.W., Gupta, R. & Monnier, A. (2008). ‘The interactive effect of cultural symbols and human values on taste evaluation’, Journal of Consumer Research, 35, 2: 294–398. Biswas, D. & Szocs, C. (2019). ‘The smell of healthy choices: Cross-modal sensory compensation effects of ambient scent on food purchases’, Journal of Marketing Research, https://doi. org/10.1177/0022243718820585. Heung, V.C.S. & Gu, T. (2012). ‘Influence of restaurant atmospherics on patron satisfaction and behavioral intentions’, International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31: 1167–1177.

8

MULTI-SENSORY PRINCIPLES

CHAPTER CONTENTS 8.0 Introduction

186

8.1

The Human Senses in Collaboration

186

What is sensory integration?

188

The interaction of vision, sound and touch

189

The Multi-Sensory Phenomenon

190

What is multi-sensory perception?

190

The optimal stimulation theory

191

Service Environments as Multi-Sensory Interaction

192

Hearing and smelling in interaction

193

Congruent auditory and olfactory cues

194

Seeing, smelling and touching in interaction

196

Brands and Products as Multi-Sensory Interaction

197

Multi-sensory perception

197

Product evaluation

198

Non-congruent sensory stimuli

200

Multi-Sensory Brand-Experience

202

Physical service environments

202

Online service environments

205

Brands and products

206

8.2

8.3

8.4

8.5

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8.6

Chapter Summary

207

8.7

The Case of Kia Motors

208

Questions 210 Further Reading

211

8.0 INTRODUCTION The chapter gives an overview of the multi-sensory interplay between vision, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting and its importance in sensory marketing. Especially, the characteristics of multi-sensory interplay, its role in purchase and consumption processes as well as the significance of multi-sensory experiences for individuals will be analysed and discussed. After reading the chapter, you should be able to: 1 2 3 4 5

Explain how multi-sensory interplay works at an individual level. Discuss the role of multi-sensory interplay as a phenomenon. Analyse the multi-sensory interplay for brands and products as well as service environments. Describe how a company could apply multi-sensory interplay in marketing practice. Discuss the significance of multi-sensory interplay in sensory marketing.

8.1 THE HUMAN SENSES IN COLLABORATION The five human senses are of significance for individuals in perceiving and experiencing their immediate surroundings, different brands and products as well as service environments. Especially, when the perception and the sensory experience of objects, people and items are based on the five human senses externally. An example is when you read this text and use your eyes, i.e. through the sense of vision. The five human senses are also used by individuals for deliberative and logical thinking and it is assumed that the mind of each person controls the perception of how the environment and the outside world appears. When the five senses are used internally it happens that many individuals think or fantasize about different things, such as how a cup of coffee tastes, how ambient scents smell or how relaxing music sounds. It might also happen that individuals discuss with themselves, through an internal dialogue, how a brand or a product feels or looks. When the senses are used internally some individuals prefer to use sight (to see a situation before it takes place) or prefer to use touch (to feel an object). On the other hand, smell and taste are not often used internally as the main senses. By using the senses internally an individual might create fantasies, ideas and thoughts embodied by the individual and resulting in a certain behaviour. The development of a

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special mindset among many individuals often shapes their image of themselves, leading to a positive self-image as well as a higher degree of self-fulfilment (Figure 8.1).

The human senses and their functions

Externally:

Internally:

The outside world contributes to an individual’s perceptions and experiences

The inner world contributes to an individual’s dreams, fantasies and thoughts

Figure 8.1  The external and internal senses

It is believed that all information humans receive from their immediate surroundings is handled and processed by the perceptual system. It relates to the process of acquiring, interpreting, organizing and selecting the sensory information from the outside world. As one of the oldest research fields in scientific psychology this field is studied within the cognitive sciences and experimental psychology. In the perceptual system all kinds of signals and stimuli are organized in relation to the five human senses. Moreover, it is assumed that the evaluations individuals make of brands, products, service environments as well as staff members lead to a multi-sensory experience. It is based upon how a product, for example, looks through the sense of vision, how it sounds through the sense of sound, how it smells through the sense of smell, how it feels to touch through the sense of touch and how it tastes through the sense of taste.

BMW’s key concept is to create multi-sensory brand-experiences for their customers when it comes to the different car models as well as the service environments of their dealers. Already when you walk through the showroom entrance you should perceive the smell of the new cars, hear the BMW music, see the BMW movie on the digital screen and experience the artificial breeze blowing around you. After a few seconds you will be welcomed by the BMW brand-genius, a true product expert. Altogether, it constitutes the multi-sensory brand-experience.

However, for some people it is not possible to completely distinguish between the sensory input from vision, sound, smell, touch and taste. The concept of synaesthesia refers to how a person who is listening to sounds might also see colours, where bright colours are

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related to loud noise and dark colours are related to low noises. For some individuals it is also possible to ‘taste’ words expressed as lexical gustatory synaesthesia. New sensory information might change an individual’s perceptions of a service environment, a brand or a person, emanating from earlier experiences and knowledge. Especially, for experience-based products a higher degree of sensory stimuli is related to vision, smell, touch and taste, for example, beverages, chocolate, food and perfumes (Troye & Supphellen, 2012). This information using multiple senses contributes to our judgements and purchase decisions of brands and products resulting in a multi-sensory brand-experience.

What is sensory integration? When a stimulus reaches the sense organ and its receptors for vision, sound, smell, touch and taste, a sensation occurs through the biochemical and neurological processes of the human brain. Sensory integration, i.e. the interaction of the senses, is assumed to be the neurological process taking care of the various sensations coming from the body and the surroundings. Through this process the fundamental properties of the stimuli are detected resulting in what is defined as perception, meaning that individuals receive the sensory information from the outside world expressed as, for example, ‘I see that the roses are red’. Altogether, the different stimuli from the senses are first managed by the brain as sensations, then transferred to sensory information allowing people to use the whole body in the most efficient way in relation to the surroundings and the outside world (Figure 8.2).

Sensory stimuli for vision, sound, smell, touch and taste

Sensations occurs in body and mind

Sensory information as perception

Sensory integration and multi-sensory experience

Figure 8.2  Stimuli, sensations and sensory information Sensory integration is necessary for individuals in order to understand the environment and the outside world and to carry out different activities. Often these activities are a combination of various categories of sensory stimulations, as input, such as the senses of vision, sound, smell, touch and taste, as well as the vestibular sense (i.e. balance and movement) and the sense of proprioception (i.e. body movement). Electrical signals create the sensory integration in different neurological contexts of the human brain and because of these activities and processes an understanding is created in every individual of how to interact with the environment and the outside world.

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In digital, virtual environments an increased number of sensory stimuli might lead to individuals enhancing their sense of presence. Especially, a major impact was found in one experiment using sensory stimuli such as vision, sound, smell and touch. Furthermore, it is possible to recall the items or objects better in a virtual environment (Dinh et al., 1999). How can an evolutionary perspective contribute to an understanding of the importance of sensory integration? It is believed that humans developed the senses of smell and taste early in the history of humankind and that the interaction between the two was necessary for further existence. The reason was to get in touch with and eat the right food with nutrients and avoid consuming poisoned berries or mushrooms. Also, the sensory interaction between vision and sound (i.e. hearing) was important for examining the spatial surroundings. Moreover, an individual’s fine motor skills developed early in order to have better hand–eye coordination based on the sensory integration of touch and vision. Especially, in the production of different goods like bags, clothing and furniture, the sensory integration was of utmost importance.

The interaction of vision, sound and touch One of the most well-known interactions of the senses concerns the collaboration between vision and sound. By combining these two an individual will better interpret and perceive what is happening in their surroundings. A major reason is that the two senses perceive an object or an environment in completely different ways. A general opinion is that vision dominates human perception and the visual spatial information is regarded as one of the most credible sensory inputs. By using vision humans can get access to immediate, accurate spatial information without any external (outer) distortions because visual stimuli are recorded directly on the eye’s retina. This means that no false sensory information can be sent to the brain concerning the actual location of a place or the actual design of a service environment. When it comes to using auditory spatial information by sound, for example, about an object’s or a person’s location, it is evident that the sensory information might be changed or modified. It means that no reliable image is established of where the object or the person is located. When the interaction takes place between the visual and auditory stimuli a clearer picture can show an individual where the actual object or actual person is located. A neural, dynamic mechanism in the human brain can match visual and auditory sensory input coming from the surroundings and the outside world in stimulating multiple senses together. Moreover, when you are looking at something or talking to someone the visual and auditory signals are experienced simultaneously, but they are not processed at the same time by the brain. To get this arrangement to work the brain can compensate for the distance to the actual object we are looking at or the actual person we are talking to.

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Also, hand–eye coordination is another example of the interaction between the senses of touch and vision. The visual system is not dynamic and does not allow you to move your eyes in all directions compared to the haptic system, which allows you to move your hands and other parts of the body freely anywhere you prefer. Individuals would not visually perceive and experience what they were looking at and touching at the same time if the movements of the hand did not take place. The hand–eye coordination emphasizes how individuals visually perceive an object and what they experience by touching it. In this visual context the tactile sensation is focused allowing us to feel and handle the actual object or item when the senses are collaborating.

8.2 THE MULTI-SENSORY PHENOMENON What is multi-sensory perception? Multi-sensory perception means how individuals receive and interpret stimuli, sensations and sensory information from vision, sound, smell, touch and taste, through sensory integration. Every individual has their unique multi-sensory perception based on the individual preferences when it comes to looking at an object, listening to classical music, smelling roses, touching a best friend or tasting a cappuccino. When two or more senses are integrated at the same time multi-sensory perception takes place through cognitive, emotional and sensory processes in the human brain and its different parts. Altogether, it lays the ground for a multi-sensory experience of brands and products as well as service environments. It is known from research that the sense of vision collaborates with the senses of sound, smell and touch in multi-sensory perception (Thesen et al., 2004). Moreover, it has been found that it is possible to identify multi-sensory convergence zones in the human brain,

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expressed as ‘a sense can be influenced by relationships with the other senses’ (Driver & Noesselt, 2008: 1). Learning about a brand or a service environment is based on an individual’s perception of the surroundings and the outside world, which requires continuous multi-sensory stimulation with more than one stimulus involved at the same time. In neuromarketing an important notion is that individuals react unconsciously to sensory stimuli when they influence them opposed to learnt stimuli, for example, brand names or logos like BMW, Gap or Huawei. When it comes to understanding how learning arises about objects and brands within an individual, the multi-sensory functions and mechanisms of the human brain are in focus. It is believed that when individuals perceive and evaluate brands and products as well as service environments the sensory experience is built upon the integration of vision and touch as the most important senses. The fact that it is possible for an individual to assess a brand or a product considering the degree of detail using the eyes and the hands makes them more confident (Schifferstein & Cleiren, 2005). Moreover, it has been shown that in a consumer’s decision-making, while visual and tactile information are both present during product evaluation, the visual information is inferior to the tactile information. On the other hand, the visual information is often superior to the tactile information when it comes to judging an object’s or a product’s shape, size or position, giving a more credible evaluation (Ernst & Banks, 2002). A general opinion is that most individuals make use of multiple senses in assessing brands and products as well as service environments, resulting in a synergistic effect on their behaviour, evaluation and memory (Bresciani et al., 2006). In purchasing clothing, laptops, smartphones or fashion products, multiple senses are used for product evaluation expressed by Calvert et al. (2004: ix) in the following way.

There is no doubt that our senses are designed to work together and that our brains are organized to use the information we obtain from various sensory channels together to enhance the probability that objects and events are detected quickly, correctly identified, and with a suitable response.

The optimal stimulation theory It is believed that individuals are looking for a certain optimum stimulation level resulting in being comfortable and satisfied in a service environment. If the environment does not offer enough with sensory stimuli, individuals will look and search for other stimuli, often more complex and unusual. But if the environment provides individuals with too many stimuli – often called sensory overload – they will try to reduce the stimulation level. This will be achieved by changing behaviour, investigating fewer products, visiting fewer stores or making fewer purchases (Steenkamp & Baumgartner, 1992).

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Morrin and Chebat (2005), in an experimental field study, investigated how auditory and olfactory stimuli in isolation as well as in interaction – like background music and lemon scent – should impact the shopping behaviour of shoppers in a Canadian shopping mall. Especially, how planned purchases or impulse purchases could be related to these types of stimuli and how this might explain differences in consumer’s behaviour. Altogether, 774 adult shoppers participated in the experiments during a 4-week period, divided into a control group (n=230), an experimental group for background music (n=144), an experimental group for the lemon scent (n=145), and an experimental group for the background music and the lemon scent together. It was hypothesized that impulse purchases of the shoppers would be increased by the auditory stimuli, i.e. background music, and shoppers would be more emotionally oriented in their shopping style. On the other hand, it was hypothesized that planned purchases of the shoppers would be increased by the olfactory stimuli, i.e. the lemon scent, and shoppers would be more cognitively oriented in their shopping style. The findings showed that when only background music was present, impulse purchases were made by the shoppers and more money was spent. The amount was US$64 for the control group and US$96.89 for the experimental group. When only the lemon scent was present, planned purchases were made by the shoppers and more money was spent. The amount was US$40.79 for the control group and US$46.50 for the experimental group. The most striking findings were that when the background music and the lemon scent were present together in interaction a negative influence on the amount of money spent was evident. The amount for planned purchases was US$40.79 for the control group and US$28.29 for the experimental group, and for impulse purchases the amount was US$64 and US$28.29, respectively. A conclusion was that the unexpected findings could be explained through the optimal stimulation theory. In this case a plausible explanation for this might be that the shoppers were not satisfied with the interaction between background music and the lemon scent. Perhaps, they were not congruent with the service environment of the shopping mall.

8.3 SERVICE ENVIRONMENTS AS MULTI-SENSORY INTERACTION Atmospheric stimuli (also called retail atmospherics) influence an individual’s cognition, emotions and behaviour in boutiques, department stores, malls, restaurants or retail stores, and influence how the service environment is perceived and experienced (Spence et al., 2014). Various stimuli (elements) for vision, sound, smell, touch and taste in the surroundings transmit sensory information to the five senses.

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It is believed that these atmospheric stimuli create synergies when they are integrated with each other to influence individuals. Moreover, it is assumed these stimuli, for example, aesthetics, design, music and texture, are perceived holistically and not individually by consumers (Babin et al., 2004).

Hearing and smelling in interaction The interaction between atmospheric stimuli such as music and scent, and a consumer’s perception of the store environment, has been studied in a store experiment by Mattila and Wirtz (2001). The aim of the study was to investigate if a high conformity between music and scent should influence the consumer’s evaluation of the gift shop in relation to approach, joy, impulse purchase, perceived positive environment and satisfaction. The respondents were customers (n=343) and the majority were women (75 per cent) and two out of three customers were under 20 years of age, corresponding with the main target group of the store. When the experiment took place, the music was played through CD players in the store’s sound system. At the same time the scent was introduced through four ceramic sprayers and spread throughout the store environment. The findings showed that when the lavender scent was pleasant and integrated with slow music the individuals rated the store environment higher. It was found that the interaction between music and scent was significant. A conclusion of the study was that a high correlation between music and scent was necessary to achieve the multi-sensory interactions and the chosen stimuli should not be considered on an individual basis.

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In another experimental field study in a fashion store the positive effects of music and scent were investigated (Morrison et al., 2011). During the experiment over a 4-week period music and scent were manipulated separately in relation to variables such as approach, delight, excitement, money spent, time spent, as well as overall satisfaction with the shopping experience. The music was already a part of the atmosphere and came from a playlist while during the experiment either dance music with high volume or background music with low volume was played for a couple of hours. The scent of vanilla was chosen for the experiment as it is often regarded as a feminine fragrance with a special influence on women giving emotional associations to childhood and teens. When the customers visited the store during the experiment a questionnaire was handed out measuring the dependent variables using 7-point scales from earlier studies on approach, emotions and satisfaction. Also, a manipulation control was conducted regarding whether the music was perceived as very low to very high and if the scent of vanilla could be smelled. The findings showed that the interaction between music and scent had significant effects on joy and happiness, although music and vanilla individually also had a significant impact on customers’ excitement. Moreover, the interaction of music and vanilla also influenced approach, money spent and time spent in the store. A conclusion was that sensory stimuli for music and scent in the right combination impact individuals’ emotions as well as their purchase behaviour by causing them to stay longer.

Congruent auditory and olfactory cues An interesting question is whether or not multi-sensory interactions should be based on congruent stimuli. In an experimental study by Spangenberg et al. (2005) the interaction between auditory and olfactory stimuli in the context of a retailer’s Christmas season was examined. The aim of the study was to find out if a congruent, auditory stimulus in collaboration with a congruent olfactory stimulus would positively impact a consumer’s evaluation of a store, its product range and the service environment. In a laboratory setting the experiment was carried out involving both images of a store and music and scent. In a pre-study the American students, females as well as males aged between 20 and 55 years, could decide what auditory and olfactory stimuli should be selected. As auditory stimuli the Christmas song ‘Home for Christmas’ by Amy Grant was selected, and the non-Christmas song ‘Heart in Motion’ also by Amy Grant was selected. As olfactory stimuli, a fragrance called ‘Enchanted Christmas’ in spray form was selected. Each participant received a questionnaire to complete when the experiment was carried out measuring demographic variables, instruments and manipulation control. It was found that the collaboration between auditory and olfactory stimuli, i.e. the music and the scent, was significant and had a positive effect on the store evaluation, the product range and the service environment. Moreover, it was evident that the best

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evaluations were related to the introduction of the Christmas scent when the Christmas music was played. It was expressed through more joy and excitement, more positive attitudes towards the store, stronger intentions to visit the store and higher evaluation of the service environment. This was not the case when the non-Christmas music was played together with the Christmas scent, which led to less positive attitudes to the store and the product range as well as weaker intentions to visit the store. The main conclusion was that congruent auditory and olfactory stimuli resulted in more positive evaluations of the store, its product range and its service environment. Moreover, the congruent stimuli had a positive impact on consumers’ behaviour overall. In a utilitarian and visually dominant IKEA store atmosphere, it has been shown that multi-sensory congruent cues, such as auditory and olfactory ones, influence the shopper’s emotions and purchase behaviour (Helmefalk & Hultén, 2017). In the experimental study multi-sensory cues were defined as those complementing vision in the actual lighting department of the IKEA store, such as adding music/voice to a rather quiet store environment and introducing an appealing scent in a normally odourless store. It was assumed that multi-sensory cues should have a positive impact on emotions and purchase behaviour.

The results showed a positive effect on shoppers’ emotions, through valence and purchase behaviour, through time spent and purchase. Especially, when congruent music was introduced the shoppers stayed 51 per cent longer in the lighting department compared to a non-music setting. It is evident that non-visual cues, such as the auditory and olfactory ones, are more effective compared to introducing new visual cues in a dominant visual atmosphere. In one of the experiments where new visual congruent cues for

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aesthetics and lighting were introduced, no significant effects on shoppers’ emotions and purchase behaviour could be identified. A major conclusion is that retailers should consider developing a dominant visual store atmosphere by adding complementary auditory and olfactory cues into a multi-sensory store atmosphere. This would allow shoppers to have a more hedonic multi-sensory brandexperience of the service environment at an IKEA store.

Seeing, smelling and touching in interaction In a field experiment in the glass department of an IKEA store the effects of visual and olfactory stimuli on shopper’s behaviour was investigated (Hultén, 2012). The aim of the study was to find out if a positive impact on shoppers’ purchase and touch behaviour – in terms of time spent in the department, time spent touching the glasses, as well as the number of purchased glasses – existed when the atmosphere of the store was manipulated. During the experiment 886 shoppers were involved, of whom 322 were men and 564 were women all of different ages. The control group consisted of 451 individuals and the experimental group consisted of 435 individuals and the experiment was conducted during two weekends, from Friday to Sunday. The atmosphere of the glass department was very functional and not emotionally appealing for the shoppers. For that reason, the atmosphere was manipulated through the introduction of visual and olfactory stimuli. The lighting in the department was lowered by closing several rows of the white light in the ceiling to make it more appealing. Also, brown and red mats were placed on the tables together with wine glasses and a glass carafe on a tray. A vanilla scent was lightly present in the air emanating from some scented candles placed close to the point-of-purchase (POP). It is evident from the findings that the combination of visual and olfactory stimuli significantly influenced shoppers’ purchase and touch behaviour. Especially, when it came to how long shoppers spent at the POP looking at and touching the wine glasses, where individuals in the experimental group spent 106 seconds compared to 75 seconds for individuals in the control group. Moreover, it was found that the shoppers who bought the wine glasses stayed longer at the POP than the non-buyers, which means that individuals in the experimental group stayed there for 146 seconds compared to 68 seconds for individuals in the control group. When it comes to shoppers’ touching time a significant increase of 50 per cent was found, corresponding to 23 seconds for the experimental group compared to 15 seconds for the control group. It was also evident that the more time shoppers spent touching the wine glasses, the greater the probability of making a purchase. Finally, a significant effect was found related to the manipulated atmosphere and its impact on the total sales of wine glasses and, especially, the more exclusive glasses, giving a sales increase of 217 per cent for the experimental group compared to the control group.

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A main conclusion from the study is that the combination of visual and olfactory stimuli impacts shoppers’ touch behaviour and purchase behaviour. The new design of the tables, the reduced lighting, as well as the vanilla scent had significant effects on shoppers’ time spent and touching time, resulting in an increase in money spent. However, it is difficult to establish whether it is the combination of these stimuli or only one of them that influenced shoppers’ behaviour (Spence et al. 2014).

8.4 BRANDS AND PRODUCTS AS MULTI-SENSORY INTERACTION Multi-sensory perception A general opinion is that individuals perceive and experience a brand or a product through multiple senses as different sensory interactions. The whole experience of a brand is built upon the sensory information when it comes to how the brand looks (e.g. design and colour), how the brand sounds (e.g. style and noise), how the brand smells (e.g. flavour and intensity), how the brand feels (e.g. softness and texture), and how it tastes (e.g. aesthetic design and gastronomic appeal). Most brands and products are open and visible, like clothing, computers, fashion, home interior, smartphones, but some brands and products are hidden and difficult to taste and touch. Especially, for consumer brands and products such as beverages, food, home electronics and skin care products. In this context, packaging plays a major role in communicating the brand, educating consumers about the brand and strengthening the brand image. The disadvantage with packaging is the fact that it is normally sealed to prevent consumers from seeing, smelling, touching and tasting the actual brand or product. When it comes to product evaluation the packaging has to convince individuals to purchase the product by offering a message about the product experience on the packaging. For that reason, the colours, design, price, shape, softness and sound altogether contribute to the overall product experience for an individual. An individual’s perception of a package might influence the taste perception of a special brand. Especially, the sound of a crinkling, flexible packaging or the feeling of a cardboard structure might impact an individual’s perception of how the packaging takes care of the product. The sound of packaging works as sensory information for products like beverages, for example, beer and wine. Emotional associations to the brand or the products are created through sound information, for example, when the wine cork pops off, or through tactile information, for example, the temperature indicator on the bottle. In general, it is accepted that the colour of a product influences the impressions an individual gets, that the sound of a product says something about the quality and that a scent might be perceived as less or more pleasant in a service environment. In this regard

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all sensory information about a brand or a product influences how it is perceived and experienced by individuals (Schifferstein, 2006).

Product evaluation The human senses are affected by multi-sensory information from brands and products in product evaluation. Individuals might, for example, perceive and experience fashion brands like Gap, H&M or Zara as softer when visually pleasing colours appear on blouses and skirts, even though tactile evaluation has been the most important source when individuals want to receive the most relevant sensory information. However, the multi-sensory interaction between seeing and touching is dominant for most people in the product evaluation of the most tangible brands and products. For this reason, it is important for marketers to design and offer brands and products with multisensory information in order to support an individual’s product evaluation. This means, for example, understanding how individuals use multi-sensory information from seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting when evaluating various consumer brands and products.

It has been shown that when individuals receive both visual and tactile sensory information about tangible products the result of the product evaluation is improved. A conclusion was that the tactile information was supported by visual information resulting in an improvement. Moreover, it was found that the visual information built up expectations of the tactile experience within individuals. If the visual and tactile stimuli were mismatched the tangible products were explored in more detail, resulting in greater interest in and fondness for the products.

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When it comes to product evaluation it is obvious that multi-sensory evaluation of brands and products takes place where the tactile examination gives individuals the possibility to distinguish between different sensory stimuli through visual examination. Seeing and touching familiar products at the same time through multi-sensory interaction allows individuals to perceive and experience different elements of a brand’s or a product’s structure (Whitaker et al., 2008).

Seeing and touching The multi-sensory interaction between vision and touch in product evaluation has been investigated in an experimental study (Balaji et al., 2011). The aim of the study was to test if tactile sensory information predominates over visual sensory information and if the multi-sensory information from vision and touch would influence attitudes and purchase intentions. Three different experimental assignments were carried out at an Indian university with 193 participants including 67 females and 126 males. The participants evaluated a tissue paper of the same brand in three different parts. The front of the paper had the same visual design, i.e. a floral design with colours such as blue, green and pink, as well as the same identical structure. The paper had a soft surface and when it was touched it gave a smooth feeling. The three parts of the paper were equally light and thick in relation to its weight. The first visual assignment was to visually evaluate the paper and the participants could do so for as long as they wished. The paper could not be touched and only a visual evaluation could be performed. After the evaluation the answers were written in a questionnaire. The second tactile assignment was to evaluate the paper by touching and feeling it without looking at it visually. The participants were told to touch the paper only once it was placed inside an opaque plastic bag. Finally, the third multi-sensory assignment was to evaluate the three coloured pieces of the paper, both seeing and touching them at the same time. It was found that the tactile evaluation was significantly superior to the visual evaluation. Moreover, the tactile evaluation resulted in more positive attitudes towards the actual brand compared to the visual evaluation. Also, the multi-sensory compared to single sensory evaluation resulted in more positive attitudes as well as higher purchase intentions. The main conclusion was that tactile sensory information contributes to product evaluation and facilitates purchase decisions. When the participants were denied the opportunity to touch the product, they expressed negative feelings about the brand. Another conclusion was that an individual’s attitudes and purchase intentions are positively influenced by the multi-sensory interaction of seeing and touching the brand.

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Multiple sensory stimuli How individuals perceive and experience brands and products often depends upon the multi-sensory interactions of different sensory experiences. The interactions between the sense of smell and the sense of touch were investigated in a study by Krishna et al. (2010). The participants were asked to rate a scented paper following their experiences of scent and texture. A significant interplay was found between the two sensory experiences, where women had a more positive haptic perception of the plain paper compared to men. On the other hand, men had a more positive experience of a rough paper resulting in a significant sensory experience. A conclusion was that multi-sensory congruence between smell and touch might lead to a more positive tactile (touch) experience. It is assumed that multiple sensory stimuli influence each other and impact an individual’s perception of various brands and products. Common effects of various sensory stimuli exist, for example, the sound experience when you chew potato chips can influence how you perceive the crispness of the actual potato chips (Zampini & Spence, 2004). Also, different colours of orange juice might affect how an individual discriminates between tastes in relation to multiple sensory stimuli. It is evident that the actual flavour is inferior to visual information based on colours, which impact an individual’s preferences about a brand or a product. It should be said that verbal stimuli on packaging, like a bottle or a paper carton, do not contribute to discriminating taste in the same way as visual stimuli. In several experiments multiple sensory stimuli for sight, sound, smell and taste were examined for brands and products with a high degree of sensory elements, such as beer, chocolate, music and perfume (Biswas et al., 2014). Often product samples for chocolate and perfume are handed out to shoppers in department stores or retail stores. The findings showed that individuals, when similar sensory stimuli were present, preferred the first product sample in a sequence of samples. This was explained by the theory of sensory habituation, which states that individuals have the greatest preference for the first sample. When multiple (or different) sensory stimuli were present the last product sample was preferred. This was explained by the theory of sensory slowdown, which states that individuals have a greater preference for the last sample in comparison with the previous one.

Non-congruent sensory stimuli Most individuals have various expectations about how a brand or a product should sound, smell, feel (by touch) or taste when looking at it (by vision). Individuals perceive the sensory information about a brand or a product as non-congruent in the way that it might create conflicts between the senses. This might result in inconsistencies between

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the actual stimuli, and an individual’s reaction is often surprise, leading to either negative or positive emotions. Furthermore, it is believed that these inconsistencies influence an individual’s evaluation of the actual brand or product, especially when it comes to aesthetic evaluation (Ludden et al., 2006). The effects of inconsistencies between the sensory stimuli have been examined in an experimental study for vision–sound, vision–smell and vision–touch (Ludden et al., 2006). It was assumed that senses such as vision, sound and smell should belong to a group called the distance senses, and touch and taste should belong to a group called the proximity senses. The assumption was that individuals might see, hear and smell items or objects, such as brands and products, from a distance, but physical contact is necessary when individuals want to feel and taste. Following this it was further assumed that individuals first use vision, sound and smell in perceiving a brand or a product where vision (the eyes) offers the most detailed information in the shortest time. Moreover, it was assumed that an individual could perceive inconsistencies between vision and touch by both senses, when it was possible to both see and feel a shape or a texture. But on the other hand, an individual could not see a scent or a sound because the inconsistencies between vision–sound and vision–smell were related to two different product attributes. It was also assumed that when an individual looked upon a small item or object a soft sound was expected, and a pink object was expected to smell sweet. From the findings it was evident that the participants were astonished that no consistencies were observed for vision–sound and vision–smell but consistencies were observed for vision–touch. This might be explained by the fact that many individuals experience these consistencies because the interaction itself involves non-congruent sensory information about the attributes of the product. When it comes to vision–sound and vision–smell the sensory information emanates from two different product attributes, which is why these interactions do not have to be consistent with each other. A conclusion was that most individuals do not expect to receive sensory information about different product attributes related to congruent sensory stimuli in relation to the product experience. An example is that in one of the three experiments the participants identified the appearance of a product as more important, when a sound was not congruent with the appearance of the product. In the same way a scent was considered negligible compared to the appearance of the product. Finally, it should be said that an appropriate strategy for companies could be to apply sensory stimuli for vision, sound, smell, touch and taste, with inconsistencies for certain brands and product categories. This might make the brands and products more entertaining and interesting. Moreover, this kind of astonishment and surprise could be applied for brands and products that people are using, for example, in connection to public events or waiting rooms. Especially, vision–touch sensory information about inconsistencies could be a valuable strategy for companies in design and product development.

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8.5 MULTI-SENSORY BRAND-EXPERIENCE It is evident that when more than one of the five human senses interact a multi-sensory brand-experience is perceived and experienced within an individual (Hultén et al., 2009). A multi-sensory brand-experience supports an individual’s identity creation and refers to how individuals react with cognitions, emotions as well as behaviour when a company interacts and supports their purchase and consumption processes by involving vision, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting (Hultén, 2011). The importance of atmospheric stimuli in relation to the sensory channels for vision, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting, in the context of retailing, was observed by Kotler (1974). But since that time, the senses have been neglected in theory and practice until the middle of the twenty-first century, when academicians and practitioners started to investigate the significance of the human senses.

Physical service environments In boutiques, department stores, hotels, restaurants, shopping malls or tourist destinations, the physical service environment impacts the human senses in many ways. There is no doubt that the overall atmosphere influences individuals when perceiving and experiencing the actual service environment. For companies this means creating and developing an emotionally appealing and attractive atmosphere based on the different senses and sensory stimuli. In this context vision is always obvious as the main sense, using stimuli like design, interior, lighting and logos, but sound, smell, touch and taste with their various stimuli have a prominent and significant role in creating a multisensory brand-experience. Ambient sensory components (i.e. stimuli) of vision, hearing, smelling and touching have been examined in relation to an individual’s emotions as well as behavioural intentions (Kang et al., 2011). The aim of the study was to clarify the significance of the senses in relation to the experience of visiting a spa at an American spa chain. Altogether 887 customers participated as a convenience sample and responded to a questionnaire after the spa visit. For vision, stimuli like cleanliness, colour, design and layout were of interest, and for hearing, stimuli such as classical music, pleasant music and quiet music were investigated. Moreover, for smelling, stimuli like fresh scents and pleasant fragrances were of interest, and for touching, stimuli like humidity, silky fabrics, soft equipment and temperature were investigated. The findings were significant, and the customers’ enjoyment of the experience was positively influenced by vision and touch. Hearing had a direct influence on the behaviour intentions of the customers but did not positively influence the emotions. A conclusion was that the most important sensory stimuli to influence the enjoyment of the spa were related to touch through stimuli like humidity, smoothness, softness

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and suitable temperature. Furthermore, the customers appreciated visual stimuli such as cleanliness, elegant design, well-organized layout as well as warm colours. These visual and tactile stimuli did not have a significant influence on the behaviour intentions of the customers, but for the spa enjoyment they were crucial and of high importance.

It was also indicated from the findings that each sensory stimulus in isolation also could influence other stimuli either negatively or positively. For that reason, it was suggested that if a positive multi-sensory brand-experience is to be achieved there is a need for a balance between different sensory stimuli in terms of congruence and intensity. Too many stimuli would probably lead to sensory overload and result in a more negative than positive multi-sensory experience. In tourism it is evident that the five human senses are crucial for individuals in perceiving and experiencing cities or places. It is not enough for companies to only provide individuals with tourist products or services and not deliver exciting and meaningful experiences. In this context multi-sensory brand-experiences based on seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting are of utmost importance (Pan & Ryan, 2009). The significance of vision, sound, smell, touch and taste, in multi-sensory brandexperiences for tourists has been investigated in a nature park in southwestern Portugal (Agapito et al., 2012). The purpose of the study was to clarify the role of the senses in relation to a tourist experience. The theoretical assumption was that all human perception is physical (through the body) and is built upon interactions with the environment/ the surroundings (through place) as well as occurring during certain periods (through time) leading to a learned behaviour (through culture). The different sensory relationships between the senses, the body and the outside world were emphasized through the so-called place paradigm.

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Another important theoretical assumption was that the senses could be place-related and visual connotations to a landscape were illustrated through the term sensory landscape. In the same way the sense of sound was expressed as soundscape, the sense of smell as scentscape, the sense of touch as geography of touch and, finally, the sense of taste as tastescape. It was further assumed that multiple sensory experiences take place in different geographic meetings as in the case of tourism. A questionnaire was handed out to 195 tourists in the actual nature park who had spent more than one night as visitors. Several statements were raised about every human sense based on a 5-point Likert scale. Also, five open-ended questions were given to find out how the overall tourist experience was influenced by the five senses. Based on the findings it was evident that every human sense positively influences the overall experience of the tourists. It was revealed that visual pleasure was of greatest importance (58 per cent), followed by the sound experience (41.4 per cent), the taste experience (39.2 per cent), the smell experience (35.9 per cent) and the touch experience (28.7 per cent). For eight out of ten tourists the five senses together contributed to the overall experience laying the ground for a multi-sensory brand-experience. Finally, a multi-sensory brand-experience can be further illustrated with the casino as an excellent example of a physical service environment (Krishna, 2013: 153–156, emphasis added):

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‘Visually, casinos present a whirlwind of shapes and colours. Slot machines have gone from mechanical beasts to elegantly designed, brightly flashing electronic contraptions. Many of them feature columns and rows of lights, and their themes stand out in brilliant hues...’. ‘Casinos have many auditory signatures. Perhaps, the most obvious is the sound associated with a jackpot, which is akin to many coins clanging against one another or hitting a metal surface…’. ‘Many people do not think of casinos as having an appealing smell. If anything, people tend to dislike the smell of casinos because most of them allow smoking. However, negative perceptions of scents in casinos are drastically reduced by air filtration units… In restaurants, though, where it is important to maintain the aromas of food… the level of circulation is decreased…’. Taste is another sense that does not immediately come to mind for most people when thinking about casinos, but it is nevertheless manipulated by casinos, primarily in two ways. The first is providing an excellent selection of restaurants in their venues… The second way … is by setting up free beverage stations and service throughout the casino…’. Casinos make use of haptics as well. Most of the games have a haptic component to them. While it would be easy for casinos to just have machines that work automatically, most require patrons to press several buttons to play… Gaming tables usually have a smooth, feltlike surface that serves as a texture-based signature… The most profound use of haptics, however, is found in casino chips. Instead of carrying around bills and trying to stuff them into their wallet or purse, players of table games use coloured chips…’.

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Online service environments When it comes to online service environments like the websites of fashion or grocery retailers the multi-sensory experience has for a long time been limited to only vision and hearing. The possibility to smell, feel and taste the brands and products is still missing and a genuine multi-sensory experience is not possible despite the fact the many individuals nowadays spend even more of their time surfing on the Internet. Sensory-enabling technologies (SETs) with the potential to deliver sensory inputs might create or manipulate brands and products on the computer screen. This might help individuals to gain knowledge and information about how the products smell, feel and taste – information that is not usually available on websites, which are primarily visual (Childers et al., 2001). Examples of appropriate devices are headphones and touchscreens as well as new possible technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) and digital smell/taste interfaces not yet fully commercialized (Petit et al., 2019). It is believed that in an online environment the senses do not stop influencing cognitions and emotions even though this kind of environment is not based on the real world per se. Looking at an image showing the hand of a person grasping food might result in activities in sensory-motor related areas of the brain (Basso et al., 2018). This indicates that the five senses can be stimulated in an online service environment by using brand- or product-related images, filling the gap in sensory input for smelling, touching and tasting. Furthermore, in addition to images or pictures, auditory interactions might be provided to individuals through, for example, the loudspeakers of computers and smartphones, as well as haptic interactions through touchscreens and vibrations with positive effects on the product evaluation of brands and products. It has been shown that haptic design, as well as visual design, might affect an individual’s preferences. In applying a direct touch interface people were more likely to choose a hedonic option instead of a utilitarian one (Shen et al., 2016). Moreover, it has been shown that touchscreens result in stronger emotions for perceived ownership of products, especially for products with high material properties (Brasel & Gips, 2014). Haptic devices used in a digital environment lead to affective reactions as unpleasant and high-arousal emotions. By introducing patterns of vibrotactile feedback the finger-touch gesture was the most appropriate one for pleasant and low aroused emotions (Rantala et al., 2013). Finally, it should be said that online retail environments should be perceived and experienced like physical retail environments and their store atmospherics. They provide individuals with multi-sensory experiences that often use multi-sensory congruent cues in relation to the sensory input from vision, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting. It is evident that semantic congruency, i.e. two different stimuli have the same identity or meaning, and cross-modal correspondences, i.e. an attribute in one stimulus matches an attribute in another stimulus, are of great significance in the online environment for the creation of an individual’s multi-sensory experience.

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Brands and products A general opinion is that new brands and products should appeal to an individual’s cognitions and emotions through as many senses as possible. The growing interest in multi-sensory approaches in advertising, design and branding shows that vision needs to be complemented with other senses when creating multi-sensory brand-experiences. At the same time the growing interest in multi-sensory perception within cognitive neuroscience research has resulted in new insights and knowledge about how individuals perceive and experience various brands and products. It has been shown that an individual’s perception from ‘one sense can be dramatically altered by whatever happens to be occurring in the other senses at around the same time’ (Spence, 2012: 38). For example, it is evident that the fragrance you happen to smell when your clothes come out of the washing machine impacts how white the clothes look. Furthermore, what a person hears or smells also impacts whether a piece of fabric is perceived as soft and feels like, for example, a new shirt or a new skirt. When individuals interact with brands and products many of them make noise, for example, the click when opening the seal on some packaging or taking off the cap of a Coca-Cola bottle. These sounds influence what people believe or think about the actual brands and products. It is possible to distinguish between functional sounds, which aim to provide consumers with functional benefits, and signature sounds, which aim to differentiate the brand from the competition in the market. To develop a signature sound that also offers a functional solution should be the ultimate solution for the individual’s multi-sensory experience (Spence, 2012). Also, the sound in advertising for an ice cream brand influences how individuals perceive and experience the ice cream when they taste it. Especially, the audible crack of the

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chocolate coating on the ice cream is of significance for liking the ice cream. If this did not take place consumers no longer liked the ice cream as much as before. Moreover, car producers of premium brands make use of sound in terms of how the engines should be heard by the drivers and how the doors should be heard when they are closing. In addition to this, warning sounds that can be used while driving the car as well as screens, like the back camera, or other haptic touch devices, give individuals a feeling for what is going on, altogether emphasizing the importance of the multi-sensory experience. A sensory branding model called ‘Sensogram’ has been proposed by Lindström (2005). In the model the five senses of vision, sound, smell, touch and taste interact with each other and lay the ground for multi-sensory experiences through the senses as touchpoints. The model shows graphically how a brand’s performance can be measured from what can be seen and heard to what can be smelled, touched and tasted for a brand or a product. For the most valuable brands in the world, companies as Singapore Airlines, Apple and Disney, the highest sensory leverage of above 80 per cent is suggested. Between 70 and 80 per cent is suggested for companies like Mercedes-Benz, Marlboro, Tiffany, Louis Vuitton, Bang & Olufsen as well as Nokia. The argument is that leading global brands should be based on a multi-sensory approach and a sensory appeal, which influence an individual’s brand image and loyalty to the actual brand. It has been shown that multi-sensory stimulation influences brand-experience and brand equity, which also positively impact shoppers’ purchase intentions (Moreira et al., 2017). In the context of a restaurant brand it was evident that seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting were influenced by the provided sensory stimuli resulting in a memorable experience for the customers. Especially, the décor in congruence with the aromas and scents, lights, music and temperature contributed to the multi-sensory brand-experience. It must be said that few studies in marketing research and consumer psychology research have investigated the multi-sensory experience of brands and products. It is suggested by Krishna (2013: 163) that ‘One of the main research areas is the interaction between the senses, where there are unlimited opportunities for multi-sensory stimuli whose effects are not yet known’. Especially, how different stimuli for vision, sound, smell, touch and taste in interaction influence an individual’s cognitions, emotions and purchase behaviour, i.e. money spent, time spent and purchase volume, is still unknown in many business contexts.

8.6 CHAPTER SUMMARY This chapter presents and discusses multi-sensory principles for the five senses. The main characteristics of how the human senses collaborate and interact have been analysed in terms of sensory integration, especially the interaction of vision, sound and touch. The significance of multi-sensory perception is presented and discussed as well as the optimal stimulation theory.

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The most important part of the chapter concerns the analysis of multi-sensory interaction in the context of service environments as well as brands and products. For service environments the interactions between hearing and smelling, congruent auditory and olfactory stimuli, and seeing, smelling and touching, have been analysed and discussed. Likewise, the importance of multi-sensory interaction for brands and products has been analysed and discussed in relation to multi-sensory perception, product evaluation and non-congruent sensory stimuli. Finally, the multi-sensory brand-experience is analysed and discussed in relation to physical and digital service environments as well as brands and products. The application of different multi-sensory stimuli is described through examples, illustrating its significance for companies in marketing practice.

8.7

THE CASE OF KIA MOTORS

Kia Motors is one of the most well-known South Korean brands in the global automobile industry. The company was founded in 1944 as Kyungsung Precision Industry. In 1952 the company name was changed to Kia Industries. The name Kia could be translated as ‘to come out of the east’. During the 1950s and the 1960s the company produced Mazdalicensed trucks and small motorcycles licensed by Honda. The first integrated automotive assembly plant opened in 1973 and produced the small Brisa range of cars until a forced political shutdown took place in 1981.

In 1986 the car production started again, and 26,000 cars were manufactured that year followed by over 95,000 cars the following year. The financial crisis in Asia in the middle of the 1990s forced Kia Motors to go into bankruptcy in 1997. An agreement about exchanging ownership was reached with Hyundai Motor Company in 1998 and Hyundai acquired 51 per cent of the company. Today Kia Motors is a subsidiary of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group in Seoul, South Korea.

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Kia Motors has lots of car models, such as sedan/hatchback and SUV, in many of the global car markets including Europe, India, Mexico, the US and other regional markets except Japan and North Korea. Some of the most well-known models are Kia Forte/ Cerato, Kia Optima, Kia Rondo, Kia Sorento and Kia Stinger to mention a few. For many years the Kia brand was not recognized as a premium brand like BMW, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Jaguar or Mercedes-Benz in the car market. At the beginning of the 2000s the brand was better known for its low price and low quality and it was found in the bottom of the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study (IQS), which showed owners’ complaints after driving a car for 3 months. But in the recent years Kia has been ranked as number one in the IQS survey. Does this transformation have anything to do with the senses? Around 2005–2006 Kia decided that design should be its core future growth engine. Tom Kearns, former Chief Design Officer at Cadillac, who was responsible for introducing hard angles and sharp lines in the design for Cadillac, was recruited. Peter Schreyer, who had been working at the Volkswagen Group designing the Audi TT and won the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany, was also recruited. One of the statements he made was that the Kia cars were very neutral and if you saw one on the road you could not say whether it was a Japanese or Korean car. This highlighted the importance of being able to recognize a Kia car at first sight. One of Schreyer’s main contributions to developing the visibility of the Kia brand was the introduction of the Tiger Nose at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 2007. The idea was to create a recognizable ‘face’ for the brand as a powerful visual signal working as an identifier of the brand. Moreover, visibility was something vital and it should be possible to identify a Kia car from a distance because of the front. Today the Tiger Nose is prominent on all Kia cars and the company has won the International Car of the Year Award every year since 2013. In 2013–2014 Kia Motors presented its multi-sensory branding initiative, designed to appeal to the five senses on a more emotional level than ever before. For hearing the brand, Kia introduced a sonic signature in 2014 titled ‘The Rise of Surprise’ as a development of Kia’s brand slogan ‘The Power to Surprise’. It was one of the first fully integrated brand signature sounds connected to various customer touchpoints as well as the cars in the industry. The signature sound is based on a combination of a cheerful rhythm, an elegant tone and a restful melody expressing the core brand identities of Kia: ‘vibrant’ symbolizes the outstanding growth of Kia; ‘distinctive’ expresses the value provided to customers by Kia; and ‘reliable’ reflects the world-class product reliability of Kia. Customer touchpoints range from official websites and TV commercials, to applications, customer service calls, mobile ringback tone, ringtone and much more. Moreover, the signature sound is connected to convenience and safety functions of the cars; for example, welcome and goodbye sounds as well as different warning indicators. The signature sound has been applied to all models through four different versions such as eco-friendly cars, RVs, small/compact cars and mid- to large-size sedans. Also, when it comes to motor sounds Kia emphasizes the development of different drive modes to let the customers experience the sound of an engine. It is possible for the driver to adjust the level of noise in the cabin to become more aggressive and louder by switching between the modes of eco, comfort, sport and customer modes. For smelling the brand, Kia developed a signature scent called Kia Fragrance by the French perfumer Antoine Lie. The fragrance is built upon energetic, innovative and youthful values linked to the core brand identities: vibrant – based on grapefruit, ginger and cardamom; distinctive – based on suede, iris and Gaïac wood; and reliable – based on musk/cedar wood, rose of Sharon and amber. The idea behind the signature scent is to provide the customers with a feeling of elegant and sophisticated leather. The Kia Fragrance products available include Kia Eau de Toilette as a liquid spray, lasting 3–4 hours, unisex and with a capacity of 50 ml. The Kia Car Scent is characterized (Continued)

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by a fragrance that lasts 30 days and snap fits to the air ventilation in the cabin of the car. Finally, the Kia Room Scent is based on an automatic spray, where spray intervals can be set for 15, 30 or 60 minutes inside the cabin of a car. For touching the Kia brand, the latest technology is applied in both car technology and in-car technology in order to provide the customers with a pleasant journey all the time. For example, cameras on the outside of a car give the driver a view of the space around the car when parking through the 360 Camera Monitoring System. Another system, the Smart Park Assist System (SPAS), guides the driver when steering into a parking space. The only thing a driver must do when advised is to adjust the brake, and change gears and speed to get into the parking lot. The start/stop button and smart entry system allow a driver to have the nifty smart key recognized outside the car when approaching the car. When the driver has entered the car the engine will start with one touch on the start/stop button. The navigation system, Kia Connected Services featuring TomTom, is based on a WiFi unit that allows the navigation system to be linked to the Internet through a smartphone. Altogether, the digital technology plays a major role when it comes to the feeling of the Kia brand. For tasting the Kia brand, gastronomic menus and recipes were developed in cooperation with the Michelin 3-star chefs, Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Maja Vongerichten, in 2014. The menus reflect the brand identity with distinctive and vibrant colours and flavours as well as Kia’s fresh and youthful image and the dishes are described as approachable but luxurious. Three signature recipes have been developed to be served as a formal meal; for example, a starter of avocado salad and crab followed by a main course of beef tenderloin with Gochujang-butter sauce, and a dessert of dark and white chocolate mousse with mint and strawberry. Furthermore, a number of outdoor recipes have been developed inspired by street food stalls; for example, miniature burgers and grilled chicken barbecue skewers. The signature recipes will be served to external and internal stakeholders at Kia Motor events around the world. The outdoor dishes will be available on Kia’s official global website for the public to produce for themselves. But the outdoor dishes will also be served at official Kia-sponsored events on different occasions.

QUESTIONS 1

Discuss and analyse the development of the multi-sensory brand-experience of the Kia brand. What are the main reasons behind the creation of the experience? Mention two reasons from the company’s point of view and two reasons from the individual’s point of view. 2 Elaborate why the Kia brand works as a multi-sensory signature for Kia Motors globally in relation to each of the five senses. Then discuss and evaluate the importance of a multi-sensory signature with respect to how individuals, by seeing, hearing, smelling, touching and tasting the Kia brand emotionally, can perceive and experience the feel of the cars. 3 Discuss and analyse the use of a multi-sensory signature from a cultural point of view? Are there any side effects that might negatively or positively influence the image of the Kia brand in different societal cultures? Mention at least two examples of such side effects and discuss them in more detail from an individual standpoint.

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FURTHER READING Helmefalk, M. & Hultén, B. (2017). ‘Multi-sensory congruent cues in designing retail store atmosphere: Effects on shopper’s emotions and purchase behaviour’, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 38: 1–11. Petit, O., Velasco, C. & Spence, C. (2019). ‘Digital sensory marketing: Integrating new technologies into multisensory online experience’, Journal of Interactive Marketing, 45: 42–61. Spence, C., Puccinelli, N.M., Grewal, D. & Roggeveen, A.L. (2014). ‘Store atmospherics: A multisensory perspective’, Psychology and Marketing, 31, 7: 472–488.

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INDEX

Abercrombie & Fitch, 25, 94 absolute sensory threshold, 42 active touching, 139 advertisements and commercials, 73 aesthetic cues/stimuli, 176 aesthetic/gastronomic sensations, 26, 162 aesthetic qualities, 174 aesthetic taste, 161 aesthetic values, 160 affective motives, 175 affective responses, 62–64, 114–115 ambient factors, 67 ambient lighting, 70 ambient scents: behaviour, 122, 125 emotions, 125 intensity, 126 mood, 124 ambient sound, 86 amygdala, 38 Apple, 155 Apple Stores, 156 architecture, 68 associative learning, 115, 117 atmospheric sensations, 24 atmospheric stimuli, 192 audio branding, 103 auditory cues/stimuli, 93, 99 auditory perception, 86, 89 auditory preferences: groups, 91 individuals, 90 personality and sex, 90 auditory sensations, 24 background music, 95–98 BMW, 187 bodily experience, 7, 15 body–mind interactions, 15 body odours, 121 brain: cerebellum, 39 cerebrum, 36 conscious processes, 36

cultural awareness, 36 gender differences, 44 left and right hemispheres, 37 senses, 39 unconscious processes, 36 brain stem, 39 brand image, 21 brand name, 76 brand personality, 77 brand sound, 103 brands, 72, 99, 127, 151, 176 Citroén, 25 Coca-Cola, 53, 105, 155 cognitive responses, 62 cold colours, 67 cold scents, 127 colour, 69, 73 colour experience, 69 congestion, 97 congruence, 98 congruent cues/stimuli, 194 consumer experiences, 20 consumer value, 19 consumption experiences, 20 contour, 88 convention, 88 cultural differences, 65 cultural symbols, 66, 145 cultural value shift, 8 customer experiences, 20 design, 74 design factors, 67 digital environments, 147–148 digital signage, 156 digital technology, 9, 137 distance senses, 201 EEG, 49 embodiment, 7, 14, 100 emotional attachments, 51 emotional gender differences, 46 environmental psychology, 15

228  INDEX

experience-based products, 13, 160, 188 experience goods, 177 experience logic, 17, 19 explanatory sense, 139 external taste, 161 eye, 61 Fat Duck, 26 feeling, 136 female brain, 44 five senses: external use of, 186 internal use of, 186 model, 187 flavour, 164, 165 fMRI see functional magnetic resonance imaging foreground music, 95–98 fragrances, 111 functional colours, 73 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), 49 functional motives, 175 functional products, 73 functional values, 160 Galaxy, 155 gastronomic cues/stimuli, 176 gastronomic sensations, 24 gastronomic taste, 162 gender differences, 44, 169 gender roles, 47 genes, 167 generation X, Y, Z, 9 geography of touch, 204 Gestalt, 20, 60 Gestalt theory, 13, 34 global consumption culture, 10, 59 good taste, 162 hand-eye coordination, 190 haptic experiences, 155 haptic interactions, 205 haptic perception, 139 haptic products, 153 haptic signature, 155 haptic system, 139 haptic technology, 155 haptic touch: cues/stimuli, 152 feelings, 154 packaging, 154 product evaluation, 151 hard music, 91 hedonic ability, 117 hedonic experience, 129, 165 hedonic products, 160 hedonic touch, 141 heredity, 167 hippocampus, 38 holistically, 193 holistic approach, 60

holistic experience, 35 human sensorium, 14, 22 hygiene factor, 78 hypothalamus, 38 identity creation, 12 IKEA, 35, 124, 181 impulsive behaviour, 192 individual, 6, 10 individualization as lifestyle, 10–13 inner taste, 161 in-store music, 93–95 instrumental touch, 142 intensity, 25, 116 interior design, 71 interpersonal contact, 148 iPhone, 24 I-society, 8 jingle, 25 KIA Motors, 208 layered-packaging taxonomy, 78 left brain hemisphere, 37 lighting, 70–71 limbic system, 38 logo type, 75 long-term memory, 43 male brain, 44 marketing aesthetics, 22 marketing approaches, 16–18 marketing stimuli, 59 material properties, 147 MEG, 49 memory, 42 memory associations, 114 men’s voices, 102 mental interactions, 146 mental networks, 44 Michelin Guide, 176 multiple senses, 191, 197 multiple sensory stimuli, 200 multi-sensory brand-experience: definition, 27 others, 200, 202 multi-sensory convergence zones, 190 multi-sensory evaluation, 198, 199 multi-sensory experience, 6–7, 12, 23, 187 multi-sensory information, 147 multi-sensory interaction, 165, 200 multi-sensory perception, 190, 197, 206 multi-sensory shopping behaviour, model, 16 multi-sensory stimulation, 207 multi-sensory taste experience, 162 music: advertising, 99 behaviour, 88 cognitive approach, 88

INDEX  229

concept, 88 congruence, 98 emotional approach, 89 pitch, 88 sound, 86, 88 structure, 88 tempo, 88 music genres, 96 music preference, 90 music styles, 90 music therapy, 87 name, 76–77 neural activities, 51 neuromarketing: definition, 48, others 52, 191 neurophysiology methods, 49 NFT (need for touch): high, 143 low, 143 non-congruent cues/stimuli, 200 objective world, 8 olfactory brand, 130 olfactory bulb, 112 olfactory cells, 112 olfactory cues/stimuli, 114, 121, 127 olfactory perception, 112, 116 olfactory preferences: groups, 118–120 individuals, 116–118 olfactory signals, 121 online service environments, 205 optimal stimulation theory, 191 organizational gender differences, 45 outer taste, 161 oxytocin, 139 4P-model, 16 packaging, 77–78, 197 paired comparisons, 178 passive touch, 139 Pepsi, 53 perceptions, 40 perceptual alertness, 42 perceptual defence, 42 perceptual dimensions, 142 perceptual process, 41, 64 perceptual system, 187 perfumes, 120 personal taste, 160, 175 physical contact, 144 physical environmental quality, 176 physical interactions, 146 physical service environments, 202 place markers, 123 pleasant scents, 128 post-modern view, 7–8 product design, 74

product embodiment, 100 product evaluation, 100 product quality, 177 product resemblance, 123 product samples, 172 product scents, 127, 129 product similarity, 25 product sound, 103 products, 72, 99, 127, 151, 176 Proust phenomena, 120 proximity senses, 201 purchase and consumption differences, 46 qualified consumption, 11 relationship marketing (RM), 17 reptile brain, 38 right brain hemisphere, 37 RM see relationship marketing Samsung, 155 scent: advertising, 127 affective responses, 114 association, 123 brand, 25, 130 cognition, 115 congruence, 122 effects, 115, 124 marketing, 111 product evaluation, 128 services, 129 scent experience, 114 scentscape, 204 scent symbolism, 120–121, 126–127 search goods, 177 self-fulfillment, 11 sensation, 24, 188 sense of beauty, 162 senses, 39: collaboration of the senses, 189 integration of the senses, 188 sensogram, 207 sensory cues/stimuli, 16, 40–41 sensory discrimination, 42 sensory-enabling technologies (SET), 205 sensory experience, 22 sensory gender differences, 46 sensory information, 39, 59 sensory input, 35, 39, 40, 164, 189 sensory integration, 188 sensory landscape, 204 sensory marketing (SM): as an approach, 18 definitions, 14, 19 as a model, 17–18, 27–28 sensory mechanisms, 139 sensory memory, 42 sensory organ, 60–61, 86–87, 112–114,

230  INDEX

sensory signatures, 14 sensory strategy, 23–27 definition, 22 sensory systems, 15 service environment, 15, 66, 93, 121, 146, 172 service logic, 18 service processes, 21 service scents, 129 definition, 22 short-term memory, 43 signature scent, 25 signature sound, 25 SM see sensory marketing smell strategy, 25 social colours, 73 social factors, 67 social products, 73 social sense, 169 social stimuli, 72 societal culture, 170 soft music, 91 S-O-R-model, 15, 66 sound experience, 85 soundscape, 204 sound strategy, 24 sound symbolism, 92, 102 Starbucks, 29–30 strategic marketing, 18 subjective world, 8 symbol, 65 symbolic values, 65 synaesthesia, 164, 187 synthetic sense, 113 tactile cues/stimuli, 146, 151 tactile evaluation, 199 tactile experience, 141 tactile information, 136 tactile marketing, 137 tactile perception, 142 tactile preferences: groups, 144 individuals, 142 tactile qualities, 141 tactile sensations, 24 tactile sense, 139 taste buds, 163 taste cues/stimuli, 172, 176 taste experience, 173 taste goods, 177 taste-making, 175 taste perception, 165, 166 taste preferences: age and gender, 169 groups, 169 individuals, 167 tongue, 171

taste sample, 173, 178 tastescape, 204 taste sensations, 164 taste signatures, 181 taste strategy, 26 taste symbolism, 171 tasting aesthetics, 174 tip-of-the-nose effect, 120 TM see transaction marketing touched, 137, touching, 137 touching time, 196 touch preferences: gender, 145 groups, 144 individuals, 142 touch receptors, 139 touch strategy, 26 touch symbolism, 143, 153 touch symbols, 143 transaction marketing, 16–17 triangle tests, 178 umami, 164 unattractive appearance, 75 unpleasant sound, 103 vanilla scent, 126 verbal stimuli, 66 Victoria’s Secret, 79–80 vision, 58, 59 visualization, 58 visual aesthetics, 75 visual consumption, 58 visual cues/stimuli, 57, 59, 66–67 visual evaluation, 199 visual impressions, 62 visual information, 60 visual marketing, 66 visual perception, 60, 64 visual preferences: groups, 65 individuals, 64 visual qualities, 141 visual sensations, 24 visual strategy, 23 visual symbolism, 65–66 voice sound, 86 voices: advertising, 101 rate of speech, 101 tone, 101 warm colours, 60 warm scents, 127 window shopping, 68 women’s voices, 102