Customer Sense: How the 5 Senses Influence Buying Behaviour

Citation

Sharad Agarwal (2015), "Customer Sense: How the 5 Senses Influence Buying Behaviour", Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 32 No. 4, pp. 307-308. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCM-05-2014-0973

Sensory marketing refers to the application of understanding of sensation and perception to the field of marketing – to consumer perception, cognition, emotion, learning, preference, choice or evaluation (Krishna, 2012). Our senses play an important role in shaping our thoughts and beliefs, which in turn contribute greatly in formulating our consumption-related decisions. It is hence indispensable for the marketer to understand the role played by each of the senses in shaping the consumers’ consumption-related decisions.

The author is a Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business in the University of Michigan, USA. She is one of the top authorities in the field of sensory marketing, and her articles on this subject have appeared in top academic journals. This book is based on her 20 years of rigorous research work done on sensory marketing. It integrates findings derived from the author’s research and research of other scholars in the areas of marketing, cognitive psychology and neuroscience.

The book is divided into seven chapters. Chapter 1 “Introduction: What is sensory Marketing?” introduces readers to the importance of satisfying consumers’ senses while they consume goods and services. To elucidate, the author gives an example that even after the introduction of e-readers such as Kindle and Nook, the importance of physical copies of books has not diminished. Many readers prefer to pay more for a printed book to get the “feel” while reading the book. Krishna mentions that “there is something more to a book or library than just a collection of printed pages or a collection of books” (p. 4). While discussing the history of sensory marketing, he divides the evolution of marketing in the post-World War II era into three phases, according to which we are currently in phase three, the modern era, marked by increasing awareness of companies towards their products’ sensory attributes.

Chapter 2 “Vision” deals with the role of the visual sense of human beings in influencing their consumption decisions. The author talks about the “visual sensory signatures”, which include logos, colours, patterns, shapes, designs and pictures. These types of visual imagery are uniquely created by brands and their companies, as they help the consumers to associate brands with their corresponding company. Two companies in the vodka industry who have pioneered this are Absolut Vodka and Smirnoff. Consumers can easily identify the brand name with the shape of each of their bottle. Another interesting example of sensory signature presented in this chapter is that of Hershey’s kisses. These are just ordinary chocolates with a distinct and original shape, but their distinct shape provides them a unique positioning in consumer’ eyes. These types of sensory signatures give the unique selling proposition to the brand and help them win over the competition.

Chapter 3 “Audition” examines the role played by sound in forming consumers’ holistic experiences. Krishna explains, “Sounds associated with a particular experience or product are important to attracting consumers” (p. 54). She substantiates her argument with the example of white water river rafting where participants customarily scream and make lots of noises as they travel down the river. Such noises not only make the experience more enjoyable for the rafters themselves but also make it more exciting, unique and terrifying for the onlookers, who are then persuaded to experience rafting themselves. The author then discusses the physical properties of sound waves such as amplitude, frequency and harmonics, which are senses experienced by our ears and lead to the formation of perception about particular sounds in our brains. The rest of the chapter discusses ways in which various companies have used these sensations for their marketing purposes. For example, Abercrombie and Fitch plays contemporary music at a volume of around 90 decibels in their stores, which not only attracts their target market, teens and young adults, but also helps to keep away older people and parents.

Chapter 4 “Smell” begins with the examples from ancient literature on how scents were used in various contexts in the past. In ancient Egypt, scents were associated with symbolic and religious meanings. Scents also have special relevance in Bible, Hinduism and Buddhism among others, some of which are still used in some parts of the world. For example, it is customary to light an Agarbatti (incense stick) while performing any religious ritual in Hinduism. The impact of market size of scents and odours could be gauged from the fact that Agarbatti business alone is worth more than INR 2,500 crore (1 USD = 61 INR) in India and provides employment to more than 30,000 rural women folks in the country. The author then briefly introduces readers to the process through which consumers’ brains form perceptions of different odours, which forms the basis for creating scent-based signatures. The author quotes, “Scent-based signatures could be more potent than visual or auditory signatures when the primary purpose of the signature is to help consumers recall the product” (p. 90).

Chapter 5 “Taste” discusses the role played by the five flavours (sweet, bitter, salt, sour and umami) and their combination in forming a unique experience of the consumers, generally for food-related products or services. However, as the author mentions – and I agree – our other senses can serve as a substitute for taste: “Because we cannot usually taste a food at the supermarket before buying it, we use our other senses to assess its taste to the best of our ability” (p. 106). Some people use their senses of touch, feel or even smell to form their perception for the quality of the product. For example, it is common to smell certain fruits (such as mango) to assess their taste before actually buying it. While discussing the role of presentation of products, author introduces the readers to the concept of guiltless gluttony, according to which people jump at the opportunity to eat more without feeling bad about themselves when the package is labelled “small”, so while the people do eat more they think that they have eaten less; hence, the companies can change the food consumption pattern just by altering the labels of their product offerings.

Chapter 6 “Touch” elaborates the role of touch, or haptics, in conveying perception to consumers’ brains. Unlike other senses, haptic receptors are present on all parts of the outside of our body and even in some internal locations, such as our mouths. In this chapter, the author takes an in-depth look at different kinds of touch, such as those meant for functional or aesthetic purposes. She also explores how marketers are making use of those varieties of touch, highlighting several innovative products and advertising campaigns that have been developed recently. Readers are introduced to the need for touch (NFT) scale, which is a self-reported scale used to capture individual differences in haptic preferences. This can be used to understand up to what extent haptic properties could influence our perceptions of objects that were based on other senses. An example quoted in book is:

People will judge wine as tasting better when they have drunk it from a glass rather than from a plastic cup. Even a property such as flimsiness or sturdiness of a cup can make a difference (p. 136).

Chapter 7 “Conclusion” finally sums up all the concepts presented in the previous chapters. The author refers to casinos as a perfect example of an environment that is carefully controlled to stimulate every consumers’ senses. Casinos have also established their unique signature for all of the senses. Each of the successful casinos has its own visual, auditory, smell and haptic signatures to provide a unique experience for their visitors and motivate guests to spend more time in their environment and consequently spend more money in the casino. While providing practical tips for managers, the author suggests the marketer not to be discouraged by the initial failures, as “Most products that are sensory successes today went through many less successful iterations” (p. 163).

Through the numerous examples presented from the corporate world, this book gives the readers an enhanced understanding of the concepts presented. As consumers, we have been consuming products from brands like Starbucks, Absolut Vodka and many others since long ago. As we read more about their sensory marketing tactics in the book, we become consciously aware of how our senses have been motivating us to buy their products.

Each chapter starts with an introduction and an interesting vignette, which motivates the reader to further explore the concepts in the chapter. There is also a concluding section at the end of each chapter, which helps the readers to recollect the concepts or ideas presented in the chapter. The author also provides references of research studies used in this book which makes it easier for the curious readers to further explore the topics of their choice. All in all, the book is a highly recommendable read; anyone associated with the function of marketing, sales and advertising cannot afford to miss this book. This is also a suggested read for consumers as it would help them to appreciate the role of their senses in the consumption process and would, in turn, enable them to make informed decision while purchasing and consuming the products in the future.