customer sense: how the 5 senses influence buying behavior
TRANSCRIPT
Book review “Customer Sense: How the 5 Senses Influence Buying Behavior”
Forthcoming: Journal of Consumer Marketing
Aradhna Krishna
Palgrave Macmillan, New York
April 2013
US $ 30.00
ISBN: 9780230341739
208pp
Sensory marketing refers to the application of the 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 indispensible 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
includes 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 bottles. 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 the 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 2500 Crore (1USD = 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 flavors (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
consumer’ 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 looks 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 or 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 one of the 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, since “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.
Reference:
Krishna, A. (2012). An integrative review of sensory marketing: Engaging the senses to affect perception,
judgment and behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(3), 332-351.
Sharad Agarwal
Doctoral Student (Marketing & Neuro-Marketing)
IIM Ranchi