Sensory Information

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Sensory information is dominantly linked to consumer’s perception of products and services (Krishna, 2010). Since individuals react instinctively and subconsciously to sensory stimuli as opposed to learnt stimuli such as a brand name or logo, marketers have attempted to use sensory perception of consumers to build in sensory ‘signatures’ creating unique identities for brands such as the Aroma of Singapore airlines. Understanding the role of sensory perception in evaluation of products and services and its application in marketing is thus becoming increasingly relevant.

Academic research in sensory marketing has proliferated significantly over the last few years. Sensory marketing is broadly referred to as the process of engaging consumers’ senses to influence their emotions, perceptions, choices, preferences and consumption (Krishna, 2010). Extant research in sensory marketing suggests that sensory aspects of a product such as looks, smell, touch, sound and taste influence consumers’ evaluation of the product (Alpert, Alpert and Maltz, 2005; Bone and Jantrania, 1992; Bloch, Brunel and Arnold, 2003; Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008; Morrin and Ratneshwar, 2000; Peck and Childers, 2003; Nowlis and Shiv, 2005), and affect consumers’ behavior (e.g. impulse buying, more time spent at the store, longer stimulus viewing time, more dollars spent and greater in-store traffic).

Much of sensory marketing research has focused on studying the effect of individual sensory stimuli on a product’s evaluation. For example, Peck and Childers (2003, 2006) contend that elements of touch affect consumer judgment, attitude and impulse buying behavior. In another study by Morrin and Ratneshwar (2000), ambient scent was found to increase the consumers’ stim...

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Cruesen & Schoormans (2005) indicated that aesthetic value is important and suggested that certain individuals preferred aesthetic value over functional utilities of a product in their product choice. Similarly, Veryzer Jr (1993) examined the influence of aesthetic aspects of product such as unity and proportion on product evaluation and choice. The results of the study showed that product aesthetics had a significant impact on consumer purchase decisions choice across the three product classes of microwave oven, suntan lotion and natural sound machine. This indicated that aesthetic value is pertinent in consumer choice across a range of product categories. In a study exploring the role of aesthetics in apparel evaluation, de Klerk & Lubbe (2004) proposed that aesthetic qualities of a product to directly impact the consumer’s satisfaction with the product.

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