Customer Sense

How the 5 Senses Influence Buying Behavior

Aradhna Krishna

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2013
• Print ISBN: 9781349344420, 9780230341739
• eBook ISBN: 9781137346056
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

An insightful look at how touch, taste, smell, sound, and appearance effect how customers relate to products on a sensory level, and how small sensory changes can make a huge impact. Customer Sense describes how managers can use this knowledge to improve packaging, branding, and advertising to captivate the consumer's senses.

Chapter 1

INTRODUCTION: WHAT IS SENSORY MARKETING?

LIBRARIES AND ICE CREAM

In 1990 the Ross School of Business in Ann Arbor faced a miniature crisis. After the library announced that many journals and books would be available only in electronic form, the faculty rose up in protest. When asked to explain their reasoning in opposing the switch, faculty members found it difficult to express their opinions. They came up with such responses as “I like to feel the paper,” “I love the smell of libraries,” or “It’s just not the same thing!” They knew that such seemingly feeble reasons could not prevent the change to electronic media, so they tried to rephrase their sentiments in ways that would sound more logical and appropriate for professors in a business school. The responses they came up with included that the atmosphere was conducive to work and that the physical nature of the journals led them to peruse related articles in the same publication.

Similarly, the prevalence of online books and reading materials has changed the way students interact with their courses. Since many textbooks are available online for a reduced fee or even for free and since online texts are available wherever there is Internet access, it would seem that almost all students would jump at the opportunity and ditch paper books for good. However, this has not been the case. While some students try to use online materials whenever possible, a good number still order physical textbooks, course packs, and other books for their classes. When asked why, students come up with the same types of responses as the faculty at the Ross School of Business and cite the feel of the book, the smell of the paper, or the ability to “cozy up with a book.” When they realize how absurd their reasons sound, students turn to rationalizations, claiming that text is harder to read on the computer screen or that some online texts are not amenable to note taking and bookmarking.

These stories would seem to suggest that there is something more to a book or a library than just a collection of printed pages or a collection of books. That something is hard to define, and although people are embarrassed to admit to its existence when they are affected by it, it is certainly real. Furthermore, it is not illogical; there is nothing stupid, old-fashioned, or irrational in saying that the feel of a book is worth shelling out a few dollars more for than for simply owning an online copy. This phenomenon is very relevant to products like the Kindle and the Nook, recent introductions by Amazon and Barnes & Noble that serve as electronic book readers. While they are convenient and innovative, if the previously mentioned stories are at all reflective of the views of the general public, they will have trouble entirely eclipsing paper books.

While the Ross faculty was protesting the removal of paper library materials, Curt Jones, a recent university graduate and prospective entrepreneur, was working on developing a company to manufacture his extraordinary invention. What was his new product idea? It consisted of taking modified ice cream mix and flash freezing it in liquid nitrogen (don’t try this one at home). The resulting product tasted like ice cream, only it was more concentrated and shaped like small blobs or dots, rather than being smooth in texture. He called the substance Dippin’ Dots. His marketing strategy was to brand Dippin’ Dots as the “Ice Cream of the Future” and to focus on selling it through stands in amusement parks, carnivals, and other venues rather than through more conventional channels of food sales such as supermarkets. The product was wildly successful. The company had over 27 million dollars in revenue in 2011, having enjoyed over 15 years of steady profits. But just what is it that makes consumers willing to pay $2 more for Dippin’ Dots than for regular ice cream?

It isn’t about taste. Dippin’ Dots comes in the same types of flavors as normal ice cream, and its taste is remarkably similar to that of ice cream. However, the experience of eating Dippin’ Dots could not be more different from that of eating an ice cream cone. The texture of the dots completely changes the way the product is consumed; instead of people licking or biting the ice cream, the beads melt and burst in the consumer’s mouth. While the product might seem to be very similar to ice cream, just as physical and electronic books might seem to be very similar at first glance, the two are actually very different, and not for a silly or illogical reason.

What the irate Ross faculty and the ice-cream-loving little children tell us is that there can be more to a product than meets the eye. In fact, there can be more to a product than meets the ear, nose, mouth, or fingers as well. Many attributes of products are based on interactions between the senses or on senses consumers may not even be aware of. There is a science to studying these attributes, the senses that perceive them, the psychology that drives those senses, and the ways products can appeal to and make use of peoples’ senses. Based on that science, I have defined sensory marketing as “marketing that engages the consumers’ senses and affects their perception, judgment, and behavior.”¹

SENSORY SIGNATURES IN ACTION

Many products have very recognizable attributes that appeal to one or more of the senses. As an example, try the following exercise. Close your eyes for about ten seconds and imagine the color pink. What do you think of? Now try again, except this time imagine a ribbon as well. What do you think of the second time around? Most people in the second case would think of the movement to fight breast cancer, and a fair number of people in the first case would think of that movement as well. However, this is not due to mere chance.

The pink ribbon was developed as the logo for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which is the largest organization in the United States dedicated to fighting breast cancer. While the pink ribbon, much like the golden arches of McDonald’s, is a logo, it is also more than that. The color pink alone causes many people to think about the breast cancer movement and now adorns everything from yogurt containers to subway cars in support of that movement. This indicates that the pink ribbon has transcended the realm of the logo. It has become what I have deemed a sensory signature. One way to think about a sensory signature is as a concept, often a brand name, that is evoked by a combination of sensations, much like the breast cancer movement is called to mind by the color pink.

Another way to think about sensory signatures is as the combination of sensations evoked by a concept, often a brand name. Consider the Microsoft Corporation, and, more specifically, the Windows operating system. What comes to mind? Some people will picture the four-colored logo that appears when computers with Windows boot up. Other people will imagine the sound that accompanies that logo. There is no right or wrong answer as to the question of which of those two sensations is the one that is more closely or immediately associated with Microsoft; some people may even have imagined both. Interestingly enough, people with an East Asian cultural background tend to picture the logo with greater frequency than people with a Western cultural background; this is possibly due to the fact that many Asian scripts are pictorial.² Either way, both the logo and the sound are part of Microsoft’s sensory signature.

Figure 1.1 Microsoft Logo.

When you think of Microsoft, do you think of the visual logo above, or do you think of a particular sound?

As with Microsoft, a sensory signature can encompass elements pertaining to many senses. This is the case with 5 Gum, a brand of chewing gum that claims to be able to “stimulate your senses.” Its brand name is built on the idea of having a sensory signature that appeals to all five senses. This contrasts with the traditional view of chewing gum mainly appealing to taste, with the other senses being limited to perhaps a brightly colored box design or the Wrigley’s advertising jingle. In contrast, 5 Gum also tries to get consumers to focus on what it feels like to chew the gum, emphasizing that there is more to the product than just taste.

Sensory signatures can also focus on a specific sense that one would not normally associate with the product in question. One example of this is Axe’s Dark Temptation advertisement, which features a man covered in chocolate surrounded by several attractive females. While one might normally associate a scent with a certain deodorant, the Dark Temptation advertisement focuses on touch and taste rather than smell. In addition, it connects the product with sexual desire, much like many other deodorant advertisements, in order to create a specific feeling about the product.

Other types of sensory signatures simply try to highlight a particular sensation that consumers already associate with the product. The iPod Touch, for example, connects the sensation of touch with a music player to show that the product has aspects that appeal to touch in addition to hearing. Not only does the name of the product convey the sense of touch, but the design of the touch screen fits in with consumers’ expectations once they hear the name. The product is meant to be touched, pressed, played with, spun, and used with the fingers.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SENSORY MARKETING

The concept of sensory marketing is not new. If we could ask a person from ancient times who lived in the Mediterranean world what came to his mind when he imagined the color purple, he would probably have named the city of Tyre. A metropolis in Phoenicia (today’s Lebanon), the city of Tyre became famous for Tyrian purple, a distinctive color of dye that was extracted by its citizens from sea snails. Because the color, which became known (or branded, if we look at it from the marketer’s perspective) as royal or imperial purple, was so unique, the city was able to establish a virtual monopoly of the dye for many years, generating great wealth and prosperity.

Turning to more recent times, I have divided the evolution of marketing in the post-World War II era into three phases.³ The first phase, sometimes known as the no-nonsense era, came immediately after the war in the 1950s and 1960s. Consumers were focused on practical aspects of goods, emphasizing their utility and cost. The second phase, generally held to have begun in the 1970s, saw a massive increase in branding. Companies began to realize that a brand name, such as Levi’s, could have value in and of itself. Hand in hand with the rise of brand names came an increase in advertising expenditures as companies tried to build their own or attack their competitors’ brands. The third phase is the modern era, which has been marked by the rise of the Internet and the increasing awareness of companies of the sensory attributes of products.

Though many companies are only now becoming aware of the existence of sensory attributes, that does not mean that they did not unknowingly manipulate them in the past. The key difference between then and now is in the awareness, not in the execution. One classic example of a sensory signature is Tiffany Blue, the shade of light blue that can be found in many of the products made by Tiffany & Co., the New York jewelry company. Though Tiffany Blue is not usually the primary color in the company’s products, it is almost always present in some form, whether as an accent, a background, or an element interwoven in the design. While Tiffany Blue was certainly not developed with sensory marketing in mind, it has proven to be one of the most prevalent and recognizable sensory signatures to date. Another example of this phenomenon is the lemon scent that has been added to many brands of dishwashing detergent. Many years ago, companies found that consumers had a more favorable reaction to a fruity smell than to just a soapy one, so they added lemon scent to their products, and it caught on.

Nowadays, companies are finding and developing exciting new products with unique and attractive sensory attributes. One particularly strange and exotic product that has come on the market is the fish pedicure service that has been popping up around the globe. In a service similar to a spa treatment, consumers pay in order to submerge their feet into a pond or a tub teeming with so-called doctor fish or Garra rufa. These fish are said to have therapeutic properties, eating away dead skin so that new, healthy skin can grow. While the sensation is very strange at first—and the thought of thousands of tiny fish nibbling away at one’s feet is eerie, to say the least—most people who try it find the experience soothing and rejuvenating after they get over their initial apprehensions.

Another leading trend in creating new sensations can be found in the restaurant industry. El Bulli, a restaurant in Catalonia, Spain, has been a pioneer in the field of molecular gastronomy, sometimes also known as culinary physics. A recently developed discipline, culinary physics seeks to use various techniques from chemistry and the other sciences to manipulate the texture, feel, smell, or shape of food. With dinners costing as much as 250 euros a plate, meals cooked using molecular gastronomy are clearly very sought after, but it’s not only a matter of taste. Having access to experiences such as eating partially solidified bubbles of juice or eggs cooked at the perfect temperature to affect their shape is worth something to consumers, indicating that molecular gastronomy is a field that transcends the sense of taste to create a complete sensory experience. Another line of restaurants, whose US brand is named Opaque, seeks to stimulate the other four senses by treating consumers to “Dining in the Dark.” Opaque focuses on tastes, smells, sounds, and the feel of the food by crafting a very specific, dark, environment. These new types of sensory experiences suggest that companies and marketers are just starting to catch on to the importance of the different sensory attributes of their products and services.

SENSATION AND PERCEPTION

The Irish idealist philosopher George Berkeley, who lived in the first half of the eighteenth century, famously said that “To be is to be perceived.”⁴ Though the exact meaning of this quote has been debated by philosophers studying his work ever since, one thing is certain: Berkeley stumbled upon a key insight when he linked the notion of being (or sensation, in other words) to the notion of perception. While one could argue that, philosophically speaking, the two are the same—that is, that the tree falling in the forest when no one can hear it does not make a sound—scientifically speaking, the two concepts are quite distinct.

One of Berkeley’s earliest works, a treatise entitled An Essay Towards a New Theory of Vision, includes a discussion of what became known as Molyneux’s problem, after the Frenchman William Molyneux. Molyneux questioned whether a man who was blind his whole life would be able to distinguish between a sphere and a cube solely by looking at them were he to suddenly regain his sight. What both Berkeley and his frequent opponent John Locke agreed upon was that the blind man would not be able to tell the difference. Despite having touched spheres and cubes many times, the man would not be able to associate the visual contours of the two objects with the sensations of touch that he had experienced. While the answer to Molyneux’s problem is understandably difficult to test in an experiment, what Berkeley and Locke’s reasoning tells us is that the mere appearance of the sphere and the cube could very well be meaningless unless we are able to interpret those appearances mentally and process their meaning.

Hence arose the distinction between sensation ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Acknowledgments
• 1  Introduction: What Is Sensory Marketing?
• 2  Vision
• 3  Audition
• 4  Smell
• 5  Taste
• 6  Touch
• 7  Conclusion
• Notes
• Author’s Biography
• Index