Chapter 11 - sensory approach

Question 1

sensory approach

Answer 1

= engages consumers’ senses and affects perception, judgment and behaviour

Question 2

assumptions of sensory approach

Answer 2

• all about bodily perceptions of brands
• consumers experience something physically before processing mentally (no longer all about mental constructs)
• with and without body: associations between sensory experience and abstract thought across content domains

1. grounded cognition:
   - emphasises role of body and place in environment in cognitive process
   - cognitive activity of humans grounded in sensory-motor processes and situated in specific contexts and situations
2. consumer perspective: homo sapiens
   - psychology consumers use to process and interpret is that of cognition and perception

Question 3

brand-consumer exchange (sensory approach)

Answer 3

= ambiguous, defined by being individual and context dependent –> consumers are co-creators of brand experience on individual level and process is linear rather than dyadic
- idea of priming: based on consumer being rather manipulable
- prosumers: engaging themselves in sensory experiences, co-creating with marketer

Question 4

theoretical building blocks of sensory approach

Answer 4

• brand experience
• five senses

Question 5

brand experience

Answer 5

= transition in marketing from service to experience economy
- consumer value does not reside in product purchased, brand chosen, or object posses, but rather in consumption experience

Question 6

five senses

Answer 6

1. visual (sight)
2. auditory (hearing)
3. tactile (touch)
4. olfactory (smell)
5. gustatory (taste)

Question 7

visual sense

Answer 7

• first way consumer connects with and experiences consumption contexts and brands
• visual properties: geometrical, statistical, temporal, formats, goal, structural, other
• processing of cues has 3 steps: measuring of visual properties as function of attention level; processing (create imagery); neural activation measuring where and to what extent brand cues turned into neural stimulation

Question 8

auditory sense

Answer 8

• sound is experienced and affects consumer more intimately to affect our state of mind and mood makes branding with sounds particularly powerful
• key areas:
  1. sound symbolism and language
  2. music

Question 9

tactile sense

Answer 9

• can increase recall, brand memory, brand evaluations, strengthen congruence between touch of product and other sensory aspects
• 2 overall dimensions:
  1. instrumental touch: to purchase, to get non-haptic information, to get haptic product information
  2. hedonic touch: touch without an aim, experience of touch is end goal
• touching in packaging and retail: product packaging can significantly influence perception of both properties and quality and ought to be considered carefully

Question 10

olfactory sense

Answer 10

• can be part of primary product attribute (sent is product itself)
• can be secondary product attribute where scent is not a primary function but can play an important part in differentiation or product memory
• ambience scents and service environment: SOR model (stimuli - organism - response) where stimuli will lead to emotion in organism which will lead to an attitudinal or behavioural response

Question 11

gustatory sense

Answer 11

perception of taste is highly affected by both smell and vision, but also touch and audition
- limited: humans can only recognise 5 senses in taste (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, umami)
- social sense: rated higher is displayed in social setting (vs. non-social setting)
- interplay between emotion and cognition in consumer evaluations of the quality of taste products

Question 12

other senses

Answer 12

• vestibular sense (balance and acceleration)
• proprioception (movement)

Question 13

sensory branding

Answer 13

= brands offer customers and consumers sensory experiences leading to stronger brand affiliation
- brand construct crosses border from being intangible to tangible –> fundamental assumption about brand-consumer exchange is that the ability of brand to leave a mark with consumer starts with tangible, sensory stimuli
- multi-sensory brand experiences: technique for enhancing customer experiences in relation to product branding as well as retail settings

Question 14

method and data in sensory approach

Answer 14

• measure differential effect sensory stimuli have on consumer reactions and brand performance
  1. self-reporting methods: 3 phases (establishment of test laboratory setting, exposition to stimuli, rating of feeling of thought after exposure)
  2. neurophysiological methods: how consumers respond to sensory stimuli by measuring neural responses to uncover cognitive neurophysiological responses with the use of technological equipment that measures neural response through biological measures

Question 15

managerial implications in sensory approach

Answer 15

• brand experiences:
  –> 5 rules of thumb: 1. theme experience, 2. harmonise impressions with positive cues, 3. eliminate negative cues, 4. mix memorabilia, 5. engage all 5 senses
  –> consists of 4 responses: sensory, affective, behavioural, intellectual
• management of brand touchpoint:
  1. sensory touchpoints,
  2. visualisation of brand
  3. visual identity: logotype; colour; typography; imagery/sound/animation