The 21st century has been a period of great change for both consumers and brands. In this era, the main goal of brands has been to turn a product into an experience rather than selling it.
This “age of emotion” is centered on consumer psychology, where brand stories and consumers’ emotional connections come to the fore rather than the technical features of the product. At the heart of this era are multi-sensory experiences that encompass the five senses. These experiences, which appeal to consumers’ senses of sight, smell, taste, hearing and touch, play a crucial role in both marketing communication and advertising strategies of brands.
What is sensory marketing?
Sensory marketing is a strategic marketing approach that targets consumers’ five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell) to create an emotional connection with a brand or product. This method uses sensory stimuli to guide consumers’ perceptions and behaviors.
The aim is not only to offer a product or service, but also to provide consumers with a memorable experience. For example, a pleasant store smell, relaxing music or the tactile quality of products can help consumers feel more positive about a brand and develop loyalty.
Why is sensory marketing important?
Creating a multi-sensory experience for consumers in both physical and digital store atmospheres is an important issue for brands. While it seems easier to create a multi-sensory experience with marketing messages in the store atmosphere, this is limited in the digital environment, but technological developments and portotypes developed in this field suggest that digital shopping will be carried out for more senses in the future.
Sensory marketing is an effective marketing strategy designed to strengthen the connection between brand and consumer. Given that consumers’ purchasing decisions are largely based on emotional responses, the importance of sensory marketing becomes even more apparent. This approach ensures that consumers not only consume a product or service, but also have a special experience with the brand.
Consumers’ preference for a brand often depends on the emotional experience it offers. Therefore, sensory marketing strategies help brands build long-term loyalty by influencing consumers’ emotions and perceptions. Sensory marketing has become an indispensable strategy for companies that want to establish and strengthen a lasting bond between brand and consumer.
Types of Senses and the Effect of Senses on Consumer Decisions
1- Sense of Vision: Visual senses have a stronger impact on human perception than other senses. The eye is the only sensory organ that contains brain cells, and visual information plays an important role in consumer behavior because it is more easily stored in memory. According to Martin Lindstrom’s research, the sense of sight is 58% effective, while smell is 45%, hearing 41%, taste 31% and touch 25%. This leads brands to focus more on visual elements. For example, brands identified with colors such as Coca-Cola’s red, Kodak’s yellow or Fuji’s green leave a strong impression in consumers’ minds with visual stimuli.
Consumers can predict the characteristics of products and shape their purchasing decisions through visual cues. For example, when choosing fruit yogurt, the color of the packaging or the pictures on it give clues about the taste of the product. Designs for the elderly population, such as large clocks or large-print books, also emphasize the importance of visual sense. Product shapes can also influence consumer perception; for example, the triangular shape of a Toblerone chocolate bar.
2- Hearing: Sounds can shape our perceptions of places or objects. For example, Ford’s locking system making the sound of a safe has increased sales. The sound of a Pringles can being opened or the Swedish music played in the restaurants of the Max hamburger chain also positively affected customer satisfaction and sales. The sounds of birds and waves played at Glasgow Airport contributed to passengers spending more time in the stores. It has also been scientifically proven that music affects mood and purchasing behavior by increasing dopamine secretion.
Brands often use sound elements to reinforce consumer perception. Kellogg’s has trademarked the sound of crunching, making it part of its brand. Examples such as Nokia’s ringtone, Mercedes Benz’s door sound or Intel’s opening music show the importance of sound in corporate identity. The sound of money coming out of slot machines or the shutter sound of digital cameras also have a powerful impact on consumers.
3- Sense of Smell: The sense of smell strongly influences memory and emotions through a direct relationship with the limbic system. Psychology defines smell as the most powerful memory element. For example, spreading the smell of hot bread in supermarkets has been used to increase sales and create a positive shopping experience. Similarly, hotel chains have developed special scents to leave a positive imprint on their guests’ memories. Westin Hotels & Resorts has favored the scent of “white tea”, which is considered to have international appeal.
In clothing stores, research shows that certain scents change consumers’ spending habits. The scent of vanilla had a positive effect in the women’s department, but not in the men’s department. Similarly, the scent of lemon evokes a sense of cleanliness, while lavender has calming effects.
Fragrances carry various meanings in different cultures. For example, the scent of vanilla is associated with warmth and intimacy in America, while in France it means elegance and femininity. Fragrance triggers retrospective memories and emotions, creating an emotional connection with brands. For example, the scent of baby powder creates a sense of peace and confidence in baby stores, while “new car smell” gives consumers a sense of novelty and cleanliness.
4- Sense of Touch: Although the sense of touch plays an important role in consumer behavior, research on this subject is limited. Consumers feel the need to touch the product during the purchasing process. For example, they prefer to establish a bond and trust by touching products such as shoes, cars or fabrics. Coca-Cola’s loss of sales after switching from glass bottles to cans in 1996 is an example of the importance of the sense of touch. The lack of the tactile experience offered by the glass bottle had a negative impact on consumers. In the mobile phone industry, a study has shown that 35% of users care more about the tactile experience than how the phone looks.
In the retail sector, the haptic experience is a factor that influences consumers’ decisions. Supermarkets and stores gain economic advantage by offering consumers the opportunity to touch products. Experience-oriented projects such as the Magic Ice Museum are examples that strengthen the impact of this sense by offering consumers a tactile atmosphere.
Brands such as Volvo have succeeded in creating a positive perception in customers by using quality textures in vehicle interior materials to enhance the tactile experience. Similarly, leather seat designs provide a sense of confidence and comfort. However, when some companies ignore the tactile experience, there can be negative effects on consumer perception. For example, removing the cork from wine bottles has negatively affected perceptions of product quality.
5- Sense of Taste: Taste is one of the most difficult senses to use in the creative strategies of businesses. However, reaching consumers with this sense can create lasting effects. Tasting takes place with taste buds on the tongue and each individual has a different sense of taste. Taste buds have four types of structures that are sensitive to basic tastes such as sweet, salty, sour and bitter. This sense has important effects on memory and recall. Taste receptors are not limited to a single taste, but are also sensitive to different flavor combinations.
Taste can be a powerful brand element for companies in the food and beverage sector. Products such as McDonald’s French fries, Oreo biscuits and Redbull’s energy drink are examples of this strategy. Cultural differences are a factor influencing taste perception; for example, bitter products may be more popular in regions sensitive to bitterness. In addition, religious beliefs and cultural structure can shape sweet marketing strategies.
Businesses should consider cultural and religious factors when using the sense of taste in marketing. In addition, people’s perception of taste is often associated with smell, so products such as coffee and chocolate can become iconic in consumer minds by emitting aromas. Brand loyalty is also built through the sense of taste. For example, certain brands of sausage or coffee leave a lasting imprint on the mind with their taste. Furthermore, some brands can differentiate themselves from competitors by using different ingredients and production techniques to emphasize the unique characteristics of their flavors.
