Linnaeus University Dissertations
No 356/2019
Andreas Aldogan Eklund
Harmonising value in a car’s interior using sensory marketing as a lens
linnaeus university press Lnu.se
isbn: 978-91-88898-76-0 (print), 978-91-88898-77-7 (pdf)
Harmonising value in a car’s interior using sensory marketing as a lens Andreas Aldogan Eklund
Harmonising value in a car’s interior using sensory marketing as a lens
Linnaeus University Dissertations
No 356/2019
HARMONISING VALUE IN A CAR’S
INTERIOR USING SENSORY MARKETING AS A LENS
ANDREAS ALDOGAN EKLUND
LINNAEUS UNIVERSITY PRESS
Harmonising value in a car’s interior using sensory marketing as a lens Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Marketing, Linnaeus University, Växjö, 2019
ISBN: 978-91-88898-76-0 (print), 978-91-88898-77-7 (pdf) Published by: Linnaeus University Press, 351 95 Växjö Printed by: Holmbergs, 2019
Abstract
Eklund, Andreas Aldogan (2019). Harmonising value in a car’s interior using sensory marketing as a lens, Linnaeus University Dissertations No 356/2019, ISBN: 978-91-88898-76-0 (print), 978-91-88898-77-7 (pdf).
The human senses have always influenced people’s perceptions of the surrounding environment and objects. As a consequence of the evolvement of the experience economy, research on the human senses has increased substantially and attracted scholars from various research domains, including sensory marketing. In the marketing domain, research emphasises that value is created when consumers experience brands, products, and servicescapes that are exciting and fun to interact with through the human senses. In accordance with the service-dominant logic discussion, value is created from the service surrounding the product, such as the experience, which includes manufacturers and consumers. Although this has partly been captured under sensory marketing, little is known of how sensory marketing cues contribute to brand experience and brand value. Theoretically, it is emphasised that creating value is a service process, where the manufacturer’s goal is to plan and design a multisensory brand experience facilitated by the human senses leading to consumer value, as well as to enhance the brand as an image. Hence, the purpose of this dissertation is to understand and explain how value is created within a car’s interior by applying sensory marketing as a lens.
To address the purpose, an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach was employed to capture different aspects of creating value. The empirical data are based on a case study with a global premium car manufacturer, focusing on how value is created and offered within a car’s interior. The qualitative sequence explored how the manufacturer plans and designs a value proposition by embedding sensory cues in the car’s interior. Furthermore, how value-in-use is created by providing a brand experience is analysed. The quantitative sequence examined the relationship between brand experience and brand image to explain how consumer value as an experience is created.
The dissertation concludes that creating value in the car’s interior follows the logic of service-dominant logic and includes manufacturers and consumers.
For the manufacturer, this was a strategic process to position the automotive brand as premium by offering value in the car’s interior. To achieve this, value was planned and designed by embedding sensory cues in the car’s interior.
However, sensory cues were not embedded in isolation; rather they were harmonised with another to gestalt the coherent theme of Scandinavia in terms of colour, material, and shape to provide consumers with a brand experience for sense-making. Moreover, it was demonstrated that not all brand experience dimensions impact brand image to create value as an experience. The results show that sensory, affective, and harmony experience have a positive relationship with brand image, which generates the consumer’s value as an experience.
Overall, the dissertation contributes to the process of creating value in the car’s interior by relating sensory marketing with branding and service-dominant logic, with harmony uniting these. Similar to an orchestra, where the conductor strategically organises various instruments on the stage to play a harmonious melody for the audience, the manufacturer uses the car’s interior as a stage with sensory cues to provide consumers with a harmonious brand experience, leading to a positive brand image. Harmony has been identified, operationalised, measured, and tested with a positive result. Theoretical, managerial, and ethical implications are discussed.
Keywords: brand experience, brand image, sensory cues, sensory marketing, and service-dominant logic (SDL)
Acknowledgement
The dissertation that you are holding in your hand, and hopefully will continue to read, is made out of blod, svett, och tårar. The Ph.D. journey has been a long and challenging with a hard work. Therefore, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to the organisations and people who have contributed to its realisation. I wish to acknowledge Volvo Cars that has contributed with access to informants, Teknikens Värld that allowed access to their readers, and Kalmar Handlande Borgares Donationsfond for financial support.
Moreover, I would like to express my gratitude to the people involved in my PhD journey. Firstly, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Associate Professor Adele Berndt – without your valuable insights and guidance, this journey would not have been possible. Your curiosity, humbleness, and wisdom have been invaluable to me and I take these characteristics with me in life and hope to pass them on to future generations. I also express my gratitude to my co- supervisors, Assistant Professor Susanne Sandberg and Assistant Professor Clarinda Rodrigues – thank you for your valuable insights, comments and feedback. To the examiner, Associate Professor Krister Bredmar, I cannot thank you enough for always having your door open to me and enduring my questions. Furthermore, thank you to Professor Bertil Hultén, who opened the door to academia, introducing me to the concept of sensory marketing, and the contribution to an earlier version of the manuscript. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Martin Hilb and Professor Mehmet Kocakulah, who guided and supported me in academia – thank you for your kindness and being a true source of inspiration.
I would also like to acknowledge those who have been reading the manuscript and providing valuable comments and insights during this journey. Thank you:
Professor Helén Anderson, Professor Anders Pehrsson, Professor Saara Taalas, Associate Professor Mikael Hilmersson, Associate Professor Henrik Uggla, Assistant Professor John Jeansson, Assistant Professor Kaisa Lund, Assistant Professor Leif Marcusson, Assistant Professor Yuliya Ponomareva, and Lydia Ljungmin Johansson. Assistant Professor Mathias Karlsson, I appreciate all the interesting and enlightening philosophical discussions we have had in the corridor.
Assistant Professor Niklas Åkerman, thank you for all the valuable insights, and for pushing and inspiring me to see things from different perspectives. To my true friend, Assistant Professor Miralem Helmefalk, who has shared my joy and sorrow during this journey, I will always remember our achievements, challenges, gym sessions, and discussions. Thank you Christoph Tiedtke and India Gonçalves for the picture on the cover of the dissertation and the language editing respectively.
To my family – mamma, Rosita Eklund; pappa, Hans Eklund; and my brothers, Mikael and Jonas Eklund – thank you for your endless support and patience. I know it has been hard grasping what I have been doing all this time, but I want you to know it would not have been possible without you.
To my wife, soulmate, and moonlight, Mehtap Aldogan Eklund, seni cok seviyorum canim; you make me a better person. I cannot express how grateful I am to have you, Minnie, and Maya in my life. The realisation of this dissertation would not have been possible without your endless support and love. Also, my sincere gratitude to my parents-in-law, Feriha and Ahmet Aldogan, who have supported me immensely through this journey as their own son.
To my friends – Christian, Christoffer, Jonas, Magnus, Pelle, Roger, Sami, Stefan, Thomas, Toni, and Victor – you have all contributed to the realisation of this dissertation through your friendship during the years. I am aware that we do not meet often, but you are invaluable to me.
Although my PhD journey has come to an end, my academic journey will continue. I will constantly search for new knowledge by being curious and staying humble. I will always develop by learning from others. Hence, this is not the end, I am still at the beginning of my academic journey and my thirst for knowledge and constant development will continue.
Andreas Aldogan Eklund
Kalmar, 29 July 2019
Table of contents
1 Introduction ... 1
1.1 Background ... 1
1.2 Problem discussion ... 7
1.3 Research questions ... 13
1.4 Contributions in the dissertation ... 15
1.5 Delimitations in the dissertation ... 15
1.6 Outline of the dissertation ... 16
2 Theoretical framework ... 19
2.1 Theoretical underpinning ... 19
2.2 Sensory cues ... 35
2.3 Brand experience ... 46
2.4 Brand image ... 57
2.5 Theoretical synthesis ... 63
3 Methodology ... 71
3.1 Research strategy ... 71
3.2 Research design ... 74
3.3 The research process... 77
3.4 Ethical considerations ... 79
4 Method: qualitative sequence ... 83
4.1 Establishing contact ... 83
4.2 Semi-structured interview guide ... 84
4.3 Selecting informants ... 85
4.4 Personal in-depth interviews ... 87
4.5 Principles and procedure of analysis ... 88
4.6 Issues of trustworthiness... 91
5 The case: Volvo Cars empirical findings ... 93
5.1 Introduction ... 93
5.2 Planning and designing for value ... 95
5.3 Consumers’ role from the manufacturer’s perspective ... 99
5.4 Suppliers’ role from the manufacturer’s perspective ... 105
5.5 Embedding sensory cues ... 112
5.6 Staging the brand experience ... 118
6 Discussion of the qualitative findings ... 125
6.1 Planning and designing the value proposition ... 125
6.2 The human senses role in the value proposition ... 132
6.3 The intended value-in-use from the brand experience ... 143
6.4 Harmony ... 153
7 Method: quantitative sequence ... 159
7.1 Operationalisation ... 159
7.2 Questionnaire administration ... 166
7.3 Population ... 167
7.4 Selecting data analysis ... 170
7.5 Research quality ... 171
8 Brand experience and brand image: consumers’ perspectives ... 175
8.1 Observing brand experience and brand image ... 175
8.2 Establishing central factors in brand experience ... 179
8.3 Testing the hypothesised relationships ... 184
8.4 Summary of tested relationships ... 190
8.5 Ensuring robustness and validity ... 193
8.6 Discussing the hypothesised relationships ... 195
9 Conclusions ... 205
9.1 Main conclusions... 205
9.2 Developing a conceptual model for creating value ... 208
9.3 Implications ... 213
9.4 Limitations and future research ... 217
References ... 219
Appendices ... 249
A. Interview guide ... 249
B. Questionnaire ... 251
C. Introduction to the questionnaire ... 254
D. Additional robustness checks ... 255
Figures
Figure 1.1. Theory level of abstraction... 5
Figure 2.1. The experience process based on service-dominant logic ... 25
Figure 2.2. Sensory marketing as an explanatory model ... 27
Figure 2.3. A conceptual framework of sensory marketing ... 30
Figure 2.4. A framework for multisensory shopping behaviour... 31
Figure 2.5. Brand experience model ... 52
Figure 2.6. An experience-based theoretical framework for creating value .... 64
Figure 2.7. Hypotheses within the theoretical framework ... 67
Figure 3.1. Overview of the research process ... 78
Figure 4.1. The data structure of the qualitative sequence ... 90
Figure 6.1. Revised hypothesized relationships within the theoretical framework ... 156
Figure 8.1. Accepted and partially supported hypotheses ... 192
Figure 9.1. Conceptual model for creating value ... 209
Tables
Table 2.1. Metatheory, midrange theory, and micro-level theories ... 19
Table 2.2. Key terms from service-dominant logic applied ... 23
Table 2.3. Summary sensory cues ... 46
Table 2.4. Summary of brand experience dimensions ... 57
Table 2.5. Summary of brand image associations ... 63
Table 4.1. Interviewed informants ... 86
Table 6.1. Harmony versus congruency ... 155
Table 7.1. Brand experience scale Cronbach’s alpha ... 161
Table 7.2. Operationalisation harmony experience ... 164
Table 7.3. Brand image operationalised items ... 165
Table 7.4. Descriptive statistics ... 168
Table 7.5. Frequency statistics ... 169
Table 8.1. Distribution of the brand experience items ... 176
Table 8.2. Correlation matrix ... 180
Table 8.3. Factor analysis rotated component matrix ... 182
Table 8.4. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients... 185
Table 8.5. Hierarchical multiple regression results of the hypothesised relationships ... 186
Table 8.6. Summary of the results ... 191
Table 9.1. The process of creating value in a car’s interior ... 207
Appendix. The relationship between brand experience and brand image symbolic associations ... 255
Appendix. The relationship between brand experience and brand image sensory associations ... 258
Appendix. The relationship between brand experience and brand image utilitarian associations ... 260
Appendix. The relationship between brand experience and brand image economic association... 262
1 Introduction
Chapter one presents an overview and the theoretical background for the dissertation. This section discusses theoretical and managerial challenges within the scope of sensory marketing in creating value in relation to branding of the automotive industry. This is followed by the overarching research question, the sub-questions, and the purpose- of the dissertation. Lastly, the outline of the dissertation is presented.
1.1 Background
The experience within a car’s interior
When people have purchased a new premium car and open the driver’s door, they are blown away by the visually appealing interior design. Their eyes carefully examine the colour, light, and material of the seating, steering wheel, and panels, feeling the scent of a brand-new interior. Sitting down, the drivers feel the soft texture of the material against their skin. Touching the dashboard, they are astonished by how smooth it feels and the high-quality material. They start the engine and drive away from the parking space. Driving down the street, people are fascinated by the silence inside, as all that can be heard is the nice tone of the engine. The stereo is switched on and the person’s favourite song starts playing, with all instruments merged simultaneously. Simultaneous, the drivers are comfortable in the seating and emotionally attached to the interior.
The interior provides a harmonious feeling, and people perceive this to be the car of their dreams.
While evaluating the obtained sensory impressions of the interior, the drivers justify having spent so much money to purchase the preferred premium car brand. In particular, they experience a sense of belonging to the premium car and have positive brand associations. While driving the car, people perceive – either consciously or subconsciously – that the car’s interior is full of brand- related stimuli, which strengthen and embody their relationship with the brand, giving them positive feelings. Aside from being provided with a sensory
experience, these individuals also experience the brand through the car’s interior, which allows them to interact and emotionally connect with the brand on a deeper level.
It should be emphasised that this example is fictitious, yet inspired by experiences from the present dissertation’s case study with Volvo Cars and its consumers. This scenario illustrates that brands, products, and servicescapes are full of sensory stimuli that create value. The manufacturer’s model XC90 is particularly interesting due to the focus on creating value in the car’s interior, with the intention of strengthening the Volvo Cars brand as premium. Compared with prior Volvo Cars models, the manufacturer intends to position the brand as premium by providing consumers with a superior experience in the car’s interior through its aesthetic design and exclusive material. Hence, the manufacturer embeds items as sensory cues based on brand-related stimuli in the value proposition to offer value for sense-making, where the brand experience is co- created with consumers leading their value-in-use. Subsequently, consumer- held brand experience impacts brand image, which becomes meaningful through value as an experience.
1.1.1 Understanding the external world
To understand the fictitious example in the context of this dissertation, a theoretical point of departure is needed. This base will assist the reader in understanding how value is created from a sensory standpoint. Although it has been reflected from various perspectives over time, focusing on the role of the human senses in research and practice aims its dispersal in different research domains.
The human senses have always influenced perceptions of the surrounding environment. Perception is part of the process to acquire, interpret and organise sensory stimuli (Macpherson, 2011). It is a common belief that people move around in the external world and create an understanding of how it functions (Marks, 1978). The sensory stimuli become sensations when they encounter an individual’s sensory organs, which get interpreted by the brain and lead to the sensory experience (Krishna, 2012). These experiences are subjective and play a crucial role in consumers’ actions, cognitions, and emotions (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014). This means that individuals evaluate and judge the objective external world through sensations, which subsequently influence their sensory experiences. Through sensations, notions are mapped and interpreted within the current environment people are located in, for example, from sensory stimuli in the atmosphere. The acquired sensory information from the stimuli influences people’s judgement, which is based on prior knowledge and encounters stored in memory (Peck and Childers, 2008). An example would be how a chair looks and feels, sitting in it, self-contemplation of its comfort and relaxation (Barsalou, 2008). This information is accessed in the brain and reinforced when individuals interpret, evaluate, and judge obtained sensory stimuli at the given
moment, but can be remembered over time (Peck and Childers, 2008).Regarding the importance of sensory information in the contemporary society, it alludes to the fact that sensory stimuli can be embedded and perceived in brands, products, and servicescapes.
1.1.2 Sensory experience
Individuals perceive the external world through sensory experiences.
Philosophy emphasises that sensory experiences represent the world in a particular way, which is related to how people experience objects in a given environment through the human senses (Macpherson, 2011). However, this is not limited to what is seen. As in the fictitious scenario above, drivers look around at the interior of the car they are in and perceive its interior, which leads to emotional and cognitive responses. They touch the interior to explore and evaluate the material and texture, which is when something emotional and physiological happens. New sensory stimuli are obtained by touching and, combined with the visual impression, lead to their perceptions of the car’s interior. This demonstrates that the human senses, individually or in combination, are a tool for gathering information about the external world and its exploration to get an understanding of the given environment or object (Marks, 1978). Specifically, human senses are used to interact with the external world, creating an understanding and putting meaning into the obtained sensory stimuli (Howes and Classen, 2014). However, this is not only limited to the representation of the external world, since these sensory stimuli are perceived by the sensory organs that provide us with sensory experiences (Keeley, 2011), and are applicable for brands, products, and servicescapes.
Consequently, mapping out the external world through the human senses is not limited to the Umwelt, as it could be a department store where manufacturers sell branded products. The importance of the senses can be portrayed historically through consumers who purchased goods over the counter in department stores (Howes, 2005). However, this view changed due to the experience economy (Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Idea Watch, 2015a) since consumers wanted to explore the goods more closely before purchase. This required department stores to display manufacturers’ goods in the shop, which consumers previously could only visually observe. By displaying goods, such as in clothing department stores, consumers can be enticed to interact with manufacturers’ goods by looking at and touching them to evaluate the quality.
Howes (2005, p. 286) emphasised this notion from a manufacturer’s perspective:
“…manufacturing an object that delight this [tactile] sense is something that you do not talk about. Almost everything which is bought is handled. After the eye, the hand is the first sensor to pass on acceptance, and if the hand’s judgment is unfavourable, the most attractive object will not gain the popularity it deserves. On the other hand, merchandise is designed to be pleasing to the hand wins an approval that may never register in the mind, but which will determine additional purchases”.
As a consequence of the evolvement of the experience economy, research on the human senses has increased substantially (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014).
Although it has received substantial interest among academics in various domains, such as culture, philosophy, and sociology, which marketing recently joined, it stems from the psychology domain on individual perception (Krishna, 2010b). Marketing research, in particular, has paid attention to sensory modalities based on cognitive psychologists (e.g., Harlow, 1958; Barsalou, 2010), and recently consumer psychologists (e.g., Cian, Krishna and Elder, 2014; Krishna, Cian and Sokolova, 2016). In consumer psychology, research on the human senses has evolved into the concept of sensory marketing (Krishna, 2010a). Specifically, sensory marketing research has examined how to provide consumers with a multisensory experience so they can create additional value (Krishna, Cian and Aydınoğlu, 2017). The substantial increasing interest in sensory marketing can be observed in the work of Howes (2005, p. 284), who said, “the growing social importance of consumption in the nineteenth century was evident in the new venues of shopping, the department store. With its theatrical lighting, enticing window displays and its floor after floor of entrancing merchandise”. This later became the foundation for the experience economy where seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching are part of the consumer experience in the physical world (Pine and Gilmore, 1998).
Although this is still true in physical settings today, consumption also occurs in digital settings. Petit, Velasco and Spence (2019) supported this, stating that multisensory information mediates consumer experience in the physical world and digital settings. This shows that consumers do not necessarily need to touch or smell the products to obtain relevant sensory information. Consumers can, for example, imagine expected sensory properties from previous interactions and product experiences. Hence, the digitalisation and advancement of online shopping have reformed consumer behaviour and forced manufacturers to develop their offerings due to global competition (Howes, 2005). Regarding sensory marketing, manufacturers can offer consumers added value by creating experiences related to the brand, which will strengthen their position in the market and stop competitors duplicating the product.
1.1.3 Branding a sensory experience
According to sensory marketing from a consumer psychology perspective, brands, products, and servicescapes consist of sensory stimuli operating as (sub)conscious triggers (Krishna, 2012; Krishna and Schwarz, 2014). These triggers influence consumer behaviour and give consumers additional value (Krishna et al., 2017). Sensory marketing describes sensory stimuli in brands, products, and servicescapes to understand the outcome in the consumer’s mind (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence, Puccinelli, Grewal and Roggeveen, 2014). That is, when consumers are exposed to or interact with sensory stimuli in brands, products, or servicescapes, cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses are formed due to mental processes and psychological reactions to understand obtained sensory stimuli (Hultén, 2011). Consumer perceived value comprises various outcomes – namely cognitive, emotional, sensory and symbolic responses – by obtaining pleasure from non-utilitarian aspects of consumption (Holbrook, 1999; Schmitt, 1999; Arnould and Thompson, 2005;
Alba and Williams, 2013). While sensory marketing research has examined the human senses in brands, products, and servicescapes, it is essential to understand how value is created by treating sensory stimuli as sensory cues.
Hence, the present dissertation views sensory cues as a strategic tool to be embedded in brands, products, or servicescapes to provide consumers with additional value by offering an experience. In other words, sensory cues are incorporated into objects by the manufacturer to provide consumers with additional value, which consumers situate meaning and create value to through the human senses.
Inspired by the idea that the advancement of service-dominant logic (SDL) can be seen as a general theory to capture how to create value in innovative ways (Vargo and Lusch, 2017), this dissertation is immersed in how to plan and design for value through experiences in relation to brands (Payne, Storbacka, Frow and Knox, 2009). To fully understand this, Vargo and Lusch’s (2017) level of abstraction (metatheory, midrange theory, and micro-level theories) view of creating value is used. These are shown in Figure 1.1.
Figure 1.1. Theory level of abstraction
The primary focus of SDL (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008;
Vargo and Lusch, 2016) is to reveal the generic picture to create value on the meta-level. However, to understand how value is created through experiences, midrange theory and micro-level theories are needed. Sensory marketing (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014) is used as a midrange theory to bridge the metatheory and micro-level theories in order to capture how the human senses can create value from the manufacturer’s and consumer’s perspectives. In turn, the micro-level theories’ sensory cues (e.g., Biswas, Szocs, Krishna and Lehmann, 2014b; Krishna, Morrin and Sayin, 2014;
Streicher and Estes, 2016; Helmefalk and Berndt, 2018), brand experience (e.g., Chang and Chieng, 2006; Brakus, Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2009; Khan and Rahman, 2015; Andreini, Pedeliento, Zarantonello and Solerio, 2018), and brand image (e.g., Birdwell, 1968; Park, Jaworski and Maclnnis, 1986; Kirmani and Zeithaml, 1993; Hsieh, 2002; Cho and Fiore, 2015) are used to inform sensory marketing and SDL on how value is created through experiences. The micro-level theories have the common denominator of sensory marketing and build upon the stimuli-organism-response model by Mehrabian and Russell (1974). Therefore, the aim is to assist in understanding how value is created from a sensory marketing perspective and from a generic perspective by including several actors in accordance with SDL.
Moreover, sensory cues are employed individually or in combination as multisensory cues in brands, products (e.g., Spence, 2012; Littel and Orth, 2013;
Streicher and Estes, 2015), or servicescapes (Spence et al., 2014; Helmefalk, 2019), subsequently providing consumers with the arousal or pleasure response (Donovan and Rossiter, 1982). Sensory cues alludes that sensory stimuli in brands, products, or servicescapes operate as sensors, which are a mechanism for sending out stimuli by embedding sensory cues (Hultén, 2011) to provide consumers with an experience as an offering (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012;
Spence et al., 2014).
Hence, manufacturers can offer value through the brand by embedding sensory cues in their products, which are perceived by consumers (Ballantine, Parsons and Comeskey, 2015) as an experience (Chang and Chieng, 2006;
Brakus et al., 2009; Hepola, Karjaluoto and Hintikka, 2017; Khan and Fatma, 2017). Research has linked sensory cues in brands and products with an experience (Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Schmitt, 1999; Schmitt, Brakus and Zarantonello, 2015a) and feelings (Levy, 1959; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982;
Holbrook, Chestnut, Oliva and Greenleaf, 1984; Levy, 1985; Holbrook, 1986) in relation to the human senses (Hultén, 2011; Achrol and Kotler, 2012;
Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014) to provide cognitive and emotional responses (Esch, Moll, Schmitt, Elger, Neuhaus and Weber, 2012; Schmitt et al., 2015a). It shows that “smell, sound, vision, taste or touch can reinforce a positive feeling, following the experiential logic, that generates a certain value to the individual and, in particular, creates a brand image” (Hultén, 2011, p.
269). Accordingly, when consumers are exposed to or interact with offered sensory cues that can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, and/or tasted (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Holbrook et al., 1984) it leads to a brand experience (Brakus et al., 2009; Khan and Rahman, 2015; Andreini et al., 2018) and a positive brand image (Park et al., 1986; Dobni and Zinkhan, 1990; Faircloth, Capella and Alford, 2001; Hsieh, 2002). Thus, by appealing to the human senses, the manufacturer is able to create a brand experience that is meaningful for a consumer’s value as an experience, i.e., brand image (Dobni and Zinkhan, 1990; Kirmani and Zeithaml, 1993; Hsieh, 2002; Cho and Fiore, 2015). Sensory cues, brand experience and brand image, and their relationship are elaborated on in the theoretical framework.
At first glance, it appears little is new with sensory marketing, just acknowledging that consumers use the human senses to evaluate and judge goods. Looking closer at sensory marketing research, the novelty lies in manufacturers strategically embedding sensory cues, individually or in combination (as multisensory cues), creating an experience (Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Achrol and Kotler, 2012). Subsequently, consumers evaluating whether the experience was valuable or not is reinforced by memory associations. The fictitious example shows a situation affecting car manufacturers and consumers.
It implies that car manufacturers can design and embed sensory cues based on brand-related stimuli in the interior to offer a pleasant and interactive brand experience that leads to a positively perceived brand image. However, the process of creating value with a brand has not yet been fully acknowledged in prior research (Vargo and Lusch, 2017). To further understand the relevance of this dissertation, the various theories in relation to cars need to be discussed.
1.2 Problem discussion
1.2.1 A car’s interior as a servicescape
Car manufacturers position the brand in the consumer’s mind based on the brand-related stimuli (Park et al., 1986; Faircloth et al., 2001; Hsieh, 2002).
Traditionally, it has been achieved in advertisements and promotions (Lienert, 1998). Therefore, manufacturers expose consumers to the brand in print and in various advertisements and at events to ensure that a purchase is made.
However, a car’s interior is interesting, since consumers are located within the given servicescape even after purchasing the car. While driving, consumers experience the brand (sub)consciously through the car’s interior. Compared with advertisements and promotions, a car’s interior moves beyond the purchase and allows the manufacturer to have an interpersonal interaction with consumers in the servicescape. Thus, the brand exists in the car’s interior, which allows consumers to interact with embedded brand-related stimuli through the human senses. This is in accordance with Gibson and Crooks’s (1938)
reasoning, who stated that behaviour can be influenced with relevant attributes in an environment. For example, in a car, relevant characteristics, such as a brake pedal and brake blocks, ensure that the driver can stop the vehicle at a minimum distance for safety purposes. Similarly, in the present dissertation, it is assumed that consumers (sub)consciously interpret and give meaning to the car’s interior. Nevertheless, for this to occur, manufacturers need to embed sensory cues based on brand-related stimuli for sense-making.
Over the last two decades, sensory marketing research has received substantial interest, pointing out the importance of the human senses for manufacturers and consumers in marketing research (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014). In a changing world where experiences are distinct economic offerings (Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Achrol and Kotler, 2012), traditional theories of how manufacturers deliberately create value with experiences based on brand- related stimuli and consumer perception are challenged (Vargo and Lusch, 2017). In the fictitious scenario, it is suggested that a car’s interior is full of opportunities for manufacturers to create value through experiences, which are based on brand-related stimuli. Since a car’s interior is permanent, it becomes imperative for manufacturers to embed the right combination of sensory cues and harmonise them with the brand. This is crucial because consumers are constantly exposed to manufacturers’ embedded cues and brand-related stimuli.
Consumers (sub)consciously experience these stimuli every time they use the car. Hence, a car’s interior consists of emotional and sensory dimensions that are experienced by consumers (Lienert, 1998). In this regard, surprisingly little attention has been given to the automotive industry, since cars are full of opportunities to create value through experiences by positioning the brand in the consumer’s mind. However, sensory marketing research has so far not fully captured the process of how manufacturers embed sensory cues in brands, products, and servicescapes, specifically within the automotive industry.
Similarly, how consumers interact and situate value from experiencing a car’s interior has been overlooked. To understand these theoretical problems, there are issues that need to be considered and discussed.
Looking closer at research in the context of the automotive industry, little attention has been given to sensory cues. Rather, the focus has been on traditional branding literature, which has been most dominant in examining the positioning of car brands in the consumer’s mind. A possible explanation for this may be that the automotive industry consists of several car manufacturers with similar products, where the brand becomes essential in distinguishing it from competitors (Lienert, 1998). Thus, the intention is to convey that brand image to consumers (Malhotra, 1981; Hsieh, 2002). In particular, car manufacturers use brand heritage based on the brand identity to position the brand (Urde, Greyser and Balmer, 2007; Wiedmann, Hennigs, Schmidt and Wuestefeld, 2011; Merchant and Rose, 2013; Rose, Merchant, Orth and
Horstmann, 2016) to reflect the brand associations held in consumers’ memory (Keller, 1993).
Today, it is common for manufacturers to differentiate their brand by designing and staging experiences as offerings (Pine and Gilmore, 1998), which are filtered through the human senses (Achrol and Kotler, 2012). Although car manufacturers want to position their brand, they have different opportunities to do so. It is logical to assume that premium brands in the automotive industry spend more time and effort providing consumers with experiences as a distinct economic offering. Hence, consumers may be willing to pay a higher price for a car from a premium brand, compared with non-premium ones. This in turn alludes to manufacturers needing to offer experiences in the premium brand so consumers can justify their purchase. In this dissertation, the discussion will be limited to premium brands in the automotive industry to understand the brand’s role in how to create value through experiences.
In regard to this, car manufacturers use luxury characteristics in positioning the brand as premium (Kapferer, 2015a; Uggla, 2017). In general, research of premium brands has so far focused on packaging design and consumer perception of various different offerings (Mugge, Massink, Hultink and van den Berg-Weitzel, 2014). Similarly, research shows that an aesthetic car’s exterior, such as the body design, positively influences consumers’ premium expectations (Löffler and Decker, 2012). It has been demonstrated that aesthetic car exterior design positively impacts purchase intention (Landwehr, Wentzel and Herrmann, 2012), and that an aesthetically appealing car grill has a positive influence on consumers’ brand attitude (Keaveney, Herrmann, Befurt and Landwehr, 2012). Much attention has been given to the visual appearance of a car’s exterior and there is a lack of examination into non-visual sensory cues, creating opportunities for future research.
In sensory marketing research, it has been shown that appropriate sensory cues provide consumers with a positive outcome (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014).
This is achieved by embedding sensory cues (individual or multiple cues) to provide consumers an experience by conveying the meaning of the brand (for a review see Spence et al., 2014). Although research has examined sensory cues in servicescapes in relation to consumer response (Bitner, 1992; Turley and Milliman, 2000), a car’s interior as a servicescape has been overlooked. This unchartered gap offers an opportunity to explore and examine how value is created through a car’s interior between manufacturers and consumers.
Similarly, with Foster and McLelland’s (2015) notion of embedding sensory cues as a branded theme in the atmosphere of a servicescape, the present dissertation views a car’s interior as a setting for a manufacturer to create value by inserting brand-related stimuli as an offering. To address this gap, it is not sufficient to explore how a manufacturer creates value in a car’s interior;
consumer situated value also needs to be analysed, since little is known about the brand’s role. This is in accordance with Vargo and Lusch’s (2017)
suggestion to examine how planning and designing experiences lead to consumers’ value-in-use. To understand this, the effect of the servicescape brand experience theme has to be tested to gain insights of consumer-brand relationship (Nilsson and Ballantyne, 2014). Aside from examining how car manufacturers create value, the consumer perception needs to be included, which is a response to Ballantyne and Nilsson’s (2017) call for radical appraisal and interpretation of the servicescape concept. The current lack of research on how sensory cues create value in the given setting is beneficial for the involved actors as a positive brand outcome.
Although research emphasises that experiences are created (Schmitt, 1999;
Brakus et al., 2009; Andreini et al., 2018), the creation process includes manufacturers planning and designing the offering (Shedroff, 2001; Alcántara, Artacho, Martínez and Zamora, 2014). This is supported by Pine and Gilmore (1998), who stated that experiences include design, production, and evaluation.
This dissertation views planning and designing as an underlying mechanism to create experiences. This includes the understanding of how to embed sensory cues based on brand-related stimuli, which facilitate creating an experience for the consumer evaluation. Hence, the phrases “create an experience” and “plan and design an experience” are used interchangeably in this dissertation.
1.2.2 Theoretical and managerial problems
As mentioned above, the attention on how to appeal to consumers through the human senses and to understand consumer perception of experiences have increased significantly in research and practice (Krishna et al., 2016). This falls into four theoretical problems. The first problem is related to experiences as a differentiator to create value, which is used by manufacturers to appeal to the human senses. In the automotive industry, several manufacturers compete with similar products, where the brand plays an important role in distinguishing and positioning the brand in the consumers’ minds. The challenge for car manufacturers is not just to develop and design cars, but to take the essence of the brand and amplify the car into a tangible, physical, and interactive experience that reinforces the value proposition. Following the logic of sensory marketing, value can be created by embedding sensory cues based on brand- related stimuli to appeal to the human senses. Referring back to the fictitious example, the car’s interior is full of (sub)conscious triggers filtered by the human senses. For example, feeling and smelling the material, potential sounds, and design aesthetics. Car manufacturers can entice consumers’ human senses in the interior with brand-related stimuli, which may be different for BMW, Mercedes-Benz, or Volvo Cars due to different positioning strategies. Although these are premium brands in the automotive industry, it is logical to assume that creating value through experiences distinguishes the manufacturers. This would be reasonable since each manufacturer has its unique brand-related stimuli to create a brand experience, which subsequently impacts the brand image. The
type of experience a manufacturer should create depends on the given brand character to position it as premium to the consumers.
The second problem is related to consumer experience. With the paucity of knowledge on the sensory aspect of the consumer experience in a retail store regarding designing the atmosphere (Helmefalk, 2016), entering a car is just like being inside any given servicescape, such as a shopping mall or restaurant.
Although manufacturers cannot decide the outcome in the consumer’s mind, they can control what sensory cues to embed and if these are congruent with the brand in the servicescape. However, there has been little research on the relationship with the brand in the servicescape (Eklund and Helmefalk, 2018).
Regarding this, the inside of a car is interesting, as the interior is full of opportunities for the manufacturer to embed sensory cues based on brand- related stimuli. These can subsequently be filtered and evaluated by consumer’s human senses when interacting with the car’s interior. Hence, it is logical to assume that brand-related stimuli play an important part in influencing consumers’ brand outcome. To elucidate, brands and products are important as they are experiential entities consumers find exciting and fun (Holbrook et al., 1984; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). These are located inside a servicescape consisting of atmospheric cues, i.e., sensory cues resulting in consumer response (Kotler, 1973; Spence et al., 2014). The servicescape is the given environment in which consumers experience brands and products. This shows the challenge for car manufacturers to plan and design for experiences by having a distinct economic offering that consumers interact with and develop meaning from. The complexity of embedding sensory cues in the value proposition is related to the intended consumer’s brand perception. Specifically, how consumers’ brand experience influences brand image, leading to the holistic value as an experience. This challenges traditional marketing theories, since manufacturers and consumers in the experience economy gain value from experiences.
The third problem is related to manufacturers’ experiences and consumer perception. Compared with traditional marketing theories, sensory marketing emphasises multidimensional communication between manufacturers and consumers (Hultén, 2015b; Krishna et al., 2017). It is suggested that products have their own voices that consumers reply to viscerally and (sub)consciously (Idea Watch, 2015b). This is because “consumers are involved in the processes of both defining and creating value, and the co-created experience of consumers through the holistic brand value structure becomes the very basis of marketing”
(Tsai, 2005, p, 433). Thus, sensory marketing is a suitable theory to explain how value is created and perceived by consumers (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012;
Spence et al., 2014). However, sensory marketing does not capture the essence of how value is offered or perceived. Although it has been demonstrated that sensory cues impact brand experience and brand strength (Wiedmann, Labenz, Haase and Hennigs, 2018), planning and designing a value and the outcome for
consumers has been overlooked. In particular, the relationship between brand experience and brand image needs to examined further (Santini, Ladeira, Sampaio and Pinto, 2018). Andreini et al.’s (2018) work supports this, emphasising the necessity to consider how value and resources are integrated by various actors, such as manufacturers and consumers, in creating value, which follows the logic of SDL (Vargo and Lusch, 2017). Therefore, exploring how a car manufacturer creates value in relation to the brand experience is relevant since consumers constantly interact with brand-related stimuli in the car’s interior. Subsequently, this results in the need to empirically examine the relationship between the co-created brand experience and brand image, which leads to consumer’s value as an experience.
Problem number four relates to the fact that research so far has neglected the process of creating value leading to consumer’s value as an experience. More data need to be collected to better understand what the value in the experience means for consumers (Helkkula, Kelleher and Pihlström, 2012). Although sensory marketing research has demonstrated how sensory cues influence consumers with cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses (e.g., Streicher and Estes, 2016; Biswas, Szocs, Chacko and Wansink, 2017; Helmefalk and Hultén, 2017), little is known about the brand outcome from these responses.
Despite this, so far research has not fully provided an understanding or conceptualised how manufacturers embed sensory cues in brands, products, and servicescapes as a value proposition to stage a brand experience for consumers with the intention of reinforcing the brand image’s value as an experience.
In the context of this dissertation (premium car brands), the problems identified above show the challenges car manufacturers face in creating value and the need to interact with consumers. The vastness of this field, in combination with a paucity of research, suggest there are ample opportunities for conceptual development and empirical studies. One such opportunity is by considering how several actors, such as manufacturers and consumers, create value from a sensory marketing view. The present dissertation is a response to Vargo and Lusch (2017) claim that an experience-based theoretical framework is needed, which can aid how to plan and design value by involving consumers in understanding the user-generated content of premium brands. Similarly, Pine and Gilmore (1998) emphasised that the key to creating value is excellent design and staging experiences. This appeals to consumers’ human senses to ensure active participation of manufacturers and consumers, which yields the experience of the brand. These enquiries are achieved in the present dissertation by conducting a case study with a genuine global car manufacturer in the premium segment. This will assist the automotive industry and consumers to understand the process of how value is created in relation to sensory cues, brand experience, and brand image. The following sections will elaborate on this discussion by developing an overarching research question, sub-questions, and the purpose of the dissertation.
1.3 Research questions
1.3.1 Overarching research question
The four problems identified above reveal insufficient knowledge of how to create value by applying sensory cues, which is beneficial for manufacturers and consumers. As mentioned, little is known about the role of sensory cues in creating value, consumer’s added value from sensory cues, and the brand’s role in creating and perceiving value from sensory cues from a car’s interior.
Therefore, the present dissertation aims to respond to calls for future research.
Krishna et al. (2017) emphasised that brands and products with embedded sensory cues communicate with consumers, suggesting that manufacturers use these to appeal to consumers’ human senses to elucidate product experiences based on brand-related stimuli that they tend to remember. Similarly, Veloutsou and Guzman (2017) argued that brands, products, and servicescapes have become experiential entities that communicate with consumers’ human senses through sensory stimuli. Hence, it has been questioned if existing research within sensory marketing has fully adapted to this perspective of sensory cues in brands, products, and servicescapes. Seeking to address the theoretical and managerial problems above, the following overarching research question will be answered in the dissertation: how is value created in a car’s interior using sensory marketing?
1.3.2 Sub-questions
To address the overarching research question, three sub-questions have been developed. The aim of these sub-questions is to reflect various aspects in creating value, contributing to answering the overarching research question.
Research thus far focus on consumer perception from exposure to sensory cues (e.g., Krishna, Elder and Caldara, 2010; Biswas et al., 2014b; Streicher and Estes, 2016). Much of this research has been conducted to understand the effect of product evaluation in the consumer’s mind (e.g., Zampini and Spence, 2004;
Krishna, 2006; Szocs and Biswas, 2016), but overlooked how sensory cues are embedded by manufacturers. This alludes to there being ample opportunities for research in planning and designing the atmosphere in a servicescape with sensory cues (Mari and Poggesi, 2013; Spence et al., 2014; Helmefalk, 2019), particularly by offering value by embedding sensory cues in the servicescape.
However, research has not yet provided guidance on how to achieve this other than pointing out that it adds value for the manufacturer and consumers (Dubé and Morin, 2001). Therefore, the first sub-question is formulated: how is a value proposition created by the manufacturer’s embedded sensory cues?
As mentioned, research has given little attention to how sensory cues can be embedded for offering value to consumers. Scare attention has received special focus to how to create value with the consumers’ involvement (Payne et al., 2009). According to Pine and Gilmore (1998), experiences can be staged by
manufacturers through excellent design to offer additional value for consumers, with the intention to make the brand experience memorable (Khan and Fatma, 2017). Research so far has centred on consumer-held brand experience from brand-related stimuli (Brakus et al., 2009; Khan and Rahman, 2015; Santini et al., 2018). However, research has not yet fully discussed how manufacturers should plan and design experiences based on brand-related stimuli for creating value. Hence, understanding how a brand experience is staged by a manufacturer to create value for the manufacturer and consumers is imperative.
From this, the second sub-question is developed: how is value-in-use created by a brand experience?
Capturing various aspects of creating value goes beyond the manufacturer’s perspective, and the consumer’s perspective is needed. So far, majority of brand experience literature has tested the relationship with brand loyalty (e.g., Brakus et al., 2009; Francisco-Maffezzolli, Semprebon and Muller Prado, 2014;
Iglesias, Singh and Batista-Foguet, 2011; Nysveen, Pedersen and Skard, 2013).
Although the results show a positive relationship between the constructs, little is known on how brand experiences create value for consumers. Theoretically, it is emphasised that research should focus on how brand experience creates value for consumers (Andreini et al., 2018). Considering this, it is important to theoretically and empirically understand how the brand becomes meaningful and adds value for consumers (Keller and Lehmann, 2006). This is addressed by examining and testing the relationship between brand experience and brand image, which, in accordance with Santini et al. (2018), deserves further attention. Hence, sub-question three is developed: what is the effect of brand experience on brand image in order to create value as an experience?
1.3.3 Purpose
The introduction revealed theoretical and managerial problems that need to be addressed. Sensory marketing research alludes that value is created by manufacturers and consumers. Theoretically, it is emphasised that creating value is a service process with the manufacturer’s goal being to create a multisensory brand experience, which is filtered by the human senses to generate consumer value and the brand as an image (Hultén, 2015b). Although this suggests that manufacturers offer the consumers value for sense-making, it does not show how value is created. Therefore, the purpose is to understand and explain how value is created within a car’s interior by applying sensory marketing as a lens.
To capture the essence of the overarching research question and purpose, an empirical case study with a premium brand car manufacturer will be conducted in qualitative and quantitative sequences. The two sequences are designed to capture the different parts of creating value in the car’s interior. The qualitative sequence explores how the manufacturer embeds sensory cues based on brand- related stimuli in the car’s interior as an offer for consumers’ sense-making.
This is achieved by personal in-depth interviews with key informants of the manufacturer. Hence, the purpose of this dissertation is to explore the manufacturer’s perspective to creating value. The quantitative sequence designs a questionnaire to test the relationship between brand experience and brand image to understand consumer value, whereof the purpose is to test and examine consumer perspective in creating value. Accordingly, the case study with the car manufacturer and consumers empirically captures various aspects in the process of how value is created theoretically.
1.4 Contributions in the dissertation
Based on the discussion above, the intended contribution of the dissertation is to advance the theoretical and managerial understanding to capture different aspects of how value is created with the aid of sensory marketing. The theoretical contribution is to relate sensory marketing with branding and SDL literature by creating and perceiving value. Research has demonstrated that sensory cues have a positive impact on consumers’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioural outcomes. Despite this, little is known of the brand’s role. The present dissertation contributes to literature on how value is created by relating sensory cues with brand experience and brand image. Regarding creating value in accordance with SDL, neither the manufacturers nor the consumers can do it in isolation. Hence, creating value is a strategic process in which the manufacturer needs to plan and design value offerings based on brand-related stimuli. However, the outcome of the provided value is determined by the consumer’s perception and sense-making. Therefore, this dissertation proposes a conceptual model, which shows the process of how value can be created for manufacturers and consumers. In this process, harmony was revealed to unite the different steps to creating value.
This dissertation provides managerial insights on how to position the brand as premium. Car manufacturers are suggested to use brand-related stimuli in the car’s interior to provide consumers with value. Since the car’s interior is always present, consumers are continuously evaluating the brand-related stimuli planned and designed by the manufacturer. Therefore, car manufacturers are advised to strategically consider how to use the car’s interior as a strategic tool to convey the brand’s story to consumers. This includes understanding the target consumer segment to bring forth a car’s interior with brand-related stimuli to meet their demand and requirements.
1.5 Delimitations in the dissertation
The present dissertation is centred around creating value. Since creating value varies among research domains, this is narrowed down to SDL. The reason for this is to capture how value is created from intangible brand-related stimuli in
