Approaches to sensory marketing strategies within the beauty retail stores in Sweden: A qualitative insight concerning sensory interplay and sensory overload

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Authors: Veronica Grandin, Jessica Jönsson &

Jakob Kessén

Examiner: Miralem Helmefalk

Supervisor: MaxMikael Wilde Björling Term: VT20

Subject: Retail and Service Management Level: Degree of Bachelor

Course code: 2FE67E

Approaches to sensory marketing

strategies within the beauty retail stores in Sweden – A qualitative insight concerning sensory interplay and sensory overload.

Bachelor thesis

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Abstract

As sensory marketing is becoming a more widely used strategy in the world, the need to distinguish oneself is more important than ever. The general knowledge of sensory cues, their interplay and sensory overload among Swedish retail beauty companies is researched in this thesis. We set out to identify the baseline knowledge of the store personnel and the implications thereof in Sweden on the subjects formerly

mentioned.

This investigative study aims to provide an insight into the workings and knowledge gap of retail store design from the perspective of store personnel with sensory- marketing, interplay and congruency in mind with focus on the senses vision, audio and scent. The knowledge of these are assumed to influence a stores’ ability to cater to and adapt to everyday and sensory-sensitive consumers. The study also aims to provide an insight into the subject of sensory overload, what causes it and the effects that might be had from the experience.

To achieve this, we formed the research questions: “How do beauty retail stores in Sweden keep sensorial interplay in mind when designing their retail setting?” and

“How do beauty retail stores in Sweden take sensory overload into consideration?”.

We performed qualitative interviews with Swedish retail beauty stores’ employees. A foundational knowledge was established in the form of a literature review followed by empirical findings, to be discussed in the analysis.

The conclusions drawn from our research, were that there is awareness among managers on sensory marketing. However, sensory cues are commonly broken down and compartmentalized into singular events. While we found that there are

congruence considerations taken as to how the cues relate to the stores’ brand, there seemed to be little to none taken to how the cues interplay with each other. We could also conclude that sensory overload is not a consideration. However, that there are various reasons to this, one major being that Swedish retailers are careful about the implementation of sensory experiences and therefore consider themselves safe from the possibility.

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Keywords

Beauty retail stores, multisensory, store atmospherics, sensory congruency, sensory interplay, sensory marketing, sensory overload

Acknowledgements

The authors of this thesis are grateful to their academic supervisor MaxMikael Wilde Björling for all the support and guidance throughout the work-process. We would also like to express our appreciation to the feedback received from our examiner Miralem Helmefalk, as well as fellow students’ suggestions of improvement.

Furthermore, we express our deepest gratitude to all the beauty retail stores who have taken the time to participate in our interviews, which served as a crucial element to our empirical findings and to answer our research questions. We would like to dedicate a special thank you to Charles Spence and Bertil Hultén for partaking in our interview and for providing us with knowledgeable research articles and books.

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List of figures

Figures

FIGURE 1STIMULATION-RESPONSE CURVE (2.3.2) ... 16 FIGURE 2ABC MODEL OF ATTITUDES (2.5) ... 20 FIGURE 3CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK (2.6) ... 21

Tables

TABLE 1OPERATIONALIZATION (3.4.2)... 29

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1. Introduction

This chapter provides an insight to our chosen field of study and a discussion of theoretical and managerial problems we argue need to be elucidated. Furthermore, this chapter

addresses gaps in the theoretical framework present today and therefore highlights why our research is important and what further knowledge this thesis can bring to the academic literature. The research questions section followed by purpose will provide a more specified understanding of both the theoretical and empirical grounds of this thesis.

1.1 Background

To be able to touch, taste and smell products is a feature that cannot be achieved while shopping online, and remains a sales advantage for retail stores (Morin, 2018). Turning to the beauty industry of retail, it is no secret that the emotional appeal can be increased by giving the products a certain desirable scent or texture (Prinz, 2013). In 2018, cosmetic products were sold to Swedish consumers for 1978 million euros (KoHF, 2020). The Swedish customer consumes the most cosmetic products within the European Union per capita. The sales of perfumes had an increase of 4.7% from 2017-2018 and makeup had an increase of 1.5%. The recognition of sensory marketing is changing how products are being created and sold (Krishna, 2010). By engaging the senses, stores can create unique shopping experiences that makes the brand top-of-mind (Morin, 2018). Sensory marketing has the possibility to deliver a stimulating and emotional experience for the customer that builds a stronger relationship to the brand and is based upon stimulating the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste (Spence, Puccinelli, Grewal & Roggeveen 2014). It is possible to provide sensory cues to one specific sense or focus on stimulating several senses at once, known as multisensory marketing (Krishna, 2013). Driver and Noesselt (2008) states that most traditional research has been focused on a single sensory aspect, while real-world situations foremost stimulate several senses simultaneously. An explanation to multisensory marketing is defined as following by Ballantine, Jack and Parsons (2010, p.642)

“When a customer enters a store they do not experience the music in

isolation; they do not smell the scent without seeing the colours as well; they do not walk on the floor‐covering without feeling the ambient temperature.

The typical customer experiences degrees of all these and other stimuli as an ongoing, collective experience”.

Working with multiple senses and stimuli cues makes it more complex, as managers also need to keep congruency in mind, as well as how the different senses interplay with each other (Spence et al., 2014). Helmefalk (2017) defines multisensory interplay as the cues’ and senses’ interactions within the consumers mind. The author also mentions how some cues are expected to match, which makes them pleasant to experience. We define sensory interplay in this thesis, as working with multiple senses and cues, to work well in congruence to each

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other when designing store atmospheric. We argue that, senses should be considered not just individually, but also in combination when designing a retail setting.

Krishna (2010) defines sensory marketing as, marketing that affects consumers’ behaviour by engaging their senses. The author also emphasizes that sensory aspects affect emotions, memories, perceptions, preferences and choices. Harvard Business Review (2020) discusses how new research suggest that a lot of companies will be taking advantage of sensory marketing. Moreover, Spence (2020) and Harvard Business Review both state that there has also been an increase of interest among academics in sensory marketing. Harvey (2019) argues that consumers are finding themselves tired of constantly being faced with

advertisement and therefore, the traditional marketing strategies are becoming less appealing.

In traditional marketing, attributes like price and utility are assumed to be main factors to get a consumer to purchase, whereas sensory marketing, in contrast, assumes that purchase decisions are based on emotional impulses, rather than reasoning (Longley, 2019). Sensory marketing is strongly connected to store atmospherics as retailers use this technique to influence the consumers’ experience when visiting the store by designing a retail setting and atmospheric that affect the senses (Spence et al., 2014). Atmospherics involves factors such as sound level, lighting, display designs, temperature and so on. The authors argue that it is an effective way to influence the consumers’ buying behaviour for a retailer. We define the term atmospherics, for the purpose of this thesis, as the retail setting that is designed in a certain way to create conscious effects on the consumer by using sensory cues.

When designing a store atmospheric, the aim is to achieve an optimal level of stimulation (Spence et al., 2014). Raju (1980) describes an optimal stimulation level (OSL) as following

“OSL is a property that characterizes an individual in terms of his general response to environmental stimuli”. The author further discusses how previous research has shown that every organism prefers a certain level of stimulation. For example, the author reached the conclusion in his study that younger, educated and employed people seem to have a higher level when it comes to stimuli, and therefore have a higher optimal stimulation level. Spence et al. (2014) mentions how it might be wise when it comes to marketing to segment according to those who seek stimulating experiences and those who avoid them. An optimal stimulation level for the consumer is when the stimuli are high enough for arousal, but not high enough to cause discomfort (Raju, 1980). If the stimuli are at a too low level, they will not cause

excitement. To summarize, an optimal stimulus is when the marketing has the exact right amount of stimulation-level. By reaching a consumer's optimal stimulation level, it leads to favourable attitudes (Spence et al., 2014). The attitudes of the consumers consist of three components: affect, behaviour and cognition, also known as the ABC model of attitudes (Capet & Delavallade, 2014). Putting the ABC model of attitudes in context to sensory marketing and the optimal stimulation level, a consumer can learn (cognition) that a store gives a stimulating experience when visiting, or that it feels unpleasant to visit due to overstimulation and sensory overload. Based on the cognition, the consumer forms a feeling (affect) about the store, which can be either positive or negative. Deriving from cognition and affect, the consumer then forms a behaviour based on this that can be avoidance of the store, or frequent visits. Should the stimuli be too many to process at once, or be perceived as

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unpleasant by the recipient, instead of providing a stimulating experience it can result in a sensory overload (Spence et al., 2014).

Spence et al. (2014) argue that while more sensory cues in a store atmospheric increase the number of sensory touch points, it also increases the risk of giving the consumers a sensory overload. In this thesis, we define sensory overload as an unpleasant experience for the consumer resulted from an incongruent store atmospheric or a too high level of stimulation at once, derived from sensory cues. McGlensey (2016) describes the feeling of a sensory

overload as possibly being experienced as exhausting, overwhelming and even perceived as scary. The author finds that the result of this is usually that the person who experience it separates themselves from the situation, or in some cases even have a meltdown. The author has also summarized interviews of people who have experienced this feeling, one distinctive comparison that is made is to a computer with too many tasks operating at once until finally the computer has an overload and everything stops working. Spence et al. (2014) argues that it is a good idea to make sure all sensory cues are congruent. They even find it to be a helpful tool for managers to use congruent multisensory cues, although, they also find an

inconsistency in what consumers find to be congruent. The authors give Abercrombie and Fitch as an example of a store which is working with multiple senses and creates ambivalence amongst consumers. Here for example, the younger consumers find strong scent and loud music to be stimulating, while their parents might experience a sensory overload (Spence et al., 2014; Hulten, Broweus, & van Dijk, 2009). Spence et al. (2014) also shows this example to underline the importance of segmenting those seeking stimulation and those whom avoid it.

The authors also state that age is a likely variable to which category the consumer falls in to.

Another group that is more likely to experience a sensory overload are people whom are hypersensitive due to factors like autism or PTSD (Manning, Tibber & Charman, 2015;

Harricharana et al., 2017). People with allergies are also regarded as hypersensitive (Żukiewicz-Sobczak et al., 2013).

We argue, that the phenomenon of sensory overload can occur on a more frequent basis in the beauty industry of retail stores, as they are working with a lot of strong sensory inputs. An example would be perfumes that can give a strong scent and might be perceived as an

unpleasant stimulus for some if too strong, especially if combined with another strong stimuli.

Should this occur, it might result in a consumer not returning to the store (McGlensey, 2016).

As we found research on sensory overload to be lacking in the retail branch, we aim to further the knowledge and look deeper into how it is used by businesses and managers in the beauty industry of retail stores, and how they work with sensory marketing as a strategy. For the purpose of this thesis, we define beauty retail stores as stores that are selling more than one of the following products: makeup, skincare or perfume.

1.2 Problem discussion

Spence (2020), states that sensory marketing is still a relatively new field of research.

Regardless of this, sensory marketing has been researched by various academics such as Hultén (2011), Krishna (2011; 2013), Krishna, Cian and Aydınoglu (2017), Spence et al.

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(2014), Helmefalk (2017), Helmefalk and Hultén (2017), among many others. The authors have discussed sensory marketing from various angles such as product attributes,

atmospherics, retail settings and so on. However, despite many researchers’ interest of the subject, sensory overload is less researched and mentioned by various authors as an area where further research is encouraged (Krishna, 2011; Krishna 2012; Helmefalk & Hultén, 2017; Roose & Mulier, 2020). In fact, Krishna (2011 p. 346) clearly states “Research on sensory overload is lacking”. The author also suggests sensory interplay as a subject for future research, as quite a few stimuli have been studied rather on a separate level than a congruent one and how they interplay. The author further states that consumers rarely experience stimulus in singular, which gives a further indication as to why it is important to gain more knowledge on how senses interplay together.

1.2.1 Theoretical problem

Kent and Stone (2007) has researched how The Body Shop has been using store design for retail branding. The Body Shop sells various beauty products. Beauty products in retailing includes products such as make-up, skincare, haircare and perfumes (Larsen & Tambo, 2014).

Kent and Stone states that (2007, p. 533), “In retailing, design is concerned with the environments in which people shop”. It is further mentioned that in the case of The Body Shop, they rely foremost on point-of-sale activity and window display rather than focusing on advertising, making the retail environment an especially important communication tool.

Larsen and Tambo (2014) state that, since the beauty industry is a highly competitive market, it furthers the need for differentiation and consumer awareness. Multisensory marketing is widely researched by among others Krishna, Lwin, and Morrin (2010), Cian, Krishna and Elder (2014). Morrison, Gan, Dubelaar and Oppewal (2011) has been researching consumer behaviour based on the combination of music and aroma. However, these studies mostly look at two stimuli combined, rather than the interplay of several ones. We find that even though theory argues how retail stores need to focus on retail design, theory is lacking on how beauty companies work with sensory interplay, to make all the elements and stimuli complete as a stimulating store experience.

Scheydt et al. (2017) argue that the theoretical foundation of sensory overload is insufficiently addressed in the literature existing. The authors touch on a theoretical problem with their statement that the concept of sensory overload has not been specified as to this date. Sensory overload is however explained as an outcome by an overstimulation of the senses (Spence et al., 2014). Helmefalk and Hultén (2017) finds that there is a need for further research

regarding to which degree shoppers perceive a sensory overload in a multisensory store atmosphere. Sensory overload is a subject that few explored closer in the context of retail (Krishna, 2011; Krishna & Schwarz, 2014; Scheydt et al, 2017). The research on sensory overload is mainly found in mental health science where researchers like Harricharana et al.

(2017) studied the connection between sensory overload and PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and Manning, Tibber and Charman (2015) researched sensory overload´s connection to autism.

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1.2.2 Managerial problem

Krishna (2011) argues that sensory marketing can be used from a managerial perspective to subconsciously trigger consumers’ perception. The author also states that sensory marketing can be a more efficient way to engage consumers than using traditional marketing, by appealing to the basic senses. However, the author further emphasizes the importance of understanding the sensory triggers, as it is connected to consumer behaviour and their

perceptions. Kent and Stone (2007) discusses the problems of planning and managing a store design as a communication channel. The authors further argue the difficulties in aligning the brand and market with the retailer´s visual identity. Helmefalk (2017) argues that retailers whom do not understand sensory cues function in relation to a retail setting, may end up with an incongruent atmosphere which has a negative impact on both consumers’ emotions and purchase behaviour. As earlier mentioned, Krishna (2010) states that sensory stimuli have been researched in firsthand separately rather than on an interplay level as multisensory. We find this to be problematic on a managerial level, as managers need to engage their consumers in their shopping experience without risking exposing them to a sensory overload, which might be the case if they do not keep sensory interplay in mind.

In the year 1990, the shopping experience was developed beyond material and visual imagery, into hedonism and entertainment and the concept of retail as a theatre was formed (Kent &

Stone 2007). According to Kumar, Purani & Sahadev (2007), sensory marketing is strongly tied to hedonic shopping, meaning that the consumers are shopping for pleasure and to fulfill an emotional need such as self-realization. Kent and Stone (2007) argue how the fact that shopping has more to do with a sensory experience than it does with transactions, has a significant implication for retailers and their branding. The authors further discuss how boundaries are being pushed for experiential and emotional branding as a response to a trend that shows consumers have an increasing interest in well-being and personal fulfilment.

Roose and Muilier’s (2020) definition of experiencing a sensory overload, is that the feeling is overwhelming and therefore results in details of a product or experience being missed. We find this to be consequential to keep in mind for managers, as it can result in consumers missing parts of the designed store experience. We find that this in turn can result in the consumer remembering a bad store experience, as the sensory overload caused negative emotions since parts of the experience was missed. This is also argued by Krishna (2011) who states that a sensory overload can be so overpowering to experience for the consumer, that any niceties from the store experience might be missed. Thus, what managers need to take into consideration, is that if a store receives a bad review, it could be due to customers

experiencing a sensory overload, without either the customer or manager really understanding the connection (Homburg, Imschlob & Kühnl, 2012).

1.2.3 Summary

Our argument is that there is a lacking theoretical framework on the impact of multiple sensory inputs at the same time when interplay and expectations are not considered. This is also brought up by Helmefalk (2017) where the author argues that there seem to be a further

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need to understand sensorial interplay. While this seems to be true for the research available, there has been research on the various senses one by one (Krishna, 2011). Even if research has been conducted about sensory overload in different areas within the retail industry, there seem to be a gap of how the information is used (Kumar, Purani & Sahadev, 2017). We further argue that there is a gap in the literature regarding how retail companies are designing their retail settings by working with congruent cues to have a sensory interplay. To be able to define and give a clearer induction to what a sensory overload means, we have had to turn to articles regarding physical health and human behavioral studies, which strengthens our argument that there is a gap in literature regarding sensory overload in retail. It is also unclear if sensory overload is a known phenomenon amongst managers and if they are designing their atmospherics to avoid this negative impact. Therefore, this study is relevant since it can raise awareness in the retail branch regarding the importance of keeping sensorial interplay in mind and being aware that incongruent cues can cause a sensory overload. It can also provide further knowledge to the theoretical framework. Moreover, the thesis can be relevant to managers as a spur to increase their knowledge in the field and an insight to other stores’

marketing approaches.

1.3 Research Questions

• How do beauty stores in Sweden keep sensorial interplay in mind when designing their retail setting?

We want to study if beauty retail stores in Sweden think of a sensory interplay when

designing the store atmospheric. Meaning, are the stimuli cues designed to be congruent and to interplay, or just decided individually. For example, are the stimuli decided on a centralized level and have they measured all the stimuli to work preferable together.

• How do beauty retail stores in Sweden take sensory overload into consideration?

Since not planning the store’s stimuli cues to interplay could possibly result in a sensory overload in some cases, as one cue can interfere with another, we want to study how the stores are working with this. As discussed, not much information is available about sensory overload in marketing, so managers might not consider that some customer responses (affect) and actions (behaviour), are due to an overload, like a bad review. We will also investigate if people with hypersensitivity are included in the store’s marketing strategies, as they are more likely to have an overload to certain stimulus, however, all consumers can experience a sensory overload.

1.4 Research Purpose

Our aim for this research is to find out if beauty retail stores in Sweden take sensory interplay into consideration when designing their retail settings, while also working actively to avoid a sensory overload. We chose beauty retail stores, due to the assumption that these stores’ use

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of the senses has become crucial in a retail environment, since they work foremost with many colours and scents. By obtaining this information, we want to contribute to the academic literature that is existing today by illuminating the knowledge-gap.

We will achieve this through qualitative interviews with 12 employees of retail beauty stores in Sweden. We will also interview two academics who have researched sensory marketing.

1.5 Delimitations

Both the senses touch and taste are left out in our research, since we could not find the theoretical ground for these senses to have an impactful effect on the subject of sensory overload. Based on this, we made the assumption that they would not be relevant to include in our study. Even though smell is strongly connected to taste, since they use the same types of receptors, we chose to exclude this factor in our thesis. We are also aware that touch will always be an important factor for shopping in retail stores, but since it is voluntary for the consumers what they choose to touch, it is less of a problem to consider in connection to a sensory overload.

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1.6. Disposition

Below we list some of the main parts of this thesis, we will also summarize their content shortly.

.

Introduction

This chapter introduces the chosen field of study along with a theoretical- and managerial problem discussion. This is followed by the research questions, purpose

of this thesis and the delimitations. An outline of the thesis is also presented.

Literature review and conceptual framework

This chapter presents previous research on the chosen topic. The subchapters present an extensive overview to the keywords for this thesis, as well as the senses

included in this thesis.

Methodology

This chapter presents the methods chosen for the research conducted, along with the structure. It also discusses advantages as well as disadvantages for different

methods and a motivation for the choices made for this thesis.

Empirical Findings

This chapter presents our empirical findings to answer our research questions. The companies are introduced who took part in the interviews as well as the academics.

The stores’ responses to the qualitative interviews are presented in a classification according to the conceptual framework.

Analysis

In this chapter, an analysis of the empirical findings will be interpreted in connection with the theoretical framework and presented in a thematic approach.

Conclusions and recommendations

To conclude, the answers to our research questions are presented from the outcomes of the empirical findings, theoretical framework and analysis. Theoretical and managerial implications as well as method reflections will be discussed, followed

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2. Literature review

This chapter aims to provide a thorough walkthrough of the concepts within this thesis.

Further it provides in detail the relevant research conducted before our own and a detailed insight to the main concepts. Themes such as sensory- and multisensory marketing as a whole and the concerned senses will be presented. It gives an overview to how and in what

circumstances the senses have been researched. Lastly, the chapter provides a theoretical framework that will be used in empirical findings and the analysis.

2.1 Sensory marketing

The beginning of sensory marketing took place in 1955, when Abbott stated that it is not the products that consumers are desiring, but rather the consuming experience itself (Abbot, 1955). The author argues that the reason consumers are seeking for different products, is the satisfying experience that emerges during the search (Abbot, 1955). However, the author does not define this as sensory marketing, but it is from this perspective sensory marketing

emerges, as Abbot argues that in order to fulfill this experience need, it cannot be done without filtering through a consumer’s senses. The concept of sensory marketing is defined, as earlier mentioned, as a way to involve the consumers’ senses in marketing and affect their judgment, perception and behavior (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2011; Krishna & Schwarz, 2014).

According to Nadanyiova et al. (2018) and Spence (2020), sensory marketing is described as a new marketing strategy. The authors also state that sensory marketing is a way to affect the consumers’ buying behavior by influencing the five senses: sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste. Also, Hultén (2015) describes that through the five senses, consumers are seeking and filtering their satisfaction of needs. Discussions have also been had that managers need to shift their focus from products to customer experiences, as the competition has increased in retail (Spence et al., 2014). In later decades, sensory marketing has remarkably grown within the retail environment since the interest about the five senses has rapidly grown (Schmitt, 1999). Furthermore, due to the shift from a traditional marketing approach to where marketers start to notice the importance and efficiency with sensory marketing, managers and retailers need to understand how to use the concept of sensory marketing to affect the consumers (Kotler, Kelly, Brady, Goodman & Hansen, 2016).

The intent of using sensory marketing, is to affect and understand the way marketing can utilize human senses. However, managers need to understand how and why the different senses are driving the customer experience (Hultén, 2011). Using sensory cues is vital when consumers are shaping their perception and is therefore appropriate to use when creating and affecting the consumption process (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2011). Yu (2011) discusses how academics and practitioners have been overlooking the importance of sensory marketing for a long time, while Nadanyiova, Kliestikova and Kolencik (2018), discuss the importance of applying new marketing strategies such as sensory marketing for sustaining and improving the brand’s position in the market, Stăncioiu, Dițoiu, Teodorescu, Onisor and Pârgaru (2014), state that sensory marketing should be regarded as a complementary marketing strategy rather than an alternative one. It has also been reviewed as a powerful advertising tool for

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maximizing stimulation and effect (Krishna, Cian & Sokolova 2016). When a specific sense is appealing to a customer’s emotions, it is defined as a sensorial strategy (Hultén, 2011).

Sensory marketing can be used in different ways in different areas according to Dițoiu &

Căruntu (2014). Differentiating products based on their characteristics is becoming harder due to our rapid current technological evolution. The authors also mention that technological evolution is the reason marketing now operates to entertain customers by using more experience-like products. For marketers to succeed in giving customers a memorable experience, sensory marketing provides the possibility to impress and affect each one of the customer’s senses (Dițoiu & Căruntu, 2014). Using and creating different sensory signatures for positioning and placing them in the consumers’ minds can give the customers immediate recognition, just like Paris is immediately recognized for the Eiffel Tower.

Studies have been made of how sensory cues and nostalgia are closely connected. Nostalgia can be described as, valued memories returning when you are exposed to, for example, a certain scent, song or occasion (Sedikides, Wildschut, Arndt, & Routledge, 2006). Especially emotional memories get evoked when providing different cues, and studies suggest that scent and music both have a special link in human memories, which evoke nostalgia (Barrett et al.

2010; Chu & Downes, 2000; Turner, Wildschut, Sedikides, & Gheorghiu, 2013). Scent-cues are very subjective, but also detailed, emotional and vivid (Chu & Downes, 2002).

2.1.1 Vision

Regarding sensory cues, various studies have shown sight to be the dominant one (Hulten 2011; Fenko, Schiffersteins & Hekkert, 2010; Cian, Krishna & Elder, 2014; Krishna, Cian &

Sokolova, 2016). This entails that the visual sense from a sensory marketing perspective becomes the most important one, since visual stimuli have a strong influence on consumers.

Visual stimuli can include different colours, lighting, design on products, among other things that affects the experience for the consumers (Krishna, 2011; Krishna & Schwarz, 2014). For cosmetic retail settings, it is important to attract customers using pleasant and attracting colours, sizes and shapes, which falls in coherence with studies that have been made about the different elements that impact a consumer's purchase decision (Kuvykaite, Dovaliene &

Navickiene, 2009). Kumar, Purani and Sahadev (2017) also discuss the visual sense as the dominant one and especially in retail settings. They also discuss how the presumption about sensory experiences usually are based on the visual. In fact, when designing products, studies shows that vision is the sense that dominates the other ones, even called sensory dominance (Fenko, Schiffersteins & Hekkert, 2010). Fenko, Schiffersteins and Hekkert (2010) conducted studies to examine if the sensory dominance shifts between different stages of the end-user over time, which they found that it does. The authors also reached the conclusion that information about various senses and sensory dominance is important to consider when developing product design. There has been a shift in trend to develop more interactive and engaging products and services in the sensorial aspects (Krishna & Schwarz, 2014). The authors argue that, the fact that customers unconsciously make decisions affected by sensory cues has had a large impact on that development. Consumers tend to shop with their eyes and

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pay less attention to package labelling, making the visual cues a key component in product packaging (Krishna, Cian & Aydınoglu, 2017). Studies have been made, aiming to investigate products focusing on their visual characteristics and on their containers (Gatti, Bordegoni &

Spence, 2013).A customer’s preferences on a product is influenced by the packaging and its colours on a significant level and also affect the customer’s behaviour and perceptions (Piqueras-Fiszman & Spence, 2012)

2.1.2 Sound

Auditory sensory cues can be used in many different ways, in fact, some companies use certain music or audio cues in their stores to enhance the consumer’s experience (Hultén, 2011). One such example, is playing music that, not only fits the brand and its identity, but also the target group of the business. In-store music is also powerful since it can connect with the consumers, whereas company jingles can be used in commercials to give the brand a distinct and memorable sound signature (Spence et al., 2014). Milliman (1982) provided empirical evidence on the effects of tempo of the background music in a shopping

environment. Low tempo music was concluded to increase sales by as much as 38.2% due to consumers spending more time in the store. Milliman further argues that this can be explained with fast music making consumers move faster through the store. Hunter, Schellenberg and Schimmack (2010) conducted a study to measure the effect of music on consumers. The authors compared different tempos and modes of the music and how people experienced it, regarding if it affected their emotions negatively or positively. Hunter, Schellenberg and Schimmack (2010) presented that, a fast tempo and major-key stimuli resulted in happy feelings, in contrast to a slow tempo and minor-key stimuli which resulted in sad feelings.

Hsu and Chen (2019) also concluded in their study on choice of wine in relation to the music in the environment, that there was a correlation in choice of wine when listening to music typical for the origin of the wine. For example, French wines were preferred when French music was played in the background.

2.1.3 Scent

The ways people interpret scents are commonly split into three different categories

(Spangenberg, Crowley & Henderson, 1996). According to the authors, these are “affective quality”, “arousing nature” and “intensity”. The affective quality of scent is what our general impression is, if it is pleasant or unpleasant for example. Our bodies´ and minds´ tendency to react to a scent is measured as its arousing nature, for example a perfume’s likeliness to end up in a shopping bag and not be left on a shelf and the intensity is simply how strong a scent is. According to Krishna, Lwin & Morrin (2010), scent can also be tied to specific products rather than the retail atmosphere as a whole and the authors showed that scented products make it easier for consumers to remember specific details and information related to the product. As a sensory cue according to the authors, it can have an impact on the emotional perception of the consumer. Not only can scent be part of a company’s identity, but it can also contribute to brand recollection and an overall positive effect on the consumer (Krishna, Lwin

& Morrin, 2010). Morrison et al. (2011) concluded that when adding a stimulus of a vanilla

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fragrance as one of two sensory cues, it had multiple positive effects including more money spent in the store and an overall higher level of satisfaction among the consumers.

Spangenberg, Crowley and Henderson (1996) researched the differences of purchase

behaviour in a retail environment with a reasonably scented store versus an unscented store.

The authors concluded that even the presence of a neutral scent had a positive outcome on the buying behaviour of the customers when compared to no scent at all. The tests also showed that the particular scent did not seem to matter to the buying behaviour of the consumers but merely the presence of it. The authors could also conclude after interviews with their test subjects that those subjected to a scented environment, believed they had spent less time in the store in opposition to those exposed to an unscented environment. Adding scents in fashion stores were further studied by Spangenberg, Sprott, Grohmann and Tracy (2006). The authors applied different scents depending on feminine or masculine departments, to create congruent scents with the specific clothing. The results of the study were that consumers that interacted with these stores generated more revenue. This is also supported in a similar study by Morrin and Chebat (2005).

2.1.4 Hedonic & utilitarian shopping behaviour

Research shows distinctions in regard to whether the consumers are shopping for hedonic or utilitarian purposes on how they perceive sensory marketing (Kumar, Purani & Sahadev, 2017). The authors argue that it can affect their preferences and affective response. Hedonic shopping means that the consumers are shopping for pleasure and entertainment, while utilitarian shopping fulfils a functional need (Ballantine, Jack & Parsons, 2010; Kumar, Purani & Sahadev, 2017). The utilitarian shopper seeks a rational approach in contrast to the hedonic shopper who seeks excitement and wants arousal (Ballantine, Jack & Parsons, 2010).

Traditionally, managers have marketed their products as utilitarian and focused on the

visionary aspects of the product to generate sales (Hulten, Broweus & van Dijk, 2009). On the subject of hedonic shopping, a study was conducted regarding toothpaste (Lee & O’Mahony, 2005). The study showed a high correlation between hedonic shopping and refreshingness as the most appealing attribute. It also showed a connection in the mind between refreshingness and the colour blue, meaning consumers buying toothpaste in a hedonic situation will

probably buy a blue toothpaste. Sensory marketing focuses on evoking emotions and creating a hedonic experience (Stewart & Koh, 2017). Stewart and Koh (2017) argue this strategy can influence a buying decision while also minimizing the effort that is needed to process a message, which makes it beneficial to traditional marketing.

Ballantine, Jack and Parsons (2010) provided a study to be able to give shop-designers a categorization of different atmospheric cues, separating the guidelines for designing a hedonic versus a utilitarian shopping environment. The authors argue that if a store provides a

utilitarian shopping environment, they need to realize the implication that they might be deterring hedonic shoppers. The authors claim that even if a utilitarian consumer could feel pleasure in a hedonic environment, negative emotions and reactions could be evoked from hedonic consumers in a utilitarian shopping environment. The study also suggests that when

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designing a retail store, a holistic approach is more relevant as it allows the opportunity for the consumer to assess interactions and atmospheric cues parallel to each other (Ballantine, Jack & Parsons, 2010). Erenkol & Merve (2015) argue that the reasons brands are used could be said are strictly sensory. The authors claim that while consumers choose a brand, they base that choice on hedonistic and emotional sensory relations to the brand and their history with it, unlike what they might do with a strictly functional need. In the same study, it is mentioned an increasing use of sensory marketing in the consumer market, but that it is crucial to control the compatibility between sensory cues and product offer (Erenkol & Merve, 2015)

Furthermore, since consumers in beauty and cosmetics retail settings can both have hedonic and utilitarian needs, marketers should aim to meet both need of the consumers on a

functional and emotional level (Prinz, 2013).

2.2 Store atmospherics

Sensory marketing was further examined within the field of retail environment, Kotler (1973) wrote an article about “atmospherics as a marketing tool”, where the author argues that the atmosphere has a great deal to do with marketing. It is important to know the difference between sensory marketing and retail atmospherics (Kotler, 1973). The main difference being that sensory marketing includes different sensory cues and stimuli. Retail atmospherics are more complex than sensory cues and includes the different aspects of quality in the

surroundings and the social environment. The senses that are most discussed in the field of atmospherics are sight, sound, scent and touch. The reason that taste is not included is because that sense is not typically linked with atmospherics, Kotler (1973, p.51) summarized it as:

“An atmosphere is seen, heard, smelled and felt, but not tasted”.

The relation between retail environment stimuli and positive emotional responses were researched by Chang, Eckman and Yan (2011). The authors researched the influence of a clean store, if the store provided a relaxing environment, was a pleasant place to be, had an impressive interior design and the brightness of the colours in the store. The authors also researched if there was a connection between the ease to receive help and attention from store personnel that in turn would increase sales generation. The authors concluded that there was a strong relation between hedonic motivations and the effects of sensory inputs. While social inputs such as the attention from store personnel had no provable effect, the authors admit that this might be because of methodical issues rather than test results and might need further investigation. The effects of the store environment and design was clearly affecting

consumers in their ability to trigger positive emotions such as excitement and inspiration and these feelings in turn resulted in higher frequencies of impulse buying behaviours. Their study also supported their previous research that there was a tie between hedonic motivations and the tendency to absorb sensory cues in the retail environment.

Spence et al. (2014) state that, regarding store atmospherics, they cannot be understood on a sense-by-sense basis since our perceptions are multisensory by nature. Even products are at a higher rate being designed today to affect multiple senses, and therefore appeal to both the rational and emotional levels of the consumers (Spinney, 2013). Spence et al. (2014) state that

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store atmospherics have a significant influence on consumers shopping behaviour and that a rising number of studies show the modern consumers need more sensory marketing to fulfil their needs for an arousing and memorable experience. The authors state that, different stimuli for the five senses remarkably affects shoppers’ behaviours and perceptions, and when the cues are combined, they likely have a greater influence on the consumers. Spence et al. (2014) also mention that most of the research that is concluded for store atmospherics concentrates on only one aspect that changes the environment, such as only changing the lightning in a room or adding a special scent.

2.3 Multisensory marketing

A lot of research has been done regarding multisensory marketing. Krishna, Lwin & Morrin (2010) have studied the impact that smell have on touch. Cian, Krishna and Elder (2014) showed that when advertising food, the results will be more favourable in the perception of taste when multisensory marketing is used, rather than just focusing on the taste stimulus.

Multisensory marketing means stimulating more than one sense at the same time and this would have a stronger impact on the consumer (Krishna, 2013). In a study made by Morrison et al. (2011) the main goal was to investigate how shoppers behave in a retail setting affected by music and aroma. The study showed that when adding music and aroma, consumers’

pleasure levels were increased and had a positive influence on the shoppers’ behaviour. The authors found this to result in more time and money spent in the store, and it also increased customer satisfaction derived from the shopping experience. Therefore, using the right setting and having a proper mix of atmospheric factors, increase the positive effects and shows the importance of sensory marketing (Morrison et al., 2011). Ballantine, Jack and Parsons, (2010) explain the multisensory brand experience as how a firm understands their customers’

reactions when they interact, by involving the five senses that supports the individual’s purchase and consumption process. Morrison et al. (2011) and Ballantine, Jack and Parsons (2010) agree that using different stimuli in a retail setting affects the outcome positively.

However, Ballantine, Jack and Parsons (2010) suggest that even if attractive stimuli and the interactions between them are important, customers need to be enabled to interact with them in a pleasant way for it to generate value to the brand experience. Helmefalk and Hultén (2017) found that retail stores with a visually dominant store atmosphere, should instead design it multisensory since it provides a more appealing experience for the consumer.

Hultén (2011) discusses from a firm’s point of view that they can use different sensorial strategies to differentiate and position themselves with a multisensory brand experience. This can be induced with stimuli and sensory expression connected to the five human senses to generate more value from the experience. This strategy aims to express a product in relation to the five senses. However, Hultén (2011) also suggest that a sensory manual should be developed for this to provide guidance on how to build a successful multisensory brand experience for customers using sensorial strategies.

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2.3.1 Sensory congruency and interplay

Helmefalk (2017) states that congruency is a crucial component in sensory marketing. The author defines congruency as the colour dark-grey being congruent with the colour black and light-grey being congruent with the colour white. Moreover, an example is given of a flower shop that used congruent sensory cues by playing romantic music and thereby experienced higher sales than when the shop played pop music. From presented examples, the author further draws the conclusion that congruent sensory cues can influence consumers emotions and purchase behaviours. Helmefalk and Hultén (2017) discuss congruency as an outcome of how cues correspond in a given context with one another. Krishna (2010) discusses how consumers spend more time on processing the products’ information, when a congruent scent is used in the retail setting unlike when the scent is incongruent. The author further discusses how scent congruent with background music, tend to have more positive evaluations.

According to the author, it has also been proven in studies that, if the consumer’s expectations are not met regarding congruence, for example the colour yellow should taste like lemons, liking ratings become much lower. Helmefalk (2017) states that congruent scents and sounds, positively influence consumers´ time spent in a retail store. This in turn leads to a higher probability of a purchase. Thus, the author discuss how this is an indication that retailers can affect consumers’ purchase behaviour by designing the retail store atmospheric with

congruent multisensory cues.

The concept of multisensory interplay is defined by Helmefalk (2017, p.36) as “the

interaction between two or more of the human senses in perceiving sensory cues”. The author states how researchers as well as practitioners should take the interplay of multisensory cues into consideration when designing a retail context. It is further discussed how managers could decide on how they present their multisensory cues as an interplay to the consumers, since it is challenging to know exactly what shopping-experience a consumer wants. Moreover, Helmefalk (2017) reached the conclusion from the study that multisensory cues in interplay have positive impacts on both consumers’ purchase behaviours as well as their emotions.

Krishna (2010) has reached the conclusion that a multisensory interplay can affect consumers perceptions, attitudes and preferences. The author also emphasizes the importance of

understanding multisensory interactions, since one cue can interfere with another. From single congruent sensory cues, auditory and scent proved superior in affecting consumers.

Furthermore, Helmefalk (2017) found that multisensory cues in interplay, had substantially greater outcomes on consumers’ purchase behaviours and emotions than any of the single congruent cues.

2.3.2 Optimal level of stimulation

Zentall and Zentall (1983) state that when normal individuals are exposed to sensory inputs that are unusually low or high, the result is that they tend to show disordered behaviour similar to those how have a chronic disorder, as for example autism. Wohlwill (1973) argues that excessive deviations from an optimal stimulation level, can cause environmental stress.

Steenkamp and Baumgartner (1992) states that regarding an optimal level of stimulation, distinctions should be done between a consumer's actual level of stimulation and the

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consumer’s optimal level. The actual level of stimulation refers to the current level, while optimal stimulation refers to the level where stimuli are affecting consumers on a perfect level. This distinction has resulted in researchers of this field mostly focusing on investigating the relationship between optimal levels of stimulation and experimental consumer behaviour (Steenkamp & Baumgartner, 1992). Different levels of stimulation are demonstrated below in Figure 1 Stimulation-response curve (2.3.2). As earlier mentioned, Raju (1980) conducted research regarding an optimal stimulation level and summarized it as an optimal stimulus is when the marketing has the exact right amount of stimulation-level. The findings in the results showed that individuals with different levels of optimal stimulation have different behaviours but are cognitively alike (Raju, 1980).

Figure 1 Stimulation-Response Curve (2.3.2)

2.4 Sensory overload

In the context of sensory overload in a retail environment, Homburg, Imschloss and Kuhnl (2012) performed a study where they asked 800 participants to imagine being in a store, while during this time the authors adjusted the description of diverse sensory features. The outcome showed negative effects when three congruent atmospheric stimuli were combined, which the authors argued to be dependent on a too high level of stimulation. However, when only two congruent stimuli were combined, the results where instead positive. Although, Raju (1980) showed in his study on optimal stimulation levels, that factors such as age and education, affect how consumers perceive different stimuli. Spence et al. (2014) have also reached the conclusion that adding several sensory cues in a store atmospheric increases the risk of a sensory overload. Malhotra (1984) discusses how the development of more noise and more information from television, mail, advertisement and so on, serves as assaults on the senses.

The brain must in some way process all these stimuli, however, at some point the brain’s system becomes unable to handle all these stimuli, which results in an overload. The author discusses how this can result in various dysfunctions such as, confusion, panic, frustration and withdrawal. It is further discussed how even a meaningless stimulus such as flickering lights can evoke associative thoughts. Malhotra (1984) has also reached the conclusion that

Optimal level of stimulation

Low level of stimulation

Excessive level of stimulation

Stimulation overload

Stimulation failure

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information overload and sensory overload are equally likely for a consumer to reach with too many factors to consider at once and combined the two with the word information overload for the purpose of the study. The study was carried out by providing consumers with a number of products to choose from, as well as products with different number of attributes to

consider. When the product attributes were 15 or more, the consumers experienced an information overload. Moreover, even though consumers can develop mechanisms to limit their information intake, they can still be cognitively overloaded. The author further states that the findings regarding information- and sensory overload have considerable implications both for managerial and consumer behaviour.

Roose and Mulier (2020) has researched sensory marketing in the context of sensory advertising of healthy food. The authors concluded that sensory overload can occur when combining verbal and visual sensory cues in an advertisement. The argument made is that the combination does provide a stronger effect on the recipient, but it also gives rise to negative sensory thoughts that are a result from a sensory overload. Furthermore, the authors find that, should a sensory overload occur, it negatively influences the advertising effectiveness.

A study was conducted on the willingness to pay, the attitude towards and the likeliness to buy a product in retail environments of different arousal levels (Homburg, Imschlob & Kühnl, 2012). It showed that sensory interplay was a returning factor that affected the test results when working with no more than two senses. The test consisted of participants watching two pictures, one of a washing machine and one of a mobile phone. The authors measured

different factors that the participant was asked to rate from 1-10. At the same time, the sensory cues were increased in terms of music and scents, adding stronger stimuli progressively. The results were lower ratings of the participants perceived value of the product on display, as the sensory cues were intensified. What this entails is that if for an example music and scent does not belong together, our minds tend to treat it as a dissonance and overload would incur at a faster rate. There were also implications for reluctance to buy and sensory overload when more than two dominant cues were present. To counteract this, the third cue should be of a lower arousal-level to compliment the dominant two to avoid a

sensory overload. Sensory overload according to the study might be a cause for bad product- reviews and experiences (Homburg, Imschlob & Kühnl, 2012).

2.4.1 Human behavioural studies

Sensory overload has mostly been researched in the specific context of psychological health, Harricharana et al. (2017) has studied how sensory overload and imbalance is connected to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). PTSD involves symptoms of hyperarousal and emotional detachment, leading to depersonalization and derealization. The sensory impressions of the surroundings cause a disruption in the brain that overloads our

multisensory processors. A connection has also been found between sensory overload and autism (Manning, Tibber & Charman, 2015). The results of the study showed that children with autism perceived moving objects more intensely than those without. This is given as a possible reason to why people with autism more commonly experience a sensory overload.

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Manning, Tibber and Charman (2015) go on stating that, by understanding the sensory world of people with autism, it will be easier to involve them in society.

Physiological and psychological signs of sensory overload and its thresholds were researched by Lanzon (2016) as a part of a greater project. It was concluded that unappealing music was the factor that caused the most participants to consider executing the experiment. Moreover, the introduction of scent was the most common factor to trigger a physical response indicating an overload, but not enough to make the participants admit or notice the effect. The major noticed effects of the experiment were mainly agitation, anxiousness, headaches, restlessness and irritation. Minor symptoms were tiredness and indecisiveness, increased heart rate and tensions in the body (Lanzon, 2016). These symptoms tend to put people experiencing them in a retreating state where they will cover themselves from any sensory inputs, shutting their eyes and covering ears in extreme cases (Watson, 2018). The author states that, at a mental level it can cause anxiety and extreme irritation and as earlier mentioned have consequences such as leaving customers.

In a study by Timmons (2009) on the human factors influencing effective communication and reception under pressure, sensory overload is theorized to be a major contributor. The case looks closely at how even clear messages delivered by top of the line equipment are missed due to the sensory overload in a crisis situation. The author further theorizes, referring to another study where attention spans are researched in the concept of inattentional deafness.

As many as half of the subjects in the study missed the introduction of an obvious disruption in a cluster of sensory cues. Timmons (2009) argues that inattentional sensory filtering could therefore be an underlying factor to missing a sensory cue or message. The phenomenon implies that our senses seek predictability even in a situation where we are expected to pick up on sensory cues. The study supports that any form of sensory overload impairs our decision making negatively and prevent our ability to understand and comprehend the

information we receive from our surroundings. Inattentional deafness is what is more closely researched in the study, what the author concluded was that during a sensory overload the effect of this is that our brain sorts out unexpected noise or commotion. This entails the fact that verbal messages that would in most cases be considered clear and obvious would go completely unnoticed by the intended receptor (Timmons, 2009). According to Erenkol and Merve (2015), the ability for consumers to understand and analyze our surroundings through our senses is summarized as our perception. It is further argued that consumers want to touch or feel products to reduce their sense of risk at the early stages of a purchase decision process.

Their research further shows that our perceptions and what consumers pay attention to is shaped earlier in life and this in turn affect what stimulus makes us notice one thing while missing another (Erenkol & Merve, 2015)

Inattentional blindness is the phenomenon where our brain sort away obvious visual sensory cues in favour of it preferring predictability and focus (Mack & Rock, 1998). One of the most famous experiments conducted on the subject is by Chabris & Simons (1999). The experiment

“The invisible gorilla” proved that even when introducing a drastic change in a small environment, in this case in the form of a gorilla entering a room with people wearing black

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and white t-shirts passing a basketball back and forth, the participants tend to sort that out of their visionary perception in favour of maintaining a comprehensive picture. The instruction for the experiment was to count the amount of times a white t-shirt subject passed the ball to another white t-shirt subject. Simons researched it further with Bredemeier (2012). The results from both studies conducted, showed that approximately 30% of the subjects missed the unexpected change when tasked with another focus point (Chabris & Simons, 1999; Simons

& Bredemeier, 2012).

Similar experiments were conducted by Levy (2011). The experiment was designed to test our ability to process several visionary interactions at the same time. The test was to count a moving hand on a screen holding three playing cards, the cards were flipped and changed constantly in front of nine antiquities on a shelf. The participants task was to count the amount queen of hearts showed on the cards and asked at the end of the test if they could tell when the antiques on the shelves disappeared during the test. The author concluded that approximately two thirds of people could not tell when and some even if anything was gone from the picture (Levy 2011).

2.5 ABC model of attitudes

The ABC model of attitudes is used to analyze and predict human behaviour based on the assumption that rationality will control our actions (Mcleod, 2018). While the author argues that it is not as simple as that, he does claim it to be a sound assumption. The ABC model consists of three parts:

• Affect: Our emotions about a subject.

• Behavior: How we act in accordance with our affect-component.

• Cognition: What underlying thought is creating the first two components.

As earlier mentioned, humans are not always rational, however Mcleod (2018) argues there are additional variables that could be applied, and these are:

• Attitude strength: The strength of our attitudes toward something is a strong indicator if we are changing our behavior in accordance with our belief.

• Knowledge: Having a strong attitude towards something commonly affects our interest of the subject. The knowledge gained from the interest in turn is also a strong indicator for behavior, be it positive or negative.

The purpose of our attitude: as attitudes are created in different ways and are purely subjective there are several implications as to what function lies behind our attitude (Mcleod, 2018). The author argues four functions and these being, knowledge, self, adaptive and ego defensive.

Knowledge representing a search for consistency and rationality, self and ego-defensive is how we identify and represent ourselves followed by how we defend ourselves and our actions based on our beliefs. Adaptive being how we change our attitudes to fit in with a society or group (Mcleod, 2018).