Making sense of sensory brand experience: Constructing an integrative framework for future research

Abstract

This study asserts that conceptualizing sensory brand experience (SBE) as an independent construct is critical to expanding our understanding of experiences provided by brands. To achieve this goal, a rigorous examination of its foundational knowledge structure underpinning the construct is urgently required.Using co-citation analysis examining 151 SBE-related articles with 4038 citations over more than two decades , six knowledge fields deemed to have constitutive influence on SBE literature have been identified: atmospherics, product evaluation, sensory marketing, service marketing, experiential marketing and brand experience. Combining the results of a hierarchical cluster analysis and a metric multidimensional scaling analysis, the authors located three fundamental premises: (1) brand settings are arbiters of brand meaning; (2) the intrinsic processing of SBE involves the entrainment of exteroceptive and interoceptive processes; and (3) SBE outcomes are non-representational. At the end of the paper, these findings are organized into an integrative framework, highlighting research concerns and research gaps at the antecedent, processing and outcome stages. In doing so, this paper contributes to the conceptual development of SBE by constructing a doctrinal schema for future research undertakings.

The One Thing You Need to Change Is Emotions: The Effect of Multi-Sensory Marketing on Consumer Behavior

“…Marketers and managers are increasingly focusing on sensorial cues to determine consumer's definitions of emotion and experience [1][2][3]. Sensorial cues, such as music, color, and scent, can influence consumers' behavior [4,5].…”

“…Sensorial cues, such as music, color, and scent, can influence consumers' behavior [4,5]. As a result, managers should use these sensory and experimental cues to affect customers' cognitive experiences [2,6,7]. For example, although Reese sells both chocolate and peanut butter cups, the company promoted them as 'two great tastes that taste great together' to create an exclusive customer experience [8,9].…”

“…This is especially important because recently, psychology and neuroscience laboratories have found that our different senses influence our perception [20]. Moreover, although sensory marketing has seen a surge of interest in marketing and consumer psychology [1,2], less attention has been paid to the effect of multi-sensory cues on consumer behavior and experience. Delivering product sensory aspects like sound, vision, smell, and taste to consumers individually or integratively shapes the holistic consumer experience [2,13,21].…”

“…Moreover, although sensory marketing has seen a surge of interest in marketing and consumer psychology [1,2], less attention has been paid to the effect of multi-sensory cues on consumer behavior and experience. Delivering product sensory aspects like sound, vision, smell, and taste to consumers individually or integratively shapes the holistic consumer experience [2,13,21]. Thus, examining how the interaction between sensory cues (vision and olfaction) influences consumer emotions (arousal and pleasure) and finally affects their affective experience and willingness to purchase has both academic and real-world implications.…”

“…While we are aware of only a few studies on how multi-sensory interactions influence consumer emotions and experience, there is extensive research on sensory marketing in generic terms or related to other variables (e.g., [11,17,19]). Prior studies [2,6,11,22] in sensory marketing have often studied the influence of the five senses individually on consumers' judgment and behavior. In contrast, limited research has examined the interaction between the different senses and their holistic effect on consumer emotions and experience, except for studies by Lowe and Haws [16] and Spence [23], who reported different results relating to multi-sensory marketing.…”