The chapter starts with an introduction to the notion of “sensory marketing” and the five human senses as an emergent marketing paradigm in theory and practice. In mainstream marketing, the shift from goods and services to sensory experiences emphasizes new concepts and practices in understanding sensory marketing. The ubiquitous role of music in our daily lives and in advertising is then briefly summarized, focusing on the emotional responses that music evokes. This chapter describes the influence of music in service environments and answers the question: How do consumers perceive and respond to music in different types of encounters in settings such as stores, restaurants, and banks? The author argues that concepts such as congruency and symbolism are central for understanding how music and sound shape consumers’ experience of service environments and perceptions of brand identities and products. Finally, suggestions for future research in “sound” sensory marketing are presented.

In the global consumption culture, the human senses are often proposed as useful concepts for rethinking branding in theory and practice. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of a sensory branding framework grounden on sensory stimuli, sensory perceptions and sensory symbolism. Moreover, the role of societal culture in developing global branding strategies is considered. Research findings and conclusions on how brand managers can apply the framework are presented.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how the introduction of auditory sensory cues through music genres affect shopper’s emotions and purchase behaviour in a retail grocery setting. In the field of retailing and sensory marketing research, there is a paucity of knowledge on how auditory sensory cues impact on shoppers’ behaviour. The empirical study was a field experiment and entailed direct observation of shoppers of the Swedish grocery retailer ICA. The observations were based on a convenience sample of shoppers assigned to a control group (n = 75) and three experimental group (n = 75) in total 300 observations. Auditory sensory cues like music genres impact shopper’s emotions and purchase behaviour in a significant way at POP in buying coffee brands. The study provides guidelines for grocery retailers who wish to offer shopper’s a more pleasant shopping experience by emphasizing the role of in-store music especially music genres.

This paper explores the effects of multi-sensory congruent cues om shoppers’ emotions and purchase behavior in designing retail store atmosphere. Prior research suggests atmospheric stimuli to contribute to establish an appealing atmosphere and studies have confirmed that shoppers react to different stimuli. However, extant studies have not examined how multi-sensory congruent cues added to a visually dominant store atmosphere might impact shopper emotions and purchase behavior. The findings demonstrate a positive effect of multi-sensory congruent cues on shoppers’ emotions, through valence, and purchase behavior, through time spent and purchase. It is evident that shoppers perceive multi-sensory cues, such as auditory and olfactory ones, to be more effective in a dominant visual store atmosphere compared to only adding new visual stimuli. For retailers, a visually dominant store atmosphere should be designed more in the direction of a multi-sensory atmosphere in offering shoppers more appealing experiences of the retail setting.

What impact do olfactory congruent cues exert on consumer approach behavior at point-of- purchase in a retail setting? This research depicts actual consumer behavior in relation to the introduction of olfactory congruent cues, as store atmospherics, in a fashion store. In the retailing and sensory marketing research, there is a gap with respect to how olfactory congruent cues, as retail atmospherics, impact on actual consumer behavior in terms of time spent, touching products and walking towards a particular in-store area. In the reported study, the authors find a difference between consumer approach behavior in a conventional store environment and that in a manipulated store environment. 

Sensory Marketing offers a global view of the use of senses in marketing strategy based on consumers' perception and behaviour. Integrating the company constraints and classical approaches of branding and communication, the author presents sensory marketing as an emergent marketing paradigm in theory and practice. This book will be an important contribution that will provide useful reading for marketing scholars and consumer psychologists across the world.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to examine how the introduction of auditory sensory cues, through a human voice, affect children’s and parent’s shopping behaviour in a retail grocery setting. In the field of retailing and sensory marketing research, there is a paucity of knowledge on how auditory sensory cues impact on consumers’ shopping behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach– The empirical study was a field experiment and entailed direct observation of shoppers of the Swedish grocery retailer ICA. The observations were based on a convenience sample of shopping families assigned to a control group (n=200) and an experimental group (n=131). A new innovative Swedish audio story track system was to be tested in a hypermarket containing 13 different stories for children.

Findings– Auditory sensory cues affect children’s and parent’s shopping behaviour in a significant way. Children are quieter, more relaxed and do not move around and reduce the parental stress behaviour during the shopping process.

Research limitations/implications– The findings demonstrate that auditory sensory cues through human voice have a positive effect on children’s and parent’s shopping behaviour. It is also obvious that parent’s perceived stress is significantly influenced by the children.

Practical implications– The study provides guidelines for grocery retailers who wish to offer children and their parents a more pleasant shopping trip by emphasizing the role of the children.

Originality/value– The research demonstrates that the introduction of auditory sensory cues through human voice in a significant way affect the children’s and their parent’s shopping behaviour in a retail setting.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships between brand sensuality, in terms of sensory cues and sensations, and its effect on consumers brand experiences of cars.

Methodology – A quantitative study based on a survey with convenience sampling was used to collect the data. A structural equation modeling technique was used to test the proposed model.

Findings – The study supports the hypotheses that brand sensuality has a positive effect on brand experiences. Moreover, the empirical findings on car brands demonstrate that sensory cues, as a dimension of brand sensuality, yield the highest coefficients, thus accounting for the significance of sensory cues in expressing brand sensuality to consumers. On the other hand, the standardized coefficients from sensations to brand experiences were slightly lower thus indicating a weaker direct relationship though significant, between sensations and brand experiences.

Theoretical implications - Firstly, the presented research conceptualizes and proposes a research model in explaining the significant role of sensory cues and sensations as constructs of brand sensuality in relation to brand experiences. Secondly, it has also been given evidence that the concept of brand sensuality, through sensory cues and sensations, has a significant effect on brand experiences.

Practical implications – The study shows that brand managers are advised to develop sensorial strategies based on sight, sound, taste, smell and touch, in order to express brand sensuality in facilitating consumer brand experiences.

Originality/value – The proposed model makes a theoretical contribution by investigating brand sensuality in relation to brand experiences for car users.