The sensory perception item set (SPI): An exploratory effort to develop a holistic scale for sensory marketing
Published online on July 11, 2018
Abstract
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Abstract
Sensory marketing is increasingly gaining importance as a promising approach to effectively appeal to consumers. To predict and monitor the success of sensory marketing activities, it is necessary to assess consumers’ perception of sensory cues. For this purpose, the authors present an exploratory effort to develop a holistic scale to measure consumers’ sensory perception along the five dimensions of visual, acoustic, haptic, olfactory, and gustatory perception—the sensory perception item set (SPI). The SPI consists of 20 adjectives (four per sense) and is the first measurement tool that includes, and thus enables a consistent measurement with regard to, all five senses. In addition, the SPI is simple to employ and is applicable to diverse products and industries. Based on three studies, the authors provide evidence of the reliability and validity of the SPI. Further, the results show that the SPI is significantly correlated with three essential marketing‐related outcome variables (attitude, word‐of‐mouth recommendation, and buying intention). Consequently, this paper presents an approach that marketing managers may employ to better understand the consumer and, hence, to receive valuable information for product design or brand communication.
- Psychology & Marketing, Volume 35, Issue 10, Page 727-739, October 2018.