Sensory Marketing: Research on the Sensuality of Products

What is sensory marketing and why is it interesting and also important? Krishna defines it as marketing that engages the consumers’ senses and affects their behaviors. In this edited book, the authors discuss how sensory aspects of products, i.e., the touch, taste, smell, sound, and look of the products, affect our emotions, memories, perceptions, preferences, choices, and consumption of these products. We see how creating new sensations or merely emphasizing or bringing attention to existing sensations can increase a product’s or service’s appeal. The book provides an overview of sensory marketing research that has taken place thus far. It should facilitate sensory marketing by practitioners and also can be used for research or in academic classrooms.

Dr. Aradhna Krishna is the Dwight F. Benton Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, and is one of the pioneers of the field of sensory marketing. She has conducted research on how consumer perceptions and responses change as a function of the type of pricing, promotion, packaging and branding efforts undertaken by managers. Her research has examined many forms of sensory perception - visual, haptic, olfactory, taste and combinations. She teaches executive, MBA and undergraduate courses on sensory marketing at the University of Michigan. She also organized the first conference on sensory marketing in 2008, bringing together leading psychologists, neurologists, marketing academics and practitioners. Her work has been cited on NPR, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other publications.