Consumer Perception and Sensory Marketing Strategies

Understanding Sensation and Perception in Marketing

Sensation and Perception Defined

• Sensation is the immediate response of our sensory receptors (eyes, ears, nose, mouth, and fingers) to basic stimuli (light, color, sound, odor, and texture).
• Perception is the process by which sensations are selected, organized, and interpreted.

The Role of Sensory Marketing

Sensory marketing means that companies pay extra attention to how our sensations affect our product experiences. Marketers recognize that our senses help us to decide which products appeal to us.

Sensory Thresholds in Consumer Behavior

Have you ever blown a dog whistle and watched your pooch respond to a sound you cannot hear? You won’t be surprised to learn that there are some stimuli that people simply can’t perceive. Furthermore, some individuals pick up sensory information that others, whose sensory channels have diminished due to disability or age, cannot.

Absolute Threshold

The absolute threshold refers to the minimum amount of stimulation a person can detect on any given sensory channel.

For example, the sound a dog whistle emits is at too high a frequency for human ears to pick up, so this stimulus is beyond our auditory absolute threshold.

The absolute threshold is an important consideration when designing marketing stimuli. A highway billboard might have the most entertaining copy ever written, but this genius is wasted if the print is too small for passing motorists to see it.

Differential Threshold

The differential threshold refers to the ability of a sensory system to detect changes in or differences between two stimuli. The minimum difference we can detect between two stimuli is the j.n.d. (just noticeable difference).

The issue of when and if consumers will notice a difference between two stimuli is relevant to many marketing situations. Sometimes a marketer may want to ensure that consumers notice a change, as when a retailer offers merchandise at a discount.

Semiotics: Meaning in Marketing Messages

From a semiotic perspective, every marketing message has three basic components:

1. An Object: This is the product that is the focus of the message (e.g., Marlboro cigarettes).
2. The Sign: This is the sensory image that represents the intended meanings of the object (e.g., the Marlboro cowboy).
3. The Interpretant: This is the meaning we derive from the sign (e.g., rugged, individualistic, American).

Semiotics is a key link to consumer behavior because consumers use products to express their social identities.

Subliminal Advertising: Fact or Fiction?

Subliminal advertising is a controversial, but largely ineffective, way to communicate with consumers. So-called subliminal persuasion and related techniques that expose people to visual and aural messages below the sensory threshold are indeed controversial. Although evidence that subliminal persuasion is effective is virtually nonexistent, many consumers continue to believe that advertisers use this technique. Some of the factors that determine which stimuli (above the threshold level) do get perceived include the amount of exposure to the stimulus, how much attention it generates, and how it is interpreted. In an increasingly crowded stimulus environment, advertising clutter occurs when too many marketing-related messages compete for attention.