What is sensation and perception in marketing?

We take in information through all five of our senses, but our perceptual field (the world around us) includes so many stimuli that it is impossible for our brains to process and make sense of it all.

Consumers are bombarded with messages on television, radio, magazines, the Internet, and even bathroom walls. The average consumer is exposed to about three thousand advertisements per day (Lasn, 1999). Consumers are online, watching television, and checking their phones simultaneously. Some, but not all, information makes it into our brains. Selecting information we see or hear (e.g., Instagram ads or YouTube videos) is called .

Exposure speaks to the vast amount of commercial information—media messages, commercial, and other forms of advertisements—we are constantly subjected to on a daily basis.

In 2017, Forbes.com contributing writer Jon Simpson challenged readers to count how many brands they are exposed to from the moment they awake. From the bed to the shower to the breakfast table, how many brands have you already come in contact with? 10? 20? Then turn on your phone and start scrolling through your Twitter news feed…and now Instagram. Before you leave for work or school, the number of brands you’ve been exposed to likely climbs into the hundreds. Simpson claims that, “[d]igital marketing experts estimate that most Americans are exposed to around 1,000-4,000 ads each day” (Simpson, 2017).

Given this sea of images, sounds, and messages, how can we possibly make sense of any one brand’s message? Consumers will devote a degree of mental processing to only those messages that relate to their needs, wants, preferences, and attitudes. Brands are banking on the fact that with higher degrees of exposure, at some point their message is going to “stick” and capture consumers’ attention at just the right moment.

The of a sensation is defined as the intensity of a stimulus that allows an organism to just barely detect it. The absolute threshold explains why you don’t smell the cologne someone is wearing in a classroom unless they are somewhat close to you.

The (or just noticeable difference, also referred to as “JND”), refers to the change in a stimulus that can just barely be detected. In other words, it is the smallest difference needed in order to differentiate between two stimuli.

The German physiologist Ernst Weber (1795-1878) made an important discovery about the JND — namely, that the ability to detect differences depends not so much on the size of the difference but on the size of the difference in relation to the absolute size of the stimulus. maintains that the JND of a stimulus is a constant proportion of the original intensity of the stimulus.

As an example, if you have a cup of coffee that has only a very little bit of sugar in it (say one teaspoon), adding another teaspoon of sugar will make a big difference in taste. But if you added that same teaspoon to a cup of coffee that already had five teaspoons of sugar in it, then you probably wouldn’t taste the difference as much (in fact, according to Weber’s Law, you would have to add five more teaspoons to make the same difference in taste).

Another interesting application of Weber’s Law is in our everyday shopping behaviour. Our tendency to perceive cost differences between products is dependent not only on the amount of money we will spend or save, but also on the amount of money saved relative to the price of the purchase. For example, if you were about to buy a soda or candy bar in a convenience store, and the price of the items ranged from $1 to $3, you would likely think that the $3 item cost “a lot more” than the $1 item. But now imagine that you were comparing between two music systems, one that cost $397 and one that cost $399. Probably you would think that the cost of the two systems was “about the same,” even though buying the cheaper one would still save you $2.

Consumers in the Marketplace: Perception

We live in a world with constant sensation: colours, sounds,and odors. We are rarely away from a marketing pitch. As individuals we pick and choose messages to attend to and we put our own spin on what we experience

What is more important Perception or Reality?

Take a minute to watch this little prank by Payless Shoes where they convince media influencers to buy their not so high end shoes for exorbitant prices.

The process of perception involves exposure, attention and interpretation

Five Senses Magnum

SENSORY SYSTEMS

Inputs picked up by our senses are the raw data that generate responses

Manufacturers are spending more to design packages that blink, beep, yell and waft scents at shoppers. Though some companies have created paper-thin, flexible video displays and tiny speakers, aroma seems to be the biggest payoff in packaging, thanks to its powerful link to memory and emotion. Read a Feb 19, 2006 article Appealing to the Senses on ways marketers are appealing to the senses

"One brand that epitomizes sensory stimulation is Lush, the handmade cosmetics company. Pass the entrance of a Lush store and you are hit by a rush of fragrance. Step inside and it’s like entering the most exuberant market stall: wooden tables laden with huge slabs of soap, like giant cheeses ready for slicing; solid lumps of multi-colored shampoos; butterballs and bath bombs; wobbling shower jellies and creamy pats of butter cream with silly sexy names; chocolate massage bars that tickle the taste buds, as well as the skin, with toothsome aromas. Says Lush co-founder Mark Constantine of his company’s approach: “Packaging is so boring. Smelling and touching is just more fun for the senses.” What is more, he adds, “If you don’t use packaging you can use higher quality ingredients.” Lush profits by toying with our senses, using techniques that are light-hearted and fairly basic: vibrant color (sometimes synthetic), manipulation of product shape and texture, mood-enhancing perfumes that draw mainly (though not exclusively) on natural ingredients (fresh fruit, real chocolate, essential oils, and what Lush terms “safe synthetics”).( Source: http://www.brandchannel.com/start1.asp?fa_id=304) Current marketing research shows: 80% of what we assimilate through the senses, is visual. Colour increases brand recognition by up to 80 percent. Source: University of Loyola, Maryland study Ads in colour are read up to 42% more often than the same ads in black and white. Source: White, Jan V., Color for Impact, Strathmoor Press, April, 1997 People make a subconscious judgment about a person, environment, or product within 90 seconds of initial viewing and that between 62% and 90% of that assessment is based on color alone. Source: CCICOLOR - Institute for Color Research Psychologists have documented that "living color" does more than appeal to the senses. It also boosts memory for scenes in the natural world. Colour attracts attention (source http://www.colorcom.com/research/why-color-matters) For an overview with examples see the slideshare below Colour Perception and Consumer Behaviour from K3 Hamilton Click here to see an infographic showing how colour affects purchases. According to the graphic * 93% is based on visual appearance * 85 % of customers place colour as a reason to buy and 80% say colour increases brand recognition Many colour associations are based on cultural ideas, people always have colours they personally prefer. What may be a great colour for a product in one culture may be the worst colour in another culture. Just because a person has a colour they are attracted to, it doesn't mean that, the favourite colour would be a good colour for every product. There are colours that we believe go with certain products. For example, when you think of coffee what colours do you associate with its packages? What colours wouldn't work? Colour matters. We associate certain products with certain colours. When Coke first tried to market Coke Zero, they packaged it in a white can. Typically diet drinks are in light coloured cans. But they were going after a male market. Typically males don't buy diet soda. Along with marketing efforts in sports and other big events usually only used for the main brand of Coke, they changed the colour to black. While sales in the overall category of soda shrunk in 2009, Coke Zero sales increased 20%. Red increases heart rate and energy-creates urgency as in sales tends to arouse. To Asians red is good luck and often associated with celebration Blue may relax; blue more often a favorite colour regardless of cultural background; creates trust security and seen in business and banks Yellow, in North America is optimistic, youthful grabs attention of window shoppers Orange can be aggressive, creating a call to action to subscribe, buy; Purple can be childlike, royal or passionate; it can soothe calm used in beauty and anti-aging Green can be about the environment and about wealth- it is easy to process and calming in stores Pink can be romantic, feminine and can be used to market to women and girls and female causes;pink has come to tech products. Black can be cool or trendy, or dynamic and powerful, may be used to market luxury; Max Luscher a color researcher developed a test that will tell you about yourself; to take it online click, Color Test (outside link) Why is fast food marketed with yellows and oranges? What colours are used to market to children? Why? What colours are used to market using a sexual appeal? Why? Max Luscher a color researcher developed a test that will tell you about yourself; to take it online click, Color Test (outside link) Why is fast food marketed with yellows and oranges? What colours are used to market to children? Why? What colours are used to market using a sexual appeal? Why? Market researchers say colour affects shopping habits. Impulse shoppers respond best to red-orange, black and royal blue. Shoppers who plan and stick to budgets respond best to pink, teal, light blue and navy. Traditionalists respond to pastels - pink, rose, sky blue. Color Marketing Group (CMG) http://www.colormarketing.org/predicts colour trends. The colour of the year for 2017 is Greenery according to pantene https://www.pantone.com/color-of-the-year-2017 Sony Bravia paint See the making of Sony Paint video Take a few minutes to check your perception by watching Richard Wiseman's video below How did you do? Consider Why? What other examples can you think of where this same effect takes place? "The Colour-changing Card Trick illustrates a phenomenon known as change blindness. Research into this concept has been carried out by scientists since the 1970s, and examines why people are poor at detecting discrepancies between scenes in a film or two rapidly presented photographs. Some of the most creative work in this area has been produced by Dan Simons and his colleagues from the University of Illinois. Read about Dan Simons' work here." Source: Richard Wiseman, Quirkology We can be fooled by what we see What's wrong with this picture? Put mouse over the pictures to see Click to view more Optical Illusions (inside link) or go outside to http://www.michaelbach.de/ot/index.html

Odours can evoke feelings, fragrance--> aromatherapy; early associations can evoke similar past feelings.To some extent reaction to odours is dependent on culture (many large companies adjust the smell of their products from country to country) “We remember 1 per cent of what we touch, 2 per cent of what we hear, 5 per cent of what we see and 15 per cent of what we taste, but 35 per cent of what we smell stays with us.” Steve Hughes of Mood Media Martin Lindstrom, author of Brand Sense: Build powerful brands through touch, taste, smell, sight, and sound, says “The sense of smell has surprising powers; our research shows , we’re not only able to change consumers’ impression of a brand, we can also change consumers’ perception of time, size and quality.” Certain smells are also associated with sexual arousal; but the smells are not colognes and perfumes. Men are aroused by smell of pumpkin or cinnamon buns; women are aroused by cucumber (for more information see research done by Dr. Alan Hirsch at The Smell and Taste Treatment and Research Foundation (outside link) or read What Flavour is Your Personality) The new car smell is faked - customers prefer the artificial smell of leather to real. Crayola has patented the smell of its crayons A floral scent near slots increases gambling The Rise of Scent Marketing The scent-marketing industry is growing at an annual rate of 15%, with revenue of about $300 million worldwide. Source: Jennifer Dublino, VP-development at ScentWorld, a global nonprofit organization, quoted in AdAge  Marketers are on the scent of increased retail sales. Companies such as ScentAir Technologies ,EnvironDine Studios, AromaSysare creating scents that are pumped into stores. see On the Scent (inside link) Studies have shown that shoppers in scented environments, stay longer and may perceive they have spent less time compared with shoppers in aroma-free environments. So it pays for marketers to try to figure out what scents will make you linger just that little bit longer, long enough to spend just a little more. Kellogg's, Kraft, Nestlé, Pepsi, Coca-Cola and Proctor & Gamble reportedly have all looked into a new technology that allows consumers to customize the scent or flavor of anything from soda pop to floor cleaner. The technology involves flavor- or scent-filled blisters that are added to bottles or cans. When the blister is pressed, the contents are released into the liquid, altering its smell or flavor. If applied to a carbonated beverage, for example, the bottle could carry several flavor blisters, such as cherry, vanilla and mocha. For a household freshener such as Febreze, it could include several scents. Consumers could choose one flavor or scent or combine several and customize. Read more about scents and marketing in Does Your Marketing Smell from 2007 FutureLab and see Report from World Scent Marketing Conference http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T9u3L4Lnuc and Scent Marketing video http://www.break.com/usercontent/2009/3/What-is-Scent-Marketing-680504.html Marketers predict things are getting smellier Read Toronto Star article Nov 20/04 According to Dr Oz, scents have these effects: Peppermint: You pay better attention to dull-but-must-do jobs when this scent is in the air. When a peppermint scent was wafting, workers made fewer typing mistakes and alphabetized faster. Cinnamon: In simulated driving tests, a whiff of cinnamon every 15 minutes decreased fatigue. When an endless ribbon of highway stretches ahead, consider popping cinnamon gum. Grapefruit: It makes you skinny! Researchers speculate that grapefruit the oil's smell has an effect on liver enzymes that might help nix cravings and spur weight loss. Rosemary: A few minutes of exposure to the scent of this herb helps curb the release of cortisol, a key stress hormone that can prematurely age you by triggering inflammation. (source:http://www.thestar.com/article/495524 Sept9/08) In spite of the emphasis on scent, it can cause many people problems and many public institutions have asked people to not use perfume (In Halifax 80% of schools have scent-free policy) According to Scent Marketing Institiute: Top Ten Scents Compiled by Scent Marketing Institute/SCENTtrends Feel safe, secure and nostalgic: Talcum powder Be more alert: Peppermint, citrus Relax: Lavender, vanilla, chamomile Perceive a room as smaller: Barbecue smoke Perceive a room as bigger: Apple, cucumber Buy expensive furniture: Leather, cedar Buy a home: Fresh baked goods Browse longer and spend more: Tailored floral/citrus scents Develop road rage: Unpleasant smells (rotting rubbish, air pollution) Become sexually aroused: For men: pumpkin pie/lavender For women: the sweat of nursing mothers Note: Individual memory plays a role. If you have had a traumatic experience involving vanilla, you probably will not find that smell pleasant at all. Old Spice last Guy on Earth

Aspects of sound affect a person's feelings and behaviour A couple has "their song" - a song evokes a memory Jingles maintain brand awareness; lively music stimulates Kellogg’s Rice Krispies, with its signature “Snap, Crackle, and Pop,” According to Canadian Grocer, Fifty-eight per cent of Canadians say hearing music in the supermarket makes shopping more enjoyable (source Leger and SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada), Nov 2015. 28% say music slows their shopping 24% believe music causes them to stay in the supermarket longer. 33% lingered in a store to finish hearing a song they enjoyed. music in supermarkets can energize shoppers and provide a little nostalgia Even cows are affected by music. A study by the University of Leicester in 2001 showed that cows produce 3% more milk when listening to slow music like REM's Everybody Hurts or Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony compared to faster music. Sound can be manipulated! New digital software called Micro editors can compress sound with little discernible difference. Advertisers can squeeze a longer message into a shorter time, or programmers can squeeze more ads into a program. Students listening to recorded lectures can hear the lecture in a shorter amount of time. Scientific research has suggested "that distinct combinations of just a few notes — known in the advertising world as a sonic brand — could have more influence on consumers than the longer, frequently changing jingles... Most sonic brands are versatile enough to be expanded into full songs. But typically, they are played alone as a three- or four-note melody so memorable, marketers hope, that they cut through the media clutter and lodge indelibly in consumers' brains." Examples of Sonic brand NBCs three tones, IBMs, Motorola- Hello Moto. Sound as a Repellent But sound can also be used to repel!--Kennedy subway station in Scarborough plays classical music to inhibit teens from hanging out in the station. A company in Wales several years ago invented a device called the Mosquito. It's a small speaker that emits a high frequency sound that only the young can hear. "The Music Mosquito is a complete music system that will relay Royalty free Classical or Chill-out music that would keep the teenagers away to some extent." Products often have distinct sounds. Harley-Davidson's revving engine has been trademarked so when we hear that sound on the street or in a commercial it immediately cues-Harley! Cars often have quite distinct sounds. 36% of Japanese consumers claim to be able to distinguish one car brand from another, solely from its sound. The next time you see a commercial for a car, close your eyes and listen to how prominent each sound is. it's not just the sound effects that you will hear, it's often each specific sound from the opening door, to the starting of the engine to the sound of windshield wipers. Honda Choir Cadbury Gorilla

Not as much research has been done in the area of touch, but touch has an effect on sales and sales interactions. If a product looks appealing and we pick it up, we form an attachment with it. If it feels good, we will have a psychological sense of ownership. Researchers have found that people can develop an attachment after touching an item for as little as 30 seconds, making it more likely to want to buy it. Have you ever gone into a clothing store and decided to try something on and suddenly you have the sales person bringing you more things to try on? We know they want to sell us something but they also know that once we have touched the garment, tried it on, and if it looks and feel good we are more likely to buy because we have felt what it was like to own it. Think for a minute about the Apple store. What do you see as soon as you walk in? People everywhere picking up, trying, touching and interacting with the products. Textures are associated with product quality e.g. silk-luxury. Gender difference -usually women associated with light or delicate, men coarse Lawrence Williams and Joshua Ackerman in the Harvard Review talk about a study where researchers asked people to hold either a cold or warm therapeutic pad. The people believed that the researchers were studying the product. However, what was really being studied was people's behavior following in an unrelated investment decision. People who had held the warm pad invested 43% more compared to those who had held the cold pad, The warmth made people warmer to what followed. In another study people given either a hard chair or a soft chair tp sit in while negotiating the price of a new car. They people in the hard chairs were not more negative, but they did negotiate less. They stuck to their positions more offering 28% less. They were much tougher. The suggestion is that the softer more comfortable seat made the people more susceptible to persuasion. (Please Touch the Merchandise) Mr. Whipple "Please don't squeeze the Charmin" We now have more and more touch pads in iPhones, tablets and computers

TASTE:

Good food is like music you can taste, color you can smell. There is excellence all around you; You only need be aware to stop and savour it!” Chef Gusteau, Ratatouille Our perception of food is determined by five basic qualities of taste: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami (described as meaty or brothy through receptors related to glutamate). We perceive these qualities because of the interaction of food with specific taste receptor proteins in the taste buds of our tongue. Our tongue is like a gatekeeper that helps us distinguish what is good from what is bad or what we love from what we hate. You may have learned in grade school that the tongue has rigid regions responsible for sweet, salty, sour or bitter tastes. Latest research disputes this idea. It's more accurate to say that the tongue in certain areas is slightly more sensitive to some tastes but it is a complex organ that has many different taste buds that can distinguish multiple flavours. The taste buds work together.  Taste receptors contribute to experience of products But do some things actually taste good the first time you taste them? Consider the first time you tasted wine, beer or alcohol. What was your reaction? Probably not favourable. Why did that idea change over time? Think about it. We'll look more into that next week! While most products like to focus on how good their products taste, some go the opposite way. Consider Buckley's Mixture couch syrup "It tastes awful. And it works." It tastes bad, but what would happen if they made it taste good? They'd lose their unique selling proposition! Today there are many "Flavour Houses" that are busy trying to develop pleasing tasting products to tempt our taste buds. Iit's not easy to get consumers to taste new products. There are free samples left on people's door steps, or handed out downtown, or booths set up in places like Costco, but what other ways are there? A restaurant, could try giving the patron a little sample of a new menu item, or a complementary upgrade for a particular brand of wine. Generally any sampling is given, they want to be sure that the majority of people will find the product pleasing or the whole restaurant experience could be off-putting. Other companies have tried innovative ways. Consider what Welch's did In 2008 when they put Peel and Taste strips into People's magazine. A study showed that while only 28% of the 328 people interviewed tried the taste strips, 59% of that group said percent said they'd be more inclined to buy Welch's Grape Juice. And 70% remembered seeing and interacting with the ad. Although how something looks and smells isn't technically a part of taste, these two do have a strong relation to our perception of taste. Smell does have a big part in flavour. Try the following: Get a flavoured jelly bean, hold your nose and place the jelly bean in your mouth and chew. You'll detect should sweetness and maybe a little sourness, and then the hard the soft sense of the jelly bean as you chew. However, with your nose held, you won't notice the odor. Now let go of your nose. What happens?  The odor molecules travel through your nose to the smell cells, and now you can detect the flavor of the jelly bean. Have you heard this, "We eat with our eyes"? Colour is often the first thing we notice when we are looking at food. We learn to associate different foods with different colours so when something doesn't match it can alter our perception. A Journal of Food Science study found that when a cherry-flavored drink was manipulated to be orange, subjects often believed they were tasting an orange drink. When the cherry drink was manipulated to be green people often believed they were tasting a lime drink Think about the different types of restaurants in Toronto. It's diverse! What about trends. Years ago finding a Sushi or Thai food in a small town probably wasn't likely. Today it's different. There was a day when trying to find vegetarian or gluten free food was difficult. Our tastes evolve; we have more options, but we often seek variety. Read a bit about differences in taste and how Canadians are adventure seekers when it comes to taste It's a Matter of Taste We've all heard of fast food, but what about the Slow Food movement? According to Create the Good Life, "The Slow Movement is a term describing a wide range of efforts taking place around the world that seek to connect us more meaningfully with others, with place, and with ourselves. It emerged as an effort to counteract the fast–paced, commodity–focused, unbalanced, and impersonal nature of much of modern human culture. The main tenant of the Slow Movement is that by taking the appropriate amount of time to experience the various activities of our lives, we are able to get in touch with what is deeply satisfying and fulfilling. Read about the Toronto Slow Food Movement here Watch how Guiness tries to show all the senses: Guinness 5 Senses Read a brief summary of a March 16, 2006 Business Week article on how senses are being used to promote brands Senses Cue Brand Recognition Johnny Cupcakes is not really a bakery. People line up for deals on clothing and voluntarily get the brand logo tattooed on themselves. Using no major advertising the brand was built on offbeat tactics harnessing the power of today's social media. Says the founder Johnny Earle, “Every t-shirt purchased in-stores and online, comes with an experience; the pastry box packaging, oven mitt shaped neck label, hidden messages inside of some shirts, a story, and sometimes random gifts, like vintage Ghostbusters and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trading cards." The stores do have the smell of vanilla pumped in. What Earle does is create experiences. Read more here

According to WebMD "Autonomous sensory meridian response, or ASMR, causes a tingling sensation in your head and neck after triggers like repetitive movements or whispering. Most people describe the tingling as very relaxing, even pleasurable." The science behind creating such responses is inconclusive.

Have a look at Michelob Ultras Superbowl 2019 commercial

How did the ad make you feel?

Commerical Description: "Experience ASMR with Zoë Kravitz, inspired by beer in its organic form. Introducing Michelob ULTRA Pure Gold, a USDA Certified Organic Light Lager with 2.5 carbs and 85 calories. Encouraging our consumers to reconnect with nature, our 2019 commercial is bringing all the feels to Super Bowl LIII."

The sounds you hear in the ad were an attempt to create an emotional ASMR experience.Some viewers of ASMR videos report feeling tingling on the head and scalp that may soread down the neck back and arms, while others experience none of this. The phenomenon has been around for awhile but the claims of it and its potential effect on depression, insomnia and anxiety is not proven. Researchers believe more study is needed. Read more at The Toronto Star, Feb12, 2019.

Learn more about ASMR in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQAOoYdozCk

Watch this demonstration of Subliminal Persuasion. Do you think this is real, or faked?  

In class we will investigate QR Codes

The Key to Media's Hidden Codes

References as noted above and: Solomon, Michael R., Zaichkowsky, Judith and Rosemary Polegato. Consumer Behaviour: Buying, Having, Being. Canadian Edition. Toronto: Pearson Education Canada

Information on this site is for use of the students of this course. For copyright information of the linked sites please see the respective authors.