Article: Power of the scent: Exploring the role of sensory appeals on consumer product attitude Journal: Journal of Business and Management (JBM) 2019 Vol.25 No.2 pp.25 - 41 Abstract: Purpose: Sensory appeals of marketing advertisement plays an important role in the formation of product attitude. The objective of this paper is to examine the role of sensory appeal in influencing product attitude. Method: In Study 1, experiment was conducted to determine whether cognitive innovativeness and sensory innovativeness are mediating the sensory appeals and impacting consumers' attitudes towards a product and whether mediation effects differ across various ad formats. Study 2 used a qualitative approach by applying ZMET (Zaltman-Metaphor Elicitation Technique) to translate the sensory appeals into metaphors associated with a perfume product and presented Hierarchal value Map (HVM) to uncover the underlying consumers' emotion, consequences, and values. Findings: Results indicate that both cognitive innovativeness and sensory innovativeness have substantial mediating effects between sensory appeal preferences and consumer attitude towards a perfume product. Also, results present that sensory preferences using different delivery platforms impacts the effectiveness of the ad. The visual sense was found to be the most influential of all senses, marketers could adopt this approach in their practice of developing ad strategies for products. Limitations: This study specifically considered only one type of product, perfume. Further studies may explore other products to allow for better generalizations. Implications: The paper concludes with implications and applicability of the sensory approach of marketing for creating more effective advertisements. Originality: This study finds contribution in understanding the mediating effects of sensory and cognitive innovativeness on consumer attitude for a perfume product, which is an unexplored area. Marketing strategies should take into account these for enhancing product appeal. Inderscience Publishers - linking academia, business and industry through research

Title: Power of the scent: Exploring the role of sensory appeals on consumer product attitude

Authors: Ruchi Garg; Ritu Chhikara

Addresses: Author address listing can be found in the "About the Authors" section at the end of the article.

Abstract: Purpose: Sensory appeals of marketing advertisement plays an important role in the formation of product attitude. The objective of this paper is to examine the role of sensory appeal in influencing product attitude. Method: In Study 1, experiment was conducted to determine whether cognitive innovativeness and sensory innovativeness are mediating the sensory appeals and impacting consumers' attitudes towards a product and whether mediation effects differ across various ad formats. Study 2 used a qualitative approach by applying ZMET (Zaltman-Metaphor Elicitation Technique) to translate the sensory appeals into metaphors associated with a perfume product and presented Hierarchal value Map (HVM) to uncover the underlying consumers' emotion, consequences, and values. Findings: Results indicate that both cognitive innovativeness and sensory innovativeness have substantial mediating effects between sensory appeal preferences and consumer attitude towards a perfume product. Also, results present that sensory preferences using different delivery platforms impacts the effectiveness of the ad. The visual sense was found to be the most influential of all senses, marketers could adopt this approach in their practice of developing ad strategies for products. Limitations: This study specifically considered only one type of product, perfume. Further studies may explore other products to allow for better generalizations. Implications: The paper concludes with implications and applicability of the sensory approach of marketing for creating more effective advertisements. Originality: This study finds contribution in understanding the mediating effects of sensory and cognitive innovativeness on consumer attitude for a perfume product, which is an unexplored area. Marketing strategies should take into account these for enhancing product appeal.

Keywords: Sensory marketing; cognitive innovativeness; sensory innovativeness; Zaltman-metaphor elicitation technique (ZMET); hierarchal value map (HVM).

DOI: 10.1504/JBM.2019.141270

Journal of Business and Management, 2019 Vol.25 No.2, pp.25 - 41

Published online: 05 Sep 2024 *

Title: Power of the scent: Exploring the role of sensory appeals on consumer product attitude

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