consumer’s sensitiveness to sensory marketing within the food retailing industry

To be filled in by the student

Title : Consumer’s sensitiveness to Sensory Marketing within

the food retailing industry Program: MSc - MKT 6 - Grenoble (2012 - 2014)

Academic Year: 2013-2014

Dissertation / Project / Internship Report: Final Management Project

Student Name: Elaouadi Yasmine

School Tutor / Evaluator Name: Humphrey Stephen To fill in for Internship only: Company Name: ………………………...………………………………………………….. Town: …………………………………………………………………………………………. Country: ……………………………………………………………………………………… Position occupied during internship: ……………………………………………………. ........................................................................................................................................

Summary: The purpose of this work will be to explore how ambiance and sensory marketing have changed the way consumers behave in a food retail store. Also, the objective would be to question what are the variables that are responsible in making the consumer sensitive to those practices.

Keywords: (cf. Thesaurus du Management): MARKET STUDY - CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

DISTRIBUTION - SUPERMARKET

DISTRIBUTION - HYPERMARKET

EUROPE - FRANCE

X Non Confidential □ Confidential

Yasmine ELAOUADI MSc Marketing 6: Final Management Project Consumers’ sensitiveness to Sensory Marketing within the Food Retailing Industry

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Acknowledgment

I am gratefully thankful to my supervisor, Professor Stephen Humphrey, whose guidance, support

and encouragement from the preliminary to the concluding level of this work enabled me to develop

an understanding of the subject. The supervision and support that he gave me truly helped me in the

progression and smoothness of this final management project. The co-operation was much indeed

appreciated. Lastly, I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported me in any respect

during the completion of the project, especially all the people who spared their precious time in

answering my questionnaires, giving me advices and helping me reaching my goals.


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Executive summary

In an increasing competitive environment, food retailers are constantly seeking to

differentiate themselves. For this reason, they try to regularly find new ways of communication to

advertise their line of products, to offer a wide variety of products or to compete through prices.

Recently, new marketing trends are emerging and food retailers are complied to follow them in

order to remain competitive. One important trend is the experiential marketing, which relies on the

use of sensory marketing techniques.

The objective of this study is thus to evaluate the effect that those marketing techniques

have on consumers, how this effect differs from one consumer to the other and mainly defining and

understanding the moderating variables that are responsible in those behavioural differences. In

order to realize this work, the field of sensory marketing will be explored through the different

previous researches realized. Also, to collect primary data a survey will be conducted to identify

and understand the consumer’s behaviour at the food retail store while exposed to sensory

marketing techniques.

The report will be structured into 7 main parts. It will start with the rationale of the proposed

study and the research questions and objectives, followed by the literature review, and then an

industry overview will be presented to understand the French food retail market. After that, the

research methodology and techniques will be presented to lead us to the data analysis with the

interpretation of the results. Finally, the barriers and limitations of the study will be presented

before concluding with a suggested further research, research ethics and the different implications

of this study at both of the managerial and academic levels.


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Outline Acknowledgment ................................................................................................................................ 1

Executive summary ............................................................................................................................ 2 Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 5

1. Rationale for the proposed study .............................................................................................. 6 a. Strategic reasons ................................................................................................................................... 6 b. Operational reasons .............................................................................................................................. 7

2. Industry Overview ...................................................................................................................... 7 c. PESTEL analysis ................................................................................................................................... 8 i. Political environment .................................................................................................................................................. 8 ii. Economical environment ........................................................................................................................................... 8 iii. Social and cultural environment ............................................................................................................................. 8 iv. Technological environment ...................................................................................................................................... 8 v. Environmental and ecological environment ...................................................................................................... 9 vi. Legal environment ........................................................................................................................................................ 9

d. Main players .......................................................................................................................................... 9 e. Porter’s 5 forces ..................................................................................................................................... 9 i. Competitive rivalry within an industry ............................................................................................................... 9 ii. Bargaining power of suppliers .............................................................................................................................. 10 iii. Bargaining power of customers ........................................................................................................................... 10 iv. Threat of new entrants ............................................................................................................................................. 10 v. Threat of substitute products ................................................................................................................................ 10

f. Trends in the food retail industry ...................................................................................................... 11

3. Business Research Questions ................................................................................................... 11

4. Implications of the exploratory qualitative research ............................................................ 12

5. Research objectives ................................................................................................................... 13 6. Literature review ...................................................................................................................... 14

a. Sensory marketing: evolution and importance ................................................................................ 14 b. Sensory marketing in the food retail industry ................................................................................. 17 c. Sensory marketing and its components ............................................................................................. 19 i. Visual marketing ......................................................................................................................................................... 19 ii. Auditory marketing ................................................................................................................................................... 21 iii. Olfactory marketing ................................................................................................................................................... 23 iv. Gustative marketing .................................................................................................................................................. 24 v. Tactile marketing ........................................................................................................................................................ 25

d. Bitner’s conceptual model .................................................................................................................. 26

7. Research methodology .............................................................................................................. 28

8. Research techniques ................................................................................................................. 31 9. Data analysis .............................................................................................................................. 32

a. Out of store interviews ........................................................................................................................ 32 b. In store interviews ............................................................................................................................... 36 c. Empirical study: regression on the impact of sensory marketing on the time spent in a food retail store ................................................................................................................................................... 39 d. Results and interpretation of the empirical study ........................................................................... 40

10. Barriers and Limitations of the proposed research ......................................................... 44

11. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 45 12. Suggested future research ........................................................................................................ 45


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13. Research ethics ............................................................................................................................. 46

14. Impacts on managers and practitioners .............................................................................. 47 15. Impacts on academics ................................................................................................................. 48

16. Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 49

17. Appendices ..................................................................................................................................... 54 Appendix 1: Colours meaning ................................................................................................................... 54 Appendix 2 .................................................................................................................................................. 54 Appendix 3 .................................................................................................................................................. 55 Appendix 4: Purchasing power ................................................................................................................. 55 Appendix 5: Food consumption ................................................................................................................ 56 Appendix 6: Market share ......................................................................................................................... 56 Appendix 9: First Model ............................................................................................................................ 57 Appendix 10: First Model .......................................................................................................................... 58 Appendix 11: First Model .......................................................................................................................... 58 Appendix 12: Second Model ...................................................................................................................... 58 Appendix 13: Second Model ...................................................................................................................... 58 Appendix 14: Second Model ...................................................................................................................... 59 Appendix 15: Online survey results .......................................................................................................... 60 Appendix 16: In store survey .................................................................................................................... 74 Appendix 17: Out of store interviews ....................................................................................................... 85 Appendix 18: In-store interviews .............................................................................................................. 88


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Introduction Over time, the consumer’s relationship with the product has changed. «Long gone are those

days when you just opened up your shop, put the product on the shelf and fingers crossed hope to

make a dollar or two, it needs to be more than just that otherwise people will just sit at home and

buy it online in the convenience of their own home as opposed to going into a store» (Carol

Bargaric, AUSVM Director). Nowadays, the consumer needs to put himself/herself in a relation

with the product under several angles and be associated with it.

Additionally, the environment surrounding the product plays an important role in the

consumer decision process. This environment is interpreted by the consumer’s five senses.

Companies are more and more creating a special atmosphere around their products to make their

customers feel more comfortable and improve their experience. This atmosphere called also

ambiance is present in both of the point of sale (POS) and the advertising means. Through the

triggering of the five senses, companies are trying to differentiate their products from the

competition, give their brand a unique identity and convey the desired brand image. Those

techniques are known under the term of “Sensory Marketing”.

One of the sectors that is focusing a lot on this type of marketing practices is the retail

industry and more specifically the food one. In order to get a better understanding of this topic, this

work will explore how the ambiance and environment surrounding a product changes the way

consumers behave in a food retail store. More specifically, how some demographic and situational

variables change the behaviour and actions of the consumer will be determined. Also, throughout

this project the correlation between the sensory marketing techniques and the consumer’s decision

to purchase a product and time spent in it will be determined. The focus of this study will be put

towards the food retailing market in France.

This work will start with an enlightenment about the rationale, the research questions to be

addressed and the objectives of the study. After that, the literature review will be presented to

understand how the term sensory marketing appeared and evolved and what are its different

components. Also, similar studies that have been conducted in this field will be looked at closely.

Later on, a look will be given to the food retail industry to have a situational analysis of the retail

industry, the main players, their strategies in terms of competition and finally the latest trends of the

industry.


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The other important stage of this work is the research methodology and techniques that were

undertaken to analyse the primary data. Finally, the last sections will address the primary data

analysis, result discussion, barriers and limitations of the study before concluding with the

suggested future research and implications of the project.

1. Rationale for the proposed study

a. Strategic reasons

The ambiance of the food retail store is a key element in marketers’ strategies, giving rise to

this new area of marketing called sensory marketing. In this framework, many research studies have

repeatedly shown that sensory marketing and the ambiance in a retail store influence tremendously

the behaviour of the customer. Those researches have demonstrated the potential role of smell,

music, colours, touch and even taste as being marketing differentiators available to the distributor.

Additionally, they have demonstrated a positive influence of the atmosphere on the

consumer’s behaviour. However, these studies did not seem to have concentrated in quantifying the

relationships that the atmosphere has on the consumer behaviour and no correlation was presented

and analysed in this sector and even less in France.

Moreover, it appears that those researches have widely been oriented toward the emotional

and behavioural responses while disregarding the cognitive reactions of the consumers and trying to

understand what are the main factors that affect this purchasing decision (eg: demographic factors).

Thus, the strategic rationale of this proposed work is to identify those factors, contribute to the

understanding of the factors that influence the consumer’s purchasing behaviour at the food retail

store, enlighten scholars and academics about this relationship and show the importance of the

sensory marketing practices. Sensory marketing is thus considered as a new area of differentiation

that would renew and alter the business landscape offering to the customer a new and exciting

experience.

The other strategic rationale is showing the food retail stores’ managers that there are limits

in the use of sensory marketing. It is important to note the cultural and social differences between

customers. For this, they should adapt their strategies from one point of sale to the other in order to

have effective results. Furthermore, they should be careful in not making the customer gets weary


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and has the feeling of being fooled by those practices. In other words, it should be used wisely and

adapted from one supermarket to the other, from one season to the other, etc.

b. Operational reasons

From an operational side, sensory marketing techniques are real-time influencers. They

allow the distributor to analyse the most operational and influencing techniques. For example, with

a defined target segment, a distributor can test the effectiveness of two products priced identically,

exposed to the same height but packaged differently. Other similar tests could be daily tested to

identify the exact different segments and their respective behaviours at the selected food retail store.

The study will thus help food retail managers to better target their customers and use the

most appropriate techniques to the most sensitive consumers according to the study. This work will

enlighten them in their daily activities. In other words, it will be cleared for them to know how the

store layout should be organized, what are the areas that should be highlighted. If the customers

needs are not well identified, there will be a in recruiting professionals that would help them in

choosing the right scent or the right music to be broadcasted at the store and at the in the different

department stores.

Consequently, throughout the study, marketers will become more aware about the different

moderating variables that are responsible in making a specific target segment more sensitive to their

daily effort in terms of sensory marketing techniques. On the short-term level and after considering

this study, marketers will have to think about the budget they are allocating to every sensory

marketing component (auditory, olfactory, tactile, visual and gustative) and how they are managing

it from one target segment to the other. Thus, a reallocation might be necessary.

2. Industry Overview The food retail industry includes the activities that make goods and services available to the

consumers and consists of three major retail formats: hypermarkets, supermarkets and hard discount

stores. In 2012 and in France, this market generated total revenues of $234.9 billion (Appendix 3).

In terms of history, it was in 1957 that the first self-service store opened its doors in France by

Edouard Leclerc (Tarteret et al., 2012).


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c. PESTEL analysis

i. Political environment

In France, the omnipresence of the PNNS (National program of Health and Nutrition)

symbolizes the intervention of a State increasingly present and everything started with the Evin law.

In 1991, this law strictly prohibited advertisements for alcoholic beverages (Kessler, 2005: 292-

295).

ii. Economical environment

In France, the purchasing power per household registered a decline of 0.9% in 2012

(Appendix 4). The other factor that plays a significant role for businesses is the economic growth.

In France, the GDP grew by 0.3% in 2013 (Banque de France). The last factor is the inflation rate.

According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, the food prices rose faster in

2012 than in 2011 and the inflation rate reached an average of 2.1% in 2012 (Le Point.fr, 2013).

iii. Social and cultural environment

In 2012, food consumption grew by 2.9% in value (Appendix 5). In 2012, there are five

main trends that stood out: ethics, practical (quantity and packaging), naturalness, pleasure and

health (Déméter et al., 2012). In 2013, the French population increased by 0.57% to reach 65.8

million people. In terms of ethnicity, the native French are the largest group followed by the North

African and Arab group, which represent around 4% of the total population (World Population

Statistics, 2013). In France the consumer movement is very rich. It is present in all of France’s

regions and provides a social and economic role for the consumers with the aim of defending their

rights. The other factor that should be considered while studying the social and cultural

environment is the level of education. The French government invest 6.3% of its GDP in education,

a little more than the OECD average (6.2%) (Le Monde.fr, 2012).

iv. Technological environment

France is considered to be a leading country in terms of technology initiatives. According to

the World Bank, its R&D expenditure in 2011 amounted to 2.25% of the GDP (Trading

Economics). Additionally, the French government allocated €35bn as a Special Investment Plan to

support the National Research and Innovation Strategy (Datamonitor, 2011).


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v. Environmental and ecological environment

These two factors are typical of the 21st century and are related to environmental awareness.

In France and since 2002, a focus was made on sustainable development. An interdepartmental

committee of sustainable development supervises this national policy since 2003. In 2010, in order

to become more sustainable, France adopted the Bioethanol clean fuel production. Additionally,

France has adopted the “polluter pay” policy to promote sustainability among companies.

vi. Legal environment

The legal side is essential in the market research as it can block the release of a product. In

France, foreign investments increased by 22% in 2010. Nevertheless, although the FDI are

encouraged, several laws restrict the businesses establishment. Examples are the labour laws, social

security costs and wages regulation. France’s working week has been assessed to be the shortest

week in the EU with 35 hours (Confederation Fiscale Européene). Because of these restrictions, the

FDI in France fell by 77% in 2013 to reach $5.7billion (UN Conference on Trade and

Development, 2014).

d. Main players

In France, the market for mass distribution can be described as oligopolistic. Five players

share up to 90 % of the total purchases of all the hypermarkets and supermarkets. The main retailers

are: Carrefour, Auchan, Leclerc, Casino, Intermarché (Les mousquetaires Group) and Système U.

With over 18.6% market share, E. Leclerc has emerges as the undisputed leader starting 2012 ahead

of its two main rivals, Intermarché with 12.8% and Carrefour with 11.3% of market share

(Appendix 6).

e. Porter’s 5 forces

i. Competitive rivalry within an industry

In France, the food retail sector is experiencing a strong rivalry. Several players are

competing and the reason is the low level of differentiation and low switching cost of consumers.

Carrefour is the leading supermarket in Europe, and world’s number 2 after Wallmart (MarketLine

Industry Profile, 2012). Leclerc stores represent a turnover of 43.7 billion euros at the end of 2012

(E. Leclerc Press release) and are the leaders in the sector. The group Les Mousquetaires is also a

major player with a turnover of € 39.1 billion at the end of 2012 (Les Mousquetaires). The other


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important player in the French food retailing market is the Auchan group with a turnover of € 46.9

billion in 2012 (Groupe Auchan, 2013).

ii. Bargaining power of suppliers

At negotiating with suppliers, the leading groups of this industry appear to be dominant.

Indeed, many of the suppliers are SMEs and farmers. Consequently, their inferior size makes them

not as powerful as their customers. They are therefore forced to practice prices aligned with the

pricing terms of those groups. Concerning the larger suppliers, the distributors usually sign

agreements with them to avoid the fluctuating prices.

iii. Bargaining power of customers

The bargaining power of customers does not really come from their ability to negotiate, but

rather from the competitive pressure. However, as the customer is the end consumer, when he

switches to another retailer it will have a low impact on the initial one on the short term but on the

long run it might have a great impact especially that the switching cost is very low from one retailer

to the other.

iv. Threat of new entrants

In this industry, the threat of new entrants appears to be very low because of the position of

the established retailers. New entrants will have to face several challenges. Among those difficulties

we can quote the heavy initial investments, the competitive prices of the existing groups, the loyalty

of customers, and the control of distribution networks by the existing groups. Barriers in the retail

sector can also be from the legal side (GMOs, ISO standards, etc). The threat may still be present

from foreign groups if they ever decide to expand abroad (eg: Walmart, Tesco).

v. Threat of substitute products

The threat of substitution is very low but still exists. It can come from Internet shopping

where virtual distributors offer competitive prices and prevent customers to spend time at a store.

Nonetheless, the leading groups reacted to this by launching their shopping websites (eg: Carrefour,

and Auchan).The other source of substitution are the convenience stores with their extended

opening hours but apply higher prices and have a lower product offering. Another source of

substitution are the local farmers selling bio products. This source of substitution is growing in the

last years to support the local economy and because of the increasing health consciousness.


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f. Trends in the food retail industry

To reinvent the future of businesses, new strategies and digital technologies have shacked

the food retail industry. In terms of promotion, the coupons are more and more paperless and

customized on the mobile of the customer. The other trend is the growing number of drives. The

drives account for 2031 while the hypermarkets are 2022 (La tribune, 2014).

One of the trends that is nowadays scaring the distributors is the “Showrooming”. This

practice consists of going to the store, having a look at a product, and then thanks to the new mobile

applications available to the consumer, he/she would look for the POS that is offering it at the best

price. According to Guillaume Rio, 72 % of people who practice “Showrooming” have as a primary

motivation price. A price difference of only 2.5% is enough to go for the competitor (Maillet,

2013).

Another important trend in this sector is about the less queuing tendency. During the last

years, there are numerous promising payment devices arriving to stores. One of the most

operational is the Q-Thru (Maillet, 2013). It is used to scan products and at the end of the shopping,

a QR code appears on the screen of the mobile. This QR code is then transferred on a self-service

terminal where the payment is made and thus reduces the queuing time.

3. Business Research Questions The factors that might have an impact on answering the business research questions are

mainly related to the primary data collection step. In this project, it should be noted that there is the

problem of having biased respondents. Indeed, the states of mind of interviewees are different from

one respondent to the other and are highly impacted by several situational factors. Thus, the mood

of the interviewees might have a great effect on their responses. An example of a situational factor

that might influence the mood of the interviewee is a crowded store. Therefore, if the in store

survey is conducted at the wrong moment, there might be flaws on answers and thus reflect this on

the results’ analysis. Additionally, when the survey is conducted at the food retail store, it should be

noted that those who agree to cooperate and answer the surveys might not be representative of the

typical customers of the concerned food retail store. Therefore, this non-representativeness might

create outliers on the survey and affect the results of analysis.


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The other factors that might have an impact on the answer to the business research questions

are the biases of the researchers, as they might be influenced by their personal analytical skills.

While analysing results of the survey, the researcher is using his/her individual skills and thus

biased. An example would be the approach he/she will be using during the content analysis. In

addition to the skills of analysis, it must also be noted that the way questions are formulated and

phrased is also a factor that guide the interviewee in a direction more than another and thus the

result of the study (Teevan et al., 2011). In other words, if a likert scale goes from the negative to

the positive side, the response of the interviewee might vary (Likert, 1932). According to the

pioneer of this likert format, this approach is simple and versatile (Johns, 2010).

Throughout this work and by taking into consideration all the factors discussed above, the

central question would be: “What are the variables that make a specific consumer be more sensitive

compared to another one to the sensory marketing techniques used at a specific food retail store?”.

By seeking to understand and answer this business research question, the central phenomenon of the

study will be analysed (Creswell, 2008). The variables that the research question refers to are

considered to be moderating variables (Rieunier, 2002), and are either personal or situational.

Additionally, throughout the data analysis, other sub-questions will be answered such as the

extent to which the customer is influenced when interviewed at the retail store compared to when

he/she is outside of it and consequently not conditioned. What are the most effective sensory

marketing techniques? What is the most appropriate atmosphere for the consumers at the food retail

store? What are the senses that play a more important role in the purchasing decision process

according to the consumers? The sub-questions are complementary to the central question and

allow a narrowed focus on the study. According to Creswell (2008), a qualitative research should

contain at least one central question followed by several other sub-questions. Miles and Huberman

(1994) on their side recommend the use of no more than a dozen of research questions and in order

to have clear answers to those questions, during the interviews the sub-questions will become part

of the specific questions asked to the interviewees (Creswell, 2008).

4. Implications of the exploratory qualitative research The exploratory qualitative research aims usually to clarify a research question/problem that

has been more or less defined. It can also help determine the appropriate research design, before

conducting a larger study. According to Van der Maren (1995), the exploratory qualitative research


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intends to fill in a gap. Additionally, it is used to produce a certain knowledge about an unknown

phenomenon. In this work, the main objective of the exploratory qualitative research will be to

describe and analyse the factors that determine the sensitivity of consumers when exposed to

sensory marketing techniques. Those factors are considered to be moderating factors according to

Rieunier (2002). The main implication of this exploratory qualitative research is complementing the

existing quantitative studies realised in this field and would allow practitioners, managers and

academics in this field to understand the existing relations and give a meaning to them.

Moreover, the phenomenon of sensory marketing will be analysed in order to better

understand it. Also, it will enlighten future researches about the moderating variables that are

responsible of making a consumer more sensitive to sensory marketing techniques. If in the future,

researchers decide to explore the multisensory marketing and how different senses could be

associated, this study will be somehow guiding.

5. Research objectives When it comes to discussing the research objectives, this study aims at analysing the effect

that some demographic factors have on the consumer’s sensitiveness to sensory marketing

techniques. Through the surveys, a deep analysis will be conducted in order to identify the

relationships between the different demographic factors and their direct link with the sensitiveness

of the interviewees to the sensory marketing techniques used at the food retail store. The empirical

study will come later to confirm the qualitative results or not but it will also help quantifying the

correlations and better understand them.

Additionally, the other objective of the research is to provide a framework that will help

improving both of the consumer’s shopping experience and increase the retail stores’ profits. The

work would also look at which type of consumer is more sensitive to the sensory marketing

techniques used by marketers and among those techniques what are the most important ones

according to the interviewees.


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6. Literature review

a. Sensory marketing: evolution and importance

Before the concept of “sensory marketing” came into light, several authors have presented it

under different notions. In 1932, Donald Laird conducted a first study on the impact of senses on

the consumer’s behaviour.

In his research, Laird studied the influence of odour on the perceived quality of nylons (Laird,

1932:241-246). In this study, a group of consumers were asked to evaluate different pieces of

underwear. Some of those clothing pieces were scented while others were not. The results of the

study showed that the perfumed products had a better assessment although the consumers were

never asked to smell them and the odour criterion was never cited (Rieunier, 2002).

In the 50s, marketing was mainly based on the visual and tactile aspect. At first, the

consumer is interested on the visual side of products. For this reason and in order to enable the

customer to position the product in their mind, companies were investing a lot on the packaging and

the logo of the brand as the visual identity of a brand is represented by these two elements. The

other important element for customers is touch as it allows them to better seize the quality of the

product and insures them a certain level of comfort (Barbet et al, 1999).

The 60s were more conducive to the auditory marketing. Using auditory techniques at the

point of sale had as an ultimate goal to positively affect the consumers’ purchasing decision and

guide them in their shopping. According to Barbet et al.(1999), a slow music not only promotes

dawdling but also that pushes the customer to spend more time at the point of sale and make him

wait in the queue more easily. One of the first to investigate the field of auditory marketing was the

French researcher Guy Serraf. This latter wrote an article in 1963 about the influence of music on

the behaviour of customers at a point of sale (Rieunier, 2010).

When we move to the 70s, more importance is given to gustative marketing. At the food

retail store, marketers offer more food sampling to customers. This practice leads to customer

loyalty and allows the tasting of products before buying them (Maille, 2001: 51-76). The next to

investigate in this field is Philip Kotler, who is considered to be a pioneer in this subject. In 1973 in

the Journal of Retailing, he initiated the idea of atmosphere as a whole and not as a single sense. He

insisted on the fact that a point of sale needs to differentiate itself using other than intrinsic

characteristics like price or assortment of the product.


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Ambiance is the whole atmosphere of stimuli such as music, colour, and smell, which are

considered as marketing tools and defines atmosphere as creating a shopping environment that

produces a specific emotional effect on consumers such as pleaser or excitement, which might

increase the purchasing probability (Kotler, 1973:48-64). Kotler’s definition about the atmosphere

emphasizes on the fact that the manager of the point of sale controls this atmosphere. Additionally,

it is according to him a marketing tool that triggers several types of reactions on the consumer

(either affective, cognitive or behavioural).

In France, it was not until 1988 when Filser and Jallais emphasized on the interest or

investigating in this field (Rieunier, 2010). In 1992, Bitner emphasized on the influence that the

ambiance in a point of sale has on the customer’s behaviour. Throughout his work, he demonstrated

that the atmosphere and environment of a point of sale create emotions on the customer (Bitner,

1992). He also created a conceptual framework presenting the influence that the atmosphere has on

the behaviour of the consumer at the point of sale.

And it is starting the early 2000s that a new word “sensory marketing” started to be

associated with ambiance and atmosphere and became popular among researchers and managers

thanks to the various publications. From that moment, this concept has started gaining importance

among marketers and became a new and important element in the marketing strategies of large

firms. This practice was enhanced by the publication of the first comprehensive book on this topic:

“Le marketing sensoriel du point de vente” written by Rieunier et al (2002). The term “sensory

marketing” is defined as a number of techniques that are used by marketers in several fields to

stimulate one of the consumer’s senses or more (Rieunier, 2002). Also, through the stimulation of

senses, emotions might be awakened as well.

Starting from the idea that the customer is constantly collecting colours, shapes, sounds,

smells, and visual sensations, companies are more and more integrating sensory marketing activities

in their communication and marketing strategies. This type of marketing is practiced starting from

the advertising campaigns to the experience in the point of sale. Whether through sound, light or

virtual interaction, marketers are trying hard to succeed in giving the consumer a pleasant

experience, making him/her associate himself/herself with the brand and be able to recognize it.


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Moving from the point of sales to the product, from the premium to the discount, a growing

number of stores are diffusing odours and more and more brands are associating their brands with

an auditory or olfactory identity (Hetzel et al., 1993:522-533). Examples of brands that use sensory

marketing are numerous and it is for them a way to position their brand image in the minds of

consumers and differentiate themselves from the competition. Among the most representative

example, Nature & Découvertes can be quoted. This brand refers to nature and forest and sells

products linked to this (eg: binoculars, books related to nature, gardening equipment, etc). In their

stores, they are diffusing scents of cedar and birds’ sounds in order differentiate themselves in the

consumers’ mind. The other example is Abercrombie & Fitch that is perfuming its stores at an

intensive level, as the odour diffused is perceptible into the street in front of the stores. This

intensive use of sensory marketing allows the consumer to easily identify and differentiate

Abercrombie & Fitch from the competing ones like Aeropostale, Esprit or Gap. Also, there are the

Vinci parking that are increasing their safety impression by using a bright lighting and a soft music.

The other industries that are trying to differentiate themselves thanks to sensory marketing

are the restaurants. Buffalo Grill restaurants can be cited as they are using a decor that is stimulating

the sight and hearing of the consumer so that it evokes in his mind the Cows-Boys history. The

Italian and Chinese restaurants in their turn disseminate a music that is evoking their countries so

that the consumer has this feeling of travelling to this country.

All of these examples show that beyond being a positioning tool, sensory marketing is a real

instrument allowing the brand to deploy a relational strategy with its customers. In this context, the

atmosphere of the point of sale is thus a vector of emotions enabling the customer to attend the store

to have a unique experience that breaks out with the daily life of the customer. Thus, those elements

allow the companies to convey a message to the customer and draw a specific brand image on their

minds and by stimulating the different senses of the consumer, some brands have managed to

clearly differentiate themselves from the competition.

One of the industries that are intensively employing these kinds of practices is the food-

retailing sector. Within this research, the objective is to observe the different methods employed by

marketers in the French food retail stores and find out what are the most effective ones. In order to

better understand the marketers approach, a closer look will be given to sensory marketing and its

different angles.


17

b. Sensory marketing in the food retail industry

In the field of sensory marketing, several studies have been undertaken but very few tackled

the food retailing industry and even less in France. From a study to the other, the effect of sensory

marketing has been proved to be a powerful tool to attract the consumer, offer him/her a pleasant

experience in the store, increase the time spent in it and enhance the buying behaviour. Moving

from smell, to sound, touch, even taste and obviously sight, all of these senses have been tested and

proved to be strategic tools for marketers in a retail environment. From the early 70s, marketing

research has focused on the possibility to increase the likelihood of the consumer to purchase

through the improvement of the environment at the point of sale.

According to MillwardBrown (2005), by order of importance, the most sensitive sense is the

sight followed by smell, hearing, taste and lastly touch. We can explain the sensitivity of sight by

being the sense that gives us the first impression about the product/brand, as it is an extrinsic factor.

The customer can be attracted or not by the colours and lights of the store. A store whose walls are

painted in red creates more stimulation compared to blue ones (Bellizi et al., 1983: 21–45). Also,

when the light is strong enough (Summers et al., 2001:145-150), the customer is willing to spend

more time in the store. In addition to colours and lights, light variations, the video broadcasted, and

mini-flashes are all stimuli that capture the attention of the customer in an environment already

loaded with various messages.

Regarding the ambient scents, in the '40s, a professor in the Colgate University had scented

three identical sets of nylon socks (The Milkwaukee Journal, 1981:52). The first two were scented

with fruity and floral perfumes while the last one was not. A majority of women preferred the one

that was scented. Thus, customers subject to a pleasant smell have a better perception of the quality

of the product and consequently evaluate both the product and the store positively.

Along a similar line of thought, Hollywood Chewing Gum did an experiment where they set

up a mint air scented broadcasting system. The conclusion from this experiment was that this use of

olfactory-stop resulted in an increase of 10 to 25% in sales of the brand products (Le parfum du

succès, 1993). We can clearly infer from this experiment that the dissemination of congruent odours

with the products attract the attention of customers.


18

One can also cite the example of the French Food retailer Leclerc, which is diffusing odours

of Brittany’s tide in the fish aisle to generate an envy of buying oysters. A last study in the olfactory

field that we can site is a test at the entrance of a hypermarket, where a scent of roasted chicken or

melted chocolate attracted a stream of customers toward the salty and sweet shelves respectively

(Guéguen et al., 2011: 86–88). Apart from the increasing purchases, the diffusion of ambient scents

also has an impact on the feeling of the customer in the store. That of a lemony smell, for example

within a point of sale can positively influence customer delight (Leenders et al., 1999).

The other sense that can attract the consumer’s attention is hearing. When the point of sale is

concerned, sound design and music are attractive because they are considered as creators of

emotions. There is an innate sensitivity to musical frequencies, which triggers emotion (Schwartz,

2003:205-213). Several studies have proved that the mood of the customer can be easily influenced

if a joyful music is broadcasted (Alpert et al., 2005: 369-376). According to Yalch et al. (1993:632-

636), and Guéguen et al. (2002:53-59), customers are willing to spend more time in a store when

there is music and even more when they like it. It was also demonstrated that there is a positive

correlation between the feeling of pleasure triggered by music and the purchasing intention.

Another aspect of music that is important is its volume. If music is broadcasted at a low

volume, customers tend to spend more time (Smith et al., 1966:255-256). Also, a familiar music

increases the stimulation of customers and it would lead them to shop quickly (Yalch et al., 1993:

632-636). Another study has demonstrated that pop music would lead customers to purchase more

in a food retail store oppositely to a classical music (Sibéril, 1994). In the same context, there is a

concrete example of a specific type of products, which is wine. The exposure to a French music

made the visiting customers buy 5 times more French wines versus the German ones. In contrast,

while a German music was played, it increased twice the sales of German wines compared to the

French ones (North et al., 1997:132). What can be deduced from this experiment is the positive

correlation between the geographical origin of the music played in the food retail store and the

choice of products.

The other sense that is used by marketers is taste. This last one is not that much experienced

and studied. The reason is the “impossibility” of many products to be tasted. Those that can, there is

the possibility to sample them and make the customer try/taste them in the store and in the

concerned shelve. While the other senses are well experimented, this field needs still a lot of

research and improvement.


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The last but not least important sense is touch. This sense gives the customer the opportunity

to get a closer “touch” to the product although it is not obvious for all kind of products. A study in

this field was conducted by the Store Sense and came out with the conclusion that once a customer

touches the product, he/she feels more engaged and has this impression of ownership, which

increases the chance of buying the product.

In terms of applications, it is important to note that one of the pioneers in the field is

Artistide Boucicaul who conceptualized this type of marketing and implemented it at the “Bon

Marché” at the end of the 19th century. Its creed was enabling the consumer to touch, see and feel

the product while being surrounded with a soundscape.

c. Sensory marketing and its components

i. Visual marketing

Since the 1960s, the sight has been greatly studied and employed as a marketing technique.

Choosing the colours and shapes while designing and developing a product, the layout of a store

and the colours and images of an advertising campaign has been for a long time considered to be a

success factor. These factors can play an important role on the attractiveness of a product and thus

elicit positive behaviours of the consumers (eg: buying a product, spending more time in a store,

etc). Thus, in order to suit and meet the customer requirements, marketers are focusing on the

power of visual marketing. When the point of sale is concerned, the choice of visual elements,

packaging, colours are primary elements to be considered. The shapes and colours of products

trigger emotional reactions and influence consumer’s perception toward a product.

The sight is the most developed and sought sense, as it is the most stimulated by the

environment surrounding us. Additionally, 80% of the stimuli that is perceived by a customer are

visual (Solomon et al., 2010). The first contact that the customer has with a product or with a point

of sale is with the eyes.

Colours, and shapes influence tremendously the consumer and his emotions. One of the

most important elements of visual marketing are colours as it is the primary factor that draws the

attention of the customer to either the point of sale or to a specific product. Colours are widely used

by marketers, as it is a mean of communication. Colours allow the identification and brand

differentiation. Additionally, colours are considered to be emotions’ triggers (Appendix1). A study

has even proved that the consumer is more likely to remember a brand and the message it is


20

broadcasting if this latter is in colour rather than in black and white (Eiseman, 2000). Another study

conducted by Leatrice Eiseman (2000) has described the impact of every colour on the consumer

behaviour (Appendix 1). Let’s take for example the yellow colour. This colour is associated with

comfort, and deliciousness of aliments. Teahouses and pastry shops usually use it. According to

Bellizi et. al. (1983:21-45), warm colours like yellow and red attract more the consumer and make

him/her be more active, curious and spontaneous. Conversely, the cold colours like blue are less

attractive and result in a greater satisfaction and positive assessment. These cold colours usually

push the customer to select more expensive products. Colours are thus considered to be a source of

stimulation and pleasure (Bellizzi et al., 1992:347-363).

Another aspect of visual marketing is lighting; which plays a key role in the organization of

space in every corner of the store starting from the entrance, to the end-aisle display, etc. The

intensity of light, the colours used, the position, and the combination with other elements such as

mirrors make this visual marketing an inexhaustible source of attention. Additionally, they are a

strong mean to influence the state of mind and create fantastic atmospheres allowing the customer

to interact with the brand. According to Rieunier (2002), a natural and/or softened lighting would

increase the time spent in a point of sale. Oppositely, other researches have demonstrated that the

use of a strong light stimulates the consumer and lead him/her to buy. The light intensity helps

foster the behaviour of the consumer and thus spend more time in the store when the light is strong

(Summers et al., 2001:145-150). Consumers deploy more effort to examine the products when the

light intensity is high and thus they buy more (Gifford, 1988:177-189). The layout of the point of

sale is also taken into account while talking about visual marketing. It allows the customer to cover

ground the point of sale easily and become a loyal customer to it.

Lately, videos became also an important element in the visual marketing and are one of the

most recent applications in this field. Whether it is the central component of a communication

campaign or an element reinforcing the atmosphere of a point of sale, its influence seems to be

indisputable. Furthermore, the eye is attracted by any element in movement. Thus, the plasma

screens are considered to be effective ways to capture the attention of the passer-by and those

screens are replacing progressively the traditional panels at the point of sales. These videos that

attract the attention of the customer are customizable. The retailers can thus choose to project

attractive images that would most of the time inform the passer-by about a promotion, the

advantages of a product and/or how to use it. The other use of videos is as entertainment tool for

children in order to occupy them while their parents are shopping. Visual marketing is consequently


21

not a simple decorative element but an important differentiator as it reinforces the perception the

customer has on a product.

A good example of a company that is investing a lot on the visual marketing is Apple. Its

value proposition is based on an important element of the visual marketing, which is the design of

the product. Indeed, thanks to the use of original and modern colours in their computers, phones and

other products, this company succeeded in distinguishing itself by transforming the digital products

into almost decorative objects.

ii. Auditory marketing

The use of music in the commercial areas is not a new thing, and various studies have

shown that it affects the perception of the time spent at the point of sale. Thus, at the point of sale, it

is important to use auditory marketing techniques. Their influence is more effective when the

consumer unconsciously perceives the music broadcasted.

Music is a key element at the point of sale and for the brand identity. It allows the

transmission of a specific message (Yalch et al., 1990:55-63). A good music strategy in a store can

positively influence the consumer’s behaviour, stimulating its activity and increasing the time spent

within the store and thus implicitly increasing the sales. Within the food retailing industry, this

practice is of an old usage as Monoprix has started broadcasting music in its store since 1927

(Consoblog, 2012). The auditory marketing is based on studies that determine the importance of a

particular type of music for a particular type of client. Every musical style brings a different level of

energy to a separate public. It is generally segmented by age, sex and industry.

A study made by Smith & Curnow (1966) has revealed that the tempo of the music has a

great impact on the speed of the walking of the consumer, which means that a customer will leave

earlier if the music’s tempo is fast. Oppositely, classical music has more effect on consumers, and

would make spend more time and money at the point of sale. A soft music encourages dawdling,

while a dynamic music makes the customer more in a hurry and thus spends less time at the point of

sale (Assorin, 2006). The volume of the music determines also the time spent at the store (Morrison

et al., 2003:77-82). Other studies have shown that the music has an impact on the emotional

responses of customers. For example, a music that is congruently fitting the consumers taste would

increase their pleasure (Yalch et al., 1990:55-63).


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One good example of this auditory marketing was applied by the advertising agency DDB

Singapore, whose "Musical Fitting rooms” campaign was rewarded with a Gold Lions at the

Cannes Festival in 2011 (Mobithinking, 2011). Starting from the idea that young people identify

themselves to a specific type of music they listen to and the kind of clothes they wear, DDB

Singapore has installed in some shops’ fitting rooms an RFID device that identifies each cloth and

matches it with the corresponding style of music. To conclude, music is for marketers another tool

that give them the opportunity to influence the customer’s purchasing behaviour.

Consequently, the sound emitted by a product allows a company to strengthen its position,

differentiate itself from competitors and inform the consumer about the intrinsic properties of this

product including its quality and performance. The style of music broadcasted at the point of sale

affects the perception about the store image and prices (Areni et al., 1993:336340 and Yalch et al.,

1993:632-636). People can usually induce the sound emitted by an object simply by looking to its

physical characteristics. However, if the actual noise of the product does not match their

expectations, the customer is thus unpleasantly surprised and transfers this feeling to the usage of

the product. Hence, it is important to ensure that the product sold is emitting a sound that

corresponds to the positioning of the company, as it may even become an identifier of the brand. An

example of a brand that has a sound signature is Harley-Davidson with its guttural roar. This sound

becomes so critical that the company decided to protect it by a legal registration in 1994.

When we move to the use of auditory marketing at the point of sale, this practice is not

recent and its main objective is to strengthen the identity of the retailer while creating a unique and

cosy atmosphere that influences time perception of consumers. Besides its use at point of sales,

auditory marketing is also used on the web in order to increase websites’ traffic. The type of music

broadcasted is frequently selected to appeal the tastes of the target audience and thus establish a

stronger emotional connection between thereof and the brand. When the music is adapted and

matches the demographics characteristics of the target segment, the time spent in a store and

purchases increase by 18 % and 17 % respectively (Rajotte, 2010). Agencies specializing in the

field of auditory marketing (eg: Senscity , Muzak , etc.) are thus choosing for every point of sale the

most appropriate music and adapt to every season of the year. Indeed, it can be disastrous to leave

the responsibility of choosing music to a non professional of the field as it might sometimes neither

match the values conveyed by the brand nor the musical preferences of the targeted customers.


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iii. Olfactory marketing

Compared to the other senses, smell remains one of the least well-known and stimulated

senses (Chrea et al., 2007:1-15). As it was stated previously, this sense was one of the first to be

studied and shown to have a great impact on the purchasing decision of a consumer. Managers and

marketers understood the importance and influence that sensory marketing have on the consumer

and they are thus using experience and story telling as a way to be closer to him/her. A modern tool

that is employed is flavouring. Scent Marketing is a term that appeared after a scientific research

from Rockefeller University. In this research, the capabilities of memory and assimilation were

tested and it was concluded that the human being recalls 5% of what he sees, 2% of what he hears,

1% of what he touches, and 35% of what he smells (Experiential Marketing, 2011). Another study

revealed that 75% of the consumer’s emotions are triggered by the smell (Lindstrom, 2005:84).

As it was stated previously, a smell also triggers memories and sometimes a feeling of

nostalgia. This is why some practitioners are experimenting the effects of this sense by broadcasting

in the stores scents and odours that evoke memories and a specific atmosphere (e.g. Natures &

Découvertes, and Résonances). Studies relating to the impact of olfactory marketing showed that in

the presence of a scent, the global assessment of the store and products were more positive

(Spangenberg et al, 1996:67-80). Additionally, the odour diffused affects perception of prices and

time spent at the store. Guéguen et al. (2006:335-339) observed that the time and money spent are

positively related to the Lavender perfume compared to the one of lemon and the reason is the

relaxing effect of the Lavender.

This shows that among other senses smell plays a fundamental role when choosing a

product and/or a brand. An interesting observation about scent marketing is that with the use of

perfume, the traffic of occasional visitors in a store within a scented area doubles. These practices

are especially famous within the food industry with the use of artificial food smells to grab

customers. Nevertheless, this component of the sensory marketing is hard to apply effectively as it

differs from one person to the other and is thus very personal. People do not necessarily experience

the same reactions while exposed to a specific odour in a specific situation. Consequently there are

some variables that marketers should take into account while disseminating an odour.

These differences in reactions are usually explained by socio-demographic, psychological

and cultural factors (Barbet et al., 1999). Taking into account these parameters is particularly

needed to better elucidate the impact that smell have on consumer reactions. The first one is the


24

gender of the person. According to Hirsh et al. (1991), women are more sensitive to smell than men

and their reactions of differ in front of the same smell (Mitchell, 1992). The other variable that

should be taken into account is the age of the consumer as the smell decreases when the person ages

(Doty et al, 1984:1441-1443).

iv. Gustative marketing

This component of the gustative marketing is more difficult to implement but it is a very

good way of differentiation. The gustative marketing techniques are usually very popular among

consumers as when being seduced by the tasting of the product, they are more likely to buy it.

Making the consumer taste a product is at some point very important for companies, especially

when the brand image and/or notoriety are not yet established. Indeed, consumers can sometimes be

reluctant to buy a product when they do not know its intrinsic qualities. For this reason, some

companies are trying to develop new methods of promotion in the food sector that would enable

customers to get an idea of the taste of the product when not yet known. An example is the

American company First Flavor Inc. that developed edible strips that mimic the taste of the product

to be promoted. These bands represent an alternative to the traditional methods employed and open

a world of opportunities to the gustative marketing world (Lantos, 2010).

Moreover, although it is difficult to apply to the gustative marketing to all the categories of

products, gustative marketing can also be used to promote products that are not edible. There are for

example toothpastes producers that are trying to differentiate themselves through the use of

gustative marketing (eg: cinnamon, apple and herbs) and creating new flavours that satisfy the

demand of customers.

The other examples are the service companies who are frequently using gustative marketing

as a differentiator to better meet their customers needs and positively influence their perception of

the waiting time. Additionnally, tasting is not always done at the point of sale. It could be realized

at events and sometimes in a more surprising way like the successful gustative campaign of Thierry

Marx and Badoit (Appendix 2).

The strength of this marketing technique is that the customer tastes the product before

buying it and reassures the quality of this one. Unlike the other senses, the opinion of the consumer

on an edible product is very often influenced favourably or unfavourably by the other senses.

Hence, it is important to offer a product that appeals the consumer and thus encouraging him/her to


25

taste it. The influence of colour is undoubtedly one of senses that plays the most important role in

the whether a consumer would be willing to taste a product or not.

A study on this field has shown that when the colour of a drink was hidden, the participants

correctly identified only 20 % of the flavours. Oppositely, when the colour of the drink was

disclosed all the flavours were recognised (Garber et al, 2000:59-72). The other study that was

made is manipulating the colour of the drink on purpose. For example, a cherry drink was made

orange, and in this study 40% of respondents said that it was an orange juice.

When we move to associating taste and sound, it plays also an important role in the

assessment of the taste of the product. The best example is the famous sound emitted from a bottled

coke. If this sound is absent, it will for sure impact the consumer’s perception about the coke’s

freshness and taste. Similarly to the colour effect, studies have proved that the fact of changing the

intensity and frequency of the sound produced by a crunchy product influences the perceived

freshness of the product (Spence et al, 2006:1009-1025).

Touch and taste association can also influence the perceived taste to some people, especially

those with a strong need to touch a product before tasting it. Indeed, it appears that the tactile

features of a glass affect the taste perception. For example, a drink that is drunk from a normal glass

is considered to have a better taste than the one served on a disposable glass. The last but not least

important sense that helps in evaluating the taste of a product is its odour. Several studies have

shown that these two senses are strongly correlated. If a consumer smells an odour that is different

from what he/she tastes, it disrupts his/her olfactory system and most of the time the consumer

decide not to taste a product if he/she dislikes the odour coming from it.

v. Tactile marketing

The customer has always needed to touch the product before buying it. This allows him/her

to take it in hand in order to draw a clear idea about its quality and have more information about it.

Touch creates familiarity with the store and/or with the product. The power of touch is huge and

that's what makes it a must when you want to maximize sales of a point of sale. Product developers

are thus continuously looking for shapes, textures and materials that are meeting the current demand

of customers. The product must be in perfect harmony with its texture. Consequently, choosing

carefully the material and shape of the product is a guarantee of success, the customer will thus


26

want to take control of the product and then buy it which brings an added value to the to the product

(Body et al, 2007).

At a point of a sale and while choosing their fruits and vegetables, consumers like to feel

and palpate them. It is considered as a test of quality and allows them then to decide whether to buy

or not. The sense of touch creates a familiarity with the product but also with the store.The power of

touch is huge and that's what makes it indispensable when the objective is sales maximization.

Marketers and product developers’ look for shapes, textures and materials that meet the needs and

demands of consumers. Cashmere, for example, is a very fashionable material because of its

sweetness and thus inspires consumer comfort.

The product must be in perfect harmony with its shape and/or its material. Touching the

product would inform the consumer about its properties and quality. Marketers should choose

carefully the material and shape of the product, as it is the guarantee of success; the customer will

want to take control of the product before buying it. Touch also creates familiarity with the point of

sale. Marketing professionals have nowadays understood that the touch should not be neglected in

any communication campaign. Using touch to maximize the sales of a product would be a

guarantee of success. This sense is thus needed in order to validate certain characteristics regarding

the temperature, the texture, and the weight among many other characteristics. If those

characteristics vary from the perceived ones, the motivation to purchase the product is lower.

Additionally, the products whose physical inspection is allowed and possible before buying

them tend to be preferred to those for which the touch is not possible, and especially when the touch

is a discriminating factor in the final evaluation of the product (eg: fruits, vegetables, clothing,

electronic products, etc). Similarly, the ability to touch a product would increase the probability of

purchasing it. Some authors would even argue that in the case of a neutral or positive tactile

experience, touching an object amplifies the perception that it is the consumer’s property.

Consequently, it is important to encourage the touch of products at the point of sales. If the product

cannot be touched, it is similarly important to offer free trial periods and/or testers to compensate

the non-possibility of touching the product.

d. Bitner’s conceptual model

The conceptual framework proposed by Mehrabian et al (1974) summarized the different

researches conducted about the influence that sensory marketing has on the behaviour of


27

consumers. They claimed that the responses to a sensory environment could be classified as either

approach or avoid behaviours. Several researchers in marketing lately enriched this model (Bitner,

1992; Greenland et al, 1994:1-15; Botschen et al, 1999:38-58). In 1992, Bitner suggested a

conceptual model considered to be the most comprehensive one (see below).

This framework suggests that the different dimensions of the environment are perceived by

both by employee and the consumer. Each one of them has at the same time cognitive, emotional

and physiological responses to the environment they are exposed to. These internal responses will

thus influence their behaviour at the point of sale while affecting the interactions between and

among customers and employees. Indeed, Bitner’s model (1992) is based on some research

proposals that are not yet confirmed and need to be tested.

Rieunier and Daucé suggested a reduced version of this framework by relying on the

significant studies realized about the influence that sensory marketing has on the behaviour of

consumers at the point of sales. It can be noted that unlike Bitner’s model, the one of Rieunier and


28

Daucé does neither address the influence of the atmosphere on the employees nor the physiological

reaction of customers.

If the two models are compared, Bitner talks about “beliefs, categorization and symbolic

meanings” while Rieunier and Daucé use the words “inference and evocation”.

7. Research methodology The methodology of this work will be to initially undertake a qualitative research. The

objective behind this type of research is seeking to describe and analyse the factors that determine

the sensitivity of consumers when exposed to sensory marketing techniques. This type of research is

popular when dealing with analysis related to the culture and behaviour of consumers and helps in

explaining and understanding the motivation of the targeted population (Mattar, 1996).

This type of research will also allow us to have a comprehensive and global analysis of the

subject. The other reason is the fact that this qualitative research will complement the existing


29

quantitative studies realised in this field. The quantitative method gives frequency and quantifies

the relations while this work will have a different objective, which is the understanding of these

relations and giving them a meaning. Additionally, an in-depth explanation will be given to those

relations in order to relate the behaviour of the consumer with the other variables.

This would mainly consist of the identification of the correlation between the importance the

customer gives to the sensory marketing techniques employed in a food retail store and all the other

variables that would lead to his/her purchasing decision. Thus, the purpose of the qualitative

research will be to determine the key relationships between the consumer’s sensitiveness to sensory

marketing, and the variables that impact this sensitiveness.

In order to start the analysis and interpret the results, a data collection is needed. This

process of collecting primary data, analysing it and drawing conclusions about it are usually linked

to the process of qualitative research rather than quantitative (Glaser et al, 1967). For this reason, a

survey will be conducted both online and at the food retail stores. More details will be presented in

the research techniques section.

After the data collection, the next step of the study is the survey analysis. According to Berg

(1986), the most effective way to analyse an interview is the content analysis. This technique of

analysis is the topic of many debates. Some researchers consider it as a quantitative method while

others claim it is a qualitative one. Some proponents of this method of analysis recommend that a

mix of both qualitative and quantitative analysis should be adopted (Smith, 1975).

This type of analysis will be thus employed for the analysis of the last question, which is an

open ended one. In the answers to this question, there are seven elements that could be taken into

consideration while analysing it: words, themes, characters, paragraphs, items concepts and

semantics (Berelson, 1952; Berg, 1983; Merton, 1968 and Selltiz et al. 1959). In this study, the

most relevant elements to be used are words and themes.

Another element to use in the content analysis is the use of classes and categories.

According to Berg (1986), there are three major procedures to identify classes and categories in a

content analysis. The first one is the common classes which allows the researcher to distinguish

between and among people by using their age or gender for example and later on see if there is a

link between the pattern observed and one of these demographic characteristics. The other


30

procedure is called special classes and concerns the labels of certain communities to distinguish

among people and things (Schatzman et, 1973). The last class/category is called theoretical classes.

Those classes emerge while analysing the data (Schatzman et al, 1973). In addition to the

categorization by classes, Strauss (1987) suggested the use of coding frames and the first frame is

the axial coding. This consists of an intensive coding around a specific category (eg: age between

18-24 or student, etc).

Concerning the empirical study, which is the quantitative part of the analysis, the dependent

variable and the independent variables explaining it have to be identified before moving to the

analysis and regression stage. When the dependent variable is qualitative, the linear regression

model using the OLS method is not suitable. In the case of this study, the dependent variable is

qualitative and thus the alternative method to be used is the logistic regression (Kleimbaum, 1994).

If the dependent variable has two terms, the regression is called single or binary; however if the

terms are beyond two, the regression is called multinomial but if the answers are hierarchical, the

regression becomes an ordered logistic one (Lottes et al., 1996: 284-298). In this study, the

dependent variable has two terms (Yes Vs No when answering to the question: Does the sensory

marketing techniques used in a food retail store impact your purchasing decision?).

Historically, the logistic regression was the first used method in marketing in particular for

the scoring and epidemiology to address the modelling of a binomial or Bernouli binary variable

(eg: possession or not a product, death or survival of the patient, presence or absence of pathology,

etc). The first time this model was mentioned is in 1944 at the Journal of the American Statistical

Association (Berkson, 1944: 357-365).

In terms of application, this specific type of regression was widely used in many fields. A

first example would be for medical purposes, where the factors that differentiate between a healthy

and a sick person have been identified and here the binomial dependent variable is sick vs. healthy.

Examples of factors/independent variables would be the age, and the body mass index among

others. Engineers also used this type of regression in order to predict to what extent a product, or

system will fail or not (Strano et al., 2006). A last example of application would be in banking and

the likelihood of a client to default on a mortgage (Dudley, 2005). Thus, this method is still the

most used even if in terms of predictive quality, other approaches are more likely to provide much

better results. Consequently, it is important to follow all the assumptions and guidelines of the

logistic regression to ensure the most reliable results.


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8. Research techniques

The data collection will be based on two alternate survey methods, which are the personal

mall intercept and the electronic one. The interview will be a standardized one with a structured

form with the objective of eliciting the interviewee’s thoughts and behaviours about sensory

marketing (Berg, 1986).

The questionnaire will be composed of both structured and unstructured questions. It

includes 19 questions and is divided into three parts. It will start with the opening questions and

continue by asking more precise and topic related questions. The different types of questions are an

important element of the analysis and allow the drawing of a complete profile of the interviewee.

The four types of questions are: essential questions, extra questions, throwaway questions, and

probing questions (Berg, 1986).

The essential questions are the topic related ones and that focus on the heart of the study

which is here sensory marketing. The extra questions allow the checking of a previous answer and

whether the interviewee has understood the meaning of the essential question or not. Concerning

the throwaway questions, those are related usually to the demographic profile of the interviewee

and most of the time allows the understanding of the essential questions. The probing questions are

usually open-ended questions to give us more details about the interviewee’s thoughts and

experience.

The first part consists of 6 questions that collect the demographic and socioeconomic

information of the interviewee such as age, gender, profession, number of kids, etc. The second part

has also 6 questions and its objective is to gather general information about the habits at the point of

sale (time and amount spent, frequency of shopping, etc). As for the third part, it includes 7

questions about sensory marketing. In other words, the interviewees will have to answer some

questions regarding their behaviours and attitudes toward the ambiance and sensory marketing

techniques used in the point of sale. The last question asks the interviewee to suggest improvements

to the point of sale he/she is attending. This open-ended question might help to answer the research

questions and probably explain the outliers.

A first version of the questionnaire was tested with a dozen students to refine the wording of

questions, ensure their good understanding, remove flaws and avoid any misinterpretations. Also,


32

my supervisor Pr. Stephen Humphrey has revised the questions. Additionally, in order to

understand some of the interviewees’ answers, a direct observation of the customers in their natural

environment and setting will be done. Regarding the sampling method, the population that will be

targeted is the one who attend/shop in food retail stores at least once a week (this will be one of the

questions of the survey in order to eliminate the people not matching the sample). Once the data

will be collected, a logistic regression analysis will be run. This analysis will be detailed later on.

While writing the questionnaire, one of the first things to decide on was the number of

scales to use in the response categories. Several authors debate on the ultimate number of responses.

According to Dillman (2009), et al., there should be from four to five responses whereas fink (1995)

said in his research that there should from five to seven answers. Foddy (1994) from his side

recommends a minimum of seven categories to have a reliable and valid study (Pearse, 2011:159-

171). Researchers like Almli et al. (2011:110-120) and Lee et al. (2010:76-86) are suggesting a nine

point likert scale while others recommend a fifteen-point scale (Chaiken et al., 1983:241:256). For

this study, the seven point likert scale will be opted for. According to Dawes (2008: 61:77), the

seven and five point likert scale are the most predominant but as the five categories responses

exclude the two extreme options, we will opt for the seven answers one in this study.

9. Data analysis

a. Out of store interviews

The first survey method was the electronic method. It consisted of creating an online version

of the survey, sending it by email to people matching the target segment and also sharing it in the

relevant social networks (Facebook professional and student groups, LinkedIn groups, etc). The

questionnaire was administered via Internet to friends living in France as well as to internship

colleagues. It was proposed to all types of professions and age categories to determine whether

these demographic factors are responsible of the differences to be observed later.

At the beginning of the questionnaire, a short paragraph outlining the objective of the study

was written without giving details so as not to bias the results. Among the 150 contacted people,

116 of them agreed to participate in the study. Between these 116 people who started the

questionnaire, 92 of them completed until the end. In terms of demographic profiles, there is a first

observation that can be made; girls are more likely to participate in the study. We can link this to

the fact that if there are couples in the sample, usually it is the girl who does the grocery shopping.


33

The female gender represents thus 66% of the participants. This distribution is thus deviating from

the expected 50/50 that was also observed in previous studies such as the one of Chen and Volpe

(1998: 107-128).

Participants in the study are between 18 and 65 years, but 51% are between 18 and 24 years

and there is a majority of single interviewees with 46.7%. Among the 53.3% who are married, in a

relationship or separated 15.2% of them have children. Finally, in terms of profession, there is a

great majority of student (44%) followed by entrepreneurs representing 22%. When it comes to the

second part of the questionnaire, and when the interviewees were asked about the important criteria

while choosing a supermarket, the most important factor was the price with 71% of the interviewees

judging it as either very important or important followed by the diversity of products with 67%, the

other factor that was judged important by the interviewees is the layout of the supermarket. 47% of

the respondents consider it as either important or very important. Similarly, if the study was limited

to only women, the most important factor was price (81%), followed by the diversity of products

(76%). The other important/very important to 51% of the female gender is the store layout.

The other question that the interviewees were asked is about the time and money spent at the

food retail store as well as their shopping frequency. 52% of the respondents spend between 20 and

45 minutes shopping at their supermarket/hypermarket. Concerning the money spent, the majority

of the respondents spend between 20 and 50 euros but 33% spend between 50 and 100 euros

representing a majority of 92% spending at least 20 euros. Regarding the frequency of shopping,

46% of the respondents visit their supermarket once a week, while 23% of them go shopping only

twice a month and each time they visit their food retail store, the majority (30%) spends between 30

and 45 minutes. In terms of amount of money spent while shopping, 43% of the interviewees spend

between 20 and 50 euros. Concerning the feelings the interviewees claim to have while entering a

supermarket, the answers are very mitigated. Only two feelings were approved by many of the

interviewees: 42% of them claimed that they feel either very frequently or frequently calm, while

40% feel occasionally happy.

After knowing more about the interviewees’ general habits at their usual food retail store,

they were asked more specific questions that are linked to the sensory marketing techniques

employed at the food retail store. The first question was about their sensitiveness to some elements

of the sensory marketing and the most important ones revealed to be first of all the layout of the

store as 54% of the respondents judged it to be important or very important. The other


34

important/very important element according to 47% of the respondents is the lighting, which is like

the store’s layout elements of the visual marketing.

If only women are taken into consideration in the study, the store layout came out to be

either an important or very important element to 60% of the respondents. If again the category of

respondents is restricted to the female gender, the second most important element is lighting like in

the general data set, as 57% of the interviewees qualified it as either important or very important.

What can be concluded from this set of questions is that sight is the most important sense to the

interviewees. This observation confirms the many studies conducted in this field. Sight has always

been considered as the most important and powerful sense and it is the first way of brand

differentiation and identification (Khanna & Mishra, 2012: 620-623).

In terms of the senses that the respondents wish to have stimulated in a food retail store, the

sight again came in the first position followed by the smell, then comes taste and the least important

sense according to the respondents is hearing. Smell has very often been considered to be the

second most important sense by many researches. As Lindstrôm claimed, any sense can be turned

off at the exception of smell (Khanna et al., 2012: 620-623). This sense has great emotional effect

on the customer but should be handled very carefully. As it was stated previously in the literature

review, a pleasant odour and thus nice ambiance in the store could lead the customer to spend more

time and thus spend more (Khanna et al., 2012).

After this question, the interviewees were asked whether they have already entered a food

retail store only because one of their senses was stimulated or not. A big majority of the

respondents answered that it never happened to them. Only 16% of them claimed that sometimes

the colours of the store attracted them to enter the store, which is again an element of the visual

marketing. Also, 19% claimed that they occasionally entered a food retail store because of the test a

product. On the opposite, 22% of the interviewees sometimes leave the store because of a bad

lighting, which is once again an element of the visual marketing. Additionally, 22% would

occasionally leave the store because of a smell they dislike. Additionally, to 22% of the

respondents, the layout of the store would sometimes make them leave the store.

The respondents were also asked if they would buy a product because of its diffused odour,

sound, colours, packaging and having tested it. 24% answered that it happened to them very

frequently to buy a product because they have tested it and 31% would frequently buy a product


35

because of its packaging. The colours are also a determinant element as 18% of the respondents

claimed that they would frequently buy a product because its colours attracted them and 20% would

be frequently attracted by the odour diffused from it.

One very important question that the interviewees were asked is about whether they qualify

the sensory marketing techniques as important in their purchasing decision or not. 44% of the

interviewees answered yes to this question. When only women are concerned, 49% answered yes

which confirms similar studies in this field that claims the sensitivity of women’s senses compared

to men. The last question was an open-ended one and the interviewees were asked here what are the

improvements that they would like to see in their local food retail store and 31% of the respondents

are interested in seeing some improvements. Six respondents would like to have more testing of the

products available at the food retail stores. The other improvements that eight interviewees

suggested are the store and shelves layout. They are also looking for an enhancement of the

products, signs indicating more information about every food section and a logic behind the

organisation of the shelves. Several interviewees cited the value for money.

From the table below, it can be concluded that the most recommended improvements to the

food retail store managers are about the store and shelves organisation. The customer is looking for

a better signalisation that allows him/her to move in the store easily, spend less time and be

effective in the grocery shopping. The word product was mentioned by 11 of the 39 interviewees

who wish to see improvements in their local food retail store.

N=92 Word Count % of N Theme Tests 5 5% Taste and product

testing Signals 2 2% Store layout and

signalisation Price 2 2% Value for money of

products Department 3 3% Store and shelves

organisation Layout 6 6.5% Store and shelves

organisation Packaging 2 2% Products packaging

and information Product 11 11.9% The product as the

most important element to customers


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b. In store interviews

This second survey method consisted of intercepting customers both at the entrance and

inside the food retail store. The reason behind choosing both inside and outside the store is the AB

testing and see if there are any differences in the responses of the customer when not yet exposed to

the products and less conditioned.

This step of the interviews was quite difficult compared to the electronic one. More details

about the difficulties face will be developed in the limitations section. In order to accomplish those

interviews, an appointment was needed first with the store manager but before that I had you get in

touch with the department supervisor. After almost a month of paperwork and meetings, I managed

to get the approval of 2 supermarkets (Intermarché and Casino) and 1 hypermarket (Carrefour) in

Lyon. I had to ask the customers gently if they have 5 minutes to give me. After that, I introduced

myself as well as the objective of the questionnaire before starting up with the questions. What is

surprising is that more than 460 were stopped but I finished with only 33 answers. Additionally,

from the 460 more than a 100 started the questionnaire but claimed that it is taking too much time

and stopped it in the middle.

In terms of demographic profiles, an important observation to be made is that they were

more girls who agreed to participate. Also, at the supermarket compared to the hypermarket they

were more females doing grocery than males. The female gender represents 74% of the

interviewees. Participants in the study are between 18 and 55 years but there is a majority between

18 and 24 as they represented 44%, this percentage also explains the high rate of single

interviewees (41%). The last question about the demographics is the profession. Here again, there

was a majority of students (35%). This time it could be explained by the fact that they are more

willing to cooperate as they put themselves in your place more than the others.

The second part of the questionnaire was about the interviewees’ habits at the food retail

store. The first question was about the criteria that make them choose a supermarket/hypermarket

over another, the most important factor was the diversity of products price with 62% of the

interviewees judging it as important followed by the price with 47%, the other factor that was

judged important by the interviewees is the store layout as 44% of the interviewees claimed that it is

an important factor. Another question in this part was about the time spent at the food retail store.

The majority of the respondents spend between 30 and 45 minutes and they represent 32% followed

by those who spend between 45 and 60 minutes (21%) and then those spending between 20 and 30


37

minutes (20%). In terms of money spent, 59% of the interviewees spend between 20 and 50 euros.

Regarding the frequency of shopping, 55% do their grocery shopping once a week.

The next part of the interview was more specific with questions directly linked to the

sensory marketing techniques employed at the food retail store. The first question was about their

sensitiveness to some elements of the sensory marketing such as colours, lights, odour and music.

The most important one revealed to be the colours as 32% of the interviewees classified it as an

important element. The two other important elements were odour and music with 18% and 17% of

the interviewees judging respectively important.

Concerning the senses that the respondents would like to have the most stimulated in a food

retail store, the sight was judged by 56% of the interviewees as the most important sense. Smell

gained the first position by 24% of the interviewees. Touch was ranked by 26% of the interviewees

as the second most important while touch was judged as the third most important sense. Taste came

in the fifth and last position by 32% of the interviewees.

The next question in the interview was if the interviewee has already entered a food retail

store only because one of their senses was stimulated or not. A big majority of the respondents

answered that it almost never happened to them. Only 15% of them said that the colours frequently

attracted them to enter the food retail store, 23% said that light occasionally made them enter a store

and 26% because of a test of a product. Also 12% claimed that sometimes they entered a food retail

store because of the music broadcasted. Additionally, 29% of them claimed that odour made them

occasionally leave the store. The odour store element that annoys the customers is music, as 15% of

the interviewees would frequently leave the store because of a music they dislike.

The respondents were also asked if they would buy a product because of its diffused odour,

sound, colours, packaging and having tested it. 33% answered that they frequently buy a product

because of its packaging while 33% said that they would very frequently buy a product because

they have tested it. The colours are also a determinant element as 12% of the respondents claimed

that they would very frequently buy a product because its colours attracted them and 18% would be

frequently attracted by the odour diffused from it.

An important question in the questionnaire was about how important are the sensory

marketing techniques in the purchasing decision process of the respondent. 85% of the interviewees


38

answered a “Yes” to this question. If in this question, we take only the respondents who claimed

that sensory marketing applications are important in their purchasing decisions, the majority are the

category of age 18-24 representing 41% followed by the 25-34 (35%) and finally 24% of the age

category 35-55. Concerning the gender, 72% of those who answered “Yes” are women which is

slightly inferior than in the initial data set. Those who are spending between 20 and 50 euros

represent the same percentage as in this initial data set.

The last question was an open-ended one. The interviewees were asked here what are the

improvements that they would like to see in their local food retail store and 38% of the respondents

are interested in seeing some improvements. From the table below, it can be clearly concluded that

the interviewees are interested in having more samples and testing at the stores. The other

improvements that customers are interested in are the store and shelves organisation. They would

like to see a better signalisation that would better organise the store and allow them to browse easily

between the department and shelves. Another element that two customers brought in the last

question is about product availability. They have explained orally that they are very disappointed

when they come in their local food retail store and find a product out of stock, which is a lost sale

for the distributor. The product diversity is an improvement that was brought by 4 of the

respondents interviewed at the supermarket. However, this issue cannot really solved as product

diversity is more available at a hypermarket and a supermarket usually has a more limited choice of

products.

N=33 Word Count % of N Theme Tests 7 21% Taste and product

testing Organization 5 15% Store and shelves

organization and layout

Department 2 6% Store and shelves organization

Diversity 4 12% Products diversity Availability 2 6% Product availability


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c. Empirical study: regression on the impact of sensory marketing on the time

spent in a food retail store

In this study, the dependent variable is the probability that sensory marketing techniques

would have an effect on the customer purchasing. The independent variables are the age, gender,

profession, amount spent in the food retail store, and finally the amount of money spent. Those data

were collected from the questionnaire that a random sample of people answered to.

The model that will be studied is as follows:

Importance of sensory marketing to a customer= β0+ β1 gender + β2 age+ β3 profession + β4

time spent+ β5 amount of money spent + Єt

Variables description

Variables Description

P Probability that sensory marketing has an

effect on the consumer

Gender 1 if female, 0 if male

Age 1 if 18-24, 0 for everything else

1 if 25-34, 0 for everything else

1 if 35-55, 0 for everything else

Profession 1 if Student, 0 for everything else

1 if Liberal profession, 0 for everything

else

1 if Entrepreneur, 0 for everything else

1 if Manager, 0 for everything else

1 if Self-employed, 0 for everything else

1 if Storekeeper, 0 for everything else

1 if Administrative employee, 0 for

everything else

1 if Salaried, 0 for everything else

Time spent 1 if 10-20 minutes, 0 for everything else

1 if 20-30 minutes, 0 for everything else



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1 if >90 minutes, 0 for everything else

Money spent 1 if <20 euros, 0 for everything else

1 if 20-50 euros, 0 for everything else

1 if 50-100 euros, 0 for everything else

1 if >100 euros, 0 for everything else

To conduct the research and know more about the factors that affect the consumer’s attitude

toward the sensory marketing techniques in a food retail store and to what extent the ambiance is

important, a binary logistic regression model will be used. The first step in conducting this type of

regression is testing the assumptions that should be met in this type of regression model.

Later on, the approach was to use SPSS package in which the dependent variable as well as

the independent variables are defined and entered.

Below are the assumptions to meet before running the regression:

Assumption 1:

The dependent variable should be binary (Laerd Statistics). What is meant here is that the

question is answered by either Yes or No. In this study, the dependent variable follows this

assumption as the answer to the importance of sensory marketing in the purchasing decision made

by a customer is: Yes or No.

Assumption 2:

The second assumption of the ordered logistic regression is to have at least one independent

variable that is continuous, ordinal or categorical (Laerd Statistics). In the model cited above,

several of the independent variables are either categorical or ordinal. For example, there is gender

(male or female) and profession that are categorical, and age which is an ordinal variable. Both of

the amount spent in the food retail store and the age are continuous independent variables.

Nevertheless, an important point to note is that the ordinal independent variables should be treated

as either continuous or categorical while running the regression in the SPSS software.

d. Results and interpretation of the empirical study

A positive coefficient for the dummy independent variable in question means that it is

associated with a higher probability of the dependent variable to occur. Concerning the continuous

predictors like age and money spent, a positive coefficient would mean that a higher value of that


41

latter would be associated with a higher probability of the dependent variable to occur. Oppositely,

a negative coefficient for the continuous variables would mean that a higher value of the

independent variable would be associated with a lower probability of having a Yes as an answer to

the dependent variable (Lottes et al., 1996:284-296).

From the SPSS output table in Appendix 9, the first column (B) represents the values that

would predict the dependent variable. In other words, they represent the β shown above in the

model of the study. As we can see from the table, the coefficient for the age (18-24) is negative.

This means that it is negatively correlated with the dependent variable. Between the age of 18 and

24, the older the interviewee is the less sensitive he/she is to the sensory marketing techniques used.

This negative correlation can be explained by the fact that this category of age are usually students

that try to manage their monthly budget and thus avoid to be tempted and affected by those

marketing techniques employed at the food retail store. When we move to the other age categories

(25-34 and 35-55), the coefficient is positive (.116 and .428). This implies an increase in the

importance of the sensory marketing techniques when getting older.

When we move to the next variable (gender), it can clearly be deduced that females are

more sensitive to those techniques. In a publication of the Derval research center (2010), it was

concluded from their research that women are more sensitive to sensory marketing than men and

more particularly to smell. Additionally, women can very often even name the odour diffused.

Among the professions present in the survey, the most sensitive ones are the salaried and

storekeepers. The other independent variable that was chosen to explain the dependent variable is

the time spent at the store. Between 10 and 30 minutes, the coefficient is negative and means that

there is a lower probability of the sensory marketing techniques to affect the purchasing decision of

the customer. This can be explained by the fact that a customer who spends less than 30 minutes has

a defined shopping list and usually not tempted by anything else. They are usually in a hurry and

have no time to be conditioned. However, those spending at least 30 minutes have a higher

probability to be influenced. They are taking their time and thus are the perfect target for marketers.

When we look at the money spent, here again we have a negative factor for the interviewees

that are spending less than 20 euros and a positive one for those spending from 20 euros to more

than 100 euros. Actually, their purchasing power is reflected by this higher probability of between

impacted by the sensory marketing techniques. A customer with a higher purchasing power would


42

with no doubt leave himself to be attracted by those techniques oppositely to another who spends

less and convinces himself/herself that he/she should not get influenced.

The column that also needs to be interpreted is the P-value represented by the column Sig..

This coefficient should be compared to the selected alpha (0.05) but as we used a 2-tailed test, the

variable should be divided by 2 and then compared to alpha. From the output table, after dividing

the coefficient, the non-significant variables are: age (18-24), profession (Student), profession

(Liberal profession), profession (Entrepreneur), profession (Manager), profession (Self-employed),

The conclusions would be if the coefficient divided by 2 equals 0.05 or less, the variable is

statistically significant. If you use a 1-tailed test (i.e., you predict that the parameter will go in a

particular direction), profession (Administrative employee), time spent (<10minutes), money spent

(10-20 euros).

The other coefficients that are important to interpret are the Cox & Snell R2 and the

Nagelkerke R2. The Cox & Snell R2. These two metrics are considered as close to the R square in

the OLS regression and measure the goodness of fit in the logistic regression (Mbachu et al., 2012).

The higher they are the better. As it can be seen in appendix 10, the Cox & Snell R square equals

0.297 and the Nagelkerke R square equals 0.433, which means between 29.7% and 43.3% of the

dependent variable is explained by the independent variables selected in the model. Under the same

table in appendix 10, we have a -2 log likelihood statistic that equals to 76.083a. This statistic

predicts how good/bad the model predicts the dependent variable. The smaller it is the better is the

model. However, this coefficient is useful when comparing between two models.

If we move to the table in appendix 11, we have the Chi-square value and its significance

level. Given that the Sig. column equals .007 (lower than the critical value of 0.05), the hypothesis

of the probability of obtaining the chi-square statistic of 33.420 is true. It can be concluded thus that

the model is statistically significant. Another test that measures the significance of the model is the

Wald test. It verifies whether the variable βj equals 0 or not.

After analysing the out of store model, the second model to be analysed is the one of the

study conducted at the food retail store. From Appendix 12, we can see again a negative coefficient

for the age category between 18 and 24 years old. Similarly to the first model, it is negatively

correlated with the dependent variable. Between the age of 18 and 24, the older the interviewee is

the less sensitive he/she is to the sensory marketing techniques used. When we move to the upper


43

age categories (between 25 and 55, the coefficients are positive (1.476 and 0.428) meaning that as

the customer is getting older between 25 and 55 years old, it is accompanied with an increase in the

importance of the sensory marketing techniques used at the food retail store. What it is important to

note is that this increase is more important to the customers between the age of 25 and 34 than for

those between 35 and 55. This can be explained by the fact that some senses decrease with age

(Doty et al, 1984:1441-1443).

The next variable to be analysed is gender, and here similarly to the previous model, women

are more sensitive to sensory marketing (Hirsch & Gay, 1991). Among the professions present in

the survey, the only sensitive categories to those techniques are the students. The other independent

variable is the time spent at the food retail store and is positive between 45 and 90. Concerning the

money spent, the beta is negative between 20 and 50 euros and positive between 50 and 100 euros.

Regarding the P-value column represented by sig., the non-significant variables are:

profession (Entrepreneur), profession (Manager), profession (Self-employed), profession

(Storekeeper), profession (Administrative employee), time spent (10-20 minutes), and money spent

(50-100). The other coefficients that are important to interpret are the Cox & Snell R Square and the

Nagelkerke R Square. The Cox & Snell R square equals 0.324 and the Nagelkerke R square equals

0.433, which means between 32.4% and 43.3% of the dependent variable is explained by the

independent variables selected in the model. Under the same table in appendix 10, we have a -2 log

likelihood statistic that equals to 32.575a. Compared to the previous model, the Cox & Snell R

square and the -2 Log likelihood are higher for that model.

In the Omnibus tests of model coefficients, the Chi-square equals 12.9 with a significance

level of 0.011. The null hypothesis of the probability of obtaining the chi-square statistic of 12.9 is

true. It can be concluded thus that the model is statistically significant. Another test that measures

the significance of the model is the Wald test. It verifies whether the variable βj equals 0 or not.

In order to illustrate the results of the study and show the connections between the variables

being sought, a conceptual model was realized. The conceptual framework of Reunier and Daucé

inspired this framework. In the model below, we have similarly to the model of Reunier and Daucé

the moderating variables but instead of having them as moderators before the internal reactions and

behavioural reactions, this work proved that they intervene at another level. The socio-demographic

and situational variables like gender, age, profession, personality and crowd at the store affect the


44

sensitiveness of consumers to the different sensory marketing techniques deployed at the food retail

store. This sensitiveness is later on at the origin of the internal and behavioural reactions of the

consumer. The other difference in this model is the fact that the behavioural reactions are also

determinant factors in the sensitiveness of consumers to sensory marketing techniques.

10. Barriers and Limitations of the proposed research Sensory marketing applications have as a primary objective to enhance the wellbeing of the

customer and improve his/her in-store experience but also increase the sales of the food retail store

through the development and creation of the desire feeling. However, if those applications are

overused, the customer might develop a feeling of abuse. Additionally, some senses are complex

and marketers should be very careful while stimulating them. If we take as an example smell, a

perfume is very personal. As it can be very nice for one person, it can oppositely be very repulsive

for another. Thus, masking the odours of some products or misleading the customer in his/her

choices might be considered as a propaganda.

Regarding the limitations of the study, many of them are related to the survey, respondents

and the procedure in general. The first limitation is about the lack of cooperation of the managers at

the food retail stores. The procedure was very long and complicated in order to get the approval of

store managers. Additionally, once the approval was granted, the customers were even less

cooperative. Some of them claimed they have no time; others did not even take time to answer,

while others started the questionnaire and in the middle they decided not to continue. When

customers are shopping, they have already dedicated their time to this activity and most of the time

they are not willing to waste their time answering a questionnaire. Also, even if they agree to

answer, the answer is not a spontaneous one and thus biased, as their attention is no longer

captured. The emotional state of the customers can also bias the results when customers are asked

right after a purchase. Also, in the case of customers doing their shopping in pairs, one individual’s

answer can influence the other and change his/her answer. All in all, the questionnaire will be only

the result of a mere and simplified version of the reality.

Another limitation of the study is about the online surveys. There is no physical contact and

the reaction of the customer cannot be observed. In this type of study, the non-verbal behaviour is a

determinant element and gives several hints on what the customer really thinks. Also, if a question

is misunderstood, the interviewee cannot be enlightened and thus the answer might be mislead.

Additionally, an online study have potential sampling bias since the questionnaire is distributed to


45

the surrounding of interviewer and are usually in the same category of age, profession, social class,

etc. consequently, the other categories remain difficult to reach and thus would be at the origin of a

representativeness problem.

11. Conclusion

The objective of this study aimed to explore whether the sensory marketing techniques

employed by marketers have an impact on customer purchasing decision or not and if it is case what

makes a customer be sensitive to them compared to another. From both the content analysis and the

empirical study, the research has shown that sensory marketing at the food retail store plays an

important role in the purchase decision or assessment of the product by the customer. The more the

customer feels good in a shop, more time he/she spends. The first observation is about women that

are more sensitive to sensory marketing and similarly aging people are less sensitive. However,

customers that are less than 24 years old are less sensitive to those techniques compared to the 25-

55 age categories.

Because of this sensitiveness marketers might be tempted to use those techniques

increasingly in order to manipulate the customer. Nevertheless, the handling of some senses might

be delicate. An example would be odour, the threshold between attraction and repulsion is subtle

and difficult to master because it is very personal and what is pleasant for one person might be

unbearable for another. One sense that marketers should focus more on is sight. From the results of

the study, customers are very picky when the visual elements are in question. A majority of the

respondents claim to be very sensitive to lighting, layout of the store and colours and these three

elements are part of visual marketing.

12. Suggested future research A modern marketing should be multisensory and not neglecting one sense to the credit and

benefit of another. Additionally, the customer is looking for an hedonic and pleasant experience that

would allow him to browse the food retail store easily and in a certain confidence. Thus, by acting

positively on the degree of pleasure the customer will feel during his/her shopping, the atmosphere

of the point of sale will allow him/her to live a rewarding experience. In this context, and as Ritze

(1999) points out, attending the point of sale becomes as essential (or more) than the products

available for sale in it. With this in mind, it is appropriate to recommend to store managers and


46

marketers to develop experiential positioning strategies that will provide the prospect customer with

an intrinsic value. In presenting their points of sale as a living space and triggering positive

emotions to the customer, the atmosphere and sensory marketing will be a powerful tool of

differentiation.

What future researches in this field should focus on is to what extent multisensory

marketing is effective. In this framework, researchers could explore which sensory marketing

techniques could be associated to have a better positive effect on the consumer. How would a

diffused odour associated with a specific colour change the consumer’s attitude? What if a specific

music type would make a consumer spend more time if associated with a specific diffused odour?

These are examples of research questions to be addressed in the future by researchers.

In addition to the multisensory marketing, another field of research would be interesting to

explore. It would be interesting for researchers to study in which of the food retail store area those

sensory marketing techniques would be more effective and how it is possible to smoothen the

consumer’s shopping experience.

Furthermore, staying in the field of sensory marketing, future researchers could be guided in

a similar study but in a different industry and/or countries. This research was limited to the food-

retailing sector in France. A future research would be to analyse a different sector like the clothing

one and try to find the similarities and differences with the one of food retailing. The culture might

also be a factor impacting the study. It would thus be interesting to do a similar study in a different

country to compare the findings and see to what extent the culture factor is determinant in the

sensitiveness of a consumer to sensory marketing.

13. Research ethics

Although sensory marketing appears to be tempting for the retailers that are eager to use it

for transactional ends, it can still be harmful to the relationship already established with the

consumer if it interpreted by this latter as a way to manipulate him/her. This rational aspect of food

retailers reminds us about the society of consumption, globalization and liberalization that is

surrounding us.


47

Nevertheless, in order to try to convey a different image to the consumer several retailers are

engaged with humanitarian and/or ecological organizations. This type of actions can strengthen the

positioning of the company and reinforce its brand image. Thus, retailers are increasingly concerned

with those practices and are interested in conveying an ethical attitude. Consequently, this human

and civic side of companies and businesses is exploited to immerse the merchant side. Still, the

consumer is wary of ethics and is not confident about the existing labels and certifications. In the

eyes of consumers, the ethical approaches should not be commercially oriented. In other words,

ethics must not be the goodwill of the point of sale but rather a plus to it. This way, the retailer will

gain a greater consideration and respect from consumers.

Additionally, ethics should be considered more broadly than what it is now. It is not limited

to the checking of the illegal manufacturing practices but rather it should respect the whole supply

chain by allocating to the producer and consumer a place in the product concept. The consumer

more specifically should have a feeling of respect instead of manipulation. After years of doubt, it is

time for retailers to go for transparency and disseminate a maximum of information to the consumer

on the products, their availability, origins, etc. To conclude, ethics are about the respect of the

consumer’s expectations and should be considered as a strong base of legitimacy and long-term

trust.

14. Impacts on managers and practitioners From a managerial point of view, understanding the consumer behaviour is an inevitable

step for marketers and food retail store managers. Thus, for those of them who are concerned about

differentiating their stores, increase the welfare of their customers and their loyalty, the study and

analysis of the field of sensory marketing is crucial. Consequently, to cope with the fierce

competition, store managers are required to deploy the necessary resources to develop effective

sensory marketing strategies. Those strategies concern not only the triggering of the five senses but

also the store layout, design and training of the salespeople.

This study will thus enlighten managers and practitioners in the field about the importance

of taking into account many variables before deciding on the sensory marketing to be used at the

point of sales. By reinforcing their understanding on this field, they can construct a clearer and

better positioning. It is thus considered as a strategic tool for retailers that would like to be easily

identified and differentiated from the competition. By creating a positive environment to the


48

consumer, sensory marketing allows him/her to consider shopping as a unique experience and will

thus influence the relationship that the consumer has with the distributor.

15. Impacts on academics The sensory marketing field has started to be investigated since the early 30s but every

additional work in the field will enable future researches and academics to understand some of the

correlations that were ignored in the past. In the previous works about sensory marketing,

researches have addressed the influence that those marketing applications have on the behaviour of

the customer but the moderating factors at the origin of the sensitiveness to those sensory marketing

techniques were most of the time ignored. This work will provide academics with a new kind of

studies in the field by addressing this research topic.

In addition to a better understanding of the sensory marketing phenomenon, this study will

provide a framework for researches to explore and find new research questions that might be

addressed later. More than that, the findings of this research paper will attract and guide academics

into studying the impacts of sensory marketing in other fields.


49

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17. Appendices Appendix 1: Colours meaning

Appendix 2

Colour Impact Applications Red Strong excitation. It increases

the pulse, heart rate and blood pressure, which triggers appetite.

Restaurants and bars (appetite and excitement properties) Eg: Mc Donald’s

Orange Stimulates appetite and attracts attention among kids and teenagers.

Restaurant and Fast foods. Eg: Burger king, Dunkin Donuts

Pink Appealing and perfect for sweets

Candies producers and sweet shops. Eg: Sweet’N Low

Yellow Comforting Tea houses and pastry shops. Green Refreshment, nature and

healthiness. Bio products

Blue Sea and sky calmness. It is related to trust and serenity.

Bottled water

White Sign of purity, and cleanness. Restaurants (for plates and napkins, etc)

Black Symbol of top-of-range, quality and sobriety.

Coffee, premium products.


55

Appendix 3 Year $ Billion € Billion % Growth 2012 234.9 168.8 (0.6) 2013 241.4 173.6 2.8 2014 245.7 176.6 1.8 2015 247.3 177.8 0.6 2016 251.0 180.4 1.5 2017 253.1 181.9 0.9 Source: Marketline

Appendix 4: Purchasing power

1,10%

1,60%

-‐0,60%

0,80%

0,10% -‐0,30%

-‐1,00%

-‐1,50%

-‐1,00%

-‐0,50%

0,00%

0,50%

1,00%

1,50%

2,00%

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Purchasing Power


56

Appendix 5: Food consumption

Appendix 6: Market share

Source: Kantar Worldpanel Référenseigne Expert 2012

2,30%

2,90%

4,30%

0,40%

2,10%

2,80% 2,90%

0,00%

1,00%

2,00%

3,00%

4,00%

5,00%

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Food Consumption

18,60% 12,80% 11,30%

9,60% 8,60%

7,60% 4,70%

2,70% 2,50% 2,50% 2,40% 2,30% 2,10% 2,10% 1,90%

0,90% 7,40%

E.Leclerc Intermarché

Carrefour Hypermarket Système U Auchan

Carrefour Market Lidl

Casino Géant Simply Market Leader price

Cora Aldi

Monoprix Casino Supermarket

Dia + ED Netto Others

Market share


57

Appendix 9: First Model

Variables in the Equation B S.E. Wald df Sig. Exp(B)

Age_Dummy (18-24 vs all) -.362 .732 .024 1 .621 .696

Step 1a

Age_Dummy (25-34 vs all) .116 .060 .003 1 .048 1.123

Age_Dummy (35-55 vs all) .428 .075 .032 1 .070 1.535

Gender_Dummy (Female Vs all) .717 .056 .158 1 .008 2.049

Profession_Dummy (Student Vs all) -.346 .749 .021 1 .644 .707

Profession_Dummy (Salaried Vs all)

1.141

.077

.215

1

.014

3.129

Profession_Dummy (Profession libérale Vs all)

-.071 1.163 .004 1 .951 .931

Profession_Dummy (Entrepreneur Vs all) -.227 1.103 .004 1 .837 .797

Profession_Dummy (Manager Vs all) .028 1.283 .000 1 .983 1.028

Profession_Dummy (Self EmployedVs all) .697 1.607 .018 1 .665 2.007

Profession_Dummy (Shopkeeper Vs all)

.718

0.161

.019 1 .065

2.050

Profession_Dummy (Administrative Employee Vs all)

-20.138 23194.016 .000 1 .999 .000

Time_Dummy (<10 minutes vs all) -21.093 17189.805 .000 1 .999 .000

Time_Dummy (10-20 minutes vs all) -2.346 0.1189 .389 1 .048 .096

Time_Dummy (20-30 minutes vs all) -1.179 .095 .153 1 .021 .308

Time_Dummy (30-45 minutes vs all) .061 .067 .001 1 .092 1.063



Time_Dummy (> 90 minutes vs all) .254 0.158 .002 1 .087 1.290

Money_Dummy (10-20) vs all) -.052 1.272 .002 1 .967 .949

Money_Dummy (20-50 vs all) 1.070 0.137 .060 1 .043 2.914

Money_Dummy (50-100 vs all) .042 .050 .007 1 .093 1.043

Money_Dummy (>100 vs all) 1.375 0.140 .096 1 .032 3.953

Constant -1.224 .582 4.418 1 .036 .294


58

Appendix 10: First Model Model Summary Step -2 Log

likelihood Cox & Snell R Square

Nagelkerke R Square

1 76.083a .297 .433

Appendix 11: First Model Omnibus Tests of Model Coefficients Chi-square df Sig.

Step 1 Step 33.420 23 .007 Block 33.420 23 .007 Model 33.420 23 .007

Appendix 12: Second Model Omnibus Tests of Model Coefficients Chi-square df Sig.

Step 1 Step 12.900 8 .011 Block 12.900 8 .011 Model 12.900 8 .011

Appendix 13: Second Model Model Summary Step -2 Log

likelihood Cox & Snell R Square

Nagelkerke R Square

1 32.575a .324 .433


59

Appendix 14: Second Model

Variables in the Equation B S.E. Wald df Sig. Exp(B)

Age_Dummy (18-24 vs all)

- .769 .080 .090 1 .034 .464

Step 1a

Age_Dummy (25-34 vs all) 1.476 .104 .199 1 .015 4.375

Age_Dummy (35-55 vs all) .428 .075 .032 1 .057 1.535

Gender_Dummy (Female Vs all) 1.409 .172 .066 1 .041 4.094

Profession_Dummy (Student Vs all) .783 .091 .072 1 .039 2.18

Profession_Dummy (Entrepreneur Vs all) -1.267 .933 .184 1 .175 .282

Profession_Dummy (Manager Vs all) -.932 1.269 .054 1 .462 .394

Profession_Dummy (Liberal Profession Vs all)

.352 1.437 .006 1 .806 1.422

Profession_Dummy (Self Employed Vs all) -.549 .160 .011 1 .732 .577

Profession_Dummy (Shopkeeper Vs all) 21.339 40192.969 .000 1 1.000 1.851E+9

Profession_Dummy (Administrative Employee Vs all)

-22.456 40192.970 .000 1 1.000 .000

Time_Dummy (10-20 minutes vs all) -.329 1.053 .009 1 .755 .720

Time_Dummy (20-30 minutes vs all) -.421 .106 .015 1 .069 .656

Time_Dummy (30-45 minutes vs all) -3.563 .166 .458 1 .032 .028

Time_Dummy (45-60 minutes vs all) .372 .1817 .420 1 .040 .024


Money_Dummy (20-50 vs all) -1.468 .117 .157 1 .021 .230

Money_Dummy (50-100 vs all) .594 2.295 .007 1 .796 1.812

Constant .678 .822 .680 1 .410 1.969


60

Appendix 15: Online survey results

a. Socio-demographic profiles

18-‐24 51% 25-‐34

35%

35-‐55 13%

55-‐65 1%

Age Categories

Female 66%

Male 34%

Gender

Other 11%

Manager 6%

Entrepreneur 22%

Shopkeeper 2%

Administrative employee

3%

Student 44%

Labourer 1%

Liberal profession 8%

Unemployed 3%

Profession


61

b. Criteria’s importance in the choice of a supermarket

Very important 12%

Important 35%

Somewhat important

9%

Neutral 13%

Somewhat unimportant

18%

Unimportant 5%

Very unimportant 8%

Store layout

Very important 26%

Important 45%

Somewhat important

7%

Neutral 1%


15%

Unimportant 3%

Very unimportant 3%

Price

Very important 3%

Important 16%

Somewhat important 18%

Neutral 11%


21%

Unimportant 17%

Very unimportant 14%

Design


62

c. Feeling at the food retail store:

Very frequently 3% Frequently

8%

Occasionally 31%

Rarely 14% Very rarely

15%

Never 29%

Feeling nerveous

Very important 15%

Important 52%

Somewhat important

8%

Neutral 7%


15%

Unimportant 2% Very unimportant

1%

Diversity of products


63

Always 1% Very frequently

4%

Frequently 15%

Occasionally 27%

Rarely 18%

Very rarely 10%

Never 25%

Feeling stressed

Very frequently 7%

Frequently 7%

Occasionally 27%

Rarely 32%

Very rarely 14%

Never 13%

Feeling relaxed

Always 3%

Very frequently 13%

Frequently 29%

Occasionally 25%

Rarely 23%

Very rarely 4%

Never 3%

Feeling calm


64

d. Habits at the food retail store

Frequently 1% Occasionally

18%

Rarely 20%

Very rarely 19%

Never 42%

Feeling sad


2% Frequently

12%

Occasionally 40% Rarely

21%

Very rarely 15%

Never 9%

Feeling happy

> Three times a week 10%

Three times a week 2%

Twice a week 14%

Once a week 46%

Twice a month 23%

Once a month 4%

< Once a month 1%

Shopping frequency


65

e. Sensitivity to sensory marketing

< 10 minutes 5% 10-‐20 minutes

17%

20-‐30 minutes 22%

30-‐45 minutes 30%

45-‐60 minutes 16%

60-‐90 minutes 8%

> 90 minutes 2%

Time spent

10-‐20 euros 8%

20-‐50 euros 43%

50-‐100 euros 33%

> 100 euros 16%

Money spent

No 56%

Yes 44%

Sensory Marketing importance


66

Very important 4% Important

8%


Neutral 11%


22%


Music diffused

Very important 2%

Important 24%

Somewhat important 19% Neutral

9%


26%


Odour diffused

Very important 4%

Important 43% Somewhat

important 25%

Neutral 12%


5%


Lighting


67

Very important 4%

Important 25%


Neutral 20%


13%


Colours

Very important 13%

Important 41%


Neutral 13%


5%

Very unimportant 6%

Store layout

Very important

3% Important 11%


Neutral 23%


18%

Very unimportant

26%

Product testing


68

f. Senses importance at the food retail store

g. Entering the food retail store because of a stimulated sense

Always 2%

Frequently 3%

Occasionally 10%

Rarely 5%

Very rarely 11%

Never 69%

Enter: Odour


13%


7% Never 71%

Enter: Music


69

Always 1%

Very frequently 4%

Frequently 3%

Occasionally 19%

Rarely 12%

Very rarely 8%

Never 53%

Enter: Test of products

Very frequently 5%


15%

Rarely 16%

Very rarely 3%

Never 58%

Enter: Lighting

Always 1%

Very frequently 5%

Frequently 7%

Occasionally 16%

Rarely 16%

Very rarely 7%

Never 48%

Enter: Colours


70

h. Leaving the food retail store because of a stimulated sense

Always 1%

Very frequently 3%

Frequently 9%

Occasionally 14%

Rarely 7%

Very rarely 11%

Never 55%

Leave: Music

Always 1%

Very frequently 1% Frequently

7%

Occasionally 22%

Rarely 14%

Very rarely 10%

Never 45%

Leave: Odour


13%

Frequently 30%

Occasionally 28%

Rarely 5%

Very rarely 6%

Never 14%

Leave: Crowd


71

i. Buying a product because of a stimulated sense

Always 1%

Very frequently 1%

Frequently 10%

Occasionally 22%

Rarely 18%

Very rarely 7%

Never 41%

Leave: Bad lighting

Always 2%

Very frequently 3%

Frequently 11%

Occasionally 22%


13%

Never 29%

Leave: Layout

Always 2%

Very frequently 1%

Frequently 20%

Occasionally 25%

Rarely 10%

Very rarely 11%

Never 31%

Buy: Odour


72

Always 1%

Very frequently 1% Occasionally

14%

Rarely 17%

Very rarely 15%

Never 52%

Buy: Sound


6%

Frequently 18%

Occasionally 36%

Rarely 14%

Very rarely 4%

Never 18%

Buy: Colours


14%

Frequently 31%

Occasionally 23%

Rarely 9%

Very rarely 6%

Never 15%

Buy: Packaging


73

Always 2%

Very frequently 24%

Frequently 29%

Occasionally 15%

Rarely 15%

Very rarely 7%

Never 8%

Buy: Tested

No 69%

Yes 31%

Improvements


74

Appendix 16: In store survey

a. Socio-demographic profiles

Student 35%

Middle manager 15%

Administrative employee

3%

Labourer 3%

Self-‐employed

6% shopkeeper

3%

Entrepreneur 23%

Unemployed 3% Liberal

profession 9%

Profession

18-‐24 44%

25-‐34 35%

35-‐55 21%

Age Categories

Female 74%

Male 26%

Gender


75

b. Habits at the food retail store

Once a week 55% Twice a

week 16%

3 times a week 3%

Twice a month 19%

> 3 times a week 7%

Shopping Frequency

Single 41%

In a relationship

32%

Married 24%

Divorced 3%

Marital Status

10-‐20 minutes 12%

20-‐30 minutes 20%

30-‐45 minutes 32%

45-‐60 minutes 21%

60-‐90 minutes 15%

Time spent > 100 euros 18%

20-‐50 euros 59%

50-‐100 euros 23%

Money spent


76

c. Criteria’s importance in the choice of a supermarket


Unimportant 8%


4% Somewhat important 32%

Important 44%

Store Layout

Very unimportant 3%

Unimportant 6%

Somewhat important

3% Somewhat Unimportant

15%

Important 47%

Very important 26%

Price

Very unimportant

3%

Unimportant 17%


Neutral 15% Somewhat

unimportant 32%

Important 15%

Very important 6%

Design


77

d. Sensitivity to sensory marketing techniques

Very unimportant 3%

Somewhat important

6% Neutral 6%


9%

Important 62%

Very important 14%

Diversity of products

Yes 85%

No 15%

Importance of sensory marketing techniques


Unimportant 28%


22%

Important 17%

Very important 5%

Sensitivity to music


78


Unimportant 20%


17%

Neutral 15%


Important 18%

Very important 3%

Sensitivity to Odour

Very Unimportant 1%

Unimportant 18%

Somewhat Unimportant

1%

Neutral 16% Somewhat

Important 56%

Important 3%

Very important

5%

Sensitivity to light

Very Unimportant 1%

Unimportant 30%

Somewhat Unimportant

2% Neutral 24%

Somewhat Important 11%

Important 32%

Sensitivity to Colours


79

e. Senses importance at the food retail store

Never 76%

Occasionnally 9%

Rarely 12%

Very Rarely 3%

Attracted: Odour

Never 76%

Occasionally 12%

Very rarely 6%

Rarely 6%

Attracted: Music


80

Never 62%

Occasionnally 23%

Very rarely 3%

Rarely 6%

Frequently 6%

Attracted: Lights

Never 56% Occasionally

17%

Very rarely 6%

Rarely 6%

Frequently 15%

Attracted: Colours


81

Very frequently 3%

Never 35%

Occasionally 20%

Very rarely 21%

Rarely 6%

Frequently 15%

Annoyed: Music

Never 35%

Occasionally 29%

Very rarely 12%

Rarely 12%

Frequently 12%

Annoyed: Odour

Frequently 9%

Never 12%

Occasionally 38%

Very rarely 6%

Rarely 3%

Very Frequently

26%

Always 6%

Annoyed: Crowd


82


83


84


85

Appendix 17: Out of store interviews

a. Socio-demographic profile

i. Gender: Male Female

ii. Age: <18 years old

18-25 years old

26-40 years old

41-60 years old

>60 years old iii. Marital status:

Single In a relationship Married Divorced Separated Widowed

iv. Do you have children? If yes, please indicate the number. Yes No

v. Profession: Farmer Craftsman Entrepreneur Manager Shopkeeper Administrative employee Student Labourer Liberal profession Retired Unemployed Other


86

b. Questions regarding the store

vi. What are most important criteria in the choice of your supermarket?

vii. When you enter a food retail store, how do you usually feel? Sad -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Happy Pessimistic -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Optimistic Stirred -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Relaxed Nervous -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 Quiet

viii. How often do you visit your supermarket? Once a week Twice a week > 3 times a week Every two weeks Once a month

ix. How much time do you spend in it each time? Less than 10 minutes 10-30 minutes 30-60 minutes > 1hour

x. Do you tend to spend more time than you really think? Never Very rarely Rarely Occasionally Frequently Very frequently Always

xi. How much do you spend approximately in it? >10 euros 10-20 euros 20-50 euros > 50 euros


87

c. Introducing sensory marketing

xii. In a store, are you particularly sensitive to those elements?

xiii. In a store, would you like to have a sense stimulated more than another? (Rate from 1 to 5: 1= the most important, 5= the least important)

Smell Sound Sight Touch Taste

xiv. Have you ever walked into a store because you were attracted by:

xv. Oppositely, did it happen to you to leave a store because of an unpleasant atmosphere?

xvi. Have you ever bought a product only because of:

xvii. Are expecting more efforts from your retail store in terms of valuing the products and shelves?

xviii. If yes what do you think it is needed to make the store and shelves more attractive


88

Appendix 18: In-store interviews

a. Socio-demographic profile

i. Gender: Male Female

ii. Age: <18 years old

18-25 years old

26-40 years old

41-60 years old

>60 years old iii. Marital status:

Single In a relationship Married Divorced Separated Widowed

iv. Do you have children? If yes, please indicate the number. Yes No

v. Profession: Farmer Craftsman Entrepreneur Manager Shopkeeper Administrative employee Student Labourer Liberal profession Retired Unemployed Other


89

b. Questions regarding the store

vi. What are most important criteria in the choice of this supermarket?

vii. How often do you visit this supermarket? Once a week Twice a week > 3 times a week Every two weeks Once a month

viii. How much time do you spend in it each time? Less than 10 minutes 10-30 minutes 30-60 minutes > 1hour

ix. Do you tend to spend more time than you really think? Never Very rarely Rarely Occasionally Frequently Very frequently Always

x. How much do you spend approximately in it? >10 euros 10-20 euros 20-50 euros > 50 euros

c. Introducing sensory marketing

xi. In this supermarket/hypermatket, are you particularly sensitive to those elements?


90

xii. In a food retail store like this one, would you like to have a sense stimulated more than another? (Rate from 1 to 5: 1= the most important, 5= the least important)

Smell Sound Sight Touch Taste

xiii. Have you ever walked into this food retail store or into another because you were attracted by:

xiv. Oppositely, did it happen to you to leave this food retail store or another one because of an unpleasant atmosphere?

xv. Have you ever bought a product in this food retail store or in a similar one only because of:

xvi. Are expecting more efforts from this retail store in terms of valuing the products and shelves?

xvii. If yes what do you think it is needed to make the store and shelves more attractive

consumer’s sensitiveness to sensory marketing within the food retailing industry

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