P. Hehn (1), D. Merkel (2), D. Piper (3), A. Scharf (4), B. Schubert (2)
1 ISI GmbH Göttingen, Germany,
2 University of Applied Sciences Wernigerode, Germany,
3 Symrise GmbH & Co. KG Holzminden, Germany,
4 University of Applied Sciences, Nordhausen, Germany
Nowadays multisensual marketing is getting more and more in the focus of interest in the world of marketing and therefore, is seen as a means of differentiation to business competitors. Although many studies have proven that addressing consumers sensually can result in a better quality perception or longer purchase duration, a multisensual approach is still an exception. That is why the objective of the present study is to analyze the impact of a multisensual (in this case a four-sensual) product design on the human perception process and its hedonic evaluation.
By systematically varying the four dimensions optic, taste, odour and haptics of a mint and its packaging it was possible to identify interactions between the different senses. By using the ConSens Method which divides the test into three steps – blind-test, concept test and full test – it was also possible to analyse expectations effects.
In total 240 test persons took part in the study. In the first part of the study 120 respondents analysed different mints without extrinsic (marketing) information. The mints were varied in their taste, optic and haptic dimension. In the concept test the expectations towards the mints which were evoked by the packaging were analyzed. The packages were varied not only in optical and haptic dimensions but also in their odour. In the full test 16 mints and packaging combinations were presented together to the test persons. The test persons were asked to evaluate the mints’ optic, haptics, taste and odour and to assess their overall liking.
This study confirms the research hypothesis that some senses are more important when perceiving and evaluating mints than others, e.g. taste. In addition the findings imply that sensory impressions are not perceived isolated. For example it can be stated that matching sensory impressions (fresh look and odour) are perceived more positively than non-matching ones.
