Beyond the evidence of our senses: exploring the latest research in visual and tactile perception

Transcription

1 Beyond the evidence of our senses: exploring the latest research in visual and tactile perception Tim Froggett Visiting Marketing Scholar, Anglia Ruskin University Chief Marketing Officer, PubLAB,

2 Male oriented advertising is putting women off beer The UK has one of the lowest percentages of female beer drinkers in the world Negative perceptions contribute to British women spurning beer Female attitudes, perceptions and beliefs have not changed much since 2009 The beer industry just isn t addressing its female audience adequately Women still perceive beer branding as targeted at men (Dea Latis Research for YouGov in Beeson, 2018) 2

3 Sensory marketing all academic things start with a model SENSATION Need for touch Haptics Olfaction Audition Taste Vision Perception Emotion Attitude Learning/Memory Visual attention Attention Cognition Behaviour Inferences Interpretation (Krishna, 2012) 3

4 Like beer, it s about perception (by Roger Shepard) 4

5 The science of inferences Stimulus information from our environment is ambiguous Interpretation requires higher cognitive processing (past experiences, stored knowledge) Inferences shape what we perceive The likelihood principle (interpretation is the most likely based on what happened in the past) Sensory data Knowledge stored in the brain Inference about what is out there (Gregory, 1980) 5

6 Elements of a brand Intrinsic attributes Ingredients Taste Colour Mouthfeel Flavour Smell Appearance Extrinsic attributes Packaging shape and form Packaging colour Labels Description Texture (Riezebos, 2002) 6

7 Inferences about extrinsic attributes Consumers use packaging (extrinsic attributes) to infer Taste, appearance (intrinsic attribute) Light Dark dominant packaging Lager Stout (Underwood and Klein, 2002) 7

8 How extrinsic attributes influence intrinsic attributes Taste What we infer from what we see and feel Less intense More intense (Becker et al., 2011) 8

9 Inferences about intrinsic attributes Hoppy inference inference Less hoppy (Riezebos, 2002) Colour (at first not seen as important) may affect taste (important intrinsic attribute) 9

10 The aura effect Spreadability Orange Juice Less spreadable More spreadable Sourer Sweeter (Spence, et al, 2010; Bayarri, et al, 2001; Rohm, Strobl and Jaros, 1996) 10

11 Inferences from beer pump clips Participants were asked to say what does the beer taste like? 11

12 Flavour inferences can be accurate or inaccurate 12

13 Flavour inferences can be accurate or inaccurate 13

14 Inferences and the craft debate 14

15 We also make inferences based on how things feel The perfect glass based on physico-chemical properties, but ignoring the role of inferences in drinker perception 15

16 To touch or not to touch that is the question. Shoppers differ on two dimensions Need for touch - a preference for the extraction and utilization of information obtained through the haptic system These customers can be persuaded by texture Instrumental Scale Autotelic Scale The only way to make sure a product is worth buying is to actually touch it. Touching products can be fun. (Spence and Gallace, 2011) 16

17 Cross modality correspondence: sight, touch and taste Rounded shapes tend to induce perceptions of approachability, friendliness and harmony A beer served in a curved glass was rated 13% higher in fruitiness than the same beer served in an angular glass Perception of fruitiness increases with curvature (Spence and Van Doorn, 2017; Mirabito, 2017; Becker et al., 2011) 17

18 Cross modality correspondence: sight, touch and taste Perception of bitterness increases with angularity Angular shapes tend to induce associations with traits that express energy, toughness and strength A coffee served in a cup with angular surface texture was rated 27% more bitter relative to the cup with the more rounded surface pattern (Spence and Van Doorn, 2017; Becker et al., 2011) 18

19 Examples of textured packaging 19

20 Appearance of texture encourages shoppers to touch Perception of packaging is affected more by vision than by touch appearance rather than texture can encourage shoppers to engage in tactile interaction (Jansson-Boyd, 2011) 20

21 Eyes are the windows to the soul. It all begins with visual attention 21

22 Current trends in POS marketing - promotional neck labels are popular across categories 22

23 Our latest study the impact of promotional neck labels 23

24 How do promotional labels influence attention, consideration and choice? 24

25 Relative increase in visual attention with and without a promotional label Figures are the mean attention uplift across all bottles. Filippo Berio used for illustrative purposes only. 25

26 Leading brand plus promotional label creates synergy effect 26

27 Romeo would be just as perfect even if he wasn t called Romeo What you say in pictures about it? What it is? What you say in words about it? What the packaging says about flavour characteristics? How you create attention uplift and engagement on the shelf? How the feel of the packaging reinforces flavour characteristics? (Romeo & Juliet, ) 27

28 References Bayarri, S., Calvo, C., Costell, E. and Durán, L., Influence of Color on Perception of Sweetness and Fruit Flavor of Fruit Drinks. Food science and technology international, 7(5), pp Beeson, J., Male oriented advertising is putting women off beer. The Morning Advertiser. Becker, L., van Rompay, T.J.L., Schifferstein, H.N.J. and Galetzka, M., Tough package, strong taste: The influence of packaging design on taste impressions and product evaluations. Food Quality and Preference, 22(1), pp Gregory, R. L., Perceptions as Hypotheses. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, 290(1038), pp Jansson-Boyd, C.V., Touch matters: exploring the relationship between consumption and tactile interaction. Social Semiotics, 21(4), pp Krishna, A., An integrative review of sensory marketing: Engaging the senses to affect perception, judgment and behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(3), pp Mirabito, A., Oliphant, M., Van Doorn, G., Watsona, S. and Spence, C., Glass shape influences the flavour of beer. Food Quality and Preference, 62, pp Riezebos, R., Brand Management. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall. Rohm, H., Strobl, M. and Jaros, D., Butter colour affects sensory perception of spreadability. Zeitschrift für Lebensmitteluntersuchung und -Forschung A, 205(2), pp Spence C., Levitan, C.A., Shankar, M.U., Zampini, M., Does Food Color Influence Taste and Flavor Perception in Humans? Chemosensory Perception, 3(1), pp Spence, C. and Gallace, A., Multisensory design: Reaching out to touch the consumer. Psychology & Marketing, 28(3), pp Spence, C. and Van Doorn, G., Does the Shape of the Drinking Receptacle Influence Taste/Flavour Perception? A Review. Beverages, 3(3). Underwood, R.L. and Klein, N.M., Packaging as brand communication: Effects of product pictures on consumer responses to the package and brand. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 10(4), pp