The one thing you need to change is emotions: the effect of multi-sensory marketing on consumer behavior

Retailers are increasingly aware of the importance of store atmosphere on consumers’ emotions. The results of four experimental studies demonstrate that the sensory cues by which customers sense products and the amount of (in)congruency among the sensory stimuli of the products affect consumers’ emotions, willingness to purchase, and experience. In the presence of moderators such as colors, jingles, prices, and scent imagery, when facing sensory-rich experiential products (e.g., juice, coffee, hamburger, soda) with different sensory cues, consumers’ emotions, willingness to purchase, and experience depend on affective primacy and sensory congruency. The results (1) facilitate an improved consideration of the role of the interaction of sensory cues on customer emotions, (2) have consequences for outcomes linked with sensory congruency and affective primacy, and (3) help clarify possible incoherence in preceding studies on cross-modal outcomes in the setting of multi-sensory marketing

The one thing you need to change is emotions: the effect of multi-sensory marketing on consumer behavior

Retailers are increasingly aware of the importance of store atmosphere on consumers’ emotions. The results of four experimental studies demonstrate that the sensory cues by which customers sense products and the amount of (in)congruency among the sensory stimuli of the products affect consumers’ emotions, willingness to purchase, and experience. In the presence of moderators such as colors, jingles, prices, and scent imagery, when facing sensory-rich experiential products (e.g., juice, coffee, hamburger, soda) with different sensory cues, consumers’ emotions, willingness to purchase, and experience depend on affective primacy and sensory congruency. The results (1) facilitate an improved consideration of the role of the interaction of sensory cues on customer emotions, (2) have consequences for outcomes linked with sensory congruency and affective primacy, and (3) help clarify possible incoherence in preceding studies on cross-modal outcomes in the setting of multi-sensory marketing

Using signals to reduce adverse selection and formulate seller positioning strategies in informal markets

Informal markets suffer from adverse selection. This problem is further compounded by the power and resource inequalities of the people who participate in these markets. In such markets, sellers face the dual challenge of reducing adverse selection and adopting positioning strategies that communicate their unique social positions. To understand how informal market sellers can resolve adverse selection and adopt unique positioning strategies, the study determines the impact of signals on three outcomes – increasing reliability/credibility, reducing price unfairness perceptions, and increasing price. First, a novel framework is developed that shows how word of mouth as the propagation medium is key in sustaining certain signals, while signals that require alternative propagation mediums do not function. Afterward, the study identifies both existing signals and contributes new signals - consistent selling locations, investments in product care, and percentage of credit offered - that can be sustained in informal markets, and shows how sellers with different resource levels can use separate signaling strategies to reduce adverse selection and uniquely position themselves compared to the competition. While high-resource sellers can signal using their financial resources and avoid threats of social isolation, low-resource sellers must signal using their social/personal reputation and thus risk social isolation if product quality is not as expected. Field study results show little buyer confidence in products exchanged, negative bias against low-resource sellers, and widespread use of pseudo-signals. Furthermore, optimal signaling strategies are devised that help sellers achieve the three key outcomes while overcoming differential impact of signals across outcomes. For low-resource sellers, the optimal signaling strategy is to offer a percentage of credit, while high-resource sellers should use calves attached, LPGs, fodder fed, and consistent locations. Lastly, the utility of the results in reducing reliance on pseudo-signals, increasing fairness for low-resource sellers, improving buyer confidence, and creating market interventions is discussed