It is well-known that sensory marketing helps brands differentiate themselves from their competitors and influence positive consumer behaviour. From the colours your brand chooses, through the smell used in your packaging to the haptic sensations of your product, human senses are crucial to the success of every brand and product.
A new study from Brigham Young University and the University of Washington focused specifically on how ads playing on our senses influence the timing of our purchases.
Interestingly, it was found that ads highlighting more distal sensory experiences (sight/sound) led people to delay purchasing, while those highlighting more proximal sensory experiences (touch/taste) led to earlier purchases. In fact, those people who were more focused on the taste or touch of a product or event were more interested in it at an earlier time.
So much advertising is focused on visual aspects with little attention played to other human senses. As scientists have indicated, we have even up to 33 senses. How many are you using in your advertising?
You will probably say that you can only use vision and sound, but that is not exactly true. Numerous scientific studies have shown that visual perception of other sensory stimuli as well as their memory and even imagination can activate the brain areas responsible for the processing of the particular sensory modality. What does that mean? For the brain, seeing, remembering or imagining a smell, for example, is almost as impactful as physically experiencing this smell.
In short, yes, you can make your advertising multisensory and you should.
Author: Alice Michelletti