In today’s world, where lifestyles and consumption structures are rapidly changing, new
marketing
methods are being sought every day. Under such circumstances, “sensory marketing” is currently attracting attention. It is a method that utilizes the five senses, such as sight and hearing, to create a positive impression on consumers’ desire to purchase products and services and brand image, and to encourage changes in consumer behavior.
This time, we asked Associate Professor Taku Togawa of the Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Economics, Sophia University, who researches “sensory marketing” and has translated a wide range of papers, books, and foreign literature, to understand the depth of sensory marketing and its future potential. I also asked him about it.
How do senses, including vision, affect “consumption behavior”?
–First of all, Professor Togawa, please tell us why you became interested in “sensory marketing.”
Mr. Taku Togawa
(hereinafter referred to as “Togawa”) Originally, I was researching “how visual design affects people’s behavior,” and in order to deepen my knowledge, I enrolled in the doctoral program at Waseda University’s Graduate School of Commerce. This led to my exposure to sensory marketing.
In my doctoral course, I studied under Naoto Onzo, one of Japan’s leading marketing researchers and a leading expert on sensory marketing. I was engaged in research on how various senses influence consumer behavior. After that, he worked as an assistant at Waseda University, then a full-time lecturer at Chiba University of Commerce, then an associate professor, and in 2016, he went on a research study abroad program to study psychology at the Department of Psychology at Ohio State University in the United States. .
The reason why I entered the psychology department rather than a marketing-related department is because psychology is an academic field with a long history, and its research methodologies have been established. For example, when conducting an experiment, a series of processes are established, from choosing the experimental method, how to assemble the experiment, and ultimately how to present it as a paper. Since April 2020, I have been working on marketing research and education as an associate professor at the Faculty of Economics at Sophia University.
People tend to feel “the future” in advertisements based on cool colors, and “nostalgia” in warm colors.
–What exactly is the research content of sensory marketing?
Togawa:
Basically, it is research on sensory marketing and consumer behavior based on it. When we talk about “senses”, there are various types such as visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, and tactile senses, but among these, the one I am focusing on is visual. Recent research has shown that visual recognition has a variety of psychological effects, making it a very deep area of research.
I would like to introduce a paper that I published with my co-researchers last year on the “psychological effects of color.” This study found that when advertisements use cold-colored images such as blue that evoke the image of coldness, people view the product or service as more advanced than when using a warm-colored background that evokes warmth. It has become clear that there is a strong tendency to feel
I believe that the knowledge gained by delving deeper into research into how vision can be used as a trigger to influence other senses and psychological aspects can be applied in various fields of marketing such as advertising. In fact, marketing and promotions that are conscious of visual influence are all around us.
For example, exhibitions with a “future” concept, such as automobile motor shows, often feature displays in cool colors that give a cool impression. On the other hand, although this has not been proven in the paper, I think it is possible that “warm color images are associated with nostalgia.” Content such as TV programs and movies that evoke nostalgia for the good old days use warm color schemes to appeal to people with a sense of nostalgia. For example, think of the visuals for the movie ALWAYS Sunset on Third Street, which is set in downtown Tokyo in the 1950s. The theme is based on the color of the sunset, which is also mentioned in the title.
–People associate blue with the “future,” and red and orange with a sense of “nostalgia.” There are definitely some memorable moments.
Togawa
:Research into the effects of color on human psychology has been attracting attention in recent years. For example, in psychology, several papers have been published stating that the color red excites people and increases their arousal level.
My research is to explore what kind of influence this has on customer decisions and behavior when we translate this type of research into a marketing context.
On food packages, the amount eaten changes depending on the layout of food images.
–Are there any interesting papers on visual information other than “color”?
Togawa
: This is also a study that I previously published in an overseas academic journal with my co-researchers, and there was an experimental result that found that “the placement of the image on the popcorn package affects the amount of popcorn eaten.”
Subjects were provided with popcorn in packages with different layouts and asked to eat it while watching a movie. Subject A group was given a package with an image of popcorn placed on the top, and subject B was given a package with a popcorn image placed on the bottom. As a result, more food was eaten from package A.
The amount of popcorn in both groups was 40g, with Group A eating an average of 24g and Group B eating an average of 19g. The difference between A and B is 5g, which is small, but considering that it is 5g out of 40g, the difference cannot be ignored. There was a statistically significant difference between the two.
The results of this experiment showed that when images of food are placed “top”, people associate it with “lightness” and eat more, and when images are placed “bottom”, they associate it with “weight” and eat less. I learned to hold back. This mechanism was also proven in another statistical analysis. In other words, it was concluded that the layout of food images makes people conscious of how much they eat.
Humans learn from an early age that heavy objects, such as blocks, fall down, and light objects, such as balloons, rise upwards. As a result of this learning, the association that “light = food goes well” and “heavy = food goes hard” comes into play.
In this way, we know that vision has a great influence and can bring about major changes in people’s consumption behavior.
Red has various effects on people’s emotions and thoughts.
–Please tell us about the book you worked on as a translator, “Sensory Marketing: How do customers’ five senses influence their shopping decisions?”
Togawa:
Up until now, various scholars have studied the “influence of the senses on people,” but the research has remained sporadic. Professor Aradhna Krishna (Professor at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan) carefully compiled and systematized each of these. Translating the book of a world-renowned authority on sensory marketing was a huge learning experience for me.
–The red color on the cover is very impressive. What is the intention behind this color choice?
“
Customer Sense: How the 5 Senses Influence Buying Behavior
” by
Togawara
also uses red across the cover. Regarding this point, I do not know the exact reason as I have not asked Professor Krishna about his intentions. So, this is just my speculation, but past research has shown that the color “red” has various effects on people’s emotions and thoughts.
The book also introduces examples of how the color red can change people’s psychological state or become a symbol of a particular brand. In addition, it is also mentioned that there are cultural differences in the content associated with the color red. In this way, sensory factors can have an impact in various ways, and red may have been used on the cover as an example of a symbolic color.
–It’s possible that red was chosen as a symbol of the color that changes people’s psychology. Is this kind of sensory marketing research more active overseas, such as in the United States, where Professor Krishna is located?
TogawaResearch on
sensory
marketing is currently overwhelmingly dominated by the number of papers and researchers overseas. In particular, the United States is an advanced country in sensory marketing research, with a very large number of researchers and a wealth of application examples. In order to constantly obtain new knowledge from overseas, I personally participate in international conferences such as
the Association for Consumer Research
and
Society for Consumer Psychology
every year to give presentations and interact with other researchers. Masu.
A sensory marketing approach that transcends industries: Examples of corporate initiatives
–What kind of feedback have you received from private companies regarding sensory marketing?
Togawa
Kansei Marketing can be applied to a variety of industries, so we receive consultations and inquiries from companies in a surprising variety of fields.
For example, if you are a company in the retail industry, you may be asked for advice based on sensory marketing, such as the background music played in the store, the color of the lighting, the layout of the planograms, and the design of advertisements such as flyers, in order to improve the effectiveness of store promotions. There is.
Media companies often receive inquiries such as “How can we create content and promotions that will resonate with people and encourage consumer action?” What is interesting and profound about this research is that even in sensory marketing, the hook points differ depending on the industry.
Redemption rate experiment for mailed coupons and email coupons. The difference is about 6 times
–Do you actually collaborate with companies?
TogawaFrom
2017 to 2020, I participated in an industry-academia joint research project with Waseda University Marketing Communication Research Institute, Japan Post Co., Ltd., and Fujifilm Corporation. Some of the results will soon be published as a paper in an academic journal.
In a study with the theme of “discovering new effects by incorporating traditional analog methods into digital marketing,” we conducted a demonstration experiment with 7,500 members of Fujifilm’s online print service.
Specifically, the verification term was divided into two times, with “Group A” sending coupons in the order of “DM by mail” in the first time, “DM by email” in the second time, and “DM by email” in the first time. We divided the study into three groups: “Group B,” who sent coupons via “DM by mail” on the second occasion, and “Group C,” who sent “DM via email” on both the first and second occasions, and calculated the coupon redemption rate for each group. I measured it.
As a result, group A had the highest reimbursement rate, followed by group B and group C. There was little difference between groups A and B. Roughly speaking, the redemption rate was approximately 6 times higher for coupons received via “mail DM” (groups A and B) than those received via “email DM” (group C). It became.
Special marketing effects created by paper DM: “physical presence” and “feeling of being valued”
–It’s surprising that there is a difference of about 6 times between coupons sent by mail and coupons sent by email!
Togawa
: There are many possible reasons, but what we focused on in our research was cognitive
engagement
, or the variable of “how carefully and thoughtfully one reads the content.” As a result of statistical verification, a mechanism was revealed: “When reading in print, cognitive engagement was higher than when reading on a display, which led to the behavior of coupon redemption.” Ta.
Although not mentioned in the paper, there are various other possible mechanisms. For example, physical DM has the characteristic of being highly storable. When using “DM via email”, the emails that arrive every day tend to pile up and the coupon email in question tends to get lost. On the other hand, “postal DM” is a physical item, so you can leave it on your desk or table, or attach it to your refrigerator with a magnet. In other words, you can always keep it in the corner of your eye or head.
Additionally, in discussions with my co-researchers, it was pointed out that people’s psychology may make them feel more valued when they receive a DM than when they receive an email. In contrast to intangible e-mails, postal mail can perceive tangible objects such as paper. It may be easy to have a favorable impression of “Put it on!”
In other words, it can be said that “When people receive a physical paper DM, they feel happy and at the same time maintain their interest.”
– I see. Even in BtoB marketing, the engagement effect seems to be higher when paper materials such as paper direct mail, pamphlets, and leaflets are used together.
The key to marketing success lies in the proper use of digital and analog
TogawaThe
material “paper” has various effects, so we sometimes receive interest from newspaper companies and other media that use the traditional material “paper.”
Since ancient times, paper has been a familiar presence to humans for recording, transmitting information, and artistic expression. I think everyone has experienced firsthand the effectiveness of conveying information on physically existing paper. I was able to prove this from an academic perspective, and as a researcher working on sensory marketing, I feel that this was a huge accomplishment.
–This is a result that seems to throw a damper on the rapid shift toward digital marketing in recent years.
Togawa
:Of course, this does not mean that paper is superior across the board in marketing. There is no doubt that digital marketing is advantageous in terms of costs, it is easy to verify effectiveness, and it is highly immediacy and flexible. The important thing is to recognize that all measures have advantages and disadvantages, and to take advantage of the best of them. In other words, the key to successful marketing in the future will be to fully understand the characteristics of both digital and analog and use them appropriately depending on the purpose.
Although he actually specializes in
digital marketing
, his marketing methods that skillfully combine DM with unique novelty goods such as “invitations that turn into paper airplanes” and “tenkey chocolate” have been successful, and he has won the “All Japan DM Award” consecutively. There are also companies that do.
–The ten-key chocolate DM of “freee accounting”, which won the Gold Grand Prix at the 37th All Japan DM Awards, is particularly impressive. Apparently, one of our company’s accounting staff received it at his previous job, and it remains in his memory.
TogawaThis
is a great example of cognitive engagement being promoted. Sensory marketing will continue to be used in a variety of companies and situations in order to effectively fuse digital and real life and promote consumer behavior and engagement based on new experiences. Sho. As a researcher, I am very happy to be working on this research.
