Introduction
What do we really know and why do we want to know?
Introduction (In progress)
While considering experiences have become the norm in research and practice, few have tried to truly understand the foundations of them. Do we measure experiences as attributes, general evaluations or cognitive and emotional measures? Regardless how we define or measure these experiences, they are most certainly important for how consumers interact and behave in their shopping activities. We want to peek inside the head of the consumer to understand him/her. By understanding the individual, we can truly create superior experiences that engage, motivate, learn and touch consumers. Sensory marketing has been a such tool to achieve this. Sensory marketing has grown substantially the last decade, examining a variety of sensory combinations and how consumers perceive and feel when subjected to a variety of different sensory stimuli (cues). In marketing, the cue-congruence (fit) between sensory cues have shown to evoke positive consumer emotions, behaviors and consumer experiences. Think of how several cues grouped together can represent a larger theme, brand or concept. For instance, how a consumer expects a Christmas theme to be or which color fits what taste or scent. By deconstructing the reality around us in smaller parts (semantic and sensory cues), we can begin to re-construct them even better than before. Regardless if loads of data are gathered, or categorized by AI to target marketing, these become only temporary symptoms without knowing the disease. Understanding why, becomes sometimes more important than how.
While the main part of my research has been within the domain of sensory marketing and retailing, I have also glanced at other theoretical frameworks. My interest and focus are within, consumer behavior, retailing, consumer experience, sensory marketing, gamification, digitalization, service marketing/management and branding,
