Consumer's Sensitiveness To Sensory Marketing Within The Food Retailing Industry

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Title :
Consumers sensitiveness to Sensory Marketing within
the food retailing industry
Program: MSc - MKT 6 - Grenoble (2012 - 2014)
Academic Year: 2013-2014
Dissertation / Project / Internship Report: Final Management Project
Student Name: Elaouadi Yasmine
School Tutor / Evaluator Name: Humphrey Stephen
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Summary: The purpose of this work will be to explore how ambiance and sensory
marketing have changed the way consumers behave in a food retail store. Also, the
objective would be to question what are the variables that are responsible in making the
consumer sensitive to those practices.
Keywords: (cf. Thesaurus du Management):
MARKET STUDY - CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
DISTRIBUTION - SUPERMARKET
DISTRIBUTION - HYPERMARKET
EUROPE - FRANCE

Yasmine ELAOUADI
MSc Marketing 6: Final Management Project
Consumers sensitiveness to Sensory Marketing within the Food Retailing Industry

Acknowledgment
I am gratefully thankful to my supervisor, Professor Stephen Humphrey, whose guidance, support

and encouragement from the preliminary to the concluding level of this work enabled me to develop
an understanding of the subject. The supervision and support that he gave me truly helped me in the
progression and smoothness of this final management project. The co-operation was much indeed
appreciated. Lastly, I offer my regards and blessings to all of those who supported me in any respect
during the completion of the project, especially all the people who spared their precious time in
answering my questionnaires, giving me advices and helping me reaching my goals.

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Executive summary
In an increasing competitive environment, food retailers are constantly seeking to
differentiate themselves. For this reason, they try to regularly find new ways of communication to
advertise their line of products, to offer a wide variety of products or to compete through prices.
Recently, new marketing trends are emerging and food retailers are complied to follow them in
order to remain competitive. One important trend is the experiential marketing, which relies on the
use of sensory marketing techniques.
The objective of this study is thus to evaluate the effect that those marketing techniques
have on consumers, how this effect differs from one consumer to the other and mainly defining and
understanding the moderating variables that are responsible in those behavioural differences. In
order to realize this work, the field of sensory marketing will be explored through the different
previous researches realized. Also, to collect primary data a survey will be conducted to identify
and understand the consumers behaviour at the food retail store while exposed to sensory
marketing techniques.
The report will be structured into 7 main parts. It will start with the rationale of the proposed
study and the research questions and objectives, followed by the literature review, and then an
industry overview will be presented to understand the French food retail market. After that, the
research methodology and techniques will be presented to lead us to the data analysis with the
interpretation of the results. Finally, the barriers and limitations of the study will be presented
before concluding with a suggested further research, research ethics and the different implications
of this study at both of the managerial and academic levels.

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Outline
Acknowledgment ................................................................................................................................ 1
Executive summary ............................................................................................................................ 2
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 5
1. Rationale for the proposed study .............................................................................................. 6
a. Strategic reasons ................................................................................................................................... 6
b.
Operational reasons .............................................................................................................................. 7
2. Industry Overview ...................................................................................................................... 7

c. PESTEL analysis ................................................................................................................................... 8
i. Political environment .................................................................................................................................................. 8

ii. Economical environment ........................................................................................................................................... 8
iii. Social and cultural environment ............................................................................................................................. 8
iv. Technological environment ...................................................................................................................................... 8
v. Environmental and ecological environment ...................................................................................................... 9
vi. Legal environment ........................................................................................................................................................ 9
d. Main players .......................................................................................................................................... 9
e. Porters 5 forces..................................................................................................................................... 9
i. Competitive rivalry within an industry ............................................................................................................... 9
ii. Bargaining power of suppliers .............................................................................................................................. 10
iii. Bargaining power of customers ........................................................................................................................... 10
iv. Threat of new entrants ............................................................................................................................................. 10
v. Threat of substitute products ................................................................................................................................ 10
f. Trends in the food retail industry ...................................................................................................... 11
3. Business Research Questions ................................................................................................... 11

4.
Implications of the exploratory qualitative research ............................................................ 12
5.
Research objectives ................................................................................................................... 13
6.
Literature review ...................................................................................................................... 14
a. Sensory marketing: evolution and importance ................................................................................ 14

b. Sensory marketing in the food retail industry ................................................................................. 17
c. Sensory marketing and its components............................................................................................. 19
i. Visual marketing ......................................................................................................................................................... 19
ii. Auditory marketing ................................................................................................................................................... 21
iii. Olfactory marketing ................................................................................................................................................... 23
iv. Gustative marketing .................................................................................................................................................. 24
v. Tactile marketing ........................................................................................................................................................ 25
d. Bitners conceptual model .................................................................................................................. 26
7. Research methodology.............................................................................................................. 28
8.
9.
Research techniques ................................................................................................................. 31

Data analysis.............................................................................................................................. 32
a. Out of store interviews........................................................................................................................ 32
b. In store interviews............................................................................................................................... 36
c. Empirical study: regression on the impact of sensory marketing on the time spent in a food
retail store ................................................................................................................................................... 39
d. Results and interpretation of the empirical study ........................................................................... 40
10. Barriers and Limitations of the proposed research ......................................................... 44

11. Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 45
12. Suggested future research ........................................................................................................ 45

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13. Research ethics ............................................................................................................................. 46

14. Impacts on managers and practitioners .............................................................................. 47
15. Impacts on academics ................................................................................................................. 48
16. Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 49
17. Appendices ..................................................................................................................................... 54
Appendix 1: Colours meaning ................................................................................................................... 54
Appendix 2 .................................................................................................................................................. 54
Appendix 3 .................................................................................................................................................. 55
Appendix 4: Purchasing power ................................................................................................................. 55
Appendix 5: Food consumption ................................................................................................................ 56
Appendix 6: Market share ......................................................................................................................... 56
Appendix 9: First Model ............................................................................................................................ 57
Appendix 10: First Model .......................................................................................................................... 58
Appendix 11: First Model .......................................................................................................................... 58
Appendix 12: Second Model ...................................................................................................................... 58
Appendix 15: Online survey results .......................................................................................................... 60
Appendix 16: In store survey .................................................................................................................... 74
Appendix 17: Out of store interviews ....................................................................................................... 85
Appendix 18: In-store interviews .............................................................................................................. 88

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Introduction

Over time, the consumers relationship with the product has changed. Long gone are those
days when you just opened up your shop, put the product on the shelf and fingers crossed hope to
make a dollar or two, it needs to be more than just that otherwise people will just sit at home and
buy it online in the convenience of their own home as opposed to going into a store (Carol
Bargaric, AUSVM Director). Nowadays, the consumer needs to put himself/herself in a relation
with the product under several angles and be associated with it.
Additionally, the environment surrounding the product plays an important role in the
consumer decision process. This environment is interpreted by the consumers five senses.
Companies are more and more creating a special atmosphere around their products to make their
customers feel more comfortable and improve their experience. This atmosphere called also
ambiance is present in both of the point of sale (POS) and the advertising means. Through the
triggering of the five senses, companies are trying to differentiate their products from the
competition, give their brand a unique identity and convey the desired brand image. Those
techniques are known under the term of Sensory Marketing.
One of the sectors that is focusing a lot on this type of marketing practices is the retail
industry and more specifically the food one. In order to get a better understanding of this topic, this
work will explore how the ambiance and environment surrounding a product changes the way
consumers behave in a food retail store. More specifically, how some demographic and situational
variables change the behaviour and actions of the consumer will be determined. Also, throughout
this project the correlation between the sensory marketing techniques and the consumers decision
to purchase a product and time spent in it will be determined. The focus of this study will be put
towards the food retailing market in France.
This work will start with an enlightenment about the rationale, the research questions to be
addressed and the objectives of the study. After that, the literature review will be presented to
understand how the term sensory marketing appeared and evolved and what are its different
components. Also, similar studies that have been conducted in this field will be looked at closely.
Later on, a look will be given to the food retail industry to have a situational analysis of the retail
industry, the main players, their strategies in terms of competition and finally the latest trends of the
industry.

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The other important stage of this work is the research methodology and techniques that were
undertaken to analyse the primary data. Finally, the last sections will address the primary data
analysis, result discussion, barriers and limitations of the study before concluding with the
suggested future research and implications of the project.
1. Rationale for the proposed study

a. Strategic reasons

The ambiance of the food retail store is a key element in marketers strategies, giving rise to
this new area of marketing called sensory marketing. In this framework, many research studies have
repeatedly shown that sensory marketing and the ambiance in a retail store influence tremendously
the behaviour of the customer. Those researches have demonstrated the potential role of smell,
music, colours, touch and even taste as being marketing differentiators available to the distributor.
Additionally, they have demonstrated a positive influence of the atmosphere on the
consumers behaviour. However, these studies did not seem to have concentrated in quantifying the
relationships that the atmosphere has on the consumer behaviour and no correlation was presented
and analysed in this sector and even less in France.
Moreover, it appears that those researches have widely been oriented toward the emotional
and behavioural responses while disregarding the cognitive reactions of the consumers and trying to
understand what are the main factors that affect this purchasing decision (eg: demographic factors).
Thus, the strategic rationale of this proposed work is to identify those factors, contribute to the
understanding of the factors that influence the consumers purchasing behaviour at the food retail
store, enlighten scholars and academics about this relationship and show the importance of the
sensory marketing practices. Sensory marketing is thus considered as a new area of differentiation
that would renew and alter the business landscape offering to the customer a new and exciting
experience.
The other strategic rationale is showing the food retail stores managers that there are limits
in the use of sensory marketing. It is important to note the cultural and social differences between
customers. For this, they should adapt their strategies from one point of sale to the other in order to
have effective results. Furthermore, they should be careful in not making the customer gets weary

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and has the feeling of being fooled by those practices. In other words, it should be used wisely and
adapted from one supermarket to the other, from one season to the other, etc.
b. Operational reasons

From an operational side, sensory marketing techniques are real-time influencers. They
allow the distributor to analyse the most operational and influencing techniques. For example, with
a defined target segment, a distributor can test the effectiveness of two products priced identically,
exposed to the same height but packaged differently. Other similar tests could be daily tested to
identify the exact different segments and their respective behaviours at the selected food retail store.
The study will thus help food retail managers to better target their customers and use the
most appropriate techniques to the most sensitive consumers according to the study. This work will
enlighten them in their daily activities. In other words, it will be cleared for them to know how the
store layout should be organized, what are the areas that should be highlighted. If the customers
needs are not well identified, there will be a in recruiting professionals that would help them in
choosing the right scent or the right music to be broadcasted at the store and at the in the different
department stores.
Consequently, throughout the study, marketers will become more aware about the different
moderating variables that are responsible in making a specific target segment more sensitive to their
daily effort in terms of sensory marketing techniques. On the short-term level and after considering
this study, marketers will have to think about the budget they are allocating to every sensory
marketing component (auditory, olfactory, tactile, visual and gustative) and how they are managing
it from one target segment to the other. Thus, a reallocation might be necessary.
2. Industry Overview
The food retail industry includes the activities that make goods and services available to the
consumers and consists of three major retail formats: hypermarkets, supermarkets and hard discount
stores. In 2012 and in France, this market generated total revenues of $234.9 billion (Appendix 3).
In terms of history, it was in 1957 that the first self-service store opened its doors in France by
Edouard Leclerc (Tarteret et al., 2012).

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c. PESTEL analysis
i.
Political environment

In France, the omnipresence of the PNNS (National program of Health and Nutrition)
symbolizes the intervention of a State increasingly present and everything started with the Evin law.
In 1991, this law strictly prohibited advertisements for alcoholic beverages (Kessler, 2005: 292295).
ii.
Economical environment

In France, the purchasing power per household registered a decline of 0.9% in 2012
(Appendix 4). The other factor that plays a significant role for businesses is the economic growth.
In France, the GDP grew by 0.3% in 2013 (Banque de France). The last factor is the inflation rate.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies, the food prices rose faster in
2012 than in 2011 and the inflation rate reached an average of 2.1% in 2012 (Le Point.fr, 2013).
iii.
Social and cultural environment

In 2012, food consumption grew by 2.9% in value (Appendix 5). In 2012, there are five
main trends that stood out: ethics, practical (quantity and packaging), naturalness, pleasure and
health (Dmter et al., 2012). In 2013, the French population increased by 0.57% to reach 65.8
million people. In terms of ethnicity, the native French are the largest group followed by the North
African and Arab group, which represent around 4% of the total population (World Population
Statistics, 2013). In France the consumer movement is very rich. It is present in all of Frances
regions and provides a social and economic role for the consumers with the aim of defending their
rights. The other factor that should be considered while studying the social and cultural
environment is the level of education. The French government invest 6.3% of its GDP in education,
a little more than the OECD average (6.2%) (Le Monde.fr, 2012).
iv.
Technological environment

France is considered to be a leading country in terms of technology initiatives. According to
the World Bank, its R&D expenditure in 2011 amounted to 2.25% of the GDP (Trading
Economics). Additionally, the French government allocated 35bn as a Special Investment Plan to
support the National Research and Innovation Strategy (Datamonitor, 2011).

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v.
Environmental and ecological environment

These two factors are typical of the 21st century and are related to environmental awareness.
In France and since 2002, a focus was made on sustainable development. An interdepartmental
committee of sustainable development supervises this national policy since 2003. In 2010, in order
to become more sustainable, France adopted the Bioethanol clean fuel production. Additionally,
France has adopted the polluter pay policy to promote sustainability among companies.
vi.
Legal environment

The legal side is essential in the market research as it can block the release of a product. In
France, foreign investments increased by 22% in 2010. Nevertheless, although the FDI are
encouraged, several laws restrict the businesses establishment. Examples are the labour laws, social
security costs and wages regulation. Frances working week has been assessed to be the shortest
week in the EU with 35 hours (Confederation Fiscale Europene). Because of these restrictions, the
FDI in France fell by 77% in 2013 to reach $5.7billion (UN Conference on Trade and
Development, 2014).
d. Main players

In France, the market for mass distribution can be described as oligopolistic. Five players
share up to 90 % of the total purchases of all the hypermarkets and supermarkets. The main retailers
are: Carrefour, Auchan, Leclerc, Casino, Intermarch (Les mousquetaires Group) and Systme U.
With over 18.6% market share, E. Leclerc has emerges as the undisputed leader starting 2012 ahead
of its two main rivals, Intermarch with 12.8% and Carrefour with 11.3% of market share
(Appendix 6).
e. Porters 5 forces
i.
Competitive rivalry within an industry

In France, the food retail sector is experiencing a strong rivalry. Several players are
competing and the reason is the low level of differentiation and low switching cost of consumers.
Carrefour is the leading supermarket in Europe, and worlds number 2 after Wallmart (MarketLine
Industry Profile, 2012). Leclerc stores represent a turnover of 43.7 billion euros at the end of 2012
(E. Leclerc Press release) and are the leaders in the sector. The group Les Mousquetaires is also a
major player with a turnover of 39.1 billion at the end of 2012 (Les Mousquetaires). The other

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important player in the French food retailing market is the Auchan group with a turnover of 46.9
billion in 2012 (Groupe Auchan, 2013).
ii.
Bargaining power of suppliers

At negotiating with suppliers, the leading groups of this industry appear to be dominant.
Indeed, many of the suppliers are SMEs and farmers. Consequently, their inferior size makes them
not as powerful as their customers. They are therefore forced to practice prices aligned with the
pricing terms of those groups. Concerning the larger suppliers, the distributors usually sign
agreements with them to avoid the fluctuating prices.
iii.
Bargaining power of customers

The bargaining power of customers does not really come from their ability to negotiate, but
rather from the competitive pressure. However, as the customer is the end consumer, when he
switches to another retailer it will have a low impact on the initial one on the short term but on the
long run it might have a great impact especially that the switching cost is very low from one retailer
to the other.
iv.
Threat of new entrants

In this industry, the threat of new entrants appears to be very low because of the position of
the established retailers. New entrants will have to face several challenges. Among those difficulties
we can quote the heavy initial investments, the competitive prices of the existing groups, the loyalty
of customers, and the control of distribution networks by the existing groups. Barriers in the retail
sector can also be from the legal side (GMOs, ISO standards, etc). The threat may still be present
from foreign groups if they ever decide to expand abroad (eg: Walmart, Tesco).
v.
Threat of substitute products

The threat of substitution is very low but still exists. It can come from Internet shopping
where virtual distributors offer competitive prices and prevent customers to spend time at a store.
Nonetheless, the leading groups reacted to this by launching their shopping websites (eg: Carrefour,
and Auchan).The other source of substitution are the convenience stores with their extended
opening hours but apply higher prices and have a lower product offering. Another source of
substitution are the local farmers selling bio products. This source of substitution is growing in the
last years to support the local economy and because of the increasing health consciousness.
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f. Trends in the food retail industry

To reinvent the future of businesses, new strategies and digital technologies have shacked
the food retail industry. In terms of promotion, the coupons are more and more paperless and
customized on the mobile of the customer. The other trend is the growing number of drives. The
drives account for 2031 while the hypermarkets are 2022 (La tribune, 2014).
One of the trends that is nowadays scaring the distributors is the Showrooming. This
practice consists of going to the store, having a look at a product, and then thanks to the new mobile
applications available to the consumer, he/she would look for the POS that is offering it at the best
price. According to Guillaume Rio, 72 % of people who practice Showrooming have as a primary
motivation price. A price difference of only 2.5% is enough to go for the competitor (Maillet,
2013).
Another important trend in this sector is about the less queuing tendency. During the last
years, there are numerous promising payment devices arriving to stores. One of the most
operational is the Q-Thru (Maillet, 2013). It is used to scan products and at the end of the shopping,
a QR code appears on the screen of the mobile. This QR code is then transferred on a self-service
terminal where the payment is made and thus reduces the queuing time.
3. Business Research Questions

The factors that might have an impact on answering the business research questions are
mainly related to the primary data collection step. In this project, it should be noted that there is the
problem of having biased respondents. Indeed, the states of mind of interviewees are different from
one respondent to the other and are highly impacted by several situational factors. Thus, the mood
of the interviewees might have a great effect on their responses. An example of a situational factor
that might influence the mood of the interviewee is a crowded store. Therefore, if the in store
survey is conducted at the wrong moment, there might be flaws on answers and thus reflect this on
the results analysis. Additionally, when the survey is conducted at the food retail store, it should be
noted that those who agree to cooperate and answer the surveys might not be representative of the
typical customers of the concerned food retail store. Therefore, this non-representativeness might
create outliers on the survey and affect the results of analysis.
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The other factors that might have an impact on the answer to the business research questions
are the biases of the researchers, as they might be influenced by their personal analytical skills.
While analysing results of the survey, the researcher is using his/her individual skills and thus
biased. An example would be the approach he/she will be using during the content analysis. In
addition to the skills of analysis, it must also be noted that the way questions are formulated and
phrased is also a factor that guide the interviewee in a direction more than another and thus the
result of the study (Teevan et al., 2011). In other words, if a likert scale goes from the negative to
the positive side, the response of the interviewee might vary (Likert, 1932). According to the
pioneer of this likert format, this approach is simple and versatile (Johns, 2010).
Throughout this work and by taking into consideration all the factors discussed above, the
central question would be: What are the variables that make a specific consumer be more sensitive
compared to another one to the sensory marketing techniques used at a specific food retail store?.
By seeking to understand and answer this business research question, the central phenomenon of the
study will be analysed (Creswell, 2008). The variables that the research question refers to are
considered to be moderating variables (Rieunier, 2002), and are either personal or situational.
Additionally, throughout the data analysis, other sub-questions will be answered such as the
extent to which the customer is influenced when interviewed at the retail store compared to when
he/she is outside of it and consequently not conditioned. What are the most effective sensory
marketing techniques? What is the most appropriate atmosphere for the consumers at the food retail
store? What are the senses that play a more important role in the purchasing decision process
according to the consumers? The sub-questions are complementary to the central question and
allow a narrowed focus on the study. According to Creswell (2008), a qualitative research should
contain at least one central question followed by several other sub-questions. Miles and Huberman
(1994) on their side recommend the use of no more than a dozen of research questions and in order
to have clear answers to those questions, during the interviews the sub-questions will become part
of the specific questions asked to the interviewees (Creswell, 2008).
4. Implications of the exploratory qualitative research

The exploratory qualitative research aims usually to clarify a research question/problem that
has been more or less defined. It can also help determine the appropriate research design, before
conducting a larger study. According to Van der Maren (1995), the exploratory qualitative research
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intends to fill in a gap. Additionally, it is used to produce a certain knowledge about an unknown
phenomenon. In this work, the main objective of the exploratory qualitative research will be to
describe and analyse the factors that determine the sensitivity of consumers when exposed to
sensory marketing techniques. Those factors are considered to be moderating factors according to
Rieunier (2002). The main implication of this exploratory qualitative research is complementing the
existing quantitative studies realised in this field and would allow practitioners, managers and
academics in this field to understand the existing relations and give a meaning to them.
Moreover, the phenomenon of sensory marketing will be analysed in order to better
understand it. Also, it will enlighten future researches about the moderating variables that are
responsible of making a consumer more sensitive to sensory marketing techniques. If in the future,
researchers decide to explore the multisensory marketing and how different senses could be
associated, this study will be somehow guiding.
5. Research objectives

When it comes to discussing the research objectives, this study aims at analysing the effect
that some demographic factors have on the consumers sensitiveness to sensory marketing
techniques. Through the surveys, a deep analysis will be conducted in order to identify the
relationships between the different demographic factors and their direct link with the sensitiveness
of the interviewees to the sensory marketing techniques used at the food retail store. The empirical
study will come later to confirm the qualitative results or not but it will also help quantifying the
correlations and better understand them.
Additionally, the other objective of the research is to provide a framework that will help
improving both of the consumers shopping experience and increase the retail stores profits. The
work would also look at which type of consumer is more sensitive to the sensory marketing
techniques used by marketers and among those techniques what are the most important ones
according to the interviewees.
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6. Literature review
a. Sensory marketing: evolution and importance

Before the concept of sensory marketing came into light, several authors have presented it
under different notions. In 1932, Donald Laird conducted a first study on the impact of senses on
the consumers behaviour.
In his research, Laird studied the influence of odour on the perceived quality of nylons (Laird,
1932:241-246). In this study, a group of consumers were asked to evaluate different pieces of
underwear. Some of those clothing pieces were scented while others were not. The results of the
study showed that the perfumed products had a better assessment although the consumers were
never asked to smell them and the odour criterion was never cited (Rieunier, 2002).
In the 50s, marketing was mainly based on the visual and tactile aspect. At first, the
consumer is interested on the visual side of products. For this reason and in order to enable the
customer to position the product in their mind, companies were investing a lot on the packaging and
the logo of the brand as the visual identity of a brand is represented by these two elements. The
other important element for customers is touch as it allows them to better seize the quality of the
product and insures them a certain level of comfort (Barbet et al, 1999).
The 60s were more conducive to the auditory marketing. Using auditory techniques at the
point of sale had as an ultimate goal to positively affect the consumers purchasing decision and
guide them in their shopping. According to Barbet et al.(1999), a slow music not only promotes
dawdling but also that pushes the customer to spend more time at the point of sale and make him
wait in the queue more easily. One of the first to investigate the field of auditory marketing was the
French researcher Guy Serraf. This latter wrote an article in 1963 about the influence of music on
the behaviour of customers at a point of sale (Rieunier, 2010).
When we move to the 70s, more importance is given to gustative marketing. At the food
retail store, marketers offer more food sampling to customers. This practice leads to customer
loyalty and allows the tasting of products before buying them (Maille, 2001: 51-76). The next to
investigate in this field is Philip Kotler, who is considered to be a pioneer in this subject. In 1973 in
the Journal of Retailing, he initiated the idea of atmosphere as a whole and not as a single sense. He
insisted on the fact that a point of sale needs to differentiate itself using other than intrinsic
characteristics like price or assortment of the product.

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Ambiance is the whole atmosphere of stimuli such as music, colour, and smell, which are
considered as marketing tools and defines atmosphere as creating a shopping environment that
produces a specific emotional effect on consumers such as pleaser or excitement, which might
increase the purchasing probability (Kotler, 1973:48-64). Kotlers definition about the atmosphere
emphasizes on the fact that the manager of the point of sale controls this atmosphere. Additionally,
it is according to him a marketing tool that triggers several types of reactions on the consumer
(either affective, cognitive or behavioural).
In France, it was not until 1988 when Filser and Jallais emphasized on the interest or
investigating in this field (Rieunier, 2010). In 1992, Bitner emphasized on the influence that the
ambiance in a point of sale has on the customers behaviour. Throughout his work, he demonstrated
that the atmosphere and environment of a point of sale create emotions on the customer (Bitner,
1992). He also created a conceptual framework presenting the influence that the atmosphere has on
the behaviour of the consumer at the point of sale.
And it is starting the early 2000s that a new word sensory marketing started to be
associated with ambiance and atmosphere and became popular among researchers and managers
thanks to the various publications. From that moment, this concept has started gaining importance
among marketers and became a new and important element in the marketing strategies of large
firms. This practice was enhanced by the publication of the first comprehensive book on this topic:
Le marketing sensoriel du point de vente written by Rieunier et al (2002). The term sensory
marketing is defined as a number of techniques that are used by marketers in several fields to
stimulate one of the consumers senses or more (Rieunier, 2002). Also, through the stimulation of
senses, emotions might be awakened as well.
Starting from the idea that the customer is constantly collecting colours, shapes, sounds,
smells, and visual sensations, companies are more and more integrating sensory marketing activities
in their communication and marketing strategies. This type of marketing is practiced starting from
the advertising campaigns to the experience in the point of sale. Whether through sound, light or
virtual interaction, marketers are trying hard to succeed in giving the consumer a pleasant
experience, making him/her associate himself/herself with the brand and be able to recognize it.
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Moving from the point of sales to the product, from the premium to the discount, a growing
number of stores are diffusing odours and more and more brands are associating their brands with
an auditory or olfactory identity (Hetzel et al., 1993:522-533). Examples of brands that use sensory
marketing are numerous and it is for them a way to position their brand image in the minds of
consumers and differentiate themselves from the competition. Among the most representative
example, Nature & Dcouvertes can be quoted. This brand refers to nature and forest and sells
products linked to this (eg: binoculars, books related to nature, gardening equipment, etc). In their
stores, they are diffusing scents of cedar and birds sounds in order differentiate themselves in the
consumers mind. The other example is Abercrombie & Fitch that is perfuming its stores at an
intensive level, as the odour diffused is perceptible into the street in front of the stores. This
intensive use of sensory marketing allows the consumer to easily identify and differentiate
Abercrombie & Fitch from the competing ones like Aeropostale, Esprit or Gap. Also, there are the
Vinci parking that are increasing their safety impression by using a bright lighting and a soft music.
The other industries that are trying to differentiate themselves thanks to sensory marketing
are the restaurants. Buffalo Grill restaurants can be cited as they are using a decor that is stimulating
the sight and hearing of the consumer so that it evokes in his mind the Cows-Boys history. The
Italian and Chinese restaurants in their turn disseminate a music that is evoking their countries so
that the consumer has this feeling of travelling to this country.
All of these examples show that beyond being a positioning tool, sensory marketing is a real
instrument allowing the brand to deploy a relational strategy with its customers. In this context, the
atmosphere of the point of sale is thus a vector of emotions enabling the customer to attend the store
to have a unique experience that breaks out with the daily life of the customer. Thus, those elements
allow the companies to convey a message to the customer and draw a specific brand image on their
minds and by stimulating the different senses of the consumer, some brands have managed to
clearly differentiate themselves from the competition.
One of the industries that are intensively employing these kinds of practices is the foodretailing sector. Within this research, the objective is to observe the different methods employed by
marketers in the French food retail stores and find out what are the most effective ones. In order to
better understand the marketers approach, a closer look will be given to sensory marketing and its
different angles.
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b. Sensory marketing in the food retail industry

In the field of sensory marketing, several studies have been undertaken but very few tackled
the food retailing industry and even less in France. From a study to the other, the effect of sensory
marketing has been proved to be a powerful tool to attract the consumer, offer him/her a pleasant
experience in the store, increase the time spent in it and enhance the buying behaviour. Moving
from smell, to sound, touch, even taste and obviously sight, all of these senses have been tested and
proved to be strategic tools for marketers in a retail environment. From the early 70s, marketing
research has focused on the possibility to increase the likelihood of the consumer to purchase
through the improvement of the environment at the point of sale.
According to MillwardBrown (2005), by order of importance, the most sensitive sense is the
sight followed by smell, hearing, taste and lastly touch. We can explain the sensitivity of sight by
being the sense that gives us the first impression about the product/brand, as it is an extrinsic factor.
The customer can be attracted or not by the colours and lights of the store. A store whose walls are
painted in red creates more stimulation compared to blue ones (Bellizi et al., 1983: 2145). Also,
when the light is strong enough (Summers et al., 2001:145-150), the customer is willing to spend
more time in the store. In addition to colours and lights, light variations, the video broadcasted, and
mini-flashes are all stimuli that capture the attention of the customer in an environment already
loaded with various messages.
Regarding the ambient scents, in the '40s, a professor in the Colgate University had scented
three identical sets of nylon socks (The Milkwaukee Journal, 1981:52). The first two were scented
with fruity and floral perfumes while the last one was not. A majority of women preferred the one
that was scented. Thus, customers subject to a pleasant smell have a better perception of the quality
of the product and consequently evaluate both the product and the store positively.
Along a similar line of thought, Hollywood Chewing Gum did an experiment where they set
up a mint air scented broadcasting system. The conclusion from this experiment was that this use of
olfactory-stop resulted in an increase of 10 to 25% in sales of the brand products (Le parfum du
succs, 1993). We can clearly infer from this experiment that the dissemination of congruent odours
with the products attract the attention of customers.
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One can also cite the example of the French Food retailer Leclerc, which is diffusing odours
of Brittanys tide in the fish aisle to generate an envy of buying oysters. A last study in the olfactory
field that we can site is a test at the entrance of a hypermarket, where a scent of roasted chicken or
melted chocolate attracted a stream of customers toward the salty and sweet shelves respectively
(Guguen et al., 2011: 8688). Apart from the increasing purchases, the diffusion of ambient scents
also has an impact on the feeling of the customer in the store. That of a lemony smell, for example
within a point of sale can positively influence customer delight (Leenders et al., 1999).
The other sense that can attract the consumers attention is hearing. When the point of sale is
concerned, sound design and music are attractive because they are considered as creators of
emotions. There is an innate sensitivity to musical frequencies, which triggers emotion (Schwartz,
2003:205-213). Several studies have proved that the mood of the customer can be easily influenced
if a joyful music is broadcasted (Alpert et al., 2005: 369-376). According to Yalch et al. (1993:632636), and Guguen et al. (2002:53-59), customers are willing to spend more time in a store when
there is music and even more when they like it. It was also demonstrated that there is a positive
correlation between the feeling of pleasure triggered by music and the purchasing intention.
Another aspect of music that is important is its volume. If music is broadcasted at a low
volume, customers tend to spend more time (Smith et al., 1966:255-256). Also, a familiar music
increases the stimulation of customers and it would lead them to shop quickly (Yalch et al., 1993:
632-636). Another study has demonstrated that pop music would lead customers to purchase more
in a food retail store oppositely to a classical music (Sibril, 1994). In the same context, there is a
concrete example of a specific type of products, which is wine. The exposure to a French music
made the visiting customers buy 5 times more French wines versus the German ones. In contrast,
while a German music was played, it increased twice the sales of German wines compared to the
French ones (North et al., 1997:132). What can be deduced from this experiment is the positive
correlation between the geographical origin of the music played in the food retail store and the
choice of products.
The other sense that is used by marketers is taste. This last one is not that much experienced
and studied. The reason is the impossibility of many products to be tasted. Those that can, there is
the possibility to sample them and make the customer try/taste them in the store and in the
concerned shelve. While the other senses are well experimented, this field needs still a lot of
research and improvement.
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The last but not least important sense is touch. This sense gives the customer the opportunity
to get a closer touch to the product although it is not obvious for all kind of products. A study in
this field was conducted by the Store Sense and came out with the conclusion that once a customer
touches the product, he/she feels more engaged and has this impression of ownership, which
increases the chance of buying the product.
In terms of applications, it is important to note that one of the pioneers in the field is
Artistide Boucicaul who conceptualized this type of marketing and implemented it at the Bon
March at the end of the 19th century. Its creed was enabling the consumer to touch, see and feel
the product while being surrounded with a soundscape.
c. Sensory marketing and its components

i.
Visual marketing
Since the 1960s, the sight has been greatly studied and employed as a marketing technique.
Choosing the colours and shapes while designing and developing a product, the layout of a store
and the colours and images of an advertising campaign has been for a long time considered to be a
success factor. These factors can play an important role on the attractiveness of a product and thus
elicit positive behaviours of the consumers (eg: buying a product, spending more time in a store,
etc). Thus, in order to suit and meet the customer requirements, marketers are focusing on the
power of visual marketing. When the point of sale is concerned, the choice of visual elements,
packaging, colours are primary elements to be considered. The shapes and colours of products
trigger emotional reactions and influence consumers perception toward a product.
The sight is the most developed and sought sense, as it is the most stimulated by the
environment surrounding us. Additionally, 80% of the stimuli that is perceived by a customer are
visual (Solomon et al., 2010). The first contact that the customer has with a product or with a point
of sale is with the eyes.
Colours, and shapes influence tremendously the consumer and his emotions. One of the
most important elements of visual marketing are colours as it is the primary factor that draws the
attention of the customer to either the point of sale or to a specific product. Colours are widely used
by marketers, as it is a mean of communication. Colours allow the identification and brand
differentiation. Additionally, colours are considered to be emotions triggers (Appendix1). A study
has even proved that the consumer is more likely to remember a brand and the message it is
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broadcasting if this latter is in colour rather than in black and white (Eiseman, 2000). Another study
conducted by Leatrice Eiseman (2000) has described the impact of every colour on the consumer
behaviour (Appendix 1). Lets take for example the yellow colour. This colour is associated with
comfort, and deliciousness of aliments. Teahouses and pastry shops usually use it. According to
Bellizi et. al. (1983:21-45), warm colours like yellow and red attract more the consumer and make
him/her be more active, curious and spontaneous. Conversely, the cold colours like blue are less
attractive and result in a greater satisfaction and positive assessment. These cold colours usually
push the customer to select more expensive products. Colours are thus considered to be a source of
stimulation and pleasure (Bellizzi et al., 1992:347-363).
Another aspect of visual marketing is lighting; which plays a key role in the organization of
space in every corner of the store starting from the entrance, to the end-aisle display, etc. The
intensity of light, the colours used, the position, and the combination with other elements such as
mirrors make this visual marketing an inexhaustible source of attention. Additionally, they are a
strong mean to influence the state of mind and create fantastic atmospheres allowing the customer
to interact with the brand. According to Rieunier (2002), a natural and/or softened lighting would
increase the time spent in a point of sale. Oppositely, other researches have demonstrated that the
use of a strong light stimulates the consumer and lead him/her to buy. The light intensity helps
foster the behaviour of the consumer and thus spend more time in the store when the light is strong
(Summers et al., 2001:145-150). Consumers deploy more effort to examine the products when the
light intensity is high and thus they buy more (Gifford, 1988:177-189). The layout of the point of
sale is also taken into account while talking about visual marketing. It allows the customer to cover
ground the point of sale easily and become a loyal customer to it.
Lately, videos became also an important element in the visual marketing and are one of the
most recent applications in this field. Whether it is the central component of a communication
campaign or an element reinforcing the atmosphere of a point of sale, its influence seems to be
indisputable. Furthermore, the eye is attracted by any element in movement. Thus, the plasma
screens are considered to be effective ways to capture the attention of the passer-by and those
screens are replacing progressively the traditional panels at the point of sales. These videos that
attract the attention of the customer are customizable. The retailers can thus choose to project
attractive images that would most of the time inform the passer-by about a promotion, the
advantages of a product and/or how to use it. The other use of videos is as entertainment tool for
children in order to occupy them while their parents are shopping. Visual marketing is consequently
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not a simple decorative element but an important differentiator as it reinforces the perception the
customer has on a product.
A good example of a company that is investing a lot on the visual marketing is Apple. Its
value proposition is based on an important element of the visual marketing, which is the design of
the product. Indeed, thanks to the use of original and modern colours in their computers, phones and
other products, this company succeeded in distinguishing itself by transforming the digital products
into almost decorative objects.
ii.
Auditory marketing
The use of music in the commercial areas is not a new thing, and various studies have
shown that it affects the perception of the time spent at the point of sale. Thus, at the point of sale, it
is important to use auditory marketing techniques. Their influence is more effective when the
consumer unconsciously perceives the music broadcasted.
Music is a key element at the point of sale and for the brand identity. It allows the
transmission of a specific message (Yalch et al., 1990:55-63). A good music strategy in a store can
positively influence the consumers behaviour, stimulating its activity and increasing the time spent
within the store and thus implicitly increasing the sales. Within the food retailing industry, this
practice is of an old usage as Monoprix has started broadcasting music in its store since 1927
(Consoblog, 2012). The auditory marketing is based on studies that determine the importance of a
particular type of music for a particular type of client. Every musical style brings a different level of
energy to a separate public. It is generally segmented by age, sex and industry.
A study made by Smith & Curnow (1966) has revealed that the tempo of the music has a
great impact on the speed of the walking of the consumer, which means that a customer will leave
earlier if the musics tempo is fast. Oppositely, classical music has more effect on consumers, and
would make spend more time and money at the point of sale. A soft music encourages dawdling,
while a dynamic music makes the customer more in a hurry and thus spends less time at the point of
sale (Assorin, 2006). The volume of the music determines also the time spent at the store (Morrison
et al., 2003:77-82). Other studies have shown that the music has an impact on the emotional
responses of customers. For example, a music that is congruently fitting the consumers taste would
increase their pleasure (Yalch et al., 1990:55-63).
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One good example of this auditory marketing was applied by the advertising agency DDB
Singapore, whose "Musical Fitting rooms campaign was rewarded with a Gold Lions at the
Cannes Festival in 2011 (Mobithinking, 2011). Starting from the idea that young people identify
themselves to a specific type of music they listen to and the kind of clothes they wear, DDB
Singapore has installed in some shops fitting rooms an RFID device that identifies each cloth and
matches it with the corresponding style of music. To conclude, music is for marketers another tool
that give them the opportunity to influence the customers purchasing behaviour.
Consequently, the sound emitted by a product allows a company to strengthen its position,
differentiate itself from competitors and inform the consumer about the intrinsic properties of this
product including its quality and performance. The style of music broadcasted at the point of sale
affects the perception about the store image and prices (Areni et al., 1993:336340 and Yalch et al.,
1993:632-636). People can usually induce the sound emitted by an object simply by looking to its
physical characteristics. However, if the actual noise of the product does not match their
expectations, the customer is thus unpleasantly surprised and transfers this feeling to the usage of
the product. Hence, it is important to ensure that the product sold is emitting a sound that
corresponds to the positioning of the company, as it may even become an identifier of the brand. An
example of a brand that has a sound signature is Harley-Davidson with its guttural roar. This sound
becomes so critical that the company decided to protect it by a legal registration in 1994.
When we move to the use of auditory marketing at the point of sale, this practice is not
recent and its main objective is to strengthen the identity of the retailer while creating a unique and
cosy atmosphere that influences time perception of consumers. Besides its use at point of sales,
auditory marketing is also used on the web in order to increase websites traffic. The type of music
broadcasted is frequently selected to appeal the tastes of the target audience and thus establish a
stronger emotional connection between thereof and the brand. When the music is adapted and
matches the demographics characteristics of the target segment, the time spent in a store and
purchases increase by 18 % and 17 % respectively (Rajotte, 2010). Agencies specializing in the
field of auditory marketing (eg: Senscity , Muzak , etc.) are thus choosing for every point of sale the
most appropriate music and adapt to every season of the year. Indeed, it can be disastrous to leave
the responsibility of choosing music to a non professional of the field as it might sometimes neither
match the values conveyed by the brand nor the musical preferences of the targeted customers.
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iii.
Olfactory marketing

Compared to the other senses, smell remains one of the least well-known and stimulated
senses (Chrea et al., 2007:1-15). As it was stated previously, this sense was one of the first to be
studied and shown to have a great impact on the purchasing decision of a consumer. Managers and
marketers understood the importance and influence that sensory marketing have on the consumer
and they are thus using experience and story telling as a way to be closer to him/her. A modern tool
that is employed is flavouring. Scent Marketing is a term that appeared after a scientific research
from Rockefeller University. In this research, the capabilities of memory and assimilation were
tested and it was concluded that the human being recalls 5% of what he sees, 2% of what he hears,
1% of what he touches, and 35% of what he smells (Experiential Marketing, 2011). Another study
revealed that 75% of the consumers emotions are triggered by the smell (Lindstrom, 2005:84).
As it was stated previously, a smell also triggers memories and sometimes a feeling of
nostalgia. This is why some practitioners are experimenting the effects of this sense by broadcasting
in the stores scents and odours that evoke memories and a specific atmosphere (e.g. Natures &
Dcouvertes, and Rsonances). Studies relating to the impact of olfactory marketing showed that in
the presence of a scent, the global assessment of the store and products were more positive
(Spangenberg et al, 1996:67-80). Additionally, the odour diffused affects perception of prices and
time spent at the store. Guguen et al. (2006:335-339) observed that the time and money spent are
positively related to the Lavender perfume compared to the one of lemon and the reason is the
relaxing effect of the Lavender.
This shows that among other senses smell plays a fundamental role when choosing a
product and/or a brand. An interesting observation about scent marketing is that with the use of
perfume, the traffic of occasional visitors in a store within a scented area doubles. These practices
are especially famous within the food industry with the use of artificial food smells to grab
customers. Nevertheless, this component of the sensory marketing is hard to apply effectively as it
differs from one person to the other and is thus very personal. People do not necessarily experience
the same reactions while exposed to a specific odour in a specific situation. Consequently there are
some variables that marketers should take into account while disseminating an odour.
These differences in reactions are usually explained by socio-demographic, psychological
and cultural factors (Barbet et al., 1999). Taking into account these parameters is particularly
needed to better elucidate the impact that smell have on consumer reactions. The first one is the

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gender of the person. According to Hirsh et al. (1991), women are more sensitive to smell than men
and their reactions of differ in front of the same smell (Mitchell, 1992). The other variable that
should be taken into account is the age of the consumer as the smell decreases when the person ages
(Doty et al, 1984:1441-1443).
iv.
Gustative marketing
This component of the gustative marketing is more difficult to implement but it is a very
good way of differentiation. The gustative marketing techniques are usually very popular among
consumers as when being seduced by the tasting of the product, they are more likely to buy it.
Making the consumer taste a product is at some point very important for companies, especially
when the brand image and/or notoriety are not yet established. Indeed, consumers can sometimes be
reluctant to buy a product when they do not know its intrinsic qualities. For this reason, some
companies are trying to develop new methods of promotion in the food sector that would enable
customers to get an idea of the taste of the product when not yet known. An example is the
American company First Flavor Inc. that developed edible strips that mimic the taste of the product
to be promoted. These bands represent an alternative to the traditional methods employed and open
a world of opportunities to the gustative marketing world (Lantos, 2010).
Moreover, although it is difficult to apply to the gustative marketing to all the categories of
products, gustative marketing can also be used to promote products that are not edible. There are for
example toothpastes producers that are trying to differentiate themselves through the use of
gustative marketing (eg: cinnamon, apple and herbs) and creating new flavours that satisfy the
demand of customers.
The other examples are the service companies who are frequently using gustative marketing
as a differentiator to better meet their customers needs and positively influence their perception of
the waiting time. Additionnally, tasting is not always done at the point of sale. It could be realized
at events and sometimes in a more surprising way like the successful gustative campaign of Thierry
Marx and Badoit (Appendix 2).
The strength of this marketing technique is that the customer tastes the product before
buying it and reassures the quality of this one. Unlike the other senses, the opinion of the consumer
on an edible product is very often influenced favourably or unfavourably by the other senses.
Hence, it is important to offer a product that appeals the consumer and thus encouraging him/her to

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taste it. The influence of colour is undoubtedly one of senses that plays the most important role in
the whether a consumer would be willing to taste a product or not.
A study on this field has shown that when the colour of a drink was hidden, the participants
correctly identified only 20 % of the flavours. Oppositely, when the colour of the drink was
disclosed all the flavours were recognised (Garber et al, 2000:59-72). The other study that was
made is manipulating the colour of the drink on purpose. For example, a cherry drink was made
orange, and in this study 40% of respondents said that it was an orange juice.
When we move to associating taste and sound, it plays also an important role in the
assessment of the taste of the product. The best example is the famous sound emitted from a bottled
coke. If this sound is absent, it will for sure impact the consumers perception about the cokes
freshness and taste. Similarly to the colour effect, studies have proved that the fact of changing the
intensity and frequency of the sound produced by a crunchy product influences the perceived
freshness of the product (Spence et al, 2006:1009-1025).
Touch and taste association can also influence the perceived taste to some people, especially
those with a strong need to touch a product before tasting it. Indeed, it appears that the tactile
features of a glass affect the taste perception. For example, a drink that is drunk from a normal glass
is considered to have a better taste than the one served on a disposable glass. The last but not least
important sense that helps in evaluating the taste of a product is its odour. Several studies have
shown that these two senses are strongly correlated. If a consumer smells an odour that is different
from what he/she tastes, it disrupts his/her olfactory system and most of the time the consumer
decide not to taste a product if he/she dislikes the odour coming from it.
v.
Tactile marketing

The customer has always needed to touch the product before buying it. This allows him/her
to take it in hand in order to draw a clear idea about its quality and have more information about it.
Touch creates familiarity with the store and/or with the product. The power of touch is huge and
that's what makes it a must when you want to maximize sales of a point of sale. Product developers
are thus continuously looking for shapes, textures and materials that are meeting the current demand
of customers. The product must be in perfect harmony with its texture. Consequently, choosing
carefully the material and shape of the product is a guarantee of success, the customer will thus
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want to take control of the product and then buy it which brings an added value to the to the product
(Body et al, 2007).
At a point of a sale and while choosing their fruits and vegetables, consumers like to feel
and palpate them. It is considered as a test of quality and allows them then to decide whether to buy
or not. The sense of touch creates a familiarity with the product but also with the store.The power of
touch is huge and that's what makes it indispensable when the objective is sales maximization.
Marketers and product developers look for shapes, textures and materials that meet the needs and
demands of consumers. Cashmere, for example, is a very fashionable material because of its
sweetness and thus inspires consumer comfort.
The product must be in perfect harmony with its shape and/or its material. Touching the
product would inform the consumer about its properties and quality. Marketers should choose
carefully the material and shape of the product, as it is the guarantee of success; the customer will
want to take control of the product before buying it. Touch also creates familiarity with the point of
sale. Marketing professionals have nowadays understood that the touch should not be neglected in
any communication campaign. Using touch to maximize the sales of a product would be a
guarantee of success. This sense is thus needed in order to validate certain characteristics regarding
the temperature, the texture, and the weight among many other characteristics. If those
characteristics vary from the perceived ones, the motivation to purchase the product is lower.
Additionally, the products whose physical inspection is allowed and possible before buying
them tend to be preferred to those for which the touch is not possible, and especially when the touch
is a discriminating factor in the final evaluation of the product (eg: fruits, vegetables, clothing,
electronic products, etc). Similarly, the ability to touch a product would increase the probability of
purchasing it. Some authors would even argue that in the case of a neutral or positive tactile
experience, touching an object amplifies the perception that it is the consumers property.
Consequently, it is important to encourage the touch of products at the point of sales. If the product
cannot be touched, it is similarly important to offer free trial periods and/or testers to compensate
the non-possibility of touching the product.
d. Bitners conceptual model

The conceptual framework proposed by Mehrabian et al (1974) summarized the different
researches conducted about the influence that sensory marketing has on the behaviour of
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consumers. They claimed that the responses to a sensory environment could be classified as either
approach or avoid behaviours. Several researchers in marketing lately enriched this model (Bitner,
1992; Greenland et al, 1994:1-15; Botschen et al, 1999:38-58). In 1992, Bitner suggested a
conceptual model considered to be the most comprehensive one (see below).
This framework suggests that the different dimensions of the environment are perceived by
both by employee and the consumer. Each one of them has at the same time cognitive, emotional
and physiological responses to the environment they are exposed to. These internal responses will
thus influence their behaviour at the point of sale while affecting the interactions between and
among customers and employees. Indeed, Bitners model (1992) is based on some research
proposals that are not yet confirmed and need to be tested.
Rieunier and Dauc suggested a reduced version of this framework by relying on the
significant studies realized about the influence that sensory marketing has on the behaviour of
consumers at the point of sales. It can be noted that unlike Bitners model, the one of Rieunier and
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Dauc does neither address the influence of the atmosphere on the employees nor the physiological
reaction of customers.
If the two models are compared, Bitner talks about beliefs, categorization and symbolic
meanings while Rieunier and Dauc use the words inference and evocation.
7. Research methodology

The methodology of this work will be to initially undertake a qualitative research. The
objective behind this type of research is seeking to describe and analyse the factors that determine
the sensitivity of consumers when exposed to sensory marketing techniques. This type of research is
popular when dealing with analysis related to the culture and behaviour of consumers and helps in
explaining and understanding the motivation of the targeted population (Mattar, 1996).
This type of research will also allow us to have a comprehensive and global analysis of the
subject. The other reason is the fact that this qualitative research will complement the existing
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quantitative studies realised in this field. The quantitative method gives frequency and quantifies
the relations while this work will have a different objective, which is the understanding of these
relations and giving them a meaning. Additionally, an in-depth explanation will be given to those
relations in order to relate the behaviour of the consumer with the other variables.
This would mainly consist of the identification of the correlation between the importance the
customer gives to the sensory marketing techniques employed in a food retail store and all the other
variables that would lead to his/her purchasing decision. Thus, the purpose of the qualitative
research will be to determine the key relationships between the consumers sensitiveness to sensory
marketing, and the variables that impact this sensitiveness.
In order to start the analysis and interpret the results, a data collection is needed. This
process of collecting primary data, analysing it and drawing conclusions about it are usually linked
to the process of qualitative research rather than quantitative (Glaser et al, 1967). For this reason, a
survey will be conducted both online and at the food retail stores. More details will be presented in
the research techniques section.
After the data collection, the next step of the study is the survey analysis. According to Berg
(1986), the most effective way to analyse an interview is the content analysis. This technique of
analysis is the topic of many debates. Some researchers consider it as a quantitative method while
others claim it is a qualitative one. Some proponents of this method of analysis recommend that a
mix of both qualitative and quantitative analysis should be adopted (Smith, 1975).
This type of analysis will be thus employed for the analysis of the last question, which is an
open ended one. In the answers to this question, there are seven elements that could be taken into
consideration while analysing it: words, themes, characters, paragraphs, items concepts and
semantics (Berelson, 1952; Berg, 1983; Merton, 1968 and Selltiz et al. 1959). In this study, the
most relevant elements to be used are words and themes.
Another element to use in the content analysis is the use of classes and categories.
According to Berg (1986), there are three major procedures to identify classes and categories in a
content analysis. The first one is the common classes which allows the researcher to distinguish
between and among people by using their age or gender for example and later on see if there is a
link between the pattern observed and one of these demographic characteristics. The other
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procedure is called special classes and concerns the labels of certain communities to distinguish
among people and things (Schatzman et, 1973). The last class/category is called theoretical classes.
Those classes emerge while analysing the data (Schatzman et al, 1973). In addition to the
categorization by classes, Strauss (1987) suggested the use of coding frames and the first frame is
the axial coding. This consists of an intensive coding around a specific category (eg: age between
18-24 or student, etc).
Concerning the empirical study, which is the quantitative part of the analysis, the dependent
variable and the independent variables explaining it have to be identified before moving to the
analysis and regression stage. When the dependent variable is qualitative, the linear regression
model using the OLS method is not suitable. In the case of this study, the dependent variable is
qualitative and thus the alternative method to be used is the logistic regression (Kleimbaum, 1994).
If the dependent variable has two terms, the regression is called single or binary; however if the
terms are beyond two, the regression is called multinomial but if the answers are hierarchical, the
regression becomes an ordered logistic one (Lottes et al., 1996: 284-298). In this study, the
dependent variable has two terms (Yes Vs No when answering to the question: Does the sensory
marketing techniques used in a food retail store impact your purchasing decision?).
Historically, the logistic regression was the first used method in marketing in particular for
the scoring and epidemiology to address the modelling of a binomial or Bernouli binary variable
(eg: possession or not a product, death or survival of the patient, presence or absence of pathology,
etc). The first time this model was mentioned is in 1944 at the Journal of the American Statistical
Association (Berkson, 1944: 357-365).
In terms of application, this specific type of regression was widely used in many fields. A
first example would be for medical purposes, where the factors that differentiate between a healthy
and a sick person have been identified and here the binomial dependent variable is sick vs. healthy.
Examples of factors/independent variables would be the age, and the body mass index among
others. Engineers also used this type of regression in order to predict to what extent a product, or
system will fail or not (Strano et al., 2006). A last example of application would be in banking and
the likelihood of a client to default on a mortgage (Dudley, 2005). Thus, this method is still the
most used even if in terms of predictive quality, other approaches are more likely to provide much
better results. Consequently, it is important to follow all the assumptions and guidelines of the
logistic regression to ensure the most reliable results.
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8. Research techniques
The data collection will be based on two alternate survey methods, which are the personal
mall intercept and the electronic one. The interview will be a standardized one with a structured
form with the objective of eliciting the interviewees thoughts and behaviours about sensory
marketing (Berg, 1986).
The questionnaire will be composed of both structured and unstructured questions. It
includes 19 questions and is divided into three parts. It will start with the opening questions and
continue by asking more precise and topic related questions. The different types of questions are an
important element of the analysis and allow the drawing of a complete profile of the interviewee.
The four types of questions are: essential questions, extra questions, throwaway questions, and
probing questions (Berg, 1986).
The essential questions are the topic related ones and that focus on the heart of the study
which is here sensory marketing. The extra questions allow the checking of a previous answer and
whether the interviewee has understood the meaning of the essential question or not. Concerning
the throwaway questions, those are related usually to the demographic profile of the interviewee
and most of the time allows the understanding of the essential questions. The probing questions are
usually open-ended questions to give us more details about the interviewees thoughts and
experience.
The first part consists of 6 questions that collect the demographic and socioeconomic
information of the interviewee such as age, gender, profession, number of kids, etc. The second part
has also 6 questions and its objective is to gather general information about the habits at the point of
sale (time and amount spent, frequency of shopping, etc). As for the third part, it includes 7
questions about sensory marketing. In other words, the interviewees will have to answer some
questions regarding their behaviours and attitudes toward the ambiance and sensory marketing
techniques used in the point of sale. The last question asks the interviewee to suggest improvements
to the point of sale he/she is attending. This open-ended question might help to answer the research
questions and probably explain the outliers.
A first version of the questionnaire was tested with a dozen students to refine the wording of
questions, ensure their good understanding, remove flaws and avoid any misinterpretations. Also,
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my supervisor Pr. Stephen Humphrey has revised the questions. Additionally, in order to
understand some of the interviewees answers, a direct observation of the customers in their natural
environment and setting will be done. Regarding the sampling method, the population that will be
targeted is the one who attend/shop in food retail stores at least once a week (this will be one of the
questions of the survey in order to eliminate the people not matching the sample). Once the data
will be collected, a logistic regression analysis will be run. This analysis will be detailed later on.
While writing the questionnaire, one of the first things to decide on was the number of
scales to use in the response categories. Several authors debate on the ultimate number of responses.
According to Dillman (2009), et al., there should be from four to five responses whereas fink (1995)
said in his research that there should from five to seven answers. Foddy (1994) from his side
recommends a minimum of seven categories to have a reliable and valid study (Pearse, 2011:159171). Researchers like Almli et al. (2011:110-120) and Lee et al. (2010:76-86) are suggesting a nine
point likert scale while others recommend a fifteen-point scale (Chaiken et al., 1983:241:256). For
this study, the seven point likert scale will be opted for. According to Dawes (2008: 61:77), the
seven and five point likert scale are the most predominant but as the five categories responses
exclude the two extreme options, we will opt for the seven answers one in this study.
9. Data analysis
a. Out of store interviews

The first survey method was the electronic method. It consisted of creating an online version
of the survey, sending it by email to people matching the target segment and also sharing it in the
relevant social networks (Facebook professional and student groups, LinkedIn groups, etc). The
questionnaire was administered via Internet to friends living in France as well as to internship
colleagues. It was proposed to all types of professions and age categories to determine whether
these demographic factors are responsible of the differences to be observed later.
At the beginning of the questionnaire, a short paragraph outlining the objective of the study
was written without giving details so as not to bias the results. Among the 150 contacted people,
116 of them agreed to participate in the study. Between these 116 people who started the
questionnaire, 92 of them completed until the end. In terms of demographic profiles, there is a first
observation that can be made; girls are more likely to participate in the study. We can link this to
the fact that if there are couples in the sample, usually it is the girl who does the grocery shopping.

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The female gender represents thus 66% of the participants. This distribution is thus deviating from
the expected 50/50 that was also observed in previous studies such as the one of Chen and Volpe
(1998: 107-128).
Participants in the study are between 18 and 65 years, but 51% are between 18 and 24 years
and there is a majority of single interviewees with 46.7%. Among the 53.3% who are married, in a
relationship or separated 15.2% of them have children. Finally, in terms of profession, there is a
great majority of student (44%) followed by entrepreneurs representing 22%. When it comes to the
second part of the questionnaire, and when the interviewees were asked about the important criteria
while choosing a supermarket, the most important factor was the price with 71% of the interviewees
judging it as either very important or important followed by the diversity of products with 67%, the
other factor that was judged important by the interviewees is the layout of the supermarket. 47% of
the respondents consider it as either important or very important. Similarly, if the study was limited
to only women, the most important factor was price (81%), followed by the diversity of products
(76%). The other important/very important to 51% of the female gender is the store layout.
The other question that the interviewees were asked is about the time and money spent at the
food retail store as well as their shopping frequency. 52% of the respondents spend between 20 and
45 minutes shopping at their supermarket/hypermarket. Concerning the money spent, the majority
of the respondents spend between 20 and 50 euros but 33% spend between 50 and 100 euros
representing a majority of 92% spending at least 20 euros. Regarding the frequency of shopping,
46% of the respondents visit their supermarket once a week, while 23% of them go shopping only
twice a month and each time they visit their food retail store, the majority (30%) spends between 30
and 45 minutes. In terms of amount of money spent while shopping, 43% of the interviewees spend
between 20 and 50 euros. Concerning the feelings the interviewees claim to have while entering a
supermarket, the answers are very mitigated. Only two feelings were approved by many of the
interviewees: 42% of them claimed that they feel either very frequently or frequently calm, while
40% feel occasionally happy.
After knowing more about the interviewees general habits at their usual food retail store,
they were asked more specific questions that are linked to the sensory marketing techniques
employed at the food retail store. The first question was about their sensitiveness to some elements
of the sensory marketing and the most important ones revealed to be first of all the layout of the
store as 54% of the respondents judged it to be important or very important. The other
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important/very important element according to 47% of the respondents is the lighting, which is like
the stores layout elements of the visual marketing.
If only women are taken into consideration in the study, the store layout came out to be
either an important or very important element to 60% of the respondents. If again the category of
respondents is restricted to the female gender, the second most important element is lighting like in
the general data set, as 57% of the interviewees qualified it as either important or very important.
What can be concluded from this set of questions is that sight is the most important sense to the
interviewees. This observation confirms the many studies conducted in this field. Sight has always
been considered as the most important and powerful sense and it is the first way of brand
differentiation and identification (Khanna & Mishra, 2012: 620-623).
In terms of the senses that the respondents wish to have stimulated in a food retail store, the
sight again came in the first position followed by the smell, then comes taste and the least important
sense according to the respondents is hearing. Smell has very often been considered to be the
second most important sense by many researches. As Lindstrm claimed, any sense can be turned
off at the exception of smell (Khanna et al., 2012: 620-623). This sense has great emotional effect
on the customer but should be handled very carefully. As it was stated previously in the literature
review, a pleasant odour and thus nice ambiance in the store could lead the customer to spend more
time and thus spend more (Khanna et al., 2012).
After this question, the interviewees were asked whether they have already entered a food
retail store only because one of their senses was stimulated or not. A big majority of the
respondents answered that it never happened to them. Only 16% of them claimed that sometimes
the colours of the store attracted them to enter the store, which is again an element of the visual
marketing. Also, 19% claimed that they occasionally entered a food retail store because of the test a
product. On the opposite, 22% of the interviewees sometimes leave the store because of a bad
lighting, which is once again an element of the visual marketing.
Additionally, 22% would
occasionally leave the store because of a smell they dislike. Additionally, to 22% of the
respondents, the layout of the store would sometimes make them leave the store.
The respondents were also asked if they would buy a product because of its diffused odour,
sound, colours, packaging and having tested it. 24% answered that it happened to them very
frequently to buy a product because they have tested it and 31% would frequently buy a product
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because of its packaging. The colours are also a determinant element as 18% of the respondents
claimed that they would frequently buy a product because its colours attracted them and 20% would
be frequently attracted by the odour diffused from it.
One very important question that the interviewees were asked is about whether they qualify
the sensory marketing techniques as important in their purchasing decision or not. 44% of the
interviewees answered yes to this question. When only women are concerned, 49% answered yes
which confirms similar studies in this field that claims the sensitivity of womens senses compared
to men. The last question was an open-ended one and the interviewees were asked here what are the
improvements that they would like to see in their local food retail store and 31% of the respondents
are interested in seeing some improvements. Six respondents would like to have more testing of the
products available at the food retail stores. The other improvements that eight interviewees
suggested are the store and shelves layout. They are also looking for an enhancement of the
products, signs indicating more information about every food section and a logic behind the
organisation of the shelves. Several interviewees cited the value for money.
From the table below, it can be concluded that the most recommended improvements to the
food retail store managers are about the store and shelves organisation. The customer is looking for
a better signalisation that allows him/her to move in the store easily, spend less time and be
effective in the grocery shopping. The word product was mentioned by 11 of the 39 interviewees
who wish to see improvements in their local food retail store.
Word
Tests
Count
5
N=92
% of N
5%
Signals
2%
Price
2%
Department
3%
Layout
6.5%
Packaging
2%
Product
11
11.9%
35
Theme
Taste and product
testing
Store layout and
signalisation
Value for money of
products
Store and shelves
organisation
Store and shelves
organisation
Products packaging
and information
The product as the
most important
element to customers

Yasmine ELAOUADI

b. In store interviews

This second survey method consisted of intercepting customers both at the entrance and
inside the food retail store. The reason behind choosing both inside and outside the store is the AB
testing and see if there are any differences in the responses of the customer when not yet exposed to
the products and less conditioned.
This step of the interviews was quite difficult compared to the electronic one. More details
about the difficulties face will be developed in the limitations section. In order to accomplish those
interviews, an appointment was needed first with the store manager but before that I had you get in
touch with the department supervisor. After almost a month of paperwork and meetings, I managed
to get the approval of 2 supermarkets (Intermarch and Casino) and 1 hypermarket (Carrefour) in
Lyon. I had to ask the customers gently if they have 5 minutes to give me. After that, I introduced
myself as well as the objective of the questionnaire before starting up with the questions. What is
surprising is that more than 460 were stopped but I finished with only 33 answers. Additionally,
from the 460 more than a 100 started the questionnaire but claimed that it is taking too much time
and stopped it in the middle.
In terms of demographic profiles, an important observation to be made is that they were
more girls who agreed to participate. Also, at the supermarket compared to the hypermarket they
were more females doing grocery than males. The female gender represents 74% of the
interviewees. Participants in the study are between 18 and 55 years but there is a majority between
18 and 24 as they represented 44%, this percentage also explains the high rate of single
interviewees (41%). The last question about the demographics is the profession. Here again, there
was a majority of students (35%). This time it could be explained by the fact that they are more
willing to cooperate as they put themselves in your place more than the others.
The second part of the questionnaire was about the interviewees habits at the food retail
store. The first question was about the criteria that make them choose a supermarket/hypermarket
over another, the most important factor was the diversity of products price with 62% of the
interviewees judging it as important followed by the price with 47%, the other factor that was
judged important by the interviewees is the store layout as 44% of the interviewees claimed that it is
an important factor. Another question in this part was about the time spent at the food retail store.
The majority of the respondents spend between 30 and 45 minutes and they represent 32% followed
by those who spend between 45 and 60 minutes (21%) and then those spending between 20 and 30

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minutes (20%). In terms of money spent, 59% of the interviewees spend between 20 and 50 euros.
Regarding the frequency of shopping, 55% do their grocery shopping once a week.
The next part of the interview was more specific with questions directly linked to the
sensory marketing techniques employed at the food retail store. The first question was about their
sensitiveness to some elements of the sensory marketing such as colours, lights, odour and music.
The most important one revealed to be the colours as 32% of the interviewees classified it as an
important element. The two other important elements were odour and music with 18% and 17% of
the interviewees judging respectively important.
Concerning the senses that the respondents would like to have the most stimulated in a food
retail store, the sight was judged by 56% of the interviewees as the most important sense. Smell
gained the first position by 24% of the interviewees. Touch was ranked by 26% of the interviewees
as the second most important while touch was judged as the third most important sense. Taste came
in the fifth and last position by 32% of the interviewees.
The next question in the interview was if the interviewee has already entered a food retail
store only because one of their senses was stimulated or not. A big majority of the respondents
answered that it almost never happened to them. Only 15% of them said that the colours frequently
attracted them to enter the food retail store, 23% said that light occasionally made them enter a store
and 26% because of a test of a product. Also 12% claimed that sometimes they entered a food retail
store because of the music broadcasted. Additionally, 29% of them claimed that odour made them
occasionally leave the store. The odour store element that annoys the customers is music, as 15% of
the interviewees would frequently leave the store because of a music they dislike.
The respondents were also asked if they would buy a product because of its diffused odour,
sound, colours, packaging and having tested it. 33% answered that they frequently buy a product
because of its packaging while 33% said that they would very frequently buy a product because
they have tested it. The colours are also a determinant element as 12% of the respondents claimed
that they would very frequently buy a product because its colours attracted them and 18% would be
frequently attracted by the odour diffused from it.
An important question in the questionnaire was about how important are the sensory
marketing techniques in the purchasing decision process of the respondent. 85% of the interviewees
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answered a Yes to this question. If in this question, we take only the respondents who claimed
that sensory marketing applications are important in their purchasing decisions, the majority are the
category of age 18-24 representing 41% followed by the 25-34 (35%) and finally 24% of the age
category 35-55. Concerning the gender, 72% of those who answered Yes are women which is
slightly inferior than in the initial data set. Those who are spending between 20 and 50 euros
represent the same percentage as in this initial data set.
The last question was an open-ended one. The interviewees were asked here what are the
improvements that they would like to see in their local food retail store and 38% of the respondents
are interested in seeing some improvements. From the table below, it can be clearly concluded that
the interviewees are interested in having more samples and testing at the stores. The other
improvements that customers are interested in are the store and shelves organisation. They would
like to see a better signalisation that would better organise the store and allow them to browse easily
between the department and shelves. Another element that two customers brought in the last
question is about product availability. They have explained orally that they are very disappointed
when they come in their local food retail store and find a product out of stock, which is a lost sale
for the distributor. The product diversity is an improvement that was brought by 4 of the
respondents interviewed at the supermarket. However, this issue cannot really solved as product
diversity is more available at a hypermarket and a supermarket usually has a more limited choice of
products.
Word
Tests
Count
7
N=33
% of N
21%
Organization
15%
Department
6%
Diversity
Availability
4
2
12%
6%
38
Theme
Taste and product
testing
Store and shelves
organization
and
layout
Store and shelves
organization
Products diversity
Product availability

Yasmine ELAOUADI

c. Empirical study: regression on the impact of sensory marketing on the time

spent in a food retail store

In this study, the dependent variable is the probability that sensory marketing techniques
would have an effect on the customer purchasing. The independent variables are the age, gender,
profession, amount spent in the food retail store, and finally the amount of money spent. Those data
were collected from the questionnaire that a random sample of people answered to.
The model that will be studied is as follows:
Importance of sensory marketing to a customer= 0+ 1 gender + 2 age+ 3 profession + 4
time spent+ 5 amount of money spent + t
Variables description
Variables
Description
Probability that sensory marketing has an

effect on the consumer
Gender
1 if female, 0 if male
Age
1 if 18-24, 0 for everything else

Profession
1 if Student, 0 for everything else

1 if Liberal profession, 0 for everything
else
1 if Entrepreneur, 0 for everything else
1 if Manager, 0 for everything else
1 if Self-employed, 0 for everything else
1 if Storekeeper, 0 for everything else
1 if Administrative employee, 0 for
everything else
1 if Salaried, 0 for everything else
Time spent
1 if 10-20 minutes, 0 for everything else

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1 if >90 minutes, 0 for everything else
Money spent
1 if
<20 euros, 0 for everything else
1 if 20-50 euros, 0 for everything else

1 if 50-100 euros, 0 for everything else
1 if
>100 euros, 0 for everything else
To conduct the research and know more about the factors that affect the consumers attitude
toward the sensory marketing techniques in a food retail store and to what extent the ambiance is
important, a binary logistic regression model will be used. The first step in conducting this type of
regression is testing the assumptions that should be met in this type of regression model.
Later on, the approach was to use SPSS package in which the dependent variable as well as
the independent variables are defined and entered.
Below are the assumptions to meet before running the regression:
Assumption 1:
The dependent variable should be binary (Laerd Statistics). What is meant here is that the
question is answered by either Yes or No. In this study, the dependent variable follows this
assumption as the answer to the importance of sensory marketing in the purchasing decision made
by a customer is: Yes or No.
Assumption 2:
The second assumption of the ordered logistic regression is to have at least one independent
variable that is continuous, ordinal or categorical (Laerd Statistics). In the model cited above,
several of the independent variables are either categorical or ordinal. For example, there is gender
(male or female) and profession that are categorical, and age which is an ordinal variable. Both of
the amount spent in the food retail store and the age are continuous independent variables.
Nevertheless, an important point to note is that the ordinal independent variables should be treated
as either continuous or categorical while running the regression in the SPSS software.
d. Results and interpretation of the empirical study

A positive coefficient for the dummy independent variable in question means that it is
associated with a higher probability of the dependent variable to occur. Concerning the continuous
predictors like age and money spent, a positive coefficient would mean that a higher value of that

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latter would be associated with a higher probability of the dependent variable to occur. Oppositely,
a negative coefficient for the continuous variables would mean that a higher value of the
independent variable would be associated with a lower probability of having a Yes as an answer to
the dependent variable (Lottes et al., 1996:284-296).
From the SPSS output table in Appendix 9, the first column (B) represents the values that
would predict the dependent variable. In other words, they represent the shown above in the
model of the study. As we can see from the table, the coefficient for the age (18-24) is negative.
This means that it is negatively correlated with the dependent variable. Between the age of 18 and
24, the older the interviewee is the less sensitive he/she is to the sensory marketing techniques used.
This negative correlation can be explained by the fact that this category of age are usually students
that try to manage their monthly budget and thus avoid to be tempted and affected by those
marketing techniques employed at the food retail store. When we move to the other age categories
(25-34 and 35-55), the coefficient is positive (.116 and .428). This implies an increase in the
importance of the sensory marketing techniques when getting older.
When we move to the next variable (gender), it can clearly be deduced that females are
more sensitive to those techniques. In a publication of the Derval research center (2010), it was
concluded from their research that women are more sensitive to sensory marketing than men and
more particularly to smell. Additionally, women can very often even name the odour diffused.
Among the professions present in the survey, the most sensitive ones are the salaried and
storekeepers. The other independent variable that was chosen to explain the dependent variable is
the time spent at the store. Between 10 and 30 minutes, the coefficient is negative and means that
there is a lower probability of the sensory marketing techniques to affect the purchasing decision of
the customer. This can be explained by the fact that a customer who spends less than 30 minutes has
a defined shopping list and usually not tempted by anything else. They are usually in a hurry and
have no time to be conditioned. However, those spending at least 30 minutes have a higher
probability to be influenced. They are taking their time and thus are the perfect target for marketers.
When we look at the money spent, here again we have a negative factor for the interviewees
that are spending less than 20 euros and a positive one for those spending from 20 euros to more
than 100 euros. Actually, their purchasing power is reflected by this higher probability of between
impacted by the sensory marketing techniques. A customer with a higher purchasing power would
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with no doubt leave himself to be attracted by those techniques oppositely to another who spends
less and convinces himself/herself that he/she should not get influenced.
The column that also needs to be interpreted is the P-value represented by the column Sig..
This coefficient should be compared to the selected alpha (0.05) but as we used a 2-tailed test, the
variable should be divided by 2 and then compared to alpha. From the output table, after dividing
the coefficient, the non-significant variables are: age (18-24), profession (Student), profession
(Liberal profession), profession (Entrepreneur), profession (Manager), profession (Self-employed),
The conclusions would be if the coefficient divided by 2 equals 0.05 or less, the variable is
statistically significant. If you use a 1-tailed test (i.e., you predict that the parameter will go in a
particular direction), profession (Administrative employee), time spent (<10minutes), money spent
(10-20 euros).
The other coefficients that are important to interpret are the Cox & Snell R2 and the
Nagelkerke R2. The Cox & Snell R2. These two metrics are considered as close to the R square in
the OLS regression and measure the goodness of fit in the logistic regression (Mbachu et al., 2012).
The higher they are the better. As it can be seen in appendix 10, the Cox & Snell R square equals
0.297 and the Nagelkerke R square equals 0.433, which means between 29.7% and 43.3% of the
dependent variable is explained by the independent variables selected in the model. Under the same
table in appendix 10, we have a -2 log likelihood statistic that equals to 76.083a. This statistic
predicts how good/bad the model predicts the dependent variable. The smaller it is the better is the
model. However, this coefficient is useful when comparing between two models.
If we move to the table in appendix 11, we have the Chi-square value and its significance
level. Given that the Sig. column equals .007 (lower than the critical value of 0.05), the hypothesis
of the probability of obtaining the chi-square statistic of 33.420 is true. It can be concluded thus that
the model is statistically significant. Another test that measures the significance of the model is the
Wald test. It verifies whether the variable j equals 0 or not.
After analysing the out of store model, the second model to be analysed is the one of the
study conducted at the food retail store. From Appendix 12, we can see again a negative coefficient
for the age category between 18 and 24 years old. Similarly to the first model, it is negatively
correlated with the dependent variable. Between the age of 18 and 24, the older the interviewee is
the less sensitive he/she is to the sensory marketing techniques used. When we move to the upper
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age categories (between 25 and 55, the coefficients are positive (1.476 and 0.428) meaning that as
the customer is getting older between 25 and 55 years old, it is accompanied with an increase in the
importance of the sensory marketing techniques used at the food retail store. What it is important to
note is that this increase is more important to the customers between the age of 25 and 34 than for
those between 35 and 55. This can be explained by the fact that some senses decrease with age
(Doty et al, 1984:1441-1443).
The next variable to be analysed is gender, and here similarly to the previous model, women
are more sensitive to sensory marketing (Hirsch & Gay, 1991). Among the professions present in
the survey, the only sensitive categories to those techniques are the students. The other independent
variable is the time spent at the food retail store and is positive between 45 and 90. Concerning the
money spent, the beta is negative between 20 and 50 euros and positive between 50 and 100 euros.
Regarding the P-value column represented by sig., the non-significant variables are:
profession
(Entrepreneur),
profession
(Manager),
profession
(Self-employed),
profession
(Storekeeper), profession (Administrative employee), time spent (10-20 minutes), and money spent
(50-100). The other coefficients that are important to interpret are the Cox & Snell R Square and the
Nagelkerke R Square. The Cox & Snell R square equals 0.324 and the Nagelkerke R square equals
0.433, which means between 32.4% and 43.3% of the dependent variable is explained by the
independent variables selected in the model. Under the same table in appendix 10, we have a -2 log
likelihood statistic that equals to 32.575a. Compared to the previous model, the Cox & Snell R
square and the -2 Log likelihood are higher for that model.
In the Omnibus tests of model coefficients, the Chi-square equals 12.9 with a significance
level of 0.011. The null hypothesis of the probability of obtaining the chi-square statistic of 12.9 is
true. It can be concluded thus that the model is statistically significant. Another test that measures
the significance of the model is the Wald test. It verifies whether the variable j equals 0 or not.
In order to illustrate the results of the study and show the connections between the variables
being sought, a conceptual model was realized. The conceptual framework of Reunier and Dauc
inspired this framework. In the model below, we have similarly to the model of Reunier and Dauc
the moderating variables but instead of having them as moderators before the internal reactions and
behavioural reactions, this work proved that they intervene at another level. The socio-demographic
and situational variables like gender, age, profession, personality and crowd at the store affect the
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sensitiveness of consumers to the different sensory marketing techniques deployed at the food retail
store. This sensitiveness is later on at the origin of the internal and behavioural reactions of the
consumer. The other difference in this model is the fact that the behavioural reactions are also
determinant factors in the sensitiveness of consumers to sensory marketing techniques.
10. Barriers and Limitations of the proposed research

Sensory marketing applications have as a primary objective to enhance the wellbeing of the
customer and improve his/her in-store experience but also increase the sales of the food retail store
through the development and creation of the desire feeling. However, if those applications are
overused, the customer might develop a feeling of abuse. Additionally, some senses are complex
and marketers should be very careful while stimulating them. If we take as an example smell, a
perfume is very personal. As it can be very nice for one person, it can oppositely be very repulsive
for another. Thus, masking the odours of some products or misleading the customer in his/her
choices might be considered as a propaganda.
Regarding the limitations of the study, many of them are related to the survey, respondents
and the procedure in general. The first limitation is about the lack of cooperation of the managers at
the food retail stores. The procedure was very long and complicated in order to get the approval of
store managers. Additionally, once the approval was granted, the customers were even less
cooperative. Some of them claimed they have no time; others did not even take time to answer,
while others started the questionnaire and in the middle they decided not to continue. When
customers are shopping, they have already dedicated their time to this activity and most of the time
they are not willing to waste their time answering a questionnaire. Also, even if they agree to
answer, the answer is not a spontaneous one and thus biased, as their attention is no longer
captured. The emotional state of the customers can also bias the results when customers are asked
right after a purchase. Also, in the case of customers doing their shopping in pairs, one individuals
answer can influence the other and change his/her answer. All in all, the questionnaire will be only
the result of a mere and simplified version of the reality.
Another limitation of the study is about the online surveys. There is no physical contact and
the reaction of the customer cannot be observed. In this type of study, the non-verbal behaviour is a
determinant element and gives several hints on what the customer really thinks. Also, if a question
is misunderstood, the interviewee cannot be enlightened and thus the answer might be mislead.
Additionally, an online study have potential sampling bias since the questionnaire is distributed to

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the surrounding of interviewer and are usually in the same category of age, profession, social class,
etc. consequently, the other categories remain difficult to reach and thus would be at the origin of a
representativeness problem.
11. Conclusion
The objective of this study aimed to explore whether the sensory marketing techniques
employed by marketers have an impact on customer purchasing decision or not and if it is case what
makes a customer be sensitive to them compared to another. From both the content analysis and the
empirical study, the research has shown that sensory marketing at the food retail store plays an
important role in the purchase decision or assessment of the product by the customer. The more the
customer feels good in a shop, more time he/she spends. The first observation is about women that
are more sensitive to sensory marketing and similarly aging people are less sensitive. However,
customers that are less than 24 years old are less sensitive to those techniques compared to the 2555 age categories.
Because of this sensitiveness marketers might be tempted to use those techniques
increasingly in order to manipulate the customer. Nevertheless, the handling of some senses might
be delicate. An example would be odour, the threshold between attraction and repulsion is subtle
and difficult to master because it is very personal and what is pleasant for one person might be
unbearable for another. One sense that marketers should focus more on is sight. From the results of
the study, customers are very picky when the visual elements are in question. A majority of the
respondents claim to be very sensitive to lighting, layout of the store and colours and these three
elements are part of visual marketing.
12. Suggested future research

A modern marketing should be multisensory and not neglecting one sense to the credit and
benefit of another. Additionally, the customer is looking for an hedonic and pleasant experience that
would allow him to browse the food retail store easily and in a certain confidence. Thus, by acting
positively on the degree of pleasure the customer will feel during his/her shopping, the atmosphere
of the point of sale will allow him/her to live a rewarding experience. In this context, and as Ritze
(1999) points out, attending the point of sale becomes as essential (or more) than the products
available for sale in it. With this in mind, it is appropriate to recommend to store managers and

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marketers to develop experiential positioning strategies that will provide the prospect customer with
an intrinsic value. In presenting their points of sale as a living space and triggering positive
emotions to the customer, the atmosphere and sensory marketing will be a powerful tool of
differentiation.
What future researches in this field should focus on is to what extent multisensory
marketing is effective. In this framework, researchers could explore which sensory marketing
techniques could be associated to have a better positive effect on the consumer. How would a
diffused odour associated with a specific colour change the consumers attitude? What if a specific
music type would make a consumer spend more time if associated with a specific diffused odour?
These are examples of research questions to be addressed in the future by researchers.
In addition to the multisensory marketing, another field of research would be interesting to
explore. It would be interesting for researchers to study in which of the food retail store area those
sensory marketing techniques would be more effective and how it is possible to smoothen the
consumers shopping experience.
Furthermore, staying in the field of sensory marketing, future researchers could be guided in
a similar study but in a different industry and/or countries. This research was limited to the foodretailing sector in France. A future research would be to analyse a different sector like the clothing
one and try to find the similarities and differences with the one of food retailing. The culture might
also be a factor impacting the study. It would thus be interesting to do a similar study in a different
country to compare the findings and see to what extent the culture factor is determinant in the
sensitiveness of a consumer to sensory marketing.
13. Research ethics

Although sensory marketing appears to be tempting for the retailers that are eager to use it
for transactional ends, it can still be harmful to the relationship already established with the
consumer if it interpreted by this latter as a way to manipulate him/her. This rational aspect of food
retailers reminds us about the society of consumption, globalization and liberalization that is
surrounding us.
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Nevertheless, in order to try to convey a different image to the consumer several retailers are
engaged with humanitarian and/or ecological organizations. This type of actions can strengthen the
positioning of the company and reinforce its brand image. Thus, retailers are increasingly concerned
with those practices and are interested in conveying an ethical attitude. Consequently, this human
and civic side of companies and businesses is exploited to immerse the merchant side. Still, the
consumer is wary of ethics and is not confident about the existing labels and certifications. In the
eyes of consumers, the ethical approaches should not be commercially oriented. In other words,
ethics must not be the goodwill of the point of sale but rather a plus to it. This way, the retailer will
gain a greater consideration and respect from consumers.
Additionally, ethics should be considered more broadly than what it is now. It is not limited
to the checking of the illegal manufacturing practices but rather it should respect the whole supply
chain by allocating to the producer and consumer a place in the product concept. The consumer
more specifically should have a feeling of respect instead of manipulation. After years of doubt, it is
time for retailers to go for transparency and disseminate a maximum of information to the consumer
on the products, their availability, origins, etc. To conclude, ethics are about the respect of the
consumers expectations and should be considered as a strong base of legitimacy and long-term
trust.
14. Impacts on managers and practitioners

From a managerial point of view, understanding the consumer behaviour is an inevitable
step for marketers and food retail store managers. Thus, for those of them who are concerned about
differentiating their stores, increase the welfare of their customers and their loyalty, the study and
analysis of the field of sensory marketing is crucial. Consequently, to cope with the fierce
competition, store managers are required to deploy the necessary resources to develop effective
sensory marketing strategies. Those strategies concern not only the triggering of the five senses but
also the store layout, design and training of the salespeople.
This study will thus enlighten managers and practitioners in the field about the importance
of taking into account many variables before deciding on the sensory marketing to be used at the
point of sales. By reinforcing their understanding on this field, they can construct a clearer and
better positioning. It is thus considered as a strategic tool for retailers that would like to be easily
identified and differentiated from the competition. By creating a positive environment to the
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consumer, sensory marketing allows him/her to consider shopping as a unique experience and will
thus influence the relationship that the consumer has with the distributor.
15. Impacts on academics

The sensory marketing field has started to be investigated since the early 30s but every
additional work in the field will enable future researches and academics to understand some of the
correlations that were ignored in the past. In the previous works about sensory marketing,
researches have addressed the influence that those marketing applications have on the behaviour of
the customer but the moderating factors at the origin of the sensitiveness to those sensory marketing
techniques were most of the time ignored. This work will provide academics with a new kind of
studies in the field by addressing this research topic.
In addition to a better understanding of the sensory marketing phenomenon, this study will
provide a framework for researches to explore and find new research questions that might be
addressed later. More than that, the findings of this research paper will attract and guide academics
into studying the impacts of sensory marketing in other fields.
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17.Appendices
Appendix 1: Colours meaning
Colour
Red
Orange
Pink
Yellow
Green
Blue
White
Black
Impact
Strong excitation. It increases
the pulse, heart rate and
blood
pressure,
which
triggers appetite.
Stimulates
appetite
and
attracts attention among kids
and teenagers.
Appealing and perfect for
sweets
Applications
Restaurants
and
bars
(appetite and excitement
properties)
Eg: Mc Donalds
Restaurant and Fast foods.
Eg: Burger king, Dunkin
Donuts
Candies producers and sweet
shops.
Eg: SweetN Low
Tea houses and pastry shops.
and Bio products
Comforting
Refreshment, nature
healthiness.
Sea and sky calmness. It is Bottled water
related to trust and serenity.
Sign of purity, and cleanness. Restaurants (for plates and
napkins, etc)
Symbol of top-of-range, Coffee, premium products.
quality and sobriety.
Appendix 2
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Appendix 3
Year
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
$ Billion
234.9
241.4
245.7
247.3
251.0
253.1
Billion
168.8
173.6
176.6
177.8
180.4
181.9
% Growth
(0.6)
2.8
1.8
0.6
1.5
0.9
Source: Marketline
Appendix 4: Purchasing power
Purchasing Power
2,00%
1,60%
1,50%
1,00%
1,10%
0,80%
0,50%
0,10%
0,00%
2006
-0,50%
2007
2008
2009
2011
2012
-0,60%
-1,00%
-1,00%
-1,50%
2010
-0,30%
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Appendix 5: Food consumption
Food Consumption
5,00%
4,30%
4,00%
2,90%
3,00%
2,30%
2,80%
2,90%
2011
2012
2,10%
2,00%
1,00%
0,40%
0,00%
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Appendix 6: Market share
Market share
Others
Netto
Dia + ED
Casino Supermarket
Monoprix
Aldi
Cora
Leader price
Simply Market
Casino Gant
Lidl
Carrefour Market
Auchan
Systme U
Carrefour Hypermarket
Intermarch
E.Leclerc
0,90%
1,90%
2,10%
2,10%
2,30%
2,40%
2,50%
2,50%
2,70%
7,40%
4,70%
7,60%
8,60%
9,60%
11,30%
12,80%
Source: Kantar Worldpanel Rfrenseigne Expert 2012
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Appendix 9: First Model

Variables in the Equation
Age_Dummy
(18-24 vs all)
S.E.
Wald
df
Sig.
Exp(B)
-.362
.732
.024
.621
.696
.060
.003
.048
1.123
.075
.032
.070
1.535
.056
.158
.008
2.049
.749
.021
.644
.707
.077
.215
.014
3.129
1.163
.004
.951
.931
1.103
.004
.837
.797
1.283
.000
.983
1.028
.697
1.607
.018
.665
2.007
.718
0.161
.019
.065
2.050
-20.138
23194.016
.000
.999
.000
-21.093
17189.805
.000
.999
.000
-2.346
0.1189
.389
.048
.096
-1.179
.095
.153
.021
.308
.061
.067
.001
.092
1.063
.288
.084
.011
.073
1.334
.250
.096
.006
.079
1.284
.254
0.158
.002
.087
1.290
-.052
1.272
.002
.967
.949
1.070
0.137
.060
.043
2.914
.042
.050
.007
.093
1.043
1.375
0.140
.096
.032
3.953
-1.224
.582
4.418
.036
.294
Age_Dummy
.116
(25-34 vs all)
Age_Dummy
.428
(35-55 vs all)
Gender_Dummy
.717
(Female Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
-.346
(Student Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
1.141
(Salaried Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
(Profession librale Vs -.071
all)
Profession_Dummy
-.227
(Entrepreneur Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
.028
(Manager Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
(Self EmployedVs all)
Step 1a
Profession_Dummy
(Shopkeeper Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
(Administrative
Employee Vs all)
Time_Dummy
(<10 minutes vs all)
Time_Dummy
(10-20 minutes vs all)
Time_Dummy
Time_Dummy
Time_Dummy
Time_Dummy
Time_Dummy
(> 90 minutes vs all)
Money_Dummy
(10-20) vs all)
Money_Dummy
(20-50 vs all)
Money_Dummy
(50-100 vs all)
Money_Dummy
(>100 vs all)
Constant
57

Yasmine ELAOUADI


Model Summary
Step
-2
likelihood
1
76.083a
Log Cox & Snell R Nagelkerke

Square
Square
.297
.433

Omnibus Tests of Model Coefficients
Chi-square
df
Step
33.420
23
Step 1
Block
33.420
23
Model
33.420
23
Sig.
.007
.007
.007
Appendix 12: Second Model

Omnibus Tests of Model Coefficients
Chi-square
df
Step
12.900
8
Step 1
Block
12.900
8
Model
12.900
8
Sig.
.011
.011
.011

Model Summary
Step
-2
likelihood
1
32.575a
Log Cox & Snell R Nagelkerke

Square
Square
.324
.433
58

Yasmine ELAOUADI


Variables in the Equation
Age_Dummy
(18-24 vs all)
Age_Dummy
(25-34 vs all)
Age_Dummy
(35-55 vs all)
Gender_Dummy
(Female Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
(Student Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
(Entrepreneur Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
(Manager Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
(Liberal Profession Vs
all)
Profession_Dummy
(Self Employed Vs all)
Step 1a
Profession_Dummy
(Shopkeeper Vs all)
Profession_Dummy
(Administrative
Employee Vs all)
Time_Dummy
Time_Dummy
Time_Dummy
Time_Dummy
Time_Dummy
Money_Dummy
(20-50 vs all)
Money_Dummy
(50-100 vs all)
Constant
S.E.
Wald
df
Sig.
Exp(B)
- .769
.080
.090
.034
.464
1.476
.104
.199
.015
4.375
.428
.075
.032
.057
1.535
1.409
.172
.066
.041
4.094
.783
.091
.072
.039
2.18
-1.267
.933
.184
.175
.282
-.932
1.269
.054
.462
.394
.352
1.437
.006
.806
1.422
-.549
.160
.011
.732
.577
21.339
40192.969
.000
1.000
1.851E+9
-22.456
40192.970
.000
1.000
.000
-.329
1.053
.009
.755
.720
-.421
.106
.015
.069
.656
-3.563
.166
.458
.032
.028
.372
.1817
.420
.040
.024
.653
.085
.579
.044
1.920
-1.468
.117
.157
.021
.230
.594
2.295
.007
.796
1.812
.678
.822
.680
.410
1.969
59

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Appendix 15: Online survey results

a. Socio-demographic profiles
Gender
Age Categories
35-55 55-65
1%
13%
Male
34%
Female
66%
25-34
35%
Profession
Liberal profession
8%
Labourer
1%
Unemployed
3%
Other
11%
Manager
6%
Entrepreneur
22%
Student
44%
Shopkeeper
2%
Administrative
employee
3%
60
18-24
51%

Yasmine ELAOUADI

b. Criterias importance in the choice of a supermarket
Store layout
Very unimportant
Very important
8%
Unimportant
12%
5%
Somewhat
unimportant
18%
Important
35%
Neutral
13%
Somewhat
important
9%
Price
Unimportant Very unimportant
3%
Somewhat 3%
unimportant
15%
Neutral
1%
Very
important
26%
Somewhat
important
7%
Important
45%
Design
Very important
3%
Very unimportant
14%
Important
16%
Unimportant
17%
Somewhat
important
Somewhat
18%
unimportant
Neutral
21%
11%
61

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Diversity of products
Unimportant
2% Very unimportant
1%
Somewhat
Very important
unimportant
15%
15%
Neutral
7%
Somewhat
important
8%
Important
52%
c. Feeling at the food retail store:
Feeling nerveous
Very frequently
3%
Frequently
8%
Never
29%
Occasionally
31%
Very rarely
15%
Rarely
14%
62

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Feeling calm
Never Always
3%
3%
Very rarely
4%
Very frequently
13%
Rarely
23%
Occasionally
25%
Frequently
29%
Feeling stressed
Always
1%
Never
25%
Very frequently
4%
Frequently
15%
Very rarely Occasionally

10%
27%
Rarely
18%
Feeling relaxed
Very frequently
7%
Frequently
7%
Never
13%
Very rarely
14%
Occasionally
27%
Rarely
32%
63

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Feeling sad
Frequently
1%
Occasionally
18%
Never
42%
Very
rarely
19%
Rarely
20%
Feeling happy
Never Always
1%
9%
Very rarely
15%
Rarely
21%
Very frequently
2%
Frequently
12%
Occasionally
40%
d. Habits at the food retail store
Shopping frequency
Once a month
4%
< Once a > Three times a

month
week
1%
10%
Three times a week
2%
Twice a week
14%
Twice a
month
23%
Once a week
46%
64

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Time spent
> 90 minutes
2%
60-90 minutes
8%
< 10 minutes
5%
10-20 minutes
17%
45-60 minutes
16%
20-30
minutes
22%
30-45
minutes
30%
Money spent
10-20 euros
8%
> 100
euros
16%
50-100
euros
33%
20-50 euros
43%
e. Sensitivity to sensory marketing
Sensory Marketing importance
Yes
44%
No
56%
65

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Music diffused
Very unimportant
22%
Very important
Important
4%
8%
Somewhat
important
33%
Somewhat
unimportant
22%
Neutral
11%
Odour diffused
Very important
2%
Very unimportant
20%
Important
24%
Somewhat
unimportant
26%
Neutral
9%
Lighting
Very unimportant
11%
Somewhat
Somewhat
important
19%
Very important
4%
unimportant
5%
Neutral
12%
Somewhat
important
25%
Important
43%
66

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Colours
Very important
4%
Very unimportant
13%
Somewhat
unimportant
13%
Important
25%
Neutral
20%
Somewhat
important
25%
Store layout
Very important
13%
Somewhat Very unimportant

6%
unimportant
5%
Neutral
13%
Somewhat
important
22%
Important
41%
Product testing
Very
important
3%
Important
11%
Very
unimportant
26%
Somewhat
important
19%
Somewhat
unimportant
18%
Neutral
23%
67

Yasmine ELAOUADI

f. Senses importance at the food retail store
g. Entering the food retail store because of a stimulated sense
Enter: Odour
Always
2%
Frequently
3%
Occasionally
10%
Rarely
5%
Very rarely
11%
Never
69%
Enter: Music
Frequently
Occasionally
3%
13%
Rarely
6%
Very rarely
7%
Never
71%
68

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Enter: Test of products
Very frequently
4%
Frequently
3%
Always
1%
Occasionally
19%
Never
53%
Rarely
12%
Very rarely
8%
Enter: Lighting
Very frequently Frequently
5%
3%
Occasionally
15%
Rarely
16%
Never
58%
Very rarely
3%
Enter: Colours
Always
1%
Very frequently
5%
Frequently
7%
Occasionally
16%
Never
48%
Rarely
16%
Very rarely
7%
69

Yasmine ELAOUADI

h. Leaving the food retail store because of a stimulated sense
Leave: Music
Very frequently
3%
Frequently
9%
Always
1%
Occasionally
14%
Never
55%
Rarely
7%
Very rarely
11%
Leave: Odour
Always
1%
Very frequently
1%
Frequently
7%
Occasionally
22%
Never
45%
Rarely
14%
Very rarely
10%
Leave: Crowd
Always
4%
Very rarely
6%
Rarely
5%
Very frequently
13%
Never
14%
Occasionally Frequently
30%
28%
70

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Leave: Bad lighting
Very frequently
1%
Always
1%
Frequently
10%
Never
41%
Occasionally
22%
Rarely
18%
Very rarely
7%
Leave: Layout Very frequently

Always
2%
3%
Frequently
11%
Never
29%
Occasionally
22%
Rarely
20%
Very rarely
13%
i. Buying a product because of a stimulated sense
Buy: Odour
Always
2%
Very frequently
1%
Frequently
20%
Never
31%
Occasionally
25%
Very rarely
11% Rarely
10%
71

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Buy: Sound
Very frequently
1%
Occasionally
14%
Always
1%
Rarely
17%
Never
52%
Very rarely
15%
Buy: Colours
Always
4%
Very frequently
6%
Never
18%
Very rarely
4%
Frequently
18%
Rarely
14%
Occasionally
36%
Buy: Packaging
Always
2%
Very rarely
6%
Rarely
9%
Never
15%
Frequently
31%
Occasionally
23%
Very frequently
14%
72

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Buy: Tested
Never
Very rarely 8%
7%
Rarely
15%
Always
2%
Very
frequently
24%
Frequently
29%
Occasionally
15%
Improvements
Yes
31%
No
69%
73

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Appendix 16: In store survey

a. Socio-demographic profiles
Gender
Age Categories
Male
26%
35-55
21%
18-24
44%
Female
74%
25-34
35%
Profession
Unemployed
3%
Liberal
profession
9%
Student
35%
Entrepreneur
23%
shopkeeper
3%
Self-
employed
6%
Middle manager
15%
Labourer
3%
Administrative
employee
3%
74

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Marital Status
Divorced
3%
Married
24%
Single
41%
In a
relationship
32%
b. Habits at the food retail store
Money spent
60-90
minutes
15%
> 100
50-100
euros
euros
18%
23%
10-20
Time spent minutes
45-60
minutes
21%
20-50
euros
59%
Shopping Frequency
> 3 times a week

7%
Twice a month
19%
3 times a week
3%
Twice a
week
16%
Once a week
55%
75
12%
20-30
minutes
20%
30-45
minutes
32%

Yasmine ELAOUADI

c. Criterias importance in the choice of a supermarket
Store Layout
Very unimportant
12%
Unimportant
8%
Important
44%
Somewhat
important
32%
Price
Very
important
26%
Somewhat
unimportant
4%
Very unimportant
3%
Unimportant
6%
Somewhat
important
Somewhat
3%
Unimportant
15%
Important
47%
Very important
6%
Design
Very
unimportant
3%
Unimportant
17%
Important
15%
Somewhat
important
12%
Neutral
15%
Somewhat
unimportant
32%
76

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Diversity of products
Very important
14%
Very unimportant
3%
Somewhat
important
6%
Neutral
6%
Somewhat
unimportant
9%
Important
62%
d. Sensitivity to sensory marketing techniques
Importance of sensory marketing

techniques
No
15%
Yes
85%
Sensitivity to music
Very important
5%
Important
17%
Somewhat
unimportant
22%
Very unimportant
28%
Unimportant
28%
77

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Sensitivity to Odour
Very important
3%
Very unimportant
15%
Important
18%
Somewhat
important
12%
Unimportant
20%
Neutral
15%
Somewhat
unimportant
17%
Sensitivity to light
Very
important
5%
Important
3%
Very Unimportant
1%
Somewhat
Unimportant
1%
Unimportant
18%
Neutral
16%
Somewhat
Important
56%
Sensitivity to Colours
Very Unimportant
1%
Important
32%
Somewhat
Important
11%
Unimportant
30%
Neutral
24%
78
Somewhat
Unimportant
2%

Yasmine ELAOUADI

e. Senses importance at the food retail store
Attracted: Odour
Very Rarely
3%
Occasionnally
9%
Rarely
12%
Never
76%
Attracted: Music
Very rarely
6%
Rarely
6%
Occasionally
12%
Never
76%
79

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Attracted: Lights
Rarely
6%
Frequently
6%
Very rarely
3%
Occasionnally
23%
Never
62%
Attracted: Colours
Frequently
15%
Rarely
6%
Very rarely
6%
Never
56%
Occasionally
17%
80

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Annoyed: Music
Very frequently
3%
Rarely
6%
Frequently
15%
Never
35%
Very rarely
21%
Occasionally
20%
Annoyed: Odour
Frequently
12%
Rarely
12%
Never
35%
Very rarely
12%
Occasionally
29%
Annoyed: Crowd
Always
6% Frequently
9%
Very
Frequently
26%
Rarely
3%
Very rarely
6%
Never
12%
Occasionally
38%
81

Yasmine ELAOUADI

82

Yasmine ELAOUADI

83

Yasmine ELAOUADI

84

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Appendix 17: Out of store interviews

a. Socio-demographic profile
i.
Gender:
Male
Female
ii.
Age:
<18 years old
18-25 years old
26-40 years old
41-60 years old
>60 years old
iii.
Marital status:
Single
In a relationship
Married
Divorced
Separated
Widowed
iv.
Do you have children? If yes, please indicate the number.

Yes
No
v.
Profession:
Farmer
Craftsman
Entrepreneur
Manager
Shopkeeper
Administrative employee
Student
Labourer
Liberal profession
Retired
Unemployed
Other
85

Yasmine ELAOUADI

b. Questions regarding the store

vi.
What are most important criteria in the choice of your supermarket?
vii.
When you enter a food retail store, how do you usually feel?
Sad
Pessimistic
Stirred
Nervous
viii.
-3
-3
-3
-3
-2
-2
-2
-2
-1
-1
-1
-1
0
0
0
0
1
1
1
1
How often do you visit your supermarket?

Once a week
Twice a week
> 3 times a week
Every two weeks
Once a month
ix.
How much time do you spend in it each time?

Less than 10 minutes
10-30 minutes
30-60 minutes
> 1hour
x.
Do you tend to spend more time than you really think?

Never
Very rarely
Rarely
Occasionally
Frequently
Very frequently
Always
xi.
How much do you spend approximately in it?

>10 euros
10-20 euros
20-50 euros
> 50 euros
86
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
3
Happy
Optimistic
Relaxed
Quiet

Yasmine ELAOUADI

c. Introducing sensory marketing

xii.
In a store, are you particularly sensitive to those elements?
xiii.
In a store, would you like to have a sense stimulated more than another? (Rate from 1 to
5: 1= the most important, 5= the least important)
Smell
Sound
Sight
Touch
Taste
xiv.
Have you ever walked into a store because you were attracted by:
xv.
Oppositely, did it happen to you to leave a store because of an unpleasant atmosphere?
xvi.
Have you ever bought a product only because of:
xvii.
Are expecting more efforts from your retail store in terms of valuing the products and
shelves?
xviii.
If yes what do you think it is needed to make the store and shelves more attractive
87

Yasmine ELAOUADI

Appendix 18: In-store interviews

a. Socio-demographic profile
i.
Gender:
Male
Female
ii.
Age:
<18 years old
18-25 years old
26-40 years old
41-60 years old
>60 years old
iii.
Marital status:
Single
In a relationship
Married
Divorced
Separated
Widowed
iv.
Do you have children? If yes, please indicate the number.

Yes
No
v.
Profession:
Farmer
Craftsman
Entrepreneur
Manager
Shopkeeper
Administrative employee
Student
Labourer
Liberal profession
Retired
Unemployed
Other
88

Yasmine ELAOUADI

b. Questions regarding the store

vi.
What are most important criteria in the choice of this supermarket?
vii.
How often do you visit this supermarket?

Once a week
Twice a week
> 3 times a week
Every two weeks
Once a month
viii.
How much time do you spend in it each time?

Less than 10 minutes
10-30 minutes
30-60 minutes
> 1hour
ix.
Do you tend to spend more time than you really think?

Never
Very rarely
Rarely
Occasionally
Frequently
Very frequently
Always
x.
How much do you spend approximately in it?

>10 euros
10-20 euros
20-50 euros
> 50 euros
c. Introducing sensory marketing
xi.
In this supermarket/hypermatket, are you particularly sensitive to those elements?
89

Yasmine ELAOUADI

xii.
In a food retail store like this one, would you like to have a sense stimulated more than
another? (Rate from 1 to 5: 1= the most important, 5= the least important)
Smell
Sound
Sight
Touch
Taste
xiii.
Have you ever walked into this food retail store or into another because you were
attracted by:
xiv.
Oppositely, did it happen to you to leave this food retail store or another one because of
an unpleasant atmosphere?
xv.
Have you ever bought a product in this food retail store or in a similar one only because
of:
xvi.
Are expecting more efforts from this retail store in terms of valuing the products and
shelves?
xvii.
If yes what do you think it is needed to make the store and shelves more attractive
90

Consumer's Sensitiveness To Sensory Marketing Within The Food Retailing Industry

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To be filled in by the student

I am gratefully thankful to my supervisor, Professor Stephen Humphrey, whose guidance, support

Operational reasons .............................................................................................................................. 7

2. Industry Overview ...................................................................................................................... 7

i. Political environment .................................................................................................................................................. 8

3. Business Research Questions ................................................................................................... 11

Implications of the exploratory qualitative research ............................................................ 12

Research objectives ................................................................................................................... 13

Literature review ...................................................................................................................... 14

a. Sensory marketing: evolution and importance ................................................................................ 14

Research techniques ................................................................................................................. 31

10. Barriers and Limitations of the proposed research ......................................................... 44

13. Research ethics ............................................................................................................................. 46

1. Rationale for the proposed study

Social and cultural environment

Environmental and ecological environment

Competitive rivalry within an industry

Bargaining power of suppliers

Bargaining power of customers

Threat of new entrants

Threat of substitute products

f. Trends in the food retail industry

3. Business Research Questions

4. Implications of the exploratory qualitative research

b. Sensory marketing in the food retail industry

c. Sensory marketing and its components

d. Bitners conceptual model

Additionally, 22% would

c. Empirical study: regression on the impact of sensory marketing on the time

Probability that sensory marketing has an

1 if 18-24, 0 for everything else

1 if Student, 0 for everything else

1 if 10-20 minutes, 0 for everything else

1 if 45-60 minutes, 0 for everything else

<20 euros, 0 for everything else

1 if 20-50 euros, 0 for everything else

>100 euros, 0 for everything else

d. Results and interpretation of the empirical study

10. Barriers and Limitations of the proposed research

12. Suggested future research

13. Research ethics

14. Impacts on managers and practitioners

15. Impacts on academics

Derval D., The Right Sensory Mix, 2010.Dmter et Kotler,

La tribune, La france compte dsormais plus de drive que dhypermarchs,

Wall Street Journal, 28 July, 1992.

Appendix 4: Purchasing power

Appendix 5: Food consumption

Appendix 6: Market share

Source: Kantar Worldpanel Rfrenseigne Expert 2012

Appendix 9: First Model

Appendix 10: First Model

Log Cox & Snell R Nagelkerke

Appendix 11: First Model

Appendix 12: Second Model

Appendix 13: Second Model

Log Cox & Snell R Nagelkerke

Appendix 14: Second Model

Appendix 15: Online survey results

b. Criterias importance in the choice of a supermarket

c. Feeling at the food retail store:

Very rarely Occasionally

d. Habits at the food retail store