Study Finds Sensory Stimulation Boosts Sales, Customer Satisfaction

Austin, Texas-based Mood Media, a provider of multi-media audio/visual solutions that serve a variety of industries, announces the results of a study conducted recently that confirms that so-called “sensory marketing”-engaging senses beyond just sight in a retail environment-has a positive emotional, cognitive and behavorial impact on shoppers.

The study, conducted by UK-based research company Walnut Unlimited and commissioned by Mood Media and global sports retailer INTERSPORT, was titled, “Quantifying the Impact of Sensory Marketing.” It found that when sensory marketing was applied in a retail setting, sales increased by 10 percent. Also noteworthy: Shoppers spent almost six minutes longer in-store when the senses were activated.

“Knowing that 78 percent of shoppers say an enjoyable atmosphere plays a key factor in purchasing a product in-store versus online, we partnered with Walnut Unlimited to develop unique behavioral and neuromarketing quantitative research that demonstrates how shoppers react first-hand to specific sensory experiences,” says Scott Moore, global chief marketing officer of Mood Media. “The results speak for themselves. A strategic top-level approach to incorporating in-store sensorial elements creates a measurable emotional response with consumers that delivers bottom-line results.”

Some key takeaways from the study as it applies to INTERSPORT:

• The use of scent is quite impactful when being used to highlight a specific department or zone in a store. In the scented football zone, for example, customers’ emotional levels were elevated by 28 percent compared to the baseline.
• From the installation of scent in the football area to-date, INTERSPORT has noticed a 26 percent increase in sales in the category in the test store compared to the same category performance in all the other stores throughout the country.
• Based on Eye Tracking (ET) metrics, awareness of digital screens in-store increased by 5 percent when moving visualizations were activated on-screen (vs. static images).
• Based on Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) metrics, a lack of sensorial elements in-store caused many consumers to become awkwardly self-aware while shopping, with 17 percent becoming more emotionally sensitive and uncomfortable in an unusually quiet and stimulant-free environment.

Elaborating on that last finding, Mood Media notes: “Consumers like seeing themselves, which the study describes as ‘the science of narcissism.’ Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) and Eye Tracking (ET) metrics showed a significant increase in nervous system activity and engagement when consumers saw themselves in mirrors and interacted with products in front of mirrors.”

• Shoppers showed a 50 percent emotional increase when touching and engaging with a product. This supports first-hand the important and unique role that in-store shopping continues to serve.

It also points to the sophistication of how all aspects of the brick-and-mortar retail environment is studied, including signage, whether static or digital.