The 5 human senses

The brain decides which sensory data is relevant at that moment (short-term memory) or pulls on an emotional trigger (long-term memory) and so it is possible to influence shoppers by each of the 5 senses or by using combinations.

Understanding which senses they are using to buy what type of products goes hand in hand with neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). The result is a combination of analyses relating to the senses shoppers use to shop and those they use to mentally process information about a specific category, brand or product.

1. Visual Shopping (Sight)

– 95% of information sent from the eyes to the brain is ignored.
– 70% of information received by shoppers in-store is by way of visual cues
– Shoppers navigate visually by outline shape and contrast (shape/colour)
– Only things seen in the foveal vision are processed in color
– Women have a significantly wider peripheral vision than men
– Shoppers are much more visually aware of things below their eyes than above them
– When reading, shoppers scan parts of the text and ‘fill in the gaps’ (up to 70%)
– Strongly contrasting colors will attract more attention than softer shades. Shoppers can process images much more quickly than any written descriptions.
– Also, they more quickly process images of raw unwrapped product compared with wrapped packs of product.

 
2. Auditory Shopping (Sound)

– Influencing what shoppers hear in-store can offer significant sales opportunities.
– Playing classical music compared to pop, increased sales by 26%
– The same process increased the value of the average wine purchase by 40%
– Subtly slowing down familiar music by 6% increased time spent in store by 12%
– At the same time, money spent in that store rose by 18%

 
Affirmative ‘good choice’ audio messaging at the point of purchase lead to a double-digit sales increase. Targeting the auditory sense of shoppers works best if developing a multi-sensory campaign. For example, after leaving the store, shoppers will recall 15% of what they read, this will rise to 20% if they simultaneously see and hear the same message. However, if the written words and spoken message are different but complement each other, then rate of recall jumps to around 70%.

3. Olfactory Shopping (Smell)

– As many as 30% of shoppers smell the products before buying.
– Smell is the only sense that isn’t processed as it enters the limbic system (part of the brain thought to regulate emotions).
– Aromas in-store can powerfully link brands to their usage and consumption occasions.
– Humans are able to recognize in the region of 10,000 different smells.
– Shoppers tend to process smell information in context to the types of products they are shopping.
– Olfaction is important in such functions as sexual preference, and recognition of other people.

 
Influencing shoppers by way of olfactory stimulation has proved to be an effective and yet subtle method of communication. Fresh bread smells in the supermarket, freshly mown grass in the sports store and the scent of the latest perfume coming of the duty-free trolley in the aircraft are all example of conscious attempts to influence the sub-conscious of shoppers.

With regard to targeting this sense, it is important to provide shoppers with context so that they take away the intended positive emotional associations, instead of any unforeseen negatives.

For example…
In beauty categories when anywhere between 20% and 30% of shoppers smell the products as part of evaluation, it always surprising that some brands prevent this trigger to purchase by sealing the packs.
 
Another olfactory consideration is what the general smell of that part of the store such as a strong smell of curry in the lingerie department.
 
4. Touch Shopping (Touch)

– Shoppers associate the quality of an item they are looking at with what it feels like.
– Physical texture, weight and even temperature are all used by shoppers to evaluate products.
– The most sensitive areas of your body are your hands, lips, face, neck, tongue, fingertips and feet.
– The least sensitive part of your body is the middle of your back.
– Shivering is a way your body has of trying to get warmer

While the other four senses (sight, hearing, smell and taste) are located in specific parts of the body, your sense of touch is found all over. This means that there are numerous ways to influence shoppers: Softer underfoot sensation will slow them down, colder and harder surfaces speed them up.
 
5. Taste Shopping (Taste)
Taste is the weakest of the 5 senses, so we need multi-sensory merchandising in-store.

The tongue (and roof of your mouth) has 3 areas of specialty: Bitter, Sour and Salty/Sweet. We have almost 10,000 taste buds inside our mouths, on our tongues and even on the roofs of our mouths. In general, women have more taste buds than men.

There are only limited opportunities to influence shoppers using taste. For example, the familiar tastings in supermarkets are a means to introducing shoppers to new products. More subtly are the types of taste test that tempt a shopper to buy more afterwards.

Source: https://www.sbxl.com