Sensory Marketing

Theoretical and Empirical Grounds

Bertil Hultén

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781317427841
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

Sensory Marketing offers a global view of the use of senses in marketing strategy based on consumers' perception and behaviour. Integrating the company constraints and classical approaches of branding and communication, the author presents sensory marketing as an emergent marketing paradigm in theory and practice. This book will be an important contribution that will provide useful reading for marketing scholars and consumer psychologists across the world.

1 History of Consumer Marketing

DOI: 10.4324/9781315690681-1

This chapter analyzes and discusses the historical development of marketing as a theoretical discipline as well as management practice with a focus on consumers. The dominating theoretical ideas established in the research and literature, namely transaction marketing, relationship marketing, and service logic, are addressed in depth. In particular, the differences between these approaches with respect to the relevant concepts, models, and theories are discussed to understand the development of consumer marketing in theory and practice.

Furthermore, how consumer marketing has evolved over different epochs with respect to various changes in society is emphasized. The economic, organizational, and social conditions that characterize a society during different periods have affected the development of consumer marketing, both theoretically and practically. Finally, the current situation of consumer marketing is analyzed and discussed based on the new theoretical frameworks that are emerging and being established.

The Modern Marketing

The Importance of Consumption and the Freedom of Choice

The idea of free consumption and free personal choice for all individuals has influenced the emergence of the modern industrial society as the current global consumer society during the last three centuries. During this time, the industry’s most important role in society has been to produce goods and services for personal consumption. This has been the case historically, and private consumption today plays a crucial role in a country’s economic development and prosperity.

Already in the late 1700s, the economist Adam Smith suggested an economic system that was based on the personal self-interest, and the individual’s utility maximization was accepted as prerequisites for a society’s economic and social development. Further, giving all people in a society access to the goods and services that were produced emphasized the importance of free personal choice.

A voluntary and competitive exchange of goods and services, which emanated from both the sellers’ and the buyers’ personal self-interest, could lead to economic prosperity in society. Thus the principles for administering and building an economic system had been organized by the market—the invisible hand—and the possibility to satisfy the personal self-interest was established for both the producers and the consumers.

Ever since man first came to the realization that it is possible to meet one’s own personal satisfaction through consumption, marketing, as a function and process, has existed and developed, which Baker (2000, p. 19, op. cit.) expressed as:

An insight which was to lead to acceptance of task specialization and exchange as the foundation for increased productivity and higher standards of living.

The principle of consumer sovereignty has been the basis for the theory of free personal choice, which came to constitute marketing—one’s philosophical roots. Therefore, marketing has, in practice, come to express the economic principles, which have emanated from the personal self-interest. Historically, these principles of social welfare development as well as individuals’ consumption and choice have formed the basis for the practical application of marketing. The time line that follows shows some of the key events that have affected marketing development, both theoretically and practically, with mainly American starting points (Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1 Significant Stages in the Development of Consumer Marketing in Theory and Practice

For centuries, the fundamental starting point in a society was that sellers and buyers of goods and services met to exchange ideas and information and conduct business with each other. But from one social epoch to another, the methods and approaches have varied and changed, based on the new conditions that existed. But a meeting between the parties has always taken place by either the buyer going to the seller or vice versa.

“Even before Jesus’s time, the classic market-place, where buyers and sellers meet to do business, was of central importance for the exchange of goods.”

Until the mid-1700s, the business life as a cultural element was regarded by most people as almost a criminal phenomenon. Before the introduction of the market economy, there were no established distribution or financial systems and both manufacturing and transportation were primitively developed areas. Furthermore, the majority of the population lived in rural areas and accounted for their livelihood through self-manufacturing and production. Thus there was no gap to be overcome between production and consumption. It is estimated that among the population, there was between 75 and 90 percent who were totally dependent on their own livelihood, whereas influential religious, political, and social forces opposed an increase in consumption, which at that time was very low.

Any monetary economies did not exist either, but it was common with barter. The most common meeting place for producers, merchants, and consumers was the local market, and contemporary businessmen—tradesmen and merchants—lacked the economic, organizational, and technological possibilities to be able to develop mass markets, i.e., markets that were not local but regional or nationwide.

It was, thus, natural to create and develop key institutions at the local level, such as stores, wholesale operations, warehouses, or a traveling salesman, to name a few typical examples. Eventually, financial institutions such as banks and formal credit facilities as well as paper money began to be created and developed, which offered new opportunities for buyers and sellers to do more businesses.

The Institutional Development as the Foundation

The historical development of the market can be traced back to Great Britain in the mid-1700s, followed by Germany about a decade later, and the United States around 1830. This first era, until the mid-1800s, was marked by a breakthrough of the market economy, among other things, to be able to meet and better stimulate the demand for goods and services that existed in society at that time. The Industrial Revolution, through the new cutting-edge innovations, such as production in factories and transport by rail and steamship, created the conditions for what later came to be mass markets. At the same time, the first urbanization processes began, which involved the relocation of many people from rural to urban areas. This created new economic opportunities for sales, purchasing, and distribution, and the importance of these activities for the development of society was great.

The functional and organizational development of marketing in society has meant a gradual establishment of the modern marketing, as illustrated in Figure 1.1. This has enabled an economic development in which production and consumption have come to be the focus for achieving higher standards of living, quality of life, and welfare for the general public. This development is considered to have started in Great Britain in the mid-1800s, then came to Germany, and then the United States two decades later and lasted until the early 1930s.

Mass production had its breakthrough during this time and led to a concentration of manufacturing and a powerful stimulus for demand. A geographical distance between the producers and buyers arose, as more and more goods started to be produced in factories. This meant that it became necessary for most manufacturers to have access to various institutions in marketing to be able to reach out to a local or regional market. This required that one should be able to distribute and disseminate information about their goods and services to the general public, who were also seen as potential customers.

For that reason, advertising, intermediaries, physical distribution, and market research, to name a few examples, were required, which Fullerton (1988, p.122, op. cit.) expressed as follows:

The new institutions and practices helped make marketing a major element of daily life for most of the population; descendants of self-sufficient peasant were consumers in the modern sense.

The institutions and the methods that were established and developed during this period are shown in Table 1.1.

Table 1.1 Producers' Distribution and Marketing, 1870–1930 (Fullerton, 1988, p. 114–116)

Producer activities	Examples	Source
Branding, use of trademarks—before 1870, increase after	Pear’s Soap (UK)—around 1860. Sapolio cleanser (USA)—from 1869 showed power of branding.Henkel’s Soda (Germany)—1876.	Redlich (1935) Wilson (1954)
Packaging—to identify brand to appeal and protect—paper, board, pottery, glass, cans, and foil in use around 1900.	Dr. Lyon’s Tooth Powder (USA)—1874. Lever introduced first laundry soap carton in 1880 (UK).Canned asparagus—several popular brands in Germany.	Davis (1967) Minchinton (1982) Wilson (1954)
Segmentation—widely practiced by producers, also mass producers. Many products intended for specific segments.	General Motors, “a car for every purse and purpose.”Parker Pen & Co.—40 pens from USD 1.50–20.00 in 1899 catalog.	Lawrence (1977) Fullerton (1985)
Market analysis—study of competition, market potential, customer needs. Some American firms had established market Research departments around 1920.	Velhagen and Klasing analyzed demographics of customer lists in the 1880s. U.S. Rubber & Co., Swift & Co., Curtis Publishing Co., 1910–1920. General Motors tied production to short-run sales forecasts in the 1920s.	Egbert, Holbrook and Aldrich (1931) Fullerton (1985) Shaw(1916) Sloan (1965) Simmons (1924)
Producer-owned ”branch houses” with wholesale functions allowed direct distribution to retailers.	Big meat packers like Armour, Cudahy, Swift and Wilson each had 400–500.	Breyer (1931) Ivey (1921)
Producer-owned retail stores, producer-franchised retail stores allowed direct sales to consumers.	Pioneered by Singer in mid-1800s. Clothing and shoe manufacturers and sporting firm A.G. Spalding 1920.	Egbert, Holbrook and Aldrich (1931)
Producer-dominated cartels established to ensure channel domination, e.g., Germany.	Exchange Union of German Booksellers controlled distribution and powerful department stores 1880–1890.	Hirsch (1925)
Producer-operated direct sale to consumers, door-to-door sales, and mail order.	Used to open U.S. market for typewriters, cooking stoves, sewing machines, electric irons, washing machines, and kitchen cabinets.	Converse (1930) Nieschlag (1939)
Increased contact with independent retailers and chain stores.	Increased cooperation through sales training, window displays, advertising, and demonstrations.	Converse (1930)
Manufacturer-supported consumer credit for costly items as cars, appliances spread in the United States to circumvent banks’ conservatism.	Pioneered by Singer around 1850. Willys-Overland and other auto firms around 1915 and General Motors 1919.	Hounshell (1984) Sloan (1965)
Advertising by producers expanded, including direct mail and cooperative advertising.	McCormick built part of its success on heavy advertising of its farm implements in the United States from 1850. Soap firms like Lever and Pears, United Kingdom, Procter & Gamble, United States, and Henkel, Germany, advertised heavily from 1870. The U.S. automobile industry was the heaviest advertising spender of any industry by 1915.	Fullerton and Nevett (1986) Presbrey (1929) Redlich (1935)

One can see from the summary that different groups of customer groups were at the center of the manufacturer’s marketing already in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Noteworthy, segmentation, which is considered one of modern marketing’s most important theoretical points, had already begun to be practiced then. This shows the leading manufacturer’s early awareness that just one product could not generate satisfaction among all the buyers. The question of being able to distinguish the buyers from each other, based on needs and satisfaction, has been regarded as the very essence of modern marketing theory.

“Segmentation came to be applied early on by the producers as a fundamental principle in consumer goods marketing.”

It also appears that the producers were active early on in creating and developing effective distribution channels, and the intermediary’s role and importance was emphasized. This has been the basis for the claim that production and distribution have gone hand in hand when it comes to marketing’s institutional development. The function of wholesaling, in this context, contributed to the emergence of a more comprehensive physical distribution at both the national and regional levels, whereas the retail operations contributed to the physical goods becoming exposed and available to the general public. It should be added that advertising agencies contributed in different ways to create awareness and interest in the goods, with the help of direct mail and interaction with the market.

Finally, it should be said that the creation of the new institutions also contributed to the emergence of competition between the institutions, which came to further stimulate the demand that existed at that time. An efficient and effective management function was considered to be of importance in the new institutions to succeed in the competitive situation that had arisen. Thanks to the new institutions that were founded and established in the late 1800s and early 1900s, there were conditions that producers needed in order to be able to introduce and implement their comprehensive marketing program, as shown in Table 1.2.

One conclusion is that in the historical development of modern marketing, the intermediaries, through the formation of institutions such as independent retailers, wholesalers, and franchises made it possible for the emergence and establishment of large-scale producers. With this, both the producers and intermediaries have contributed to marketing as an emerging scientific discipline from the early 1900s.

Epochs and Stages of Development

A Producer-Oriented Approach

Generally, the modern marketing development is analyzed and discussed based on a number of different epochs and stages of development in a society, through concepts such as production orientation, produc...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• List of Tables and Figures
• Preface
• 1 History of Consumer Marketing
• 2 The Marketing Dynamics
• 3 Sensory Marketing
• 4 The Brain and the Five Senses
• 5 The Sense of Sight
• 6 The Sense of Sound
• 7 The Sense of Smell
• 8 The Sense of Touch
• 9 The Sense of Taste
• 10 Multi-Sensory Brand-Experience
• 11 Sensory Marketing in the Future
• Index