3 On Your Side: Selling To Your Senses
By Jim Donovan
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- We all know that a new car smell can grab attention and certain songs have been said to soothe the soul, but now smells, tastes and touch are being used by retailers use to get you to open your wallet. 3 On Your Side Consumer Reporter Jim Donovan explains how the five senses are adding up to stronger sales.
Shopping these days is all about the atmosphere. Shopper Megan Ray says, "You're just, 'oh, that's kind of nice', that smell, or music, whatever it is. It would keep me in the store longer than if I was just running in somewhere that didn't have that."
It's no coincidence that more and more retailers are tapping in to your senses. Texas Tech Marketing Professor Deborah Fowler says, "The retailer tells us who they are by their music, by the sound, by the lighting."
Some stores even have their own scent. Roger Bensinger of Prolitec says, "It can generate more sales from a transactional standpoint, and because of this memory trace that we have, this emotional connectional we have to scent, it can create a more loyal customer long-term."
Marketing gurus call it atmospheric pressure. The experience is always tailor made for the customer the brand is trying to reach. But it doesn't work with everybody. Bensinger says, "Some brands are in your face, loud music, stark lighting, you know, sensory overload." While shopper Pat Andre says, "The smells, I'm not sure about that, maybe in the bakery. As far as the music, I'm not interested at all, really that would not make me want to buy anything."
Yet, research shows with most people, this works to keep you shopping longer, and buying more, without you realizing the impact, or how it's done.
The first industries that used atmospheric pressure were hospitality related. Now retailers are starting to catch up.
Researchers point out, we use these 'techniques,' too. When you fix your hair, put on cologne and pick out clothes to wear, you're essentially selling your own personal brand, too.
