Global Economic Observer (Dec 2021)
Sensory Marketing during COVID-19 - Creating a Multisensory Experience for Online Shopping
Abstract
The unprecedented shift caused by the Covid-19 pandemic generated a series of changes in consumer preferences and behavior. One of the most significant changes is represented by an increasing interest in online shopping. During the last two years consumers have tried to stay safe by shopping online which has resulted in the drop of physical touchpoints between retailers and consumers. While making online purchases consumers can no longer touch, smell or taste the products, but only rely on perceiving them through sight and hearing. The full sensory experience of shopping in a physical store is now limited to a mobile or computer screen. It is therefore important to understand how the lack of some sensory stimuli can impact consumers’ perceptions and behavior. This articles aims to present how marketers can adapt sensory marketing to the digital context and discover new ways of utilizing the senses of sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch in order to appeal to consumers. It is important to understand that sensory elements, beyond images and sounds, will benefit customer engagement and that it’s useful to integrate new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, augmented reality, in order to develop multisensory experiences that improve consumers experiences.
