Design the pattern of sensory marketing and its antecedents in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods for dairy industry

Aim and Introduction: The aim of this study is to design the pattern of sensory marketing (based on the senses) and its antecedents in the (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) dairy industry. Brands competing in dairy industry require a clear emphasis on sensory stimuli when developing their marketing strategies to cater different segments in the market. Sensory marketing plays a vital role in creating long standing relationship with consumers. The impact s sensory marketing on consumer behaviour is a widely examined research scope but still empirical gaps are claimed within different product scopes and market contexts. The dairy industry isgrowinglike mushrooms after the rain and this influences dairyservice sales. Firms need to intensively focus on relationship building with customers through comprehensive communication strategies based on the market offerings whereas new media can do a strategic role within. Brand has tangibles and intangible values and marketers apply sensory marketing applications to create a stimulation via five senses of humankind. As described by Krishna (2010) “Sensory marketing is a strategy that connects with the consumers' senses and in this way influences their behavior”. Essentially, the client's decision for an item or service will be cognizant and contingent upon its qualities and advantages. There has been an explosive growth of interest in sensory marketing and sensory branding over the last decade. Ultimately, as Doug Hall, the president of one new-product Development Company notes: “…the most successful new products appeal on both rational and emotional levels to as many senses as possible.” Sensory marketing is a new and emerging technology that integrates the five senses of man to create a memorable experience for the consumer. Sensory marketing is a distinctive marketing communication tool. Its emergence and continued usage by firms owe to the fact that traditional advertising is no longer sufficient to sell a brand and as such, does not speak volumes to the consumer. Marketing researchers are beginning to realize how powerful responses to non-conscious stimuli is. This modern theory of sensory marketing is because engaging the consumer's senses will affect their behavior which will in turn affect their emotions, perceptions, memories, preferences and the purchase decision. With the usage of sensory marketing strategies and techniques, it creates an environment for consumers to identify the brand, products and services from competitive brands, which creates a separate identity, perceived premium, inclination and finally they tend to fall in love with the brand. When consumer begins to love a brand, at that point he/she really turns out to be exceptionally enthusiastic about and energetic for the brand. Because of this strong emotional connection, they relied upon to buy over and again the same brand disregarding other contender brands. The role of sensory experiences in judgment and decision-making has seen a surge of interest in marketing as well as psychology. In marketing, scattered research on the role of the senses in consumer behavior brought together under the rubric of sensory marketing, that is, “marketing that engages the consumers' senses and affects their perception, judgment, and behavior”. Over the past few years, research in sensory marketing has expanded and spread on a global scale in a most significant way. From previously having been an unknown conference topic at the large annual scientific marketing conferences, such as the European Marketing Academy (EMAC), the Academy of Marketing Science, and the American Marketing Association (AMA), today sensory marketing has come to recognize as an independent, scientific research area, compared with areas such as advertising, relationship marketing, or branding. Many researchers believe that sensory marketing will become more significant in the future and will establish itself as an important area for both academicians and practitioners.
Methodology: The aim of this study is to design the pattern of sensory marketing (based on the senses) and its antecedents in the (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods) dairy industry. The research method was exploratory mixed and first the qualitative data collected. Then, based on the findings of the qualitative stage, a tool developed to collect quantitative data and generalize the findings. In order to obtain qualitative data, according to targeted snowball sampling, 16 university experts and experienced managers in the dairy industry were selected and conducted through semi-structured interviews and open-ended questions, based on an approach of using grounded theory and then based on the findings of this stage, a model of sensory marketing and its antecedents was developed. Then, in order to explain the model based on the findings of the qualitative method, a preliminary questionnaire designed in the quantitative section. The statistical population in the quantitative section, dairy customers in Tehran was indefinitely, thus the statistical sample according to Cochran's formula of 384 people did by available sampling method and quantitative data processing done by PLS2 software.
Discussion and Conclusion: Based on the hypotheses tests, the final pattern of research formed in six main categories including; Intervening conditions (organizational and brand factors), contextual (economic, socio-cultural and technological factors), causal (organizational factors, customer and competitive environment), phenomenon-oriented (sense of taste, smell, sight, touch and hearing), strategies (sensory marketing campaign, brand equity, customer knowledge) and outcomes (financial, competitive, customer and branding), and micro-categories and related indicators in the dairy industry were also identified in the pattern.