Brand aesthetics

This dissertation is an exploratory study about how consumers’ five senses (visual, smell, taste, touch and hearing) influence on their perception of brands. Consumers become aware and learn about brands, for example, through packages, promotions and advertisements. Consumers rely on colors, odors, sounds, tastes and even the ‘feel’ of products when forming evaluations of brands. In the study hypotheses are made based on the notion that brand aesthetics is about perception, associations and interpretation of product's sensory appearance and marketing communication, which further affects the general understanding and judgments of the brand, its image and awareness. Data collection for this research relied on a questionnaire-based approach. Data sample covered students from the University of Helsinki in Finland and from the University of Zürich in Switzerland. Product groups studied in this research were mobile phones and soft drinks and brands within these product groups. Research methods used in the study were factory analysis, structural equation modeling (AMOS) and regression analysis. Overall, this research showed that brand aesthetics as a concept is many-sided and that senses and sensory experiences play part in determining brand image and brand awareness. The results indicate a multifaceted picture of consumer’s sensory responses to brands and products. The results also reveal new and interesting aspects of the area which in general has not been studied very much, even though senses and their interplay in brand building processes have been acknowledged by practitioners and academics throughout time. The research offers a fruitful standing point for further research and has implications for those interested in senses and sensory perception, aesthetics and design, consumer research and branding.