Whether it’s your phone vibrating, a rumble of your car’s engine, the tingle of your minty toothpaste or the bubbles in your drink, products come with sensory signals. Some are inadvertent, some are deliberate.
For example, advances in build quality meant the engines of modern-day Mustangs were too quiet. They just didn’t sound “Mustang-y” enough. That’s why some models use speakers to generate tones that mimic the sound of a V-8 engine.
Part of Red Bull’s allure is that, unlike Coke or Pepsi, it tastes medicinal. Positioned as a functional product (‘Red Bull gives you wiiiings’), the unpleasant taste reinforces that narrative. If it tastes bad, it must be good for you, otherwise you wouldn’t bother!
Likewise, Berocca’s fizz is central to its efficacy. A flat, non-carbonated energy drink just wouldn’t have the same psychologically energising impact.
Whether real or placebo, it’s clear that sensory cues influence consumer belief in how well the product works. Now there’s new research on just how impactful this is.
Researchers have proven the importance of a product’s sensory cues. By adding a sensation, like tingling, cooling or fizzing, they were able to improve subjective measures including consumer evaluations, repurchase preferences, and likelihood of recommendation.
Further, and this is the astonishing bit – sensory cues improved the product’s actual impact on the consumer measured through blood pressure and performance metrics.
In one study, 125 people were invited to a new product testing session. Two versions of a real brand’s herbal balm were used, one of which elicited a tingling sensation (sensory signal) and one did not (non-sensory signal). Each person was presented with an ad for the balm and tried a sample. They were then invited to evaluate and purchase the product.
Compared with the non-tingling balm, the sensory-cued tingling version received significantly higher product ratings and recommendations. Consumers also perceived they had significantly greater benefits from its use and more of them actually bought the product with their real money.
In another study using the same herbal balm, 96 people had their blood pressure taken and were asked to squeeze a handgrip for two minutes. They then were assigned to one of three conditions:
After applying the balm and waiting for three minutes, each participant was asked to squeeze the handgrip again for two minutes and again had their blood pressure taken.
The researchers wanted to know whether the sensory cue (tingling) resulted in bodily energisation (changes to blood pressure) and increased performance, and whether impact could be experienced even without product claims.
Here’s what they found:
A final study showed the tingling version of the balm reduced people’s scepticism after reading an ad that made exaggerated claims, whereas the non-tingling version did not. As the researchers note “sensory signalling products can overcome a sceptical conscious mind, whereas non-signalling products failed”.
Sensory cues help customers believe there is a transfer of benefits from the product to their body. The tingle “tells me the product essence is now flowing to my body”.
Not only does this make people more likely to choose, rate and recommend your product, but they are also more likely to actually improve their performance while using it. As the researchers note, “products become more effective when consumers receive sensory signals during product usage”.
While changing product formulations is not a simple or cheap exercise, this research reminds us that appealing to our customers’ senses, whether through marketing, physical spaces or the product itself, is key to winning their business.
Adding sizzle might be good, adding tingle is so much better.
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Bri Williams is an authority on behavioural economics applied to everyday business and personal effectiveness.
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