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Sensory marketing is the deliberate use of cues such as music, scent, and color to shape how customers perceive, judge, and respond to a brand. It goes beyond visual design, but it is not a guaranteed way to increase sales: effects depend on the cue, setting, and outcome a business is trying to influence.
What is sensory marketing?
Consumer-behavior scholar Aradhna Krishna defines sensory marketing as “marketing that engages the consumers’ senses and affects their perception, judgment and behavior.” Sensory cues can influence how people interpret less tangible qualities, such as sophistication or quality, sometimes without conscious attention. Krishna’s review appeared in the Journal of Consumer Psychology in 2012, after first publishing online in 2011: An integrative review of sensory marketing.
The idea includes sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste. “Beyond sight” does not mean visuals are unimportant; it means customer experience can be shaped by more than what a shopper sees. The strongest evidence summarized here concerns music, scent, and color in retail and service environments. Touch and taste are part of the broader field, but the sources cited here do not establish a specific quantified effect for either.
What does the evidence say about sensory cues?
Music and scent
A 2017 meta-analysis by Roschk, Loureiro, and Breitsohl pooled 66 studies, 135 effects, and 15,621 participants. On average, environments where music or scent was present received higher ratings for pleasure, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions than environments without those cues. The average relationships ranged from small to medium, and results varied substantially across studies. The authors’ findings are summarized in the University of Glasgow’s record of the meta-analysis.
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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →The effects of music and scent tended to be stronger in service settings than in retail settings. That makes the setting relevant: a cue that contributes to an experience in a service environment should not automatically be expected to work as well in a shop.
Color
The same meta-analysis found that warm colors were associated with higher arousal, while cool colors were associated with higher satisfaction. These are aggregate associations, not a universal rule that every business should use warm colors to energize customers or cool colors to make them satisfied. The intended response and the rest of the environment matter.
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What consumer survey figures can—and cannot—show
Mood Media, a company that provides sensory-experience services to businesses, reported results from a 2019 survey of more than 10,000 consumers worldwide. It said 78% of shoppers viewed an enjoyable in-store atmosphere as a key factor in choosing to shop in person rather than online, and that 8 in 10 consumers globally would recommend a store if its sight, sound, and scent elements were enjoyable. These are vendor-reported survey responses, not independently validated estimates that sensory cues cause a particular increase in purchases or recommendations. Mood Media’s account is available on its 2019 consumer survey page.
How to choose a sensory cue for a business
Start with the customer response you want to shape, rather than adding sensory effects simply because they are available. A useful decision considers the cue, the intended outcome, and the environment together.
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| Cue | Evidence in the cited studies | Practical consideration |
|---|---|---|
| Music | Presence was associated with higher average pleasure, satisfaction, and behavioral-intention ratings; effects tended to be stronger in service settings than retail. | Choose music that fits the brand and the activity. Assess it in the specific setting rather than assuming the average result will transfer. |
| Scent | Presence was associated with higher average pleasure, satisfaction, and behavioral-intention ratings; effects tended to be stronger in service settings than retail. | Consider whether scent suits the space and audience, and whether it interferes with the experience for some customers. |
| Color | Warm colors were associated with higher arousal; cool colors with higher satisfaction. | Match the color choice to the outcome sought; the findings do not establish one best palette for every brand or situation. |
| Touch or taste | The cited evidence does not establish a specific quantified effect. | These senses belong to sensory marketing’s broader scope, but the evidence summarized here is not enough to predict an outcome. |
How to test a sensory-marketing idea
Because outcomes varied across the studies, treat a sensory cue as a context-specific choice to evaluate—not as a promised sales lift. The following sequence is practical guidance based on that variability, not a universally tested protocol.
- Define the audience and outcome. Decide whether the aim is to influence pleasure, satisfaction, arousal, intention, recall, or recommendation, and identify whose response matters.
- Select a plausible cue. Choose music, scent, color, or another sensory element that fits both the brand and the customer’s activity in that setting.
- Keep other changes in view. When evaluating the cue, account for other environmental changes that could also affect customer response.
- Compare outcomes. Assess the experience against a comparison condition and the outcome you chose. Do not treat a change in one measure as proof of a guaranteed increase in sales.
For a business considering outside help, Mood Media’s survey page also offers a consultation about sensory-marketing solutions. Its survey figures can describe the company’s reported consumer attitudes, but they do not establish that a particular service or intervention will produce the same results for an individual business.
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