Encourage Sales

Erraiaa and teammates evaluated the importance of aligning scents experienced in a store with brand image.  They determined via an experiment that “when the scent is perceived as congruent with the brand image, reactions in the store are more favourable. It is not enough to use a scent that ‘smells good’ or that is congruent with other factors (e.g. sensory environment); the scent must be perceived by consumers as consistent with the brand image.

Some hotels benefit more from installing electric vehicle charging stations that others.  Qian and Zhang share that “Using evidence from monthly revenue data of 2,774 hotels in Texas of United States (US) between 2015 and 2018, this paper quantifies the economic benefits of hotels hosting Tesla’s charging facilities and finds that nearby attractions amplify the benefits. . . . The findings reveal that upscale hotels benefit more than luxury as well as mid-price and cheaper hotels from hosting Tesla charging facilities.

Cosgun and associates set out to learn how wall coverings influence perceptions of cafés.  They report on a virtual reality based research project: “This study aims to determine the effects of wall covering materials (wood, concrete and metal) used indoors on participants’ perceptual evaluations. . . . Cafes using light-coloured wall covering materials were perceived more favourably than cafes using dark-coloured wall covering materials, and cafes with light-coloured wooden wall coverings were considered as a warmer material (sic) than cafes using concrete and metal.”

Research by Londono and de Maya indicates how attentive we are to human-like design elements.  The duo share that “The current research focuses on how anthropomorphizing [providing them with human characteristics] retail cues such as dump bins influences consumer behavior. . . . Using eye-tracking technology in an ecological shopping environment, we tracked shoppers' gazes through the store and analyzed their visual attention. Results show that attaching anthropomorphic forms to dump bins positively affects attitudes toward the displayed products.

Nanu and colleagues investigated how hotel lobby design influences opinions formed of hotels.  They report that their “study investigates preferences of millennial and non-millennial travelers towards hotel lobby design concerning style (contemporary vs. traditional) and biophilic elements [plants] (present vs. absent). This quantitative study is designed as an online, virtual, scenario-based experiment. . . . The findings of the study reveal that the lobby interior design style has a significant impact on booking intention across different generations.