The Heaviness of Smell: Cross-Sensory Correspondences and Olfactory Perceptions on Product Packaging
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Abstract
Research on cross-sensory correspondences and its impact on branding and consumer experience is scarce. Although there has been some research on visual stimuli and its possible influence on brand perception, there is still a gap in the literature concerning other stimulus. Against this, the current study aims to investigate the associations between scent stimuli and perceptions of cross-sensory features on the brand packaging of a hypothetical product. Specifically, three different elements of the brand packaging will be considered: bottle shape, brand name, and typeface. Sixteen participants took part and completed a questionnaire consisting of three parts. Participants were firstly asked to judge the heaviness/lightness of two perfumes ranging in their heaviness, followed by rating all three elements of the packaging on five different sensory modality scales. Finally, participants were asked to pick an overall packaging that they judged to be more suitable for the heavy or light perfume. The five sensory modalities were heaviness, sharpness, brightness, pitch, and thickness respectively. One samples and paired samples t-tests were conducted and showed that participants did not judge the overall heavy packaging to be suitable for the heavy perfume and vice versa. However, when taken apart, participants perceived elements such as a round bottle and a bolder typeface that were designed to correspond to heaviness did in fact reflect heaviness. The results have meaningful implications in the world of branding and consumer behaviour wherein consumer perceptions can be influenced by the congruency of product packaging and the scent that corresponds to it.
Keywords: Cross-sensory correspondences, branding, olfactory perceptions
When asking someone to describe the taste of wine, one might use the words sharp or rounded. Similarly, one might use the words soft or hard when describing lighting. Often, these words act as metaphors to paint a better picture of the object or experience and are taken from other sensory modalities. For example, soft and hard lighting comes from the domain of touch but is readily used to describe light as well. This shows that stimuli belonging in different sensory domains can be associated with other stimulus from other domains, such as being able to “feel” light and using shape-related words for taste (Walker, Scallon, & Francis, 2017).
Such cross-sensory associations have been researched extensively with studies showing that, among other things, size can be associated with pitch wherein smaller objects were identified as higher pitched (Houben, Kohlrausch, & Hermes, 2004) while the angularity of objects were associated with brightness: Sharp objects were identified as brighter (Walker, 2012). Furthermore, other studies found that smaller objects, apart from being high pitched, were also judged as being hard, fast, high in space, thin, sharp, and light in weight as compared to larger objects (Walker, 2012; Walker & Walker, 2012). In terms of sound symbolism, Klink (2000) found that product names that had vowels with a higher frequency were judged as more thin, light and mild. From this, there seems to be cross-sensory activation across different modalities that are aligned on conceptual dimensions, where one end of the spectrum is an interconnected network involving stimulus that are bidirectional and frequently congruent with each other, that “just feels right”, such as thin, high, and bright, to name a few (Evans & Treisman, 2010; Walker, 2012).
A cross-sensory correspondence that is often featured is heaviness. The association between heaviness and size is a natural pairing as one would expect a bigger object to be heavier as compared to a smaller object. Having said that, there is a possibility that heaviness is an arbitrary feature, or rather, a subset of size in the cross-sensory framework due to the inter-relatability between size and heaviness. Nonetheless, a study by Walker, Scallon, and Francis (2017) found evidence that heaviness should not be dismissed as a cross-sensory feature completely as even without knowing the size and mass of an object, participants were able to infer that the heavier object is darker and produces a lower pitched sound compared to the lighter object. Having established that we are able to identify heaviness as a modality on its own, together with other sensory stimuli, it would be useful to apply this in a real world setting.
Perhaps the most relevant and powerful way our understanding of cross-sensory correspondences can be applied is in the world of branding, marketing and consumer behaviour. Indeed, multiple studies have used this understanding to investigate the use of different visual stimuli on perceptions of brand packaging. Deng and Kahn (2009) manipulated the location of a product on its packaging and found that products which were displayed at the bottom right of the packaging was perceived as heavier than the same product displayed at the top of the packaging. This suggests that a “location effect” will not only influence the perceived weight of the product but there is also a bias of judgements when consumers are making perceptual judgements. However, this study did not take into account other factors such as interest and familiarity in the product that could have affected their participants’ perception of heaviness. For example, the use of common food products, such as cookie and crackers in this study may have led to an existing bias of familiarity and could have affected their results.
Following this, Sunaga, Park & Spence (2016) presented their participants with a shelf display of identical items ranging in their packaging colours in three different conditions: A congruent display, an incongruent display and a random display as control. In the congruent display, products with brighter packaging were placed on the higher shelves whereas products with darker packaging were placed on a lower shelf. The incongruent display consisted of the same products but reversed in their location on the shelf where the brighter packaging was at the bottom. Subsequently, Sunaga and colleagues reported that participants were able to locate the target quicker in a congruent display as compared to an incongruent display. Participants also found it easier to locate brighter products in an upper shelf as compared to a dark product. This provides evidence that the theoretical framework of cross-sensory correspondences is not only applicable in a real life setting but that visual stimuli can also influence consumer behaviour via successful matching of cross-sensory modalities on product packaging to aid the consumers’ purchase decision-making.
This is also the case for scent stimuli where a study by Osterbauer, Matthews, Jenkinson, Beckmann, Hansen, and Calvert (2005) found that there is a neuropsychological relationship between the visual perception of colours on olfactory perception. They found that participants preferred stimuli that matched the visual and olfactory features such as the colour red for a strawberry drink. Similarly, this can be applied to the marketing of products, specifically perfumes where consumers are able to “test” the scent before purchasing.
Against this background literature, it is important for packaging to be congruent with the scent of the product to assist the consumer in their purchase. The present study was designed to investigate the appropriateness of packaging of a hypothetical product using scent stimuli and its association with cross sensory correspondences across multiple sensory modalities. In other words, we aimed to explore the connection between different sensory modalities, namely heaviness, brightness, pitch, shape, and thickness across the different aspects of packaging such as fragrance, bottle shape, fragrance name, and typeface. We hypothesised that participants would prefer the packaging that corresponded to the fragrance presented, wherein a heavier scented fragrance would be more suited with a curved bottle with a bolder typeface and a fragrance name that sounded lower in frequency as compared to a lighter scented fragrance.
Methods
Participants
Sixteen participants (7 males and 9 females) took part in this study via opportunity sampling. The participants ranged from 18 to 56 years of age (M = 25.7, SD = 11.3).
Materials
Two fragrances varying in their scent in terms of heaviness were selected and identified as light (Incanto brand) and heavy (Body Shop brand) by the researchers. Following this, a questionnaire was created to measure the various cross sensory features relating to the fragrance which were heaviness, brightness, pitch, sharpness, and thickness respectively (see Appendix A for full questionnaire). The questionnaire was split into three sections. The first section required participants to measure the smell of the fragrances in relation to the sensory features. Each sensory feature had a scale with a range from one to six. For example, in a scale for heaviness, the number 1 corresponded to “very heavy” and number 6 corresponded to “very light”. The numbers in between were labelled “slightly” and “quite” respectively. All scales were designed without a neutral point to ensure rich, meaningful data, and to aid data analyses.
In section two, participants were tested on three different elements, which were bottle shape, brand name, and typeface for both fragrances. Two bottle shapes were created on Microsoft Word, a star shaped bottle for the lighter perfume and a round shaped bottle for the heavier perfume (see Figure 1). Brand names that corresponded well to the heaviness of the perfume (Jikki for Incanto; Jooku for Body Shop) for respective perfumes were also created. Following that, two typefaces were selected from the internet. The font “Intro Rust” was selected as the typeface for the heavy perfume whereas the font “Mr Moustache” was chosen as the typeface for the light perfume (see Figure 2). For each element, participants had to respond to scales measuring heaviness, brightness, pitch, sharpness, and thickness.
In the final section, all three elements, bottle shape and brand name in their respective typefaces for both fragrances were combined into a single sheet to determine whether participants preferred the heavy packaging with the heavy fragrance or vice versa. All scales in all sections were counter balanced to ensure participants were paying adequate attention and to reduce practice effects.
Figure 1. (From left to right) Bottle shapes for the light perfume and heavy perfume respectively.
Figure 2. (From left to right) Typefaces Intro Rust and Mr Moustache.
Procedure
All participants were given a consent form at the beginning of the study and were told of their rights to withdraw. They were then given two cotton pads, one with a heavy fragrance and one with a light fragrance. After smelling the cotton pads, they were handed the questionnaire to complete. Participants were asked to rate the fragrance, bottle shape, fragrance name, and typeface presented in the questionnaire in terms of heaviness, brightness, pitch, sharpness, and thickness respectively (e.g., “If you were able to weigh the odour of the fragrance it would be…”). Participants had to then respond on a scale that ranged from one to six. The questionnaire took around 10 – 15 minutes to complete. In the final section, all elements were brought together as a complete packaging. Then, participants were given either the heavy or light perfume and asked to pick a suitable packaging for the scent. All participants were debriefed at the end of the study and reminded of their right to withdraw again.
Results
One samples t-tests were conducted using mean scores against the midpoint or neutral of 3.5 for the scales on fragrance alone, bottle shape, fragrance name, and typeface. Following that, a paired samples t-test was conducted on the mean ratings on each scale for both perfumes for all elements. The mean differences for all elements are displayed in Figures 1A – 1D with information on the results of both one samples and paired samples t-tests.
Fragrance alone
Participants judged the Body Shop perfume to be heavier than the Incanto perfume when prompted. However, the paired t-test revealed that all other scales were not significant as participants were not able to distinguish the two perfumes in terms of brightness, pitch, sharpness, and thickness. There seems to be a very little difference between the means of the heavy and light perfume for sharpness and pitch. Interestingly, the perceived thickness of the light perfume was judged to be thicker than the thick perfume.
Bottle shape
The largest contrast was between the pairing curved – pointed on the sharpness scale. Participants were also able to significantly distinguish the star shaped bottle as being higher pitched and brighter compared to the round bottle. However, similar to the fragrance alone findings, participants did not see the pairing thick – thin as significantly different.
Fragrance Name
Participants rated the given name “Jooku” as significantly heavier compared to the name “Jiki”. All scale ratings were significant apart from the dark- light (brightness) pairing.
Typeface
All scale pairings were significant and participants perceived the Mr Moustache typeface as lighter and the Intro Rust typeface significantly heavier. However, the brightness and sharpness of the typeface for the lighter perfume was not significantly different to the mid-point.
Overall packaging
Out of 16 participants, six judged the Jiki packaging to be suitable for the lighter perfume and four judged the Jooku packaging to be suitable for the heavier perfume. A binomial test found that in general, participants did not show any specific preference for any packaging or significantly judged the overall packaging for Jiki/Jooku to be suitable for the lighter/heavier perfumes, p = .45.
Figures 1A – 1D. Mean ratings for perfumes Incanto and Body Shop on perceptions of fragrance, bottle shape, fragrance name, and typeface. Open symbols indicate non-significant deviations from the neutral point whereas solid symbols indicate significant deviations from the neutral point.
*Indication of significance in ratings for Incanto and Body Shop from each other on the different sensory scales.
Discussion
Findings showed that participants did not judge the heavier packaging as suitable for the heavier perfume and vice versa. Our results for fragrance alone showed that there was no difference in participants’ perception of brightness, pitch, sharpness, and thickness of both fragrances. In fact, the only modality that had a significant difference to neutral was the heaviness feature for the heavy perfume. At first glance, this does not seem to align to past research that stated lightness is commonly associated with bright, high pitched, pointed, and thin features (Walker, 2012; Walker & Walker, 2012). However, there are multiple possible explanations for these findings and the present study should not be discredited completely.
Firstly, sample and design issues are considered. This study was conducted with a small sample size which would have lacked statistical power and amplified the possibility of a type II error. Future research could increase the sample size, increasing the probability for significant results. Additionally, the cross-sensory scales for fragrance alone were presented first, providing participants little room to fully understand the instructions. Perhaps a practice scale used before the actual questionnaire would allow participants to understand the design better. Although one might argue this would produce practice effects, a simple counterbalancing would eliminate this issue or the use of different modality scales would help the participants to find the questions less confusing and proceed with the actual experiment questions with a better frame of mind.
Indeed, in the cross-sensory scales that followed, participants performed accordingly to past research as participants judged the packaging features designed to reflect heaviness as compared to lightness to be in fact, heavier. For example, in the bottle shape scales, participants judged the round bottle shape to be heavy, low pitched, and thick, in tune with past research by Walker, Scallon, and Francis (2016). The natural tendency to “line-up” stimuli from one end of a spectrum with each other was also observed wherein elements were judged as not only heavy, but perceived as curved, low pitched, dark, and thick, instead of cross-matching stimuli from one spectrum to another (i.e., heavy-sharp-low pitched-bright). This is consistent with Evans and Treismans (2010) study that suggested an underlying network between both spectrums across modalities. However, little is known about the forming of such connections and would be an interesting area for future research.
These findings have multiple implications for the world of marketing and branding. Our study provided valuable evidence on how brand packaging plays a pivotal role in the overall experience of the consumer as participants constantly judged the heavier (lighter) packaging as more suitable for the heavier (lighter) perfume in all three elements of bottle shape, fragrance name, and typeface. Besides this, scent stimuli is important This could be an indication of preference for packaging that matches the product in terms of its sensory features such as brightness and sharpness, which could enhance the overall consumer experience.
References
Deng, X., & Kahn, B. E. (2009). Is your product on the right side? The “location effect” on perceived product heaviness and package evaluation. Journal of Marketing Research, 46(6), 725–738.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.lancs.ac.uk/10.1509/jmkr.46.6.725
Evans, K. K., & Treisman, A. (2010). Natural cross-modal mappings between visual and auditory features. Journal of Vision, 10(1).
Houben, M. M. J., Kohlrausch, A., & Hermes, D. J. (2004). Perception of the size and speed of rolling balls by sound. Speech Communication, 43(4), 331–345.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.lancs.ac.uk/10.1016/j.specom.2004.03.004
Klink, R. R. (2000). Creating brand names with meaning: The use of sound symbolism. Marketing Letters, 11(1), 5–20.
Sunaga, T., Park, J., & Spence, C. (2016). Effects of lightness‐location congruency on consumers’ purchase decision‐making. Psychology & Marketing, 33(11), 934–950. https://doi-org.ezproxy.lancs.ac.uk/10.1002/mar.209
Osterbauer, R.A., Matthews, P.M., Jenkinson, M., Beckmann, C.F., Hansen, P.C., & Calvert, G.A. (2005). Color of scents: chromatic stimuli modulate odor responses in the human brain. Journal of neurophysiology, 93 6, 3434-41.
Walker, P. (2012). Cross-sensory correspondences and cross talk between dimensions of connotative meaning: Visual angularity is hard, high-pitched, and bright. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 74(8), 1792–1809.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.lancs.ac.uk/10.3758/s13414-012-0341-9
Walker, P., & Walker, L. (2012). Size–brightness correspondence: Crosstalk and congruity among dimensions of connotative meaning. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 74(6), 1226–1240.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.lancs.ac.uk/10.3758/s13414-012-0297-9
Walker, P., Scallon, G., & Francis, B. (2017). Cross-sensory correspondences: Heaviness is dark and low-pitched. Perception, 46(7), 772–792.
https://doi-org.ezproxy.lancs.ac.uk/10.1177/0301006616684369
Appendix A
Please smell this fragrance and answer the following questions.
1. If you were able to weigh the odour of the fragrance, you would describe it as:
Heavy Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
2. If you could measure the thickness of the odour it would be:
Thin Thick
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
3. In terms of sharpness, the odour is:
Curved Pointed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
4. Did you find the odour:
Dark Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
5. If the odour were to produce a sound the pitch would be:
Low High
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
Please smell this fragrance and answer the following questions.
1. If you were able to weigh the odour of the fragrance, you would describe it as:
Heavy Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
2. If you could measure the thickness of the odour it would be:
Thin Thick
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
3. In terms of sharpness, the odour is:
Curved Pointed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
4. Did you find the odour:
Dark Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
5. If the odour were to produce a sound the pitch would be:
Low High
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
Please read the following instructions carefully…
Please have a look at this bottle shape and pick the most appropriate description for it.
1. If you could pick it up, it would feel:
Heavy Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
2. If you could measure the thickness of the bottle it would be:
Thick Thin
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
3. In terms of sharpness, the bottle is:
Pointed Curved
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
4. In real life, would you expect the bottle to be:
Dark Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
5. If the bottle were to produce a sound the pitch would be:
Low High
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
Please read the following instructions carefully…
Similarly, please have a look at this bottle shape and pick the most appropriate description for it.
1. If you could pick it up, it would feel:
Heavy Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
2. If you could measure the thickness of the bottle it would be:
Thick Thin
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
3. In terms of sharpness, the bottle is:
Pointed Curved
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
4. In real life, would you expect the bottle to be:
Dark Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
5. If the bottle were to produce a sound the pitch would be:
Low High
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
Please read the following instructions carefully…
Jiki
Please read the word above, and then answer each of the questions below.
1. If you were able to weigh the word above, would you describe it as:
Heavy Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
2. If you could measure the thickness of the word it would be:
Thick Thin
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
3. In terms of sharpness, the word is:
Curved Pointed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
4. In real life, would you expect the word to be:
Light Dark
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
5. If the word were to produce a sound the pitch would be:
Low High
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
Please read the following instructions carefully…
Jooku
Please read the word above, and then answer each of the questions below.
1. If you were able to weigh the word above, would you describe it as:
Heavy Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
2. If you could measure the thickness of the word it would be:
Thick Thin
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
3. In terms of sharpness, the word is:
Curved Pointed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
4. In real life, would you expect the word to be:
Light Dark
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
5. If the word were to produce a sound the pitch would be:
Low High
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
Please look at the typeface below and answer the questions that follow.
1. If you were able to weigh this typeface, you would describe it as:
Heavy Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
2. If you could measure the thickness of the typeface it would be:
Thick Thin
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
3. In terms of sharpness, the typeface is:
Curved Pointed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
4. Do you find the typeface:
Dark Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
5. If the typeface were to produce a sound the pitch would be:
High Low
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
Please look at the typeface below and answer the questions that follow.
1. If you were able to weigh this typeface, you would describe it as:
Heavy Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
2. If you could measure the thickness of the typeface it would be:
Thick Thin
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
3. In terms of sharpness, the typeface is:
Curved Pointed
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
4. Do you find the typeface:
Dark Light
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
5. If the typeface were to produce a sound the pitch would be:
High Low
1 2 3 4 5 6
Very Slightly Quite Quite Slightly Very
Which of these brand packages do you think best fits the fragrance you have just been presented with?
Thank you for answering all of the questions.