Экономические науки/6. Маркетинг и менеджмент

Burlitska O. P., Associate Professor

Palyukh A.J., Associate Professor

Ternopil State Technical University named by Ivan Pul'uj, Ukraine

TICIT, Ukraine

THE IMPACT OF SENSE ORGANS ONTO THE CONSUMER’S PURCHASING ACTIVITY

Merchandising is an applied science that combines the knowledge about the methods of commerce and advertising, logistics, psychology and sociology, the principles of design and composition. It is both science and art. The “psychology of merchandising” as well as the psychology of advertising is based on the method of the integrated impact on the consumer.

The centuries old practice of commerce has been verified by marketing researches and it proves the significant impact of organoleptic senses onto various sense organs and the impact of their correlation onto the process of making a decision concerning the purchase. The sensual components of the atmosphere within a store include: lighting; the use of colors and color matching; sounds and music; fragrances; the use of fonts and notices.

The application of color and lighting schemes can result in creating either a sense of comfort for a prospective customer or, on the contrary, a sense of insecurity and anxiety. A less intense but similar impact is made by the sound or tactile stimuli as well as odor stimuli which have a minor intensity level. According to the research it depends on the organization of the human brain activity: a person receives 90 % of the information about the environment (about the goods and their properties in particular) through his or her visual system. However, the information obtained from the influence upon all the sense organs is perceived quite randomly. It depends to some extent on the racial and the national composition of the environment of the consumers and their place of residence. Thus, in Norway and Finland, which are the countries with prolonged winters, consumers long for the warm weather and green plants during the winter season: therefore, pink, yellow and green tones used in designing are associated with warmth and summer for the given consumer group, and thus, these colors will contribute to a greater amount of time spent by the consumers within the store. Whereas those who live on a warm continent dream subconsciously about coolness and snow and they prefer staying within the spaces decorated with light blue, white and blue tones which they associate with coolness.

Unfortunately, it is worth mentioning that color marketing which incorporates a whole range of aspects starting with psychology up to color forecasts, is widely developed abroad and it is used in a great number of industries, as well as in trade and services (in the USA, the first organization on studying the consumers’ color preferences appeared in 1915, nowadays it is known as Color Association of the United States (CAUS) [2, p. 78].

In Ukrainian studies of color marketing the researches are fragmentary and they are rarely taken into consideration in creating and designing the goods and their packaging, therefore, this topic is significant and needs further investigation.

Modern merchandising is based on the results on the psychological researches. Thus, psychologists have discovered that color has a diverse physiological impact on the person by making him or her feel either well of badly, or by raising or decreasing his or her activeness. The impact of the color onto the human body may be indirect due to the properties of colors which allow to increase or decrease the size of the rooms or objects and, hence, to create the feeling either of little space or spaciousness, the idea of either importance or insignificance of particular goods. The influence can be also direct which is manifested in various feelings obtained from the direct visual perception of a certain color.

The correspondence of the colors in interior spaces to the peculiarities of the goods and the demand is significant in merchandising, since the color scheme affects the perception of a store or a department. It is known that warm and cold colors cause adverse psychological effects. Warm tones are recommended to be used in those stores, where active, excited and energetic consumers prevail. Cold and relaxing tones are characteristic of the stores selling goods the purchase of which causes anxiety, for instance any expensive things, as well as those goods that are connected with the person’s health.

A number of researches have shown that red and blue possess intense activating properties and can stimulate impulse purchasing. The colors which belong to the middle part of the spectrum (green) can reduce the consumers’ purchasing activity and they are recommended to be used in stores where long queues are expected.

White is the color of absolute purity and order and it plays a leading role in the interior color designs. Some departments feature colors that traditionally correspond to the product and are used in designing. Thus, goods for children or pharmacy items are usually designed by means of applying light-orange and green tones.

The use of color schemes in large stores is of great importance as well since a great number of goods by different trademarks are situated here. When the color scheme is not taken into consideration in placing the goods onto the selling equipment, there appears a feeling of chaos and anxiety, consumers’ eyes get sore and consumers begin to feel irritated. General color harmony rules should be followed in order to avoid this outcome [4, p. 127]:

1. Colors should be selected on the basis of an ordered system which can be evaluated in terms of emotions: for instance, any three colors that are situated on any regular trajectory (a straight line, an ellipse or a circle) of the colors of the globe. The poles of this globe are black and white. The equator contains the colors of the spectrum: red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet. Additional colors, light and dark scales are located on the section of the globe.

2. The most harmonious combination is the one which is common for the observer (the best means of harmonization is the nature).

3. If you use colors which are very close in the color spectrum, they start to be perceived as monotonous and create a sense of non-completeness and simplicity.

Moreover, color attracts attention. Warm bright yellow is the most suitable for stickers which are placed onto the shelves and notify about the sales of goods and the introduction of new products. It is perfect for reading some information; its influence is much more effective than that of regular white. Color facilitates creating an appropriate mood connected with the properties and advantages of certain goods.

The first aim of store lighting is to provide appropriate visibility of goods to the customers. Poor lighting affects the sales in a negative way. Apart from the fact that customers “strain their eyes”, they also start to suspect that the salesperson wants to sell low quality goods. Very bright lighting also causes fatigue. Such light either blinds or creates a reflection from the surface and this, in its turn, affects the opportunity to see the goods properly. Secondly, lighting is vital for creating a certain mood and evoking the emotions. Generally, special light effects are to accentuate a particular product and attract one’s attention to it [4, p. 113].

The quality of the lighting in a selling area may be evaluated in terms of the following characteristics:

1. Lighting. Average lighting in a selling area comes out as the effect of direct and reflected (from the ceiling, walls and the floor) streams of light. Thus, the index of reflection of light from the surfaces that are made using various finishing materials should be taken into consideration in constructional design. Lighting that is broad and diffused all around the whole space and the surface of the selling equipment enables a customer to conveniently view the goods and reduces the shade.

2. The unity of interior design. The lighting devices should fit in with the interior as its integral part. Lighting should accentuate the peculiarities of the interior design. Thus, light fittings on the ceilings in self-service stores may be placed above the aisles, therefore, they will light the shelve stands proportionally and create “a map” of the room. Accent lighting will also assist the customer in knowing his or her way around the selling area, since this means is as efficient as indicators and direction signs.

3. Lighting balance. Psychologists suppose that balanced lighting results in the image of broad options – the properties of goods and their outstanding features become more comprehensible and related to the consumer.

4. The absence of undesirable effects of reflected light. Lamps which have a high density of a light stream require appropriate screening. At a certain angle, shiny surfaces of price tags, direction signs and equipment reflect light and make it impossible to read notices. In order to avoid this, it is necessary to take into consideration the point of view of a customer rather than that of a salesperson.

Spotlights with a wide catch radius may be used for lighting of certain groups of goods, while “still life” light fittings, which focus one’s attention on particular spots, can be used for the goods which need accentuation. “Holiday” lighting is widely used for decorating store windows.

It is essential to provide a consumer with a feeling of visual and aesthetic comfort while lighting a selling area. Backlighting of the selling equipment provides wonderful opportunities of aesthetic appeal. However, it is worth noting that it should attract attention, but not hurt one’s eyes, since according to the existing lighting standards, backlighting is not included into the general calculation of the lighting within a selling area.

The use of special sound effects contributes to creating a certain mood of a consumer, which is connected with a product: the sound of breaking waves in a seafood department, the sound of crystal glasses clinking in the department selling alcoholic beverages. The sound of a babbling brook can be a perfect audio feedback for a department selling drinking water. Toasts which are traditional for different nations throughout the world may be used in a wine department. The department selling butter and milk may be accompanied by the sound of cows mooing and birds singing in the field.

An unusual means which makes a purchasing process more varied as well as attracts the consumers’ attention is the use of talking price tags. Applying an in-store radio is also rather effective. However, announcements should not be broadcasted too often, since they will be perceived as annoying. Fast music makes customers move faster along the aisles, while slow music encourages a customer to spend more time and money in a store. [4, p. 132].

In order to provide a customer with a feeling of comfort, music should be non-intrusive and create a background that would be both inconspicuous and effective for purchasing rather than distracting.

The “I smelt it – I bought it” principle would be no less efficient than “I saw it – I bought it” principle when used to stimulate impulse purchases of food products. Once the customers get absorbed into the magic atmosphere of the fragrances coming from sweets, they will not be able to resist the desire to try them. Fragrances can be used not only to make customers buy goods “here and now” but also to create a particular mood that is appropriate for purchasing. Psychologists suppose that it is the sense of smell that affects the emotional state of a person most [4, p. 133]. Scents can be used to alter one’s attitude towards the purchasing process by turning it into a pleasurable activity. In contrast to the visual accents, fragrance has a bigger coverage area (a department or even the whole store) and it usually assists in creating additional demand by means of developing consuming culture.

However, not all customers treat the use of fragrances in the selling area in a positive way. Studies have shown that a lot of consumers consider fragrances to be deceiving. American newspapers have published a number of releases about smell flavorants which contributed to the considerable increase in purchases making consumers stop controlling themselves and spend considerable amounts of money. This caused a series of severe scandals and lawsuits, and consequently, the use of these smell flavorants was given the status of a fraud [3, p. 49].

The decision to “apply fragrances” made by the store management may result in:

· firstly – considerable and unreasonable expenses;

· secondly – undesirable consequences.

Sustaining favorable atmosphere in the selling area and creating fragrant effects is possible under the condition of a properly arranged ventilation and air conditioning system.

It is also important to use fragrances in stores selling clothes or fashion accessories properly since it is widely known that different fragrances match different styles. Certain people may have negative associations connected with particular fragrances. Consumers in the stores selling perfumes should be also given the opportunity to focus on the selected scents and their fragrances should not be spoilt by the general scent in the selling area even if this scent is a pleasant one.

Traditional holiday fragrances – the scents of pies, vanilla, Christmas trees and cones, — cheer customers up on the days preceding holidays when they rush to buy presents. The effect of “immersing oneself into the feelings” by applying tastes and scents is widely used during the sales promotions in a store [2, p. 122].

Means of silent inquiry are a rather important element in interior design. They help to regulate the direction of the purchasing flow, point at the placement of certain goods and checkout points, indicators and direction signs assist the customer in finding his or her way to the goods and departments he or she needs. All the informative and referential elements are either attached to the selling equipment above the eye level or suspended from the ceiling at some distance. Indicators placed on the floor are less effective.

There are following requirements concerning signs:

· The color scheme of a sign should have no more than three colors. It is desirable that all the signs have a common format and are regularly updated;

· Signs and images should be related to the store image. The amount of the information on the signs should be limited. It is better to use readable fonts;

· The size of the sign should depend on the size of the selling area and the store space.

Various fonts may be used in stores for making price tags, choosing in-store advertising and store window designs. It is important to remember that:

· Notices should be placed straight and not at a certain angle. The font in which the width of the letters remains the same is more readable at a distance;

· A white inscription against a black background looks more solid and the optical effect is that it seems to be placed closer to the consumer. The color of the font should not be the one placed in the spectrum close to the color of the background;

· It is better to use no more than two different fonts in one notice. For instance, the name of the trademark is signed using a brand font, and the information is provided using a different font.

Therefore, we can make a conclusion that about 60% of decisions made directly in the store are significantly influenced by the sensual component, and this, in its turn, gives the opportunity to raise the growth rate of the retail turnover at a commercial enterprise and raise the its operational efficiency.

References:

1. Bozhkova V.V. Merchandising: A study guide / V.V. Bozhkova, Т.О. Bashuk.– Sumy: Commercial Publishing House “Universytetska knyha”, 2007. – 125 p.

2. Kanaian К. Merchandising / К. Kanaian, R. Kanaian – Moscow: R-I-P-holding, 2006. – 256 p.

3. L.V. Balabanova. Merchandising / L.V. Balabanova. – Donetsk: Don-DUET, 2002. – 290 p.

4. Fedko V.P. Merchandising and sampling: A study guide / V.P. Fedko, V.A. Bondarenko.– Moscow: “MarT” Publishing Commercial Centre, Rostov-na-Donu: “MarT” Publishing Centre, 2006. – 304 p.