Significance of verbal and visual cues in communicating perfume properties over the Internet

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS17420232289

Abstract

This article fills a gap in the literature by exploring e-shoppers' views on the ability of verbal and visual cues to represent scents of unknown perfumes. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with 27 consumers from Brazil, Iran, and Portugal. Results demonstrate that visual cues could complement verbal descriptions in conveying the type of scent of perfumes. In addition, this study identified a set of associations between several colors and types of scents. Overall, this article argues that consistent combinations of perfume components' symbolic and sensory verbal descriptions, colors, and images should be developed to effectively convey the scent of an unknown perfume, which can attract more e-shoppers and eventually boost online sales. Cross-cultural comparisons are also highlighted. The present study advances the knowledge of how perfume companies and e-tailors can take the advantage of implementing sensory cues to facilitate the online purchase of a typical experience product.

Author Biographies

Belem Barbosa, University of Porto, Portugal

She received her PhD in Business and Management Studies - specialization in Marketing and Strategy from the University of Porto, Portugal. She is an Assistant Professor at the School of Economics and Management, University of Porto. She is full researcher at GOVCOPP, the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy and invited researcher at CEF.UP Center for Economics and Finance at U.Porto. Her research interests lie primarily in the areas of digital marketing, sustainability marketing, and consumer behaviour.

Zaila Oliveira, Christus University Center UNICHRISTUS, Brazil

She received her PhD in Management and Business – Specialization in Marketing and Strategy from the University of Porto, Portugal. She teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses at Christus University Center UNICHRISTUS. She is invited researcher at CEOS – Centre of Organizational and Social Studies. Her research interests include marketing, tourism, entrepreneurship, and social responsibility.

Valentina Chkoniya, University of Aveiro, Portugal

She received her PhD in Technical Sciences from Murmansk State Technical University, Russia, in 2003. She is a professor at the University of Aveiro, Portugal and managing partner at VT Mar (company in the marketing intelligence market). She is invited researcher at GOVCOPP, the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy. Her current research interests include data analysis, decision support systems, marketing research, consumer behaviour and information technologies for retail.

Mehdi Mahdavi, University of Porto, Portugal

He is a PhD student in Marketing and Strategy at the University of Porto. His research interests lie primarily in business negotiations and consumer behavior, including international marketing, sensory marketing, retailing, and cultural aspects of marketing.

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Published

2023-12-23

How to Cite

Barbosa, B., Oliveira, Z., Chkoniya, V., & Mahdavi, M. (2023). Significance of verbal and visual cues in communicating perfume properties over the Internet. Observatorio (OBS*), 17(4). https://doi.org/10.15847/obsOBS17420232289

Issue

Vol. 17 No. 4 (2023)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2023 Belem Barbosa, Zaila Oliveira, Valentina Chkoniya, Mehdi Mahdavi

This is an Open Acess article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits use, sharing and adaptation, provided appropriate credit is given to the original author and the journal.