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 Observatorio (OBS*) has an academic journal profile. As such, it is dedicated to the open exchange of its contents, and freely available to individuals and institutions without charge or formal permission. Copies of this journal or articles in this journal may be distributed for research or educational purposes free of charge and without permission. Authors will not be charged for publication or submission to this journal. Authors who publish in Observatorio (OBS*) will release their contributions under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-2.0 generic. This licence allows anyone to copy and distribute the article for non-commercial purposes provided that appropriate attribution is given - being the author the copyright holder. This journal utilizes the LOCKSS system to create a distributed archiving system among participating libraries and permits those libraries to create permanent archives of the journal for purposes of preservation and restoration. The publisher perpetually authorizes participants in the LOCKSS system to archive and restore our publication through the LOCKSS System for the benefit of all LOCKSS System participants. Specifically participating libraries may: • Collect and preserve currently accessible materials; • Use material consistent with original license terms; • Provide copies to other LOCKSS appliances for purposes of audit and repair. Fair use of a copyrighted work, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include: 1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; 2. the nature of the copyrighted work; 3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; & 4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors. In accord with these provisions, the OBS journal believes in the vigorous assertion and defense of Fair Use by scholars engaged in academic research, teaching and non-commercial publishing. Thus, we view the inclusion of “quotations” from existing print, visual, audio and audio-visual texts to be appropriate examples of Fair Use, as are reproductions of visual images for the purpose of scholarly analysis. We encourage authors to obtain appropriate permissions to use materials originally produced by others, but do not require such permissions as long as the usage of such materials falls within the boundaries of Fair Use.