Harmonising value in a car's interior using sensory marketing ...

Linnaeus University DissertationsNo 356/2019

Andreas Aldogan Eklund

Harmonising value in a car’s interior using sensory marketing as a lens

linnaeus university press

Lnu.seisbn: 978-91-88898-76-0 (print), 978-91-88898-77-7 (pdf )

Harm

onising value in a car’s interior using sensory m

arketing as a lens A

ndreas Aldogan E

klund

978-91-88898-76-0_Eklund_omslag_AF.indd Alla sidor 2019-07-30 08:41

Harmonising value in a car’s interior using sensory

marketing as a lens

Linnaeus University Dissertations

No 356/2019

HARMONISING VALUE IN A CAR’S

INTERIOR USING SENSORY MARKETING

AS A LENS

ANDREAS ALDOGAN EKLUND

LINNAEUS UNIVERSITY PRESS

Harmonising value in a car’s interior using sensory marketing as a lens Doctoral Dissertation, Department of Marketing, Linnaeus University, Växjö, 2019 ISBN: 978-91-88898-76-0 (print), 978-91-88898-77-7 (pdf) Published by: Linnaeus University Press, 351 95 Växjö Printed by: Holmbergs, 2019

Abstract Eklund, Andreas Aldogan (2019). Harmonising value in a car’s interior using sensory marketing as a lens, Linnaeus University Dissertations No 356/2019, ISBN: 978-91-88898-76-0 (print), 978-91-88898-77-7 (pdf).

The human senses have always influenced people’s perceptions of the surrounding environment and objects. As a consequence of the evolvement of the experience economy, research on the human senses has increased substantially and attracted scholars from various research domains, including sensory marketing. In the marketing domain, research emphasises that value is created when consumers experience brands, products, and servicescapes that are exciting and fun to interact with through the human senses. In accordance with the service-dominant logic discussion, value is created from the service surrounding the product, such as the experience, which includes manufacturers and consumers. Although this has partly been captured under sensory marketing, little is known of how sensory marketing cues contribute to brand experience and brand value. Theoretically, it is emphasised that creating value is a service process, where the manufacturer’s goal is to plan and design a multisensory brand experience facilitated by the human senses leading to consumer value, as well as to enhance the brand as an image. Hence, the purpose of this dissertation is to understand and explain how value is created within a car’s interior by applying sensory marketing as a lens.

To address the purpose, an exploratory sequential mixed methods approach was employed to capture different aspects of creating value. The empirical data are based on a case study with a global premium car manufacturer, focusing on how value is created and offered within a car’s interior. The qualitative sequence explored how the manufacturer plans and designs a value proposition by embedding sensory cues in the car’s interior. Furthermore, how value-in-use is created by providing a brand experience is analysed. The quantitative sequence examined the relationship between brand experience and brand image to explain how consumer value as an experience is created.

The dissertation concludes that creating value in the car’s interior follows the logic of service-dominant logic and includes manufacturers and consumers. For the manufacturer, this was a strategic process to position the automotive brand as premium by offering value in the car’s interior. To achieve this, value was planned and designed by embedding sensory cues in the car’s interior. However, sensory cues were not embedded in isolation; rather they were harmonised with another to gestalt the coherent theme of Scandinavia in terms of colour, material, and shape to provide consumers with a brand experience for sense-making. Moreover, it was demonstrated that not all brand experience dimensions impact brand image to create value as an experience. The results show that sensory, affective, and harmony experience have a positive relationship with brand image, which generates the consumer’s value as an experience.

Overall, the dissertation contributes to the process of creating value in the car’s interior by relating sensory marketing with branding and service-dominant logic, with harmony uniting these. Similar to an orchestra, where the conductor strategically organises various instruments on the stage to play a harmonious melody for the audience, the manufacturer uses the car’s interior as a stage with sensory cues to provide consumers with a harmonious brand experience, leading to a positive brand image. Harmony has been identified, operationalised, measured, and tested with a positive result. Theoretical, managerial, and ethical implications are discussed.

Keywords: brand experience, brand image, sensory cues, sensory marketing, and service-dominant logic (SDL)

Acknowledgement

The dissertation that you are holding in your hand, and hopefully will continue to read, is made out of blod, svett, och tårar. The Ph.D. journey has been a long and challenging with a hard work. Therefore, I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to the organisations and people who have contributed to its realisation. I wish to acknowledge Volvo Cars that has contributed with access to informants, Teknikens Värld that allowed access to their readers, and Kalmar Handlande Borgares Donationsfond for financial support.

Moreover, I would like to express my gratitude to the people involved in my PhD journey. Firstly, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisor, Associate Professor Adele Berndt – without your valuable insights and guidance, this journey would not have been possible. Your curiosity, humbleness, and wisdom have been invaluable to me and I take these characteristics with me in life and hope to pass them on to future generations. I also express my gratitude to my co-supervisors, Assistant Professor Susanne Sandberg and Assistant Professor Clarinda Rodrigues – thank you for your valuable insights, comments and feedback. To the examiner, Associate Professor Krister Bredmar, I cannot thank you enough for always having your door open to me and enduring my questions. Furthermore, thank you to Professor Bertil Hultén, who opened the door to academia, introducing me to the concept of sensory marketing, and the contribution to an earlier version of the manuscript. In addition, I would like to express my gratitude to Professor Martin Hilb and Professor Mehmet Kocakulah, who guided and supported me in academia – thank you for your kindness and being a true source of inspiration.

I would also like to acknowledge those who have been reading the manuscript and providing valuable comments and insights during this journey. Thank you: Professor Helén Anderson, Professor Anders Pehrsson, Professor Saara Taalas, Associate Professor Mikael Hilmersson, Associate Professor Henrik Uggla, Assistant Professor John Jeansson, Assistant Professor Kaisa Lund, Assistant Professor Leif Marcusson, Assistant Professor Yuliya Ponomareva, and Lydia Ljungmin Johansson. Assistant Professor Mathias Karlsson, I appreciate all the interesting and enlightening philosophical discussions we have had in the corridor. Assistant Professor Niklas Åkerman, thank you for all the valuable insights, and for pushing and inspiring me to see things from different perspectives. To my true friend, Assistant Professor Miralem Helmefalk, who has shared my joy and sorrow during this journey, I will always remember our achievements, challenges, gym sessions, and discussions. Thank you Christoph Tiedtke and India Gonçalves for the picture on the cover of the dissertation and the language editing respectively.

To my family – mamma, Rosita Eklund; pappa, Hans Eklund; and my brothers, Mikael and Jonas Eklund – thank you for your endless support and patience. I know it has been hard grasping what I have been doing all this time, but I want you to know it would not have been possible without you.

To my wife, soulmate, and moonlight, Mehtap Aldogan Eklund, seni cok seviyorum canim; you make me a better person. I cannot express how grateful I am to have you, Minnie, and Maya in my life. The realisation of this dissertation would not have been possible without your endless support and love. Also, my sincere gratitude to my parents-in-law, Feriha and Ahmet Aldogan, who have supported me immensely through this journey as their own son.

To my friends – Christian, Christoffer, Jonas, Magnus, Pelle, Roger, Sami, Stefan, Thomas, Toni, and Victor – you have all contributed to the realisation of this dissertation through your friendship during the years. I am aware that we do not meet often, but you are invaluable to me.

Although my PhD journey has come to an end, my academic journey will continue. I will constantly search for new knowledge by being curious and staying humble. I will always develop by learning from others. Hence, this is not the end, I am still at the beginning of my academic journey and my thirst for knowledge and constant development will continue.

Andreas Aldogan Eklund

Kalmar, 29 July 2019

Table of contents

1 Introduction .................................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background ............................................................................................. 1

1.2 Problem discussion .................................................................................. 7

1.3 Research questions ................................................................................ 13

1.4 Contributions in the dissertation ............................................................ 15

1.5 Delimitations in the dissertation ............................................................ 15

1.6 Outline of the dissertation ..................................................................... 16

2 Theoretical framework ................................................................................. 19

2.1 Theoretical underpinning ....................................................................... 19

2.2 Sensory cues .......................................................................................... 35

2.3 Brand experience ................................................................................... 46

2.4 Brand image .......................................................................................... 57

2.5 Theoretical synthesis ............................................................................. 63

3 Methodology ................................................................................................ 71

3.1 Research strategy ................................................................................... 71

3.2 Research design ..................................................................................... 74

3.3 The research process.............................................................................. 77

3.4 Ethical considerations ............................................................................ 79

4 Method: qualitative sequence ....................................................................... 83

4.1 Establishing contact ............................................................................... 83

4.2 Semi-structured interview guide ............................................................ 84

4.3 Selecting informants .............................................................................. 85

4.4 Personal in-depth interviews ................................................................. 87

4.5 Principles and procedure of analysis ..................................................... 88

4.6 Issues of trustworthiness........................................................................ 91

5 The case: Volvo Cars empirical findings ..................................................... 93

5.1 Introduction ........................................................................................... 93

5.2 Planning and designing for value .......................................................... 95

5.3 Consumers’ role from the manufacturer’s perspective .......................... 99

5.4 Suppliers’ role from the manufacturer’s perspective ........................... 105

5.5 Embedding sensory cues ..................................................................... 112

5.6 Staging the brand experience ............................................................... 118

6 Discussion of the qualitative findings ........................................................ 125

6.1 Planning and designing the value proposition ..................................... 125

6.2 The human senses role in the value proposition .................................. 132

6.3 The intended value-in-use from the brand experience ........................ 143

6.4 Harmony .............................................................................................. 153

7 Method: quantitative sequence ................................................................... 159

7.1 Operationalisation ............................................................................... 159

7.2 Questionnaire administration .............................................................. 166

7.3 Population ........................................................................................... 167

7.4 Selecting data analysis ........................................................................ 170

7.5 Research quality .................................................................................. 171

8 Brand experience and brand image: consumers’ perspectives ................... 175

8.1 Observing brand experience and brand image .................................... 175

8.2 Establishing central factors in brand experience ................................. 179

8.3 Testing the hypothesised relationships ................................................ 184

8.4 Summary of tested relationships ......................................................... 190

8.5 Ensuring robustness and validity ......................................................... 193

8.6 Discussing the hypothesised relationships .......................................... 195

9 Conclusions ................................................................................................ 205

9.1 Main conclusions................................................................................. 205

9.2 Developing a conceptual model for creating value ............................. 208

9.3 Implications ......................................................................................... 213

9.4 Limitations and future research ........................................................... 217

References ..................................................................................................... 219

Appendices .................................................................................................... 249

A. Interview guide ..................................................................................... 249

B. Questionnaire ........................................................................................ 251

C. Introduction to the questionnaire .......................................................... 254

D. Additional robustness checks ............................................................... 255

Figures

Figure 1.1. Theory level of abstraction.............................................................. 5

Figure 2.1. The experience process based on service-dominant logic ............. 25

Figure 2.2. Sensory marketing as an explanatory model ................................. 27

Figure 2.3. A conceptual framework of sensory marketing ............................ 30

Figure 2.4. A framework for multisensory shopping behaviour...................... 31

Figure 2.5. Brand experience model ................................................................ 52

Figure 2.6. An experience-based theoretical framework for creating value .... 64

Figure 2.7. Hypotheses within the theoretical framework ............................... 67

Figure 3.1. Overview of the research process ................................................. 78

Figure 4.1. The data structure of the qualitative sequence .............................. 90

Figure 6.1. Revised hypothesized relationships within the theoretical

framework ..................................................................................................... 156

Figure 8.1. Accepted and partially supported hypotheses ............................. 192

Figure 9.1. Conceptual model for creating value .......................................... 209

Tables

Table 2.1. Metatheory, midrange theory, and micro-level theories ................ 19

Table 2.2. Key terms from service-dominant logic applied ............................ 23

Table 2.3. Summary sensory cues ................................................................... 46

Table 2.4. Summary of brand experience dimensions .................................... 57

Table 2.5. Summary of brand image associations ........................................... 63

Table 4.1. Interviewed informants .................................................................. 86

Table 6.1. Harmony versus congruency ........................................................ 155

Table 7.1. Brand experience scale Cronbach’s alpha .................................... 161

Table 7.2. Operationalisation harmony experience ....................................... 164

Table 7.3. Brand image operationalised items .............................................. 165

Table 7.4. Descriptive statistics ..................................................................... 168

Table 7.5. Frequency statistics ...................................................................... 169

Table 8.1. Distribution of the brand experience items .................................. 176

Table 8.2. Correlation matrix ........................................................................ 180

Table 8.3. Factor analysis rotated component matrix .................................... 182

Table 8.4. Descriptive statistics and Pearson correlation coefficients........... 185

Table 8.5. Hierarchical multiple regression results of the hypothesised

relationships .................................................................................................. 186

Table 8.6. Summary of the results ................................................................. 191

Table 9.1. The process of creating value in a car’s interior ........................... 207

Appendix. The relationship between brand experience and brand image

symbolic associations .................................................................................... 255


sensory associations ...................................................................................... 258


utilitarian associations ................................................................................... 260


economic association..................................................................................... 262

1

1 Introduction

Chapter one presents an overview and the theoretical background for the dissertation. This section discusses theoretical and managerial challenges

within the scope of sensory marketing in creating value in relation to branding

of the automotive industry. This is followed by the overarching research question, the sub-questions, and the purpose- of the dissertation. Lastly, the

outline of the dissertation is presented.

1.1 Background

The experience within a car’s interior

When people have purchased a new premium car and open the driver’s door,

they are blown away by the visually appealing interior design. Their eyes

carefully examine the colour, light, and material of the seating, steering wheel,

and panels, feeling the scent of a brand-new interior. Sitting down, the drivers

feel the soft texture of the material against their skin. Touching the dashboard,

they are astonished by how smooth it feels and the high-quality material. They

start the engine and drive away from the parking space. Driving down the street,

people are fascinated by the silence inside, as all that can be heard is the nice

tone of the engine. The stereo is switched on and the person’s favourite song

starts playing, with all instruments merged simultaneously. Simultaneous, the

drivers are comfortable in the seating and emotionally attached to the interior.

The interior provides a harmonious feeling, and people perceive this to be the

car of their dreams.

While evaluating the obtained sensory impressions of the interior, the drivers

justify having spent so much money to purchase the preferred premium car

brand. In particular, they experience a sense of belonging to the premium car

and have positive brand associations. While driving the car, people perceive –

either consciously or subconsciously – that the car’s interior is full of brand-

related stimuli, which strengthen and embody their relationship with the brand, giving them positive feelings. Aside from being provided with a sensory

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experience, these individuals also experience the brand through the car’s

interior, which allows them to interact and emotionally connect with the brand

on a deeper level.

It should be emphasised that this example is fictitious, yet inspired by

experiences from the present dissertation’s case study with Volvo Cars and its

consumers. This scenario illustrates that brands, products, and servicescapes are

full of sensory stimuli that create value. The manufacturer’s model XC90 is

particularly interesting due to the focus on creating value in the car’s interior,

with the intention of strengthening the Volvo Cars brand as premium. Compared

with prior Volvo Cars models, the manufacturer intends to position the brand as

premium by providing consumers with a superior experience in the car’s interior

through its aesthetic design and exclusive material. Hence, the manufacturer

embeds items as sensory cues based on brand-related stimuli in the value

proposition to offer value for sense-making, where the brand experience is co-

created with consumers leading their value-in-use. Subsequently, consumer-

held brand experience impacts brand image, which becomes meaningful

through value as an experience.

1.1.1 Understanding the external world

To understand the fictitious example in the context of this dissertation, a

theoretical point of departure is needed. This base will assist the reader in

understanding how value is created from a sensory standpoint. Although it has

been reflected from various perspectives over time, focusing on the role of the

human senses in research and practice aims its dispersal in different research

domains.

The human senses have always influenced perceptions of the surrounding

environment. Perception is part of the process to acquire, interpret and organise

sensory stimuli (Macpherson, 2011). It is a common belief that people move

around in the external world and create an understanding of how it functions

(Marks, 1978). The sensory stimuli become sensations when they encounter an

individual’s sensory organs, which get interpreted by the brain and lead to the

sensory experience (Krishna, 2012). These experiences are subjective and play

a crucial role in consumers’ actions, cognitions, and emotions (Krishna and

Schwarz, 2014). This means that individuals evaluate and judge the objective

external world through sensations, which subsequently influence their sensory

experiences. Through sensations, notions are mapped and interpreted within the

current environment people are located in, for example, from sensory stimuli in

the atmosphere. The acquired sensory information from the stimuli influences

people’s judgement, which is based on prior knowledge and encounters stored

in memory (Peck and Childers, 2008). An example would be how a chair looks

and feels, sitting in it, self-contemplation of its comfort and relaxation

(Barsalou, 2008). This information is accessed in the brain and reinforced when

individuals interpret, evaluate, and judge obtained sensory stimuli at the given

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moment, but can be remembered over time (Peck and Childers,

2008).Regarding the importance of sensory information in the contemporary

society, it alludes to the fact that sensory stimuli can be embedded and perceived

in brands, products, and servicescapes.

1.1.2 Sensory experience

Individuals perceive the external world through sensory experiences.

Philosophy emphasises that sensory experiences represent the world in a

particular way, which is related to how people experience objects in a given

environment through the human senses (Macpherson, 2011). However, this is

not limited to what is seen. As in the fictitious scenario above, drivers look

around at the interior of the car they are in and perceive its interior, which leads

to emotional and cognitive responses. They touch the interior to explore and

evaluate the material and texture, which is when something emotional and

physiological happens. New sensory stimuli are obtained by touching and,

combined with the visual impression, lead to their perceptions of the car’s

interior. This demonstrates that the human senses, individually or in

combination, are a tool for gathering information about the external world and

its exploration to get an understanding of the given environment or object

(Marks, 1978). Specifically, human senses are used to interact with the external

world, creating an understanding and putting meaning into the obtained sensory

stimuli (Howes and Classen, 2014). However, this is not only limited to the

representation of the external world, since these sensory stimuli are perceived

by the sensory organs that provide us with sensory experiences (Keeley, 2011),

and are applicable for brands, products, and servicescapes.

Consequently, mapping out the external world through the human senses is

not limited to the Umwelt, as it could be a department store where

manufacturers sell branded products. The importance of the senses can be

portrayed historically through consumers who purchased goods over the counter

in department stores (Howes, 2005). However, this view changed due to the

experience economy (Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Idea Watch, 2015a) since

consumers wanted to explore the goods more closely before purchase. This

required department stores to display manufacturers’ goods in the shop, which

consumers previously could only visually observe. By displaying goods, such

as in clothing department stores, consumers can be enticed to interact with

manufacturers’ goods by looking at and touching them to evaluate the quality.

Howes (2005, p. 286) emphasised this notion from a manufacturer’s

perspective:

4

“…manufacturing an object that delight this [tactile] sense is

something that you do not talk about. Almost everything which is

bought is handled. After the eye, the hand is the first sensor to pass on acceptance, and if the hand’s judgment is unfavourable, the

most attractive object will not gain the popularity it deserves. On

the other hand, merchandise is designed to be pleasing to the hand wins an approval that may never register in the mind, but which

will determine additional purchases”.

As a consequence of the evolvement of the experience economy, research on

the human senses has increased substantially (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014).

Although it has received substantial interest among academics in various

domains, such as culture, philosophy, and sociology, which marketing recently

joined, it stems from the psychology domain on individual perception (Krishna,

2010b). Marketing research, in particular, has paid attention to sensory

modalities based on cognitive psychologists (e.g., Harlow, 1958; Barsalou,

2010), and recently consumer psychologists (e.g., Cian, Krishna and Elder,

2014; Krishna, Cian and Sokolova, 2016). In consumer psychology, research

on the human senses has evolved into the concept of sensory marketing

(Krishna, 2010a). Specifically, sensory marketing research has examined how

to provide consumers with a multisensory experience so they can create

additional value (Krishna, Cian and Aydınoğlu, 2017). The substantial

increasing interest in sensory marketing can be observed in the work of Howes

(2005, p. 284), who said, “the growing social importance of consumption in the

nineteenth century was evident in the new venues of shopping, the department

store. With its theatrical lighting, enticing window displays and its floor after

floor of entrancing merchandise”. This later became the foundation for the

experience economy where seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, and touching are

part of the consumer experience in the physical world (Pine and Gilmore, 1998).

Although this is still true in physical settings today, consumption also occurs in

digital settings. Petit, Velasco and Spence (2019) supported this, stating that

multisensory information mediates consumer experience in the physical world

and digital settings. This shows that consumers do not necessarily need to touch

or smell the products to obtain relevant sensory information. Consumers can,

for example, imagine expected sensory properties from previous interactions

and product experiences. Hence, the digitalisation and advancement of online

shopping have reformed consumer behaviour and forced manufacturers to

develop their offerings due to global competition (Howes, 2005). Regarding

sensory marketing, manufacturers can offer consumers added value by creating

experiences related to the brand, which will strengthen their position in the

market and stop competitors duplicating the product.

5

1.1.3 Branding a sensory experience

According to sensory marketing from a consumer psychology perspective,

brands, products, and servicescapes consist of sensory stimuli operating as

(sub)conscious triggers (Krishna, 2012; Krishna and Schwarz, 2014). These

triggers influence consumer behaviour and give consumers additional value

(Krishna et al., 2017). Sensory marketing describes sensory stimuli in brands,

products, and servicescapes to understand the outcome in the consumer’s mind

(Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence, Puccinelli, Grewal and Roggeveen,

2014). That is, when consumers are exposed to or interact with sensory stimuli

in brands, products, or servicescapes, cognitive, emotional, and behavioural

responses are formed due to mental processes and psychological reactions to

understand obtained sensory stimuli (Hultén, 2011). Consumer perceived value

comprises various outcomes – namely cognitive, emotional, sensory and

symbolic responses – by obtaining pleasure from non-utilitarian aspects of

consumption (Holbrook, 1999; Schmitt, 1999; Arnould and Thompson, 2005;

Alba and Williams, 2013). While sensory marketing research has examined the

human senses in brands, products, and servicescapes, it is essential to

understand how value is created by treating sensory stimuli as sensory cues.

Hence, the present dissertation views sensory cues as a strategic tool to be

embedded in brands, products, or servicescapes to provide consumers with

additional value by offering an experience. In other words, sensory cues are

incorporated into objects by the manufacturer to provide consumers with

additional value, which consumers situate meaning and create value to through

the human senses.

Inspired by the idea that the advancement of service-dominant logic (SDL)

can be seen as a general theory to capture how to create value in innovative

ways (Vargo and Lusch, 2017), this dissertation is immersed in how to plan

and design for value through experiences in relation to brands (Payne,

Storbacka, Frow and Knox, 2009). To fully understand this, Vargo and Lusch’s

(2017) level of abstraction (metatheory, midrange theory, and micro-level

theories) view of creating value is used. These are shown in Figure 1.1.

Figure 1.1. Theory level of abstraction

6

The primary focus of SDL (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008;

Vargo and Lusch, 2016) is to reveal the generic picture to create value on the

meta-level. However, to understand how value is created through experiences,

midrange theory and micro-level theories are needed. Sensory marketing

(Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014) is used as a midrange theory

to bridge the metatheory and micro-level theories in order to capture how the

human senses can create value from the manufacturer’s and consumer’s

perspectives. In turn, the micro-level theories’ sensory cues (e.g., Biswas,

Szocs, Krishna and Lehmann, 2014b; Krishna, Morrin and Sayin, 2014;

Streicher and Estes, 2016; Helmefalk and Berndt, 2018), brand experience (e.g.,

Chang and Chieng, 2006; Brakus, Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2009; Khan and

Rahman, 2015; Andreini, Pedeliento, Zarantonello and Solerio, 2018), and

brand image (e.g., Birdwell, 1968; Park, Jaworski and Maclnnis, 1986; Kirmani

and Zeithaml, 1993; Hsieh, 2002; Cho and Fiore, 2015) are used to inform

sensory marketing and SDL on how value is created through experiences. The

micro-level theories have the common denominator of sensory marketing and

build upon the stimuli-organism-response model by Mehrabian and Russell

(1974). Therefore, the aim is to assist in understanding how value is created

from a sensory marketing perspective and from a generic perspective by

including several actors in accordance with SDL.

Moreover, sensory cues are employed individually or in combination as

multisensory cues in brands, products (e.g., Spence, 2012; Littel and Orth, 2013;

Streicher and Estes, 2015), or servicescapes (Spence et al., 2014; Helmefalk,

2019), subsequently providing consumers with the arousal or pleasure response

(Donovan and Rossiter, 1982). Sensory cues alludes that sensory stimuli in

brands, products, or servicescapes operate as sensors, which are a mechanism

for sending out stimuli by embedding sensory cues (Hultén, 2011) to provide

consumers with an experience as an offering (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012;

Spence et al., 2014).

Hence, manufacturers can offer value through the brand by embedding

sensory cues in their products, which are perceived by consumers (Ballantine,

Parsons and Comeskey, 2015) as an experience (Chang and Chieng, 2006;

Brakus et al., 2009; Hepola, Karjaluoto and Hintikka, 2017; Khan and Fatma,

2017). Research has linked sensory cues in brands and products with an

experience (Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Schmitt, 1999; Schmitt, Brakus and

Zarantonello, 2015a) and feelings (Levy, 1959; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982;

Holbrook, Chestnut, Oliva and Greenleaf, 1984; Levy, 1985; Holbrook, 1986)

in relation to the human senses (Hultén, 2011; Achrol and Kotler, 2012;

Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014) to provide cognitive and emotional

responses (Esch, Moll, Schmitt, Elger, Neuhaus and Weber, 2012; Schmitt et

al., 2015a). It shows that “smell, sound, vision, taste or touch can reinforce a

positive feeling, following the experiential logic, that generates a certain value to the individual and, in particular, creates a brand image” (Hultén, 2011, p.

7

269). Accordingly, when consumers are exposed to or interact with offered

sensory cues that can be seen, heard, smelled, touched, and/or tasted (Holbrook

and Hirschman, 1982; Holbrook et al., 1984) it leads to a brand experience

(Brakus et al., 2009; Khan and Rahman, 2015; Andreini et al., 2018) and a

positive brand image (Park et al., 1986; Dobni and Zinkhan, 1990; Faircloth,

Capella and Alford, 2001; Hsieh, 2002). Thus, by appealing to the human

senses, the manufacturer is able to create a brand experience that is meaningful

for a consumer’s value as an experience, i.e., brand image (Dobni and Zinkhan,

1990; Kirmani and Zeithaml, 1993; Hsieh, 2002; Cho and Fiore, 2015). Sensory

cues, brand experience and brand image, and their relationship are elaborated

on in the theoretical framework.

At first glance, it appears little is new with sensory marketing, just

acknowledging that consumers use the human senses to evaluate and judge

goods. Looking closer at sensory marketing research, the novelty lies in

manufacturers strategically embedding sensory cues, individually or in

combination (as multisensory cues), creating an experience (Pine and Gilmore,

1998; Achrol and Kotler, 2012). Subsequently, consumers evaluating whether

the experience was valuable or not is reinforced by memory associations. The

fictitious example shows a situation affecting car manufacturers and consumers.

It implies that car manufacturers can design and embed sensory cues based on

brand-related stimuli in the interior to offer a pleasant and interactive brand

experience that leads to a positively perceived brand image. However, the

process of creating value with a brand has not yet been fully acknowledged in

prior research (Vargo and Lusch, 2017). To further understand the relevance of

this dissertation, the various theories in relation to cars need to be discussed.

1.2 Problem discussion

1.2.1 A car’s interior as a servicescape

Car manufacturers position the brand in the consumer’s mind based on the

brand-related stimuli (Park et al., 1986; Faircloth et al., 2001; Hsieh, 2002).

Traditionally, it has been achieved in advertisements and promotions (Lienert,

1998). Therefore, manufacturers expose consumers to the brand in print and in

various advertisements and at events to ensure that a purchase is made.

However, a car’s interior is interesting, since consumers are located within the

given servicescape even after purchasing the car. While driving, consumers

experience the brand (sub)consciously through the car’s interior. Compared

with advertisements and promotions, a car’s interior moves beyond the purchase

and allows the manufacturer to have an interpersonal interaction with

consumers in the servicescape. Thus, the brand exists in the car’s interior, which

allows consumers to interact with embedded brand-related stimuli through the

human senses. This is in accordance with Gibson and Crooks’s (1938)

8

reasoning, who stated that behaviour can be influenced with relevant attributes

in an environment. For example, in a car, relevant characteristics, such as a

brake pedal and brake blocks, ensure that the driver can stop the vehicle at a

minimum distance for safety purposes. Similarly, in the present dissertation, it

is assumed that consumers (sub)consciously interpret and give meaning to the

car’s interior. Nevertheless, for this to occur, manufacturers need to embed

sensory cues based on brand-related stimuli for sense-making.

Over the last two decades, sensory marketing research has received

substantial interest, pointing out the importance of the human senses for

manufacturers and consumers in marketing research (Krishna and Schwarz,

2014). In a changing world where experiences are distinct economic offerings

(Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Achrol and Kotler, 2012), traditional theories of how

manufacturers deliberately create value with experiences based on brand-

related stimuli and consumer perception are challenged (Vargo and Lusch,

2017). In the fictitious scenario, it is suggested that a car’s interior is full of

opportunities for manufacturers to create value through experiences, which are

based on brand-related stimuli. Since a car’s interior is permanent, it becomes

imperative for manufacturers to embed the right combination of sensory cues

and harmonise them with the brand. This is crucial because consumers are

constantly exposed to manufacturers’ embedded cues and brand-related stimuli.

Consumers (sub)consciously experience these stimuli every time they use the

car. Hence, a car’s interior consists of emotional and sensory dimensions that

are experienced by consumers (Lienert, 1998). In this regard, surprisingly little

attention has been given to the automotive industry, since cars are full of

opportunities to create value through experiences by positioning the brand in

the consumer’s mind. However, sensory marketing research has so far not fully

captured the process of how manufacturers embed sensory cues in brands,

products, and servicescapes, specifically within the automotive industry.

Similarly, how consumers interact and situate value from experiencing a car’s

interior has been overlooked. To understand these theoretical problems, there

are issues that need to be considered and discussed.

Looking closer at research in the context of the automotive industry, little

attention has been given to sensory cues. Rather, the focus has been on

traditional branding literature, which has been most dominant in examining the

positioning of car brands in the consumer’s mind. A possible explanation for

this may be that the automotive industry consists of several car manufacturers

with similar products, where the brand becomes essential in distinguishing it

from competitors (Lienert, 1998). Thus, the intention is to convey that brand

image to consumers (Malhotra, 1981; Hsieh, 2002). In particular, car

manufacturers use brand heritage based on the brand identity to position the

brand (Urde, Greyser and Balmer, 2007; Wiedmann, Hennigs, Schmidt and

Wuestefeld, 2011; Merchant and Rose, 2013; Rose, Merchant, Orth and

9

Horstmann, 2016) to reflect the brand associations held in consumers’ memory

(Keller, 1993).

Today, it is common for manufacturers to differentiate their brand by

designing and staging experiences as offerings (Pine and Gilmore, 1998), which

are filtered through the human senses (Achrol and Kotler, 2012). Although car

manufacturers want to position their brand, they have different opportunities to

do so. It is logical to assume that premium brands in the automotive industry

spend more time and effort providing consumers with experiences as a distinct

economic offering. Hence, consumers may be willing to pay a higher price for

a car from a premium brand, compared with non-premium ones. This in turn

alludes to manufacturers needing to offer experiences in the premium brand so

consumers can justify their purchase. In this dissertation, the discussion will be

limited to premium brands in the automotive industry to understand the brand’s

role in how to create value through experiences.

In regard to this, car manufacturers use luxury characteristics in positioning

the brand as premium (Kapferer, 2015a; Uggla, 2017). In general, research of

premium brands has so far focused on packaging design and consumer

perception of various different offerings (Mugge, Massink, Hultink and van den

Berg-Weitzel, 2014). Similarly, research shows that an aesthetic car’s exterior,

such as the body design, positively influences consumers’ premium

expectations (Löffler and Decker, 2012). It has been demonstrated that aesthetic

car exterior design positively impacts purchase intention (Landwehr, Wentzel

and Herrmann, 2012), and that an aesthetically appealing car grill has a positive

influence on consumers’ brand attitude (Keaveney, Herrmann, Befurt and

Landwehr, 2012). Much attention has been given to the visual appearance of a

car’s exterior and there is a lack of examination into non-visual sensory cues,

creating opportunities for future research.

In sensory marketing research, it has been shown that appropriate sensory

cues provide consumers with a positive outcome (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014).

This is achieved by embedding sensory cues (individual or multiple cues) to

provide consumers an experience by conveying the meaning of the brand (for a

review see Spence et al., 2014). Although research has examined sensory cues

in servicescapes in relation to consumer response (Bitner, 1992; Turley and

Milliman, 2000), a car’s interior as a servicescape has been overlooked. This

unchartered gap offers an opportunity to explore and examine how value is

created through a car’s interior between manufacturers and consumers.

Similarly, with Foster and McLelland’s (2015) notion of embedding sensory

cues as a branded theme in the atmosphere of a servicescape, the present

dissertation views a car’s interior as a setting for a manufacturer to create value

by inserting brand-related stimuli as an offering. To address this gap, it is not

sufficient to explore how a manufacturer creates value in a car’s interior;

consumer situated value also needs to be analysed, since little is known about the brand’s role. This is in accordance with Vargo and Lusch’s (2017)

10

suggestion to examine how planning and designing experiences lead to

consumers’ value-in-use. To understand this, the effect of the servicescape

brand experience theme has to be tested to gain insights of consumer-brand

relationship (Nilsson and Ballantyne, 2014). Aside from examining how car

manufacturers create value, the consumer perception needs to be included,

which is a response to Ballantyne and Nilsson’s (2017) call for radical appraisal

and interpretation of the servicescape concept. The current lack of research on

how sensory cues create value in the given setting is beneficial for the involved

actors as a positive brand outcome.

Although research emphasises that experiences are created (Schmitt, 1999;

Brakus et al., 2009; Andreini et al., 2018), the creation process includes

manufacturers planning and designing the offering (Shedroff, 2001; Alcántara,

Artacho, Martínez and Zamora, 2014). This is supported by Pine and Gilmore

(1998), who stated that experiences include design, production, and evaluation.

This dissertation views planning and designing as an underlying mechanism to

create experiences. This includes the understanding of how to embed sensory

cues based on brand-related stimuli, which facilitate creating an experience for

the consumer evaluation. Hence, the phrases “create an experience” and “plan

and design an experience” are used interchangeably in this dissertation.

1.2.2 Theoretical and managerial problems

As mentioned above, the attention on how to appeal to consumers through the

human senses and to understand consumer perception of experiences have

increased significantly in research and practice (Krishna et al., 2016). This falls

into four theoretical problems. The first problem is related to experiences as a

differentiator to create value, which is used by manufacturers to appeal to the

human senses. In the automotive industry, several manufacturers compete with

similar products, where the brand plays an important role in distinguishing and

positioning the brand in the consumers’ minds. The challenge for car

manufacturers is not just to develop and design cars, but to take the essence of

the brand and amplify the car into a tangible, physical, and interactive

experience that reinforces the value proposition. Following the logic of sensory

marketing, value can be created by embedding sensory cues based on brand-

related stimuli to appeal to the human senses. Referring back to the fictitious

example, the car’s interior is full of (sub)conscious triggers filtered by the

human senses. For example, feeling and smelling the material, potential sounds,

and design aesthetics. Car manufacturers can entice consumers’ human senses

in the interior with brand-related stimuli, which may be different for BMW,

Mercedes-Benz, or Volvo Cars due to different positioning strategies. Although

these are premium brands in the automotive industry, it is logical to assume that

creating value through experiences distinguishes the manufacturers. This would

be reasonable since each manufacturer has its unique brand-related stimuli to

create a brand experience, which subsequently impacts the brand image. The

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type of experience a manufacturer should create depends on the given brand

character to position it as premium to the consumers.

The second problem is related to consumer experience. With the paucity of

knowledge on the sensory aspect of the consumer experience in a retail store

regarding designing the atmosphere (Helmefalk, 2016), entering a car is just

like being inside any given servicescape, such as a shopping mall or restaurant.

Although manufacturers cannot decide the outcome in the consumer’s mind,

they can control what sensory cues to embed and if these are congruent with the

brand in the servicescape. However, there has been little research on the

relationship with the brand in the servicescape (Eklund and Helmefalk, 2018).

Regarding this, the inside of a car is interesting, as the interior is full of

opportunities for the manufacturer to embed sensory cues based on brand-

related stimuli. These can subsequently be filtered and evaluated by consumer’s

human senses when interacting with the car’s interior. Hence, it is logical to

assume that brand-related stimuli play an important part in influencing

consumers’ brand outcome. To elucidate, brands and products are important as

they are experiential entities consumers find exciting and fun (Holbrook et al.,

1984; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). These are located inside a servicescape

consisting of atmospheric cues, i.e., sensory cues resulting in consumer

response (Kotler, 1973; Spence et al., 2014). The servicescape is the given

environment in which consumers experience brands and products. This shows

the challenge for car manufacturers to plan and design for experiences by having

a distinct economic offering that consumers interact with and develop meaning

from. The complexity of embedding sensory cues in the value proposition is

related to the intended consumer’s brand perception. Specifically, how

consumers’ brand experience influences brand image, leading to the holistic

value as an experience. This challenges traditional marketing theories, since

manufacturers and consumers in the experience economy gain value from

experiences.

The third problem is related to manufacturers’ experiences and consumer

perception. Compared with traditional marketing theories, sensory marketing

emphasises multidimensional communication between manufacturers and

consumers (Hultén, 2015b; Krishna et al., 2017). It is suggested that products

have their own voices that consumers reply to viscerally and (sub)consciously

(Idea Watch, 2015b). This is because “consumers are involved in the processes

of both defining and creating value, and the co-created experience of consumers

through the holistic brand value structure becomes the very basis of marketing” (Tsai, 2005, p, 433). Thus, sensory marketing is a suitable theory to explain how

value is created and perceived by consumers (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012;

Spence et al., 2014). However, sensory marketing does not capture the essence

of how value is offered or perceived. Although it has been demonstrated that

sensory cues impact brand experience and brand strength (Wiedmann, Labenz, Haase and Hennigs, 2018), planning and designing a value and the outcome for

12

consumers has been overlooked. In particular, the relationship between brand

experience and brand image needs to examined further (Santini, Ladeira,

Sampaio and Pinto, 2018). Andreini et al.’s (2018) work supports this,

emphasising the necessity to consider how value and resources are integrated

by various actors, such as manufacturers and consumers, in creating value,

which follows the logic of SDL (Vargo and Lusch, 2017). Therefore, exploring

how a car manufacturer creates value in relation to the brand experience is

relevant since consumers constantly interact with brand-related stimuli in the

car’s interior. Subsequently, this results in the need to empirically examine the

relationship between the co-created brand experience and brand image, which

leads to consumer’s value as an experience.

Problem number four relates to the fact that research so far has neglected the

process of creating value leading to consumer’s value as an experience. More

data need to be collected to better understand what the value in the experience

means for consumers (Helkkula, Kelleher and Pihlström, 2012). Although

sensory marketing research has demonstrated how sensory cues influence

consumers with cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses (e.g., Streicher

and Estes, 2016; Biswas, Szocs, Chacko and Wansink, 2017; Helmefalk and

Hultén, 2017), little is known about the brand outcome from these responses.

Despite this, so far research has not fully provided an understanding or

conceptualised how manufacturers embed sensory cues in brands, products, and

servicescapes as a value proposition to stage a brand experience for consumers

with the intention of reinforcing the brand image’s value as an experience.

In the context of this dissertation (premium car brands), the problems

identified above show the challenges car manufacturers face in creating value

and the need to interact with consumers. The vastness of this field, in

combination with a paucity of research, suggest there are ample opportunities

for conceptual development and empirical studies. One such opportunity is by

considering how several actors, such as manufacturers and consumers, create

value from a sensory marketing view. The present dissertation is a response to

Vargo and Lusch (2017) claim that an experience-based theoretical framework

is needed, which can aid how to plan and design value by involving consumers

in understanding the user-generated content of premium brands. Similarly, Pine

and Gilmore (1998) emphasised that the key to creating value is excellent design

and staging experiences. This appeals to consumers’ human senses to ensure

active participation of manufacturers and consumers, which yields the

experience of the brand. These enquiries are achieved in the present dissertation

by conducting a case study with a genuine global car manufacturer in the

premium segment. This will assist the automotive industry and consumers to

understand the process of how value is created in relation to sensory cues, brand

experience, and brand image. The following sections will elaborate on this

discussion by developing an overarching research question, sub-questions, and the purpose of the dissertation.

13

1.3 Research questions

1.3.1 Overarching research question

The four problems identified above reveal insufficient knowledge of how to

create value by applying sensory cues, which is beneficial for manufacturers

and consumers. As mentioned, little is known about the role of sensory cues in

creating value, consumer’s added value from sensory cues, and the brand’s role

in creating and perceiving value from sensory cues from a car’s interior.

Therefore, the present dissertation aims to respond to calls for future research.

Krishna et al. (2017) emphasised that brands and products with embedded

sensory cues communicate with consumers, suggesting that manufacturers use

these to appeal to consumers’ human senses to elucidate product experiences

based on brand-related stimuli that they tend to remember. Similarly, Veloutsou

and Guzman (2017) argued that brands, products, and servicescapes have

become experiential entities that communicate with consumers’ human senses

through sensory stimuli. Hence, it has been questioned if existing research

within sensory marketing has fully adapted to this perspective of sensory cues

in brands, products, and servicescapes. Seeking to address the theoretical and

managerial problems above, the following overarching research question will

be answered in the dissertation: how is value created in a car’s interior using

sensory marketing?

1.3.2 Sub-questions

To address the overarching research question, three sub-questions have been

developed. The aim of these sub-questions is to reflect various aspects in

creating value, contributing to answering the overarching research question.

Research thus far focus on consumer perception from exposure to sensory

cues (e.g., Krishna, Elder and Caldara, 2010; Biswas et al., 2014b; Streicher and

Estes, 2016). Much of this research has been conducted to understand the effect

of product evaluation in the consumer’s mind (e.g., Zampini and Spence, 2004;

Krishna, 2006; Szocs and Biswas, 2016), but overlooked how sensory cues are

embedded by manufacturers. This alludes to there being ample opportunities for

research in planning and designing the atmosphere in a servicescape with

sensory cues (Mari and Poggesi, 2013; Spence et al., 2014; Helmefalk, 2019),

particularly by offering value by embedding sensory cues in the servicescape.

However, research has not yet provided guidance on how to achieve this other

than pointing out that it adds value for the manufacturer and consumers (Dubé

and Morin, 2001). Therefore, the first sub-question is formulated: how is a value

proposition created by the manufacturer’s embedded sensory cues?

As mentioned, research has given little attention to how sensory cues can be

embedded for offering value to consumers. Scare attention has received special

focus to how to create value with the consumers’ involvement (Payne et al.,

2009). According to Pine and Gilmore (1998), experiences can be staged by

14

manufacturers through excellent design to offer additional value for consumers,

with the intention to make the brand experience memorable (Khan and Fatma,

2017). Research so far has centred on consumer-held brand experience from

brand-related stimuli (Brakus et al., 2009; Khan and Rahman, 2015; Santini et

al., 2018). However, research has not yet fully discussed how manufacturers

should plan and design experiences based on brand-related stimuli for creating

value. Hence, understanding how a brand experience is staged by a

manufacturer to create value for the manufacturer and consumers is imperative.

From this, the second sub-question is developed: how is value-in-use created by

a brand experience?

Capturing various aspects of creating value goes beyond the manufacturer’s

perspective, and the consumer’s perspective is needed. So far, majority of brand

experience literature has tested the relationship with brand loyalty (e.g., Brakus et al., 2009; Francisco-Maffezzolli, Semprebon and Muller Prado, 2014;

Iglesias, Singh and Batista-Foguet, 2011; Nysveen, Pedersen and Skard, 2013).

Although the results show a positive relationship between the constructs, little

is known on how brand experiences create value for consumers. Theoretically,

it is emphasised that research should focus on how brand experience creates

value for consumers (Andreini et al., 2018). Considering this, it is important to

theoretically and empirically understand how the brand becomes meaningful

and adds value for consumers (Keller and Lehmann, 2006). This is addressed

by examining and testing the relationship between brand experience and brand

image, which, in accordance with Santini et al. (2018), deserves further

attention. Hence, sub-question three is developed: what is the effect of brand experience on brand image in order to create value as an experience?

1.3.3 Purpose

The introduction revealed theoretical and managerial problems that need to be

addressed. Sensory marketing research alludes that value is created by

manufacturers and consumers. Theoretically, it is emphasised that creating

value is a service process with the manufacturer’s goal being to create a

multisensory brand experience, which is filtered by the human senses to

generate consumer value and the brand as an image (Hultén, 2015b). Although

this suggests that manufacturers offer the consumers value for sense-making, it

does not show how value is created. Therefore, the purpose is to understand and

explain how value is created within a car’s interior by applying sensory marketing as a lens.

To capture the essence of the overarching research question and purpose, an

empirical case study with a premium brand car manufacturer will be conducted

in qualitative and quantitative sequences. The two sequences are designed to

capture the different parts of creating value in the car’s interior. The qualitative

sequence explores how the manufacturer embeds sensory cues based on brand-

related stimuli in the car’s interior as an offer for consumers’ sense-making.

15

This is achieved by personal in-depth interviews with key informants of the

manufacturer. Hence, the purpose of this dissertation is to explore the

manufacturer’s perspective to creating value. The quantitative sequence designs

a questionnaire to test the relationship between brand experience and brand

image to understand consumer value, whereof the purpose is to test and examine

consumer perspective in creating value. Accordingly, the case study with the

car manufacturer and consumers empirically captures various aspects in the

process of how value is created theoretically.

1.4 Contributions in the dissertation

Based on the discussion above, the intended contribution of the dissertation is

to advance the theoretical and managerial understanding to capture different

aspects of how value is created with the aid of sensory marketing. The

theoretical contribution is to relate sensory marketing with branding and SDL

literature by creating and perceiving value. Research has demonstrated that

sensory cues have a positive impact on consumers’ cognitive, emotional, and

behavioural outcomes. Despite this, little is known of the brand’s role. The

present dissertation contributes to literature on how value is created by relating

sensory cues with brand experience and brand image. Regarding creating value

in accordance with SDL, neither the manufacturers nor the consumers can do it

in isolation. Hence, creating value is a strategic process in which the

manufacturer needs to plan and design value offerings based on brand-related

stimuli. However, the outcome of the provided value is determined by the

consumer’s perception and sense-making. Therefore, this dissertation proposes

a conceptual model, which shows the process of how value can be created for

manufacturers and consumers. In this process, harmony was revealed to unite

the different steps to creating value.

This dissertation provides managerial insights on how to position the brand

as premium. Car manufacturers are suggested to use brand-related stimuli in the

car’s interior to provide consumers with value. Since the car’s interior is always

present, consumers are continuously evaluating the brand-related stimuli

planned and designed by the manufacturer. Therefore, car manufacturers are

advised to strategically consider how to use the car’s interior as a strategic tool

to convey the brand’s story to consumers. This includes understanding the target

consumer segment to bring forth a car’s interior with brand-related stimuli to

meet their demand and requirements.

1.5 Delimitations in the dissertation

The present dissertation is centred around creating value. Since creating value

varies among research domains, this is narrowed down to SDL. The reason for this is to capture how value is created from intangible brand-related stimuli in

16

relation to sensory marketing through a service-for-service exchange for a car,

rather than a goods-for-goods or goods-for-money exchange. The dissertation

focuses on understanding how value is offered and perceived, as well as how it

is created for manufacturers and consumers and what it represents. Moreover,

it is acknowledged that co-created value emerges from an interaction between

actors a and b. For the purpose of this dissertation, the co-created aspect of value

is not evaluated. Rather, the focal point is on capturing how value is created by

exploring how a manufacturer offers value and examining consumer’s sense-

making of the offered value. The present dissertation does not explicitly seek to

understand and explain how the manufacturer and consumers co-create value

with one another. However, co-creating value is included to understand how

different actors in the value creation process jointly produce a mutually valued

outcome, which is consistent with the purpose of the dissertation.

1.6 Outline of the dissertation

Further to the introduction chapter, this dissertation has seven more chapters.

To provide clarity and understanding of how value is created, the chapters are

presented the way the topic has been studied. The outline of the dissertation is

designed to have a logical structure regarding the qualitative and quantitative

sequences, providing the reader with an understanding and clarity of how they

build onto one another.

In chapter two, a theoretical underpinning of the main theoretical concepts in

sensory marketing is provided. The chapter applies metatheory, midrange

theory, and micro-level theories to funnel through the linkages of the main

theoretical concepts, which are channelled into the theoretical synthesis. This

accounts for this paper’s view on SDL, sensory marketing, sensory cues, brand

experience, and brand image.

Chapter three presents the methodology behind the research strategy and

research design. Thereafter, the research process is illustrated. The section

concludes with the ethical considerations made in the dissertation.

Chapter four introduces the method for the qualitative sequence. The chapter

outlines the procedure, including establishing contact with the case company,

developing the interview guide, selecting informants, conducting interviews,

and analysing collected material and issues of trustworthiness.

In Chapter five, the empirical results from the qualitative sequence are

presented. This section introduces the case company, Volvo Cars, and then

presents the manufacturer’s perspective of planning and designing value in a

car’s interior. The chapter ends with how the qualitative sequence builds into

the quantitative sequence.

Chapter six analyses and discusses the qualitative findings from the

manufacturer. This is conducted with reference to the theoretical synthesis, which includes the metatheory, midrange theory, and micro-level theories.

17

In chapter seven, the method of the quantitative sequence is given. The

chapter accounts for the operationalisation of the constructs, questionnaire

administration, selected population, data analysis, and research quality. It

should be noted that the methodology is presented in chapter three, whereof the

focus of this chapter is to motivate choices in the quantitative sequence.

The consumer perspective is analysed and discussed in chapter eight. This

section starts with observing the measure constructs, brand experience and

brand image. It is followed by how the factors were established in the

independent variable of brand experience before the relationship with brand

image was tested, and how robustness and validity were ensured in the results.

Lastly, the results from the hypothesised relationships are discussed.

In the final section, chapter nine, the main conclusions and contributions of

the dissertation are presented. The chapter attempts to fulfil the purpose stated

in the introduction chapter and answer the overarching research question of how

value is created. The section ends with the reflections, limitations of findings,

suggestions for future research, as well as theoretical, managerial, and ethical

implication emerging from the dissertation.

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2 Theoretical framework

Chapter two develops the theoretical framework in the present dissertation. It starts with the theoretical underpinning to establish how the metatheory,

midrange theory, and micro-level theories are closely interrelated. Thereafter,

the micro-level theories’ sensory cues, brand experience, and brand image are elaborated. Lastly, the theoretical synthesis is presented and discussed.

2.1 Theoretical underpinning

To capture how to create value, this dissertation is inspired by Vargo and

Lusch’s (2017) level of abstraction with metatheory, midrange theory, micro-

level theories. The metatheory, service-dominant logic (SDL), lent itself to a

generic perspective of creating value with various actors. The midrange theory,

sensory marketing, goes beyond SDL to capture how the human senses create

value through experiences, with the intention of supporting the metatheory and

bridging it with the micro-level theories. The micro-level theories’ sensory cues,

brand experience, and brand image assist in exploring and examining how the

human senses create value through experiences in relation to the brand. Table

2.1 summarises the theory levels of abstraction.

Table 2.1. Metatheory, midrange theory, and micro-level theories

Level of abstraction

Metatheory

(SDL; value is created by including various actors)

Abstraction/theory

Midrange theory (Sensory marketing; understanding how the human

senses create value through experiences)

Micro-level theories

(Sensory cues, brand experience, and brand image;

understanding how the human senses create value through experiences in relation to the brand)

20

2.1.1 Metatheory: service-dominant logic

Over the last 50 years, service-based concepts and models have been developed

in the service marketing domain, showing that a service context allows

manufacturers to integrate with customers in various ways (Grönroos and

Gummerus, 2014). Compared with conventional marketing models of consumer

goods, which stem from a goods logic in a manufacturing context (Howard,

1957; McCarthy, 1960), a new marketing paradigm emerged – SDL –

challenging the conventional goods logic. The main argument for this shift was

that the exchange of physical goods is no longer centralised. Specifically, it

includes shifting from manufacturing and exchanging tangible goods to

focusing on intangible dimensions, such as knowledge, information, and skills,

resulting in connectivity, interactivity, and ongoing relationships. It shows that

the emphasis has moved from the producer to the consumer (Vargo and Lusch,

2004).

SDL is based on this view, on the common denominator of an exchange.

Initially, the core ideas of SDL were relatively simple, meaning that a marketing

or economic activity is viewed as a service-for-service exchange; compared to

an economic transaction exchange, where money is traded for goods (Vargo and

Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2017). With SDL, consumers do not exchange

money for goods, they acquire benefits from the manufacturer’s competence,

knowledge, skills, or services in which knowledge and skills are considered

operant resources. This means that goods are viewed as transmitters of resources

with embedded knowledge that mediate products, which use operant resources

(customers) within value creation processes. In other words, customers are seen

as co-producers of services due to the marketing process where manufacturers

interact with consumers. Within this process, consumers perceive and define

value as value-in-use, which occurs by embedding knowledge in transmitted

operand resources provided by the manufacturer’s value propositions.

However, consumers need to interpret and make sense of the manufacturer’s

provided value proposition. Accordingly, consumers are active participants in

the interpersonal exchange and co-producers as an operant resource (Vargo and

Lusch, 2004).

The revolutionary evolvement of SDL was criticised as having a co-

producer-emphasised goods logic and not a service logic, as well as not being

explicit of the role of interactive and network in value creation (e.g., Achrol and

Kotler, 2006; Grönroos, 2006; Gummesson, 2006). This criticism was

addressed by Lusch and Vargo (2006) and Vargo and Lusch (2008), who

clarified that the consumer is always a co-creator of value and that it is not about

the offering. Rather, it is about the experience of service embedded in goods,

providing consumers with value-in-use in the consumption process where actors

co-create value. In this context, service is the foundation of exchange (Vargo,

2008) and goods are vehicles that always co-create value (Vargo and Akaka,

2009). This clarification that value is co-created by manufacturers and

21

customers suggests that the brand becomes the experience (Prahalad and

Ramaswamy, 2004). Hence, manufacturers facilitate experience-based value

that is co-created with consumers, resulting in meaningful human experiences

(Ramaswamy, 2011).

However, within the SDL domain, “remarkable little attention focuses on the

brand” (Payne et al., 2009, p. 379). Nevertheless, a major update and extension

of SDL allowed the concept to be bridged with other research streams, such as

branding and experiential marketing (Vargo and Lusch, 2016). The update has

led to the exploration of SDL vectors within the marketing domain to fully

understand the potential of the concept (Vargo and Lusch, 2017). The identified

vectors within SDL are encouraged to extend the discussion of value creation

by considering how experiences are created (Edvardsson, Tronvoll and Gruber,

2011; Helkkula et al., 2012) as an actor-to-actor approach in understanding

consumers’ meaning of content in brands (Halliday, 2016). This goes beyond

co-creation and shows the importance of planning and designing for consumers’

involvement in brand value (Payne et al., 2009). Co-creation of brand value

occurs when consumers engage with objects (brands) (Brodie, Hollebeek, Jurić

and Ilić, 2011) and do not just refer to the point of purchase (Vivek, Beatty and

Morgan, 2012).

As SDL has moved from being a lens to a theory, it has a descriptive and

explanatory influence on how to advance marketing research (Vargo and Lusch,

2017). In the experience economy, this advancement amends a shift in value

from a transaction into an experience. Research emphasises that marketers

should create memorable experiences (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) through

continual dynamic activities to involve consumers in shaping the brand meaning

and their value (Black and Veloutsou, 2017).

In the update and extension of SDL, it can be seen that an experience-based

perspective for creating value is an essential diffusion within the marketing

domain. This corresponds with the emergence of experiential marketing

(Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Schmitt, 1999) and sensory marketing

(Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014) within the experience

economy (Pine and Gilmore, 1998). In sensory marketing, it is exemplified by:

“a service process that focuses on sensory strategies and stimuli with the goal of creating a multi-sensory brand experience, in

supporting the individual’s identity creation through the mind and

five senses to generate consumer value, consumer experiences, and the brand as image” (Hultén, 2015b, p. 106).

This idea suggests that brands create sensory experiences consumers can

interact with through the human senses. Following the notion of SDL, the

emergence of experiential marketing and sensory marketing as a diffusion suggests that manufacturers are service providers creating brand value when

22

consumers use the human senses. This advocates that brands and consumers are

operant resources in the value-generating process to co-create a multisensory

brand experience. Much like relationship marketing, the experiential brand

value is created by consumer’s value-in-use, which depends on the character of

the particular brand. To achieve this, sensory marketing plays an important role

in delivering brand value to consumers. Therefore, SDL is suitable as a

metatheory on the midrange theory sensory marketing to explore how

manufacturers and consumers create value with experiences.

2.1.1.1 Applying service-dominant logic

Before developing a theoretical framework, it is necessary to clarify what value

is. In marketing, the foundation for value is that manufacturers create and

maintain a goods exchange with consumers (Bagozzi, 1975; Hunt, 1983;

Houston and Gassenheimer, 1987). Thus, research has focused on how

manufacturers can create and maintain an exchange (Viswanathan, Rosa and

Ruth, 2010). Although value is an ambiguous and elusive concept (Carù and

Cova, 2003), it has been defined in numerous ways (Akaka, Vargo and Schau,

2015) with some kind of assessment (Zeithaml, 1988), such as the evaluation of

an object in consumption (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Holbrook et al.,

1984). However, it should be noted that “value resides not in the object of

consumption, but in the experience of consumption” (Frow and Payne, 2007, p.

91).

Therefore, this dissertation is based on Prahalad and Ramaswamy’s (2002, p.

54) notion that “in a market forum, consumers define value as experiences”.

Following SDL, for this to occur there needs to be an interaction between the

manufacturer and consumers, driven by consumer need (Akaka et al., 2015).

This starts with the manufacturer providing consumers with a value proposition

for interaction and sense-making. The interaction enables the manufacturer and

consumers to co-create experiences (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004). The

outcome of the value is determined by a positive evaluation of the experience

at the given moment or setting where the exchange occurs between the

manufacturer and consumer (Akaka et al., 2015), which may become a

competitive advantage for the brand (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004;

Ramaswamy, 2008). Although co-creation has a positive outcome for

consumers, it cannot take place without a value proposition from the

manufacturer (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Vargo and

Lusch, 2016) Hence, co-creating an experience is vital in creating value for

manufacturers and consumers.

Initially, in SDL, it was described that a manufacturer’s value proposition

was co-created with consumers by cognitive assessment, leading to their value-

in-use (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo, Maglio and Akaka, 2008). In the

experience economy, consumers’ value-in-use is not limited to cognitive

processing, but also includes an emotional assessment (Sandström, Edvardsson,

23

Kristensson and Magnusson, 2008). However, recent research suggests that

value co-creation occurs in ongoing interactions and value is assessed through

multiple viewpoints (Akaka et al., 2015) and the outcome is consumer value as

an experience (Helkkula et al., 2012). Hence, an experience occurs as a result

of the manufacturer’s value proposition and consumers’ interaction, leading to

fostering of sensory, cognitive, emotional, and behavioural values (Schmitt,

1999). Key terms from SDL (see Table 2.2) are used in this dissertation. These

terms need to be explained to understand the essence of creating value from a

sensory marketing perspective.

Table 2.2. Key terms from service-dominant logic applied

Term Theoretical definition Author(s)

Value proposition A manufacturer-designed

offering for consumers.

(Vargo and Lusch,

2004; Vargo and

Lusch, 2008; Vargo

and Lusch, 2016)

Value-in-use Represents the value

consumers situate from co-

creation with the value

proposition.

(Vargo and Lusch,

2004; Sandström et al.,

2008; Vargo and

Lusch, 2008; Grönroos

and Gummerus, 2014)

Value as an

experience

Consumers’ past and

present lived experiences of

value that goes beyond the

current situation.

(Frow and Payne, 2007;

Helkkula et al., 2012;

Tynan, McKechnie and

Hartley, 2014)

Value proposition refers to the manufacturer’s designed offering (Vargo and

Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2016). The value

proposition is built upon the manufacturer’s competence, knowledge, and skills

that are embedded in the operand resource (goods) as exchange-value with the

intention to be better than competitors (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). However, it

should be noted that manufacturers do not deliver value, they can only offer

value propositions with the intention of co-creating value with consumers

(Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2016).

Originally, value co-creation was not defined in SDL. It was stated that

consumers co-produce the service with the manufacturer’s value proposition

(Vargo and Lusch, 2004). However, the term co-producer was interpreted in

various ways, which led to confusion and criticism of the consumer’s role in

SDL (e.g., Grönroos, 2008). Therefore, SDL changed terminology from co-

producer to co-creator, since consumers always co-create value (Vargo and

Lusch, 2008), suggesting that value is always co-created by several actors.

24

Although the actors may be unaware of one another’s existence, they still

contribute to each other’s well-being (Vargo and Lusch, 2016). Nevertheless, if

the value proposition and planned co-creation do not benefit consumers, there

is no value-in-use (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Vargo and

Lusch, 2016).

Value-in-use is the value consumers situate from the co-creation (Vargo and

Lusch, 2004), and has been conceptualised as:

“…the evaluation of the service experience, i.e., the individual

judgment of the total of all the functional and emotional

experience outcomes. Value cannot be predefined by the service provider but is defined by the user of a service during the user

consumption” (Sandström et al., 2008, p. 120).

Value-in-use shows that value is realised when consumers use the service

(Sandström et al., 2008; Grönroos and Gummerus, 2014), and allows

manufacturers to go beyond product attributes and promises to create human

experiences (Ramaswamy, 2011) in a value proposition, leading to a positive

brand outcome (Grönroos and Gummerus, 2014). Hence, the embedded value

in the value proposition becomes meaningful and useful for consumers’ value-

in-use when assessed (Vargo and Lusch, 2008). This opens up opportunities for

intended co-creation by designing an experience to have an interpersonal

relationship with consumers, leading to cognitive, emotional, and behavioural

outcomes (Payne et al., 2009), and enhanced brand value (Varshneya, Das and

Khare, 2017).

The assessed value-in-use leads to value as an experience, which is

consumers’ holistic assessment of the brand (Tynan et al., 2014). This is formed

by consumers’ lived experience of value that goes beyond the given situation,

since it also includes past and present interactions (Helkkula et al., 2012). In

this regard, value is not in the object of consumption, but is formed over time

by the ongoing experience of consumption (Frow and Payne, 2007). For

example, value as an experience is not limited to driving the car; it includes

prior driving experiences and cognitive, emotional, and behavioural outcomes

of past and present interactions (Tynan et al., 2014), such as previous car

ownership and experiences.

Although value as an experience is subjective (Holbrook and Hirschman,

1982; Holbrook et al., 1984), it is formed as an outcome of continuous

interactions from sensory cues (Jain, Aagja and Bagdare, 2017). This

relationship is dynamic and interactive, since the experience is constantly

evolving, updating, and redefining itself according to what is valuable (Payne,

Storbacka and Frow, 2008). Consumers interact with the sensory cues through

the five human senses. This interaction leads to cognitive and emotional processing inside the brain, resulting in various consumer responses (Jain et al.,

25

2017). Environmental psychologists explain the logic of brain processing by

emphasising that interaction with sensory cues or stimuli results in emotional

states, such as arousal and pleasure (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974; Donovan

and Rossiter, 1982).

Therefore, it is logical to assume that value in an experience-based

framework has the below process. For the purpose of this dissertation, it will be

concretised with the assistance of sensory marketing, which acts as a midrange

theory to SDL.

Figure 2.1. The experience process based on service-dominant logic

2.1.2 Midrange theory: sensory marketing

2.1.2.1 Introduction

Over the last few years, the interest in the human senses has increased among

scholars and practitioners (Krishna et al., 2016). In this regard, marketing has

evolved from unidimensional communications from manufacturers to

consumers into dialogues between manufacturers and consumers from an

experiential sensory perspective. This suggests that marketing is characterised

by sensory conversations developed by manufacturers for products to have their

own voices. Consumers respond to these sensory voices emotionally and

(sub)consciously (Idea Watch, 2015b) within the sensory marketing domain

(Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014). This evolution was

introduced by the experience economy, which challenged the consumption of

goods and services because consumers’ needs and desires have moved from

utility into experiences (Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Schmitt, 1999; Hultén, 2011;

Achrol and Kotler, 2012; Krishna and Schwarz, 2014; Spence et al., 2014). In

addition, it responds to the call from Vargo and Lusch (2017) to develop SDL

by considering value with experiences.

Moreover, consumers today take functional product attributes, quality and a

positive brand image for granted (Hultén, 2011). Compared with utility,

experiences tend to stick in consumers’ minds and provide memories from the

past (Schmitt, 1999). Consequently, a stream of scholars went beyond goods

and services, and explored experiences in brands, products, and servicescapes

from a sensory perspective (Schmitt, 1999; Brakus et al., 2009; Hultén, 2011).

This induced a shift in marketing from goods and services into experiences,

where manufacturers deliberately create experiences in brands, products, and

services for consumer interaction. Subsequently, a sensation, which is personal,

occurs when the stimuli reach the sensory organs and electric signals are

generated within consumers. Whereas transaction marketing and relationship

marketing emphasise that commodities, goods, and services, sensory marketing

26

views experiences as bidirectional, since consumers’ emotions and the human

mind engage with the manufacturers’ offerings (Pine and Gilmore, 1998) in

accordance with SDL. By creating experiences, manufacturers add value to the

consumption process to enhance consumers’ sensory experiences by satisfying

the human senses (Achrol and Kotler, 2012). By embedding sensory cues in

brands, products (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012), and servicescapes (Spence et al., 2014) to create experiences, the mind and senses are stimulated to add value

for consumers’ lifestyles and identities (Hultén, 2011). This means that

manufacturers and consumers mutually co-create experiences of brands and

products (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Ramaswamy, 2008; Ramaswamy,

2011), with a multisensory brand experience as an outcome (Hultén, 2011;

Hultén, 2015b). Within the sensory marketing domain, three conceptual models

have been developed.

2.1.2.2 Sensory marketing as an explanatory model

The first model (Hultén, 2011; Hultén, 2015b), see Figure 2.2., shows how

manufacturers utilise sensorial strategies as sensors to provide consumers with

sensations. This results in a multisensory brand experience that enhances

consumers’ perceived value-in-use and experience, and positions the brand as

an image in the mind.

27

Figure 2.2. Sensory marketing as an explanatory model

Source: Hultén (2015b, p. 120)

Sensory marketing as an exploratory model is based on the human senses and

mental processes, and how physiological reactions occur to provide consumers

with a multisensory brand experience. A multisensory brand experience based

on experience logic is an individual’s personal and subjective interpretation and

perception of brands, products, and services (Hultén, 2011). Experience logic

contributes to forming individuals’ behavioural, cognitive, emotional, sensory

or symbolic values (Schmitt, 1999). When consumers are provided with

experiences, mental notions are formed and serve as input in the service process,

resulting in a brand as an image based on the multisensory experience. Hence,

it is associated with individuals’ beliefs, cognitions, emotions, and preferences

of a brand based on the holistic experience (Brakus et al., 2009).

Moreover, sensory marketing as an explanatory model emphasises how

manufacturers differentiate and distinguish themselves through the brand. They

achieve this through sensory experiences and sensory strategies, which are based on cognitive, emotional, and value-based dimensions are related to the

28

consumers’ mind and senses. The sensory impressions result in manufacturers

distinguishing and positioning the brand from competitors more deeply and

emotionally in the individual’s mind (Hultén, 2011; Hultén, 2015b).

For manufacturers to successfully differentiate and distinguish themselves,

the model has three explanatory levels: sensory strategies, sensors, and

sensations. However, the levels can be independent and do not have to be related

to each other. Paradoxically, all three levels can be dependent on each other.

Every level and the included dimensions arise in a service process, which means

that the outcome might be different, depending on how manufacturers consider

sensory experiences and sensory strategies (Hultén, 2015b).

A sensory strategy is the basis of the model and occurs when the

manufacturer appeals to one or multiple of the individual’s human senses. The

purpose of applying sensory strategies is to differentiate and distinguish brands,

products or services from competitors when rational attributes, such as price

and quality, are similar. Moreover, sensory strategies emphasise the consumers’

emotional and physiological dimensions to position the brand identity and the

manufacturer’s core values. This means that sensory strategies facilitate the

multisensory brand experience through sensors and sensations in relation to an

individual’s mind and senses. Specifically, sensory strategies are incorporated

in the service process in relation to the sense of sight through vision, sense of

sound, sense of smell, sense of touch and sense of taste to differentiate and

distinguish manufacturer’s brand identity, product or service (Hultén, 2011;

Hultén, 2015b).

Once a sensory strategy is established, sensors based on the human senses

convey the intended meaning. A sensor is defined as a communication device

that conveys sensations and sensory stimuli (expressions) to enhance the

multisensory brand experience. Sensors convey value through equipment,

items, material or employees to evoke a sensation or sensory stimuli

(expression) or receiver (signal) related to the individual. This is achieved by

integrating sensory marketing with marketing activities to enhance a multi-

communication platform, leading to the manufacturer or brand identity being

differentiated and distinguished in the consumer’s mind and senses. Hence,

sensors are included to acquire a multisensory communication platform to assist

conventional marketing, such as advertisements and promotions, in the daily

interaction with consumers. Sensors are based on either sense of sight through

vision, sense of sound, sense of smell, sense of touch or sense of taste, or

combined with the intention to enhance consumer’s multisensory brand

experience (Hultén, 2011; Hultén, 2015b).

The provided multisensory brand experience fosters sensations. A sensation

is defined as an emotion or feeling merged with the consumer’s mind and

senses. Sensations communicate and differentiate the brand identity or

manufacturer’s core value to achieve a multisensory brand experience, resulting in consumers being provided with sensations from sensory stimuli in brands,

29

products or services. Although consumers notice sensory stimuli in the

surrounding environment, it is either an opportunity or threat for manufacturers,

since consumers are provided with sensations at a (sub)conscious level, and if

it becomes obvious, there may be a repellent effect. This means that brands,

products or services are recognised in a noisy and crowded environment

(sub)consciously (Hultén, 2011; Hultén, 2015b).

Additionally, sensations in the sensory marketing as an explanatory model

are linked to consumers’ visual, auditory, atmospheric, tactile or

aesthetic/gastronomic stimuli. Sensory stimuli (expression) are defined as

evoked sensory experiences to communicate and simplify the uniqueness of the

brand identity and core values to position the brand in consumers’ perceptions

and minds. As a result, manufacturers apply sensory stimuli (expressions) to

decrease the distance to consumers and allow the brand identity to descend

deeper into the individual’s mind. These sensory stimuli (expression) are

derived from sensory cues based on sensors conveyed by sensory strategies and

are the foundation for consumers’ sensations of a multisensory brand

experience, which is the outcome of sensory marketing as an explanatory

model. The multisensory brand experience refers to how two or several senses

interplay in relation to how consumers perceive and receive sensory information

from brands, products, and services (Hultén, 2011; Hultén, 2015b). Moreover,

the multisensory brand experience stems from the consumption experience

(Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982) to create consumer value-in-use (Holbrook,

1999).

However, the interplay between the senses needs to be congruent with one

another to give consumers a pleasurable sensory experience (Spence et al.,

2014). In particular, congruency operates as a mediator to create a fit in the

given setting through sensory cues, products and the store image (Helmefalk,

2016). That is, the multisensory brand experience is the outcome of the value-

generated process between the manufacturer and consumer, contributing “to

individual value creation and is related to how individuals react when a

company collaborates and supports their identity creating process by engaging

the five senses to generate customer value, consumer experiences and the brand

as image” (Hultén, 2015b, p. 119). Theoretically, this highlights the relationship

between multisensory brand experience and brand image. Although little is

known about the relationship, it alludes to consumers’ value-in-use being a

social imprint from a brand or product based on individual and personalised

sensory perceptions (Hultén, 2011; Hultén, 2015b). This suggests that

consumers generate value by making sense of the multisensory brand

experience to form brand as an image (Hultén, 2015b).

2.1.2.3 Sensory marketing as a conceptual framework

The second model, a conceptual framework of sensory marketing (see Figure

2.3.) was developed by Krishna (2012) by reviewing sensory studies. In contrast

30

to Hultén (2015b), who illuminates how manufacturers utilise sensory

marketing as a strategy, Krishna (2012) bases the model on consumer

psychology.

Figure 2.3. A conceptual framework of sensory marketing

Source: Krishna (2012, p. 335)

A conceptual framework of sensory marketing is based on the sensations from

the human senses. This forms the individual’s perception of an object, which

relates to various emotional and cognitive responses in relation to attitudes,

learning/memory and behaviour. To understand consumer behaviour, a

conceptual framework of sensory marketing clarifies the difference between

sensation and perception. The consumer’s sensation is dependent on sensory

cues in objects and occurs when a stimulus is interconnected with a human

sensory cell, which in nature is biochemical and neurological. In contrast,

perception refers to an individual’s awareness and understanding of obtained

sensory information (Krishna, 2012). For example, visual appearance or tactile

feedback from the object may provide a visual perception bias, which influences

a consumer’s perception of product size as bigger or smaller compared to the

actual shape (Krishna, 2006; Lin, 2013; Ordabayeva and Chandon, 2013).

Another example is when two equal-length lines are presented in front of

somebody. Depending on how these lines are presented, they are perceived as

being either shorter or longer compared to the actual length (Krishna, 2012).

The conceptual framework of sensory marketing illustrates consumers’

mental processes after sensory cues have interacted with a human sensory cell.

This progression is related to the consumer’s sensation, which gets interpreted

and perceived by the brain, resulting in emotional and cognitive responses.

Although sensations influence consumers’ emotional and cognitive responses

based on objects’ sensory cues, additional elements like attitude,

memory/learning, and behaviour (sub)consciously influence perceptions. It

implies that sensory cues impact consumers’ sensations and perceptions of

objects, since previous encounters and experiences are considered as imperative

31

for consumers’ responses towards sensory stimuli, which are either emotional

or cognitive (Krishna, 2012).

2.1.2.4 Sensory marketing as a framework for multisensory shopping

behaviour

The third sensory marketing model, a framework for multisensory shopping

behaviour (see Figure 2.4) – developed by Spence et al. (2014) – reveals how

manufacturers design a multisensory atmospheric retail setting to influence

consumer behaviour. Compared with Hultén (2015b) and Krishna (2012),

Spence et al.’s (2014) model considers external dimensions in the atmosphere

in terms of sensory cues in retail settings.

Figure 2.4. A framework for multisensory shopping behaviour

Source: Spence et al. (2014, p. 473)

A framework for multisensory shopping behaviour shows how multisensory

cues influence consumers’ shopping behaviour. Compared with prior sensory

marketing models, which mainly discussed sensory cues, Spence et al. (2014)

suggested the importance of combining more than one sensory cue to achieve a

multisensory congruency. For example, extant research has only focused on

altering light. However, much like how the senses manoeuvre in a concert hall,

a retail setting is an arena to convey a multisensory experience to consumers.

Arguably, it is imperative for retailers to create a congruent convergent setting

to provide shoppers a positive multisensory experience.

Moreover, the model illustrates how sensory cues, separately or in

combination, influence consumers’ emotions and cognitions, thus impacting

their shopping behaviour in retail settings. Although sensory cues – individually

or combined – provide consumers with emotional or cognitive responses,

optimal stimulation must be considered to achieve an appropriate balance of

sensory cues (Spence et al., 2014). For instance, modifying the light to the

optimal level in IKEA’s glassware department to (sub)consciously encourage

shoppers to touch the products results in increased sales (Hultén, 2012). The

challenge for retailers is to understand the complexity of sensory cues separately

and in combination to find the optimal stimulation to (sub)consciously provide

32

consumers with emotional and cognitive responses, leading to a more positive

multisensory experience, which influences shoppers’ behaviour (Spence et al.,

2014).

2.1.2.5 Linking the sensory marketing models with micro-level theories

The sensory marketing models above point at the micro-level theories’ sensory

cues, brand experience, and brand image. Firstly, although the conceptual

sensory marketing models are different, they share the same common

denominator – namely value propositions – for a planned co-creation with

consumers by embedding sensory cues in brands, products, or servicescapes.

Hultén’s (2015b) model shows how manufacturers embed sensory cues in

brands and products as a strategy to enhance a multisensory brand experience,

but do not consider consumers’ mental processing of their perception of sensory

cues. In contrast, Krishna’s (2012) model focuses on consumers’ mental process

of evaluating products with sensory cues in relation to the memory, but does not

discuss external dimensions, such as brands. Spence et al.’s (2014) model has

another stance on sensory cues, where it is more practically orientated and

emphasises how sensory cues are embedded in the atmosphere within a retailing

context.

Altogether, the conceptual sensory marketing models illustrate how sensory

cues are embedded and utilised in brands, products, and servicescapes to

provide consumers with cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses by

appealing to the human senses, leading to value-in-use. This follows the notion

of SDL, where manufacturers provide value propositions to co-create value-in-

use with consumers (Lusch and Vargo, 2006; Vargo and Lusch, 2008) and

illuminates the exchange from tangible goods into surrounding the product with

intangible attributes (Vargo and Lusch, 2004). Therefore, sensory cues are

embedded in brands, products, and servicescapes based on knowledge,

information, and skills of experiential attributes to have connectivity,

interactivity, and ongoing relationships between the manufacturer and

consumers.

Secondly, the sensory marketing models share the outcome of providing the

consumer with a sensory experience. Although the models describe the sensory

experience in relation to brands (Hultén, 2011; Hultén, 2015b), products

(Krishna, 2012), and servicescapes (Spence et al., 2014), the experience is co-

created by the manufacturer and consumers. In this regard, it seems

manufacturers embed sensory cues in brands, products, and servicescapes to

facilitate experience-based value, which is co-created with consumers into a

meaningful human experience for consumers (Ramaswamy, 2011). Prahalad

and Ramaswamy (2004) identified experience-based co-creation to position the

brand by co-creating personal sensory experiences, thus making the brand the

experience. The experience is the critical part in experiential marketing

(Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Schmitt, 1999), where consumers want

33

pleasurable experiences from sensory, affective, and cognitive associations,

which is the foundation of a memorable brand experience (Brakus et al., 2009).

This is connected with the work of Vargo and Lusch (2017), who suggested the

development of SDL by considering experience in creating value to understand

the brand content. It posits that brand experience is co-created by embedding

sensory cues and consumers’ individual and personalised multisensory

experiences of the brand.

Thirdly, the conceptual sensory marketing models suggest that the outcome

lies in the consumers’ emotional and cognitive responses (Hultén, 2011;

Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014). Although the models describe the outcome

of experiences differently and use affection, emotion, and feelings

interchangeably, they provide resources to the consumption and value-

generation process. However, following Prahlad and Ramaswamy’s (2004)

notion that the brand becomes the experience, Hultén’s (2011) model goes

beyond creating an experience leading to a positive brand image. Thus, it seems

that consumers’ value-in-use merges with the brand experience, creating a

symbiosis between the individual and brand. This dynamic value-in-use does

not reside in the consumption of the brand, but in the experience of consumption

over time. It goes beyond the point-of-purchase and influences the consumers’

judgement and choice of brands, as brand image emerges in relation to daily

interactions leading to memorable sensory, symbolic, utilitarian and economic

associations (Hsieh, 2002), which create value as an experience as self-

enhancement, social belonging, and symbolic meaning (Park et al., 1986).

Similarly, Grönroos (2011) suggested that manufacturers support and facilitate

consumer practices, such as in consumption, by embedding sensory cues. This

plan and design for a brand experience leads to consumers’ brand image – i.e.,

value as an experience.

In summary, although the aforementioned sensory marketing models

disperse in various ways, the perspective of a single model is not applied in the

dissertation. Rather, all three models contribute with various aspects of how

sensory marketing can create value. Sensory marketing as an explanatory model

(Hultén, 2011; Hultén, 2015b) contributes to capturing value by considering

how sensory cues can be employed to position the brand. Sensory marketing as

a conceptual model (Krishna, 2012) identifies the importance of considering the

consumers’ situated value based on their perception and response in relation to

exposed sensory cues. Lastly, sensory marketing as a framework for

multisensory shopping behaviour (Spence et al., 2014) accommodates value by

considering how to design the atmosphere in a servicescape with sensory cues.

34

2.1.3 Micro-level theories: sensory cues, brand experience, and

brand image

2.1.3.1 Introduction

The micro-level theories – namely sensory cues, brand experience, and brand

image – are briefly presented in this section. An in-depth description can be

found later in the theoretical framework. However, it should be noted that even

if sensory cues, brand experience, and brand image are presented, these do not

take place in isolation, but rather draw on SDL to explain how the manufacturer

and consumers create value with experiences.

2.1.3.2 Sensory cues

The sensory marketing models show that sensory cues are embedded in brands,

products, and servicescapes as a value proposition. Research proves that sensory

cues are crucial for influencing consumer behaviour (Kotler, 1973; Bitner,

1992), specifically consumer emotions and cognitions in consumption

(Donovan, Rossiter, Marcoolyn and Nesdale, 1994; Helmefalk and Hultén,

2017). It shows that sensory cues are employed as tools for creating value by

enhancing meaning in the given situation (Babin and Attaway, 2000).

Accordingly, sensory cues are embedded in products to be seen, heard, smelled,

touched or tasted to be appreciated subconsciously by consumers (Holbrook and

Hirschman, 1982) and provide meaning for brands or products (Tom, Barnett,

Lew and Selmants, 1987). However, manufacturers need to be careful when

creating sensory cues or combining multiple cues to avoid consumers having a

no-consent sensory impression of brands, products, or servicescapes (Spence et al., 2014; Helmefalk and Hultén, 2017). Therefore, it is important to design an

environment, interior or product (Kotler and Rath, 1984) to convey a

harmonious atmosphere that ensures favourable consumer response (Garaus,

2017).

2.1.3.3 Brand experience

In sensory marketing models, sensory cues lead to a proposed experience. Brand

experience arises when consumers interact or are exposed to “brand-related

stimuli that are part of a brand’s design and identity, packaging,

communications, and environments” (Brakus et al., 2009, p. 52) – for example,

colour, shape, slogans, and texture. The brand-related stimuli influence

consumers’ senses, leading to cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses

(Brakus et al., 2009; Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010). Accordingly, brand-

related stimuli provide consumers a positive brand outcome (Chang and Chieng,

2006) and make them want to engage in value co-creation with the given brand

(Shamim, Ghazali and Albinsson, 2016). This implies that brand experience is

co-created with consumers’ responses to brand-related stimuli when exposed to or interacting with the brand. Brand experience is conceptualised into sensory

35

experience, affective experience, intellectual experience, and behavioural

experience. The dimensions were tested and verified as the brand experience

scale (Brakus et al., 2009). The brand experience measures consumer

experience that stems from being exposed to experiential brand-related stimuli

in the consumption process by a given brand (Zarantonello, 2008).

2.1.3.4 Brand image

Following the logic of sensory marketing as an explanatory model, brand image

is the consumer’s value as an experience. Brand image refers to favourable,

strong, and unique brand associations located in consumers’ memory, resulting

in a positive holistic impression of the brand (Keller, Apéria and Georgson,

2012). These associations are linked between nodes in the consumers’ minds

and the brand. Accordingly, knowledge on the brand is stored in consumers’

memory, stemming from previous interactions represented as pieces of

information in terms of associations (Krishnan, 1996). Early research on brand

image emphasised the cognitive associations of brand image and argued that

utility attributes form consumers’ holistic impressions and meanings of the

brand (Dichter, 1985; Durgee and Stuart, 1987). However, aside from utility,

research has incorporated affective and sensory associations as imperative to

creating a positive brand image (Chang and Chieng, 2006), which is maintained

if it reflects consumers’ emotions (Esch, Langner, Schmitt and Geus, 2006).

Consequently, brand image is the consumer’s perception of the brand, based on

cognitive, emotional, and sensory impressions (Gardner and Levy, 1955; Dobni

and Zinkhan, 1990) and has been crystallised into sensory, symbolic, utilitarian

and economic dimensions (Hsieh, 2002).

2.2 Sensory cues

2.2.1 What are sensory cues?

Considering the substantial amount of sensory information consumers are

exposed to by brands, products, and servicescapes, sensory marketing has

focused on (un)conscious triggers employed by manufacturers to appeal to

consumers’ human senses (Krishna, 2012). Research shows that sensory cues

are an efficient way of marketing brands and products (Krishna and Schwarz,

2014). Hence, for manufacturers to stand out and influence consumer behaviour

with unconscious triggers, sensory cues are embedded in brands, products, and

servicescapes. In this regard, sensory cues are defined as sensory stimuli and

have been studied extensively (e.g., Spangenberg, Grohmann and Sprott, 2005;

Peck and Childers, 2008; Krishna and Schwarz, 2014; Helmefalk, 2016; Szocs

and Biswas, 2016).

Before describing research on sensory cues, it is important to understand the underlying notion behind the concept. When consumers interact with an object,

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the sensory organs receive sensory information that is processed by the human

mind. This mental processing involves consumers’ cognitions and emotions,

which are influenced by previous interactions and experiences and subsequently

affect the future judgement of the given object (Lawson, 2013). Thus, sensory

cues operate as sensory information embedded in objects that serve as mediums

to the humans sensory organs; thereafter, information is extracted (Macpherson,

2011; Gibson, 2015). Nevertheless, this information lacks meaning until it is

processed by the human brain (Vannini, Waskil and Gottschalk, 2012).

Therefore, consumer perception of the given object occurs by acquiring,

interpreting, evaluating, and organising sensory information (Peck and

Childers, 2008). This can be obtained from aesthetic, visual, auditory, olfactory,

tactile, or gastronomic cues to be categorised into associations and meaning of

the given object (Macpherson, 2011).

2.2.2 Aesthetic cues

In the sensory marketing domain, sensory cues are examined based on the

human senses (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014). Sensory cues can be visual,

auditory, olfactory, tactile, and gustatory. Research has shown the importance

of coordinating sensory cues individually to understand consumers’

psychological outcomes, such as emotional, cognitive, and behaviour (Spence,

2012). Subsequently, consumers’ psychological outcomes influence consumer

behaviour and experience of products, brands, and servicescapes (Spence and

Gallace, 2011). As it has been proven that sensory cues influence consumer

behaviour, the complexity of sensory experience has become apparent as

consumers use more than one sense in evaluating and judging products (Spence

et al., 2014). Arguably, sensory cues may have one psychological outcome; but

when combined with several sensory cues, another psychological outcome may

occur due to the sensory interplay (Krishna, 2006). This proves the importance

of embedding sensory cues individually or in combination to provide consumers

with positive psychological outcomes.

Aside from psychological outcomes, sensory cues provide consumers an

aesthetic experience (Krishna et al., 2010). Although aesthetics stem from

visual impressions in recognition of beauty and good taste within the given

experience (Hagtvedt and Patrick, 2008), other sensory impressions assist the

perception (Charters, 2006). The holistic appreciation of the given experience

beauty or taste is a combination of visual and other sensory cues perceived by

consumers, influencing their emotions and judgement.

Although aesthetics is not one of the five senses, aesthetic experiences are

related to the consumers’ evaluation and judgement of brands and products

(Hoyer and Stokburger-Sauer, 2012). Pioneers in experiential marketing,

Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) emphasised that emotions, fantasies, and

sensory experience are the foundation of consumer experience. Researchers

stress that consumers’ personal taste influence daily life in respect of selecting

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friends, restaurants, and cars, as well as interpreting and perceiving the given

setting (Hoyer and Stokburger-Sauer, 2012). This suggests that an aesthetic

experience is defined as the consumers’ personal attitudes or responses to the

given social setting, in terms of an aesthetic phenomenon, to determine what is

good or bad. For instance, aesthetic experiences refer to the beauty in a given

setting, ranging from art, film, and fashion (Hultén, 2015b), to cars (Lindstrom,

2005a). Therefore, personal taste may provide consumers with emotional and

hedonic values of brands and products (Holbrook, 1986; Hultén, 2015b) when

these have an aesthetic design (Hekkert, 2006).

Packaging design is a critical aspect of manufacturers’ offerings (Krishna et

al., 2017), which is related to consumer perception of aesthetic design of brands

and products (Hoyer and Stokburger-Sauer, 2012). Packaging design relates to

the form and shape of objects, such as a car’s exterior and interior (Lindstrom,

2005a). However, aesthetic design is not limited to consumers’ physical taste.

“Customers call it taste, but it is everything: how it looks, smells, feels, and

sounds. All this, the customer more or less merges into the concept of ‘taste’” (Hultén, 2011, p. 267). This shows that consumers’ aesthetic taste is about

satisfying the self-image through the consumption of brands and products,

which provides added value in daily life.

Moving beyond sensory cues, aesthetic taste stems from philosophy.

Bourdieu (2010) stated that aesthetic taste is related to social class. This can be

seen clearly in the ruling class, who used fashionable objects like art, clothing,

and interiors to distinguish themselves from the other social classes. For

example, the ruling class demanded shields decorated with artistic heroes.

However, once the fashionable objects where adopted by other social classes,

the ruling class abandoned these items.

Research emphasises that taste operates as a system of schemes to classify

fashionable objects through individuals’ social conditioning, influencing them

to select objects related to their personal aesthetic taste (Bourdieu, 1989). That

is, an individual’s aesthetic experience of fashionable objects exists in the mind

because of what he/she has seen (Bourdieu, 1987). Thus, aesthetic cues are

related to the human senses. Although fashion objects are linked to consumers’

personal taste, they are related to all human senses – that is, how the objects

look, smell, sound, taste, and feel, and not only how they are felt against the

skin. Therefore, aesthetic cues assist consumers in navigating between various

taste regimes in a world filled with fashionable objects, leading to meaning and

symbolic meaning through the consumption of products and brands (Arsel and

Bean, 2013) in the experience economy, where consumers’ experimental,

sensory, and hedonic needs are centralised (Achrol and Kotler, 2012).

2.2.3 Visual cues

Sight is considered the most dominant sense (Krishna, 2012). It is the most

prominent sense to experience and perceive brands, products, and servicescapes

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(Hultén, 2015b). Research on visual cues emphasises how manufacturers link

brands, products, and servicescapes with brand-related stimuli. This is

imperative since individuals evaluate products, brands, and servicescapes with

the eyes, which influence the consumers’ cognitions, emotions, and behaviour

(Hultén, 2011). Therefore, visual cues are imperative for enhancing consumers’

awareness (sub)consciously of a particular product in a crowded marketplace

(Krishna et al., 2016).

Visual cues can be embedded and utilised in various ways to influence

consumer evaluation and judgement of brands and products (Krishna, 2012).

Manufacturers embed visual cues to make consumers aware of information

(Siefert, Gallent, Jaeobs, Levine, Stipp and Marci, 2008) and to process

information (Milosavljevic and Cerf, 2008). For example, research has proven

that a product’s shape influences consumers’ perceptions of an object. Krishna

(2006) and Lin (2013) showed that two equally large containers, in terms of

volume, influence consumers differently. A high container, compared to a low

one, is perceived to have more volume. Another example is Szocs and Biswas’s

(2016) study of food shapes, wherein it was demonstrated that various food

shapes influence consumers’ perceptions of calorie content, desired

consumption, and size, even if the actual food size was similar.

Aside from the shape visual cue, aesthetic design visual cues influence

consumer preference. This is achieved by embedding visual cues in product

design, packaging or a particular theme in a servicescape regarding interior or

exterior. For example, cars primed with a smile, compared with the frown in the

exterior design, are congruent with a familiar person (Aggarwal and McGill,

2007) and have a positive relationship with brand image (Landwehr, McGill

and Herrmann, 2011). However, descriptive information about cars’ exteriors

indicates that changing the “eyes” (headlights) is more influential than a

modified “mouth” (grille) for consumers to differentiate between car models

(Keaveney et al., 2012). This shows that a car’s visual design is imperative for

success in the market, and “up to 60% of a consumer’s decision to buy a

particular car is determined by the aesthetic appeal of the car’s design”

(Landwehr, Labroo and Herrmann, 2013, p. 41). In other words, visually, cars

that are aesthetically pleasing positively influence consumers’ brand

preferences (Landwehr et al., 2012) by having emotionally appealing shapes in

the design that are compatible with the brand image (Landwehr, Labroo and

Herrmann, 2011). Similar to the car’s design, visual cues in package design

provide consumers with value (Krishna et al., 2017) by encouraging them to

touch an object, resulting in a positive impact on brand evaluation (Littel and

Orth, 2013).

Moreover, visual cues have been studied in servicescapes. These are

embedded in the atmosphere in terms of colour, brightness, size, or shape

(Kotler, 1973). In retail settings, visual cues are applied to influence consumer behaviour. By modifying colours on walls, consumer behaviour is impacted in

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terms of how the given setting is perceived to facilitate decision-making

(Spence et al., 2014). Therefore, it is suggested that functional products use

blue, and sensory or social products use red to convey the meaning of the brand

(Bottomley and Doyle, 2006). Nevertheless, visual cues are not limited to the

servicescape, since brands and products are also likely to influence consumer

behaviour (Hultén, 2011). For instance, visual cues like signs in servicescapes

influence consumers to touch, explore, grasp and evaluate products (Hultén,

2012; Hultén, 2013; Streicher and Estes, 2016). Other examples of visual cues

include descriptive food labels to sway consumers’ taste preferences (Swahn,

Mossberg, Ostrom and Gustafsson (2012), and ambient light to influence

consumers’ perceptions of food (Biswas et al. (2017).

Similarly, as in servicescapes, visual cues have been studied at car

dealerships. Research shows that a car dealership’s exterior (the building) needs

to reflect the same design values and criteria of the given car brand. For

example, applying the same colour palette to the exterior and interior as visual

cues based on brand-related stimuli assists in positioning the brand, appealing

to consumers’ human senses and experience (D'Esopo and Diaz, 2009). Aside

from positioning the brand with visual cues, designing the sales environment to

be friendly, pleasant, simple, and relaxing results in a higher probability of an

actual purchase of a car (Reed, Story and Saker, 2004).

2.2.4 Auditory cues

The auditory sense conveys perceived sounds to the human brain. The brain

interprets the obtained sound and associates it with the surrounding

environment, which provides meaning for the individual (Hultén, 2015b). This

is imperative from a marketing point of view, since considerable marketing

communication is auditory, such as advertisements on TV, radio, jingles, songs,

and ambient sounds (Krishna, 2012). Studies have also shown that auditory cues

influence consumers’ emotions, cognitions, and behaviour in various ways

(Kotler, 1973; Spence et al., 2014). Auditory cues like music and jingles in

servicescapes assist individuals to interpret and understand the reality of the

given setting (Hultén, 2015b).

Auditory cues have been studied in numerous contexts and settings where

music is an important dimension to influence consumer behaviour (Beverland,

Lim, Morrison and Terziovski, 2006), such as product evaluations (Imschloss

and Kuehnl, 2017). In particular, music has been studied and applied in

servicescapes (Michel, Baumann and Gayer, 2017), and serves as an important

sensory cue to position a brand in consumers’ minds (Beverland et al.,

2006).Spangenberg et al. (2005) show that if the music is congruent with other

sensory cues – in this case, ambient scent linked with memories – consumers

evaluate products in the retail settings more positively. Moreover, music creates

an emotional bond with consumers, thus it must fit with the brand or store value

(Morrison and Beverland, 2003). Besides having the right music, its tempo and

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rhythm influence consumer behaviour. Familiar music in a low tempo as a

background sound increase time spent in a store (Garlin and Owen, 2006) and

make consumers move more slowly in the given setting (Milliman, 1982) as

they are relaxed (Biswas, Lund and Szocs, 2019). If the music is liked,

consumers’ cognitive processing and emotional states are influenced by

auditory cues (Sweeney and Wyber, 2002), resulting in consumer behaviour,

such as purchase decision and satisfaction, being influenced (Morrison, Gan,

Dubelaar and Oppewal, 2011).

Auditory cues in retail settings are not limited to music. Hultén’s (2013)

study shows that auditory cues like the human voice influence consumers to buy

products through touch and exploration, resulting in a higher probability of

purchase. Other auditory cues, such as a human voice telling children stories in

a grocery store, influence parents’ shopping behaviour. This makes children

relaxed and quiet, and entices them to not run around, resulting in reducing

parents’ stress in the shopping process (Hultén, 2015a).

How sounds in food influence consumer behaviour has also been evaluated.

It has been demonstrated that making potato chips thinner causes a crispier

sound, resulting in consumers perceiving the snacks as being fresher (Zampini

and Spence, 2004). In addition, it has been proven that modifying food to not

be chewy, but to rather have a crisper sound affects consumer perception of

calories and healthiness, resulting in the food being perceived as healthier than

it is (Biswas et al., 2014b).

Moreover, auditory cues in brand names influence consumer behaviour.

Research has focused on phonetic symbolism and studied how brand names

impact consumers. It has been found that consumers who are audibly exposed

to brand names with phonetic structure, compared to without phonetic sound,

have a positive view of that particular brand (Argo, Popa and Smith, 2010;

Athaide and Klink, 2012; Coulter and Coulter, 2010; Klink and Wu, 2014;

Knoeferle, Woods, Käppler and Spence, 2015). This shows that phonetic

symbolism and pronunciation of brands positively influence consumers’

perceptions of products.

Although marketing research has proven the importance of auditory cues in

consumer response and car manufacturers want to understand consumer

perception of sound, little attention has been given to car sounds in relation to

experiences. This is surprising since noise – such as the engine vibration, the

sound of tyres on the road surface, and wind in the hair – has been used to sell

convertibles. However, the obligatory reduction of noise leads to a silent interior

where sounds became important for the experience (Cleophas and Bijsterveld,

2012). Most literature has centred on auditory warning signals, such as alarms,

for example, resulting in a shorter reaction time to brake (e.g., Ho and Spence,

2005; Ho, Tan and Spence, 2005; Ho, Reed and Spence, 2007). Although these

alarm sounds are taken for granted in cars, consumers may feel stress and fear when alerted by safety functions. Rather, consumers expect a distinct

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(artificially manufactured) “clunk” sound when closing the door as part of the

consumer experience. To satisfy consumers’ needs and desires in the experience

economy, cars should have decent, dynamic, luxury, or sporty brand sounds in

the car’s interior, such as automobile horn, electronic windows, gearbox, hazard

warnings, indicators, rails, and seat adjustments (Lindstrom, 2005a). This is

suggested to enhance consumer perception of quality car sounds, enabling an

emotional connection between the brand and driver (Cleophas and Bijsterveld,

2012) – for example, through the sound of the speakers or engine (Hoyer and

Stokburger-Sauer, 2012). These distinctive sounds should be embedded in the

car’s interior and be congruent with what the manufacturer wants to convey

through the car philosophy (Cleophas and Bijsterveld, 2012).

2.2.5 Olfactory cues

Research on the sense of smell has been broadly studied in various sciences,

and recently within the marketing domain (Peck and Childers, 2008; Krishna,

2012; Leenders, Smidts and Haji, 2019; Rimkute, Moraes and Ferreira, 2016).

Although olfactory cues have received significant interest in marketing,

historically, smell is a powerful sense and is important for behavioural

responses and social differences. For instance, social classes have various

preferences. The upper class have been described as being clean, using cologne

or perfume, and wearing fancy clothing; while the working class have been

described as being less hygienic, having an odour and wearing cheaper clothing.

This suggests that smell is a powerful sense used to interpret, evaluate, and

judge objects in the present setting (Howes and Classen, 2014).

Research has studied how olfactory cues influence consumers through

cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses (Teller and Dennis, 2012).

More obviously, olfactory cues in food impact consumers’ responses (Krishna

et al., 2014), since smell is imperative for individuals’ taste perceptions (Hultén,

2015b). However, olfactory cues are not limited to food, as scent influences

consumers’ product evaluation (Biswas, Labrecque, Lehmann and Markos,

2014a).

Moreover, it has been demonstrated that olfactory cues positively affect

consumer behaviour in servicescapes (Rimkute et al., 2016). It has been proven

that the ambient scent of Christmas trees conveys an emotional response to

remember the smell and sound of the holiday (Spangenberg et al., 2005) in

terms of memory associations (Morrin, Krishna and Lwin, 2011). Similar

results were found by Cirrincione, Estes and Carù (2014), showing that ambient

scent positively influences consumer perception and memory of art.

Additionally, various ambient scents, such as cool and warm scents, impact

consumers’ spatial perceptions of a servicescape since olfactory cues in the

environment affect how they feel towards the surrounding (Madzharov, Block

and Morrin, 2015). However, although it has been shown that ambient scent

positively impacts consumers’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses,

42

it may also have the opposite effect. Therefore, it is emphasised that olfactory

cues need be congruent with an object to have a positive effect and avoid

repulsive outcomes (Spangenberg, Sprott, Grohmann and Tracy, 2006;

Morrison et al., 2011). This shows that olfactory cues in servicescapes or

products provide consumers with various cognitive, emotional, and behavioural

responses (Krishna et al., 2010). For example, ambient scents influence

purchase intention (Spangenberg, Crowley and Henderson, 1996), product

choice (Mitchell, Kahn and Knasko, 1995), and satisfaction (Mattila and Wirtz,

2001).

Olfactory cues influence consumers to evaluate the servicescape and

products more positively if an ambient scent is congruent with the given setting

(Spangenberg et al., 2006). By introducing olfactory cues in a retail setting,

there is a positive effect with consumers’ touching behaviour and purchase

intention (Hultén, 2012). This proves that olfactory cues are not limited to one

sensory cue, since scent influences other sensory cues (Herrmann, Zidansek,

Sprott and Spangenberg, 2013).

Although smell is a powerful sense, it recently entered the automotive

industry. This was provided by changes in consumer behaviour where

consumers do not just examine the utility of cars, but also appreciate the smell

inside (Lindstrom, 2005a; Lindstrom, 2005b). As olfactory cues in bakeries

(Bitner, 1992) and coffee shops are used to attract consumers (Chebat and

Michon, 2003), car manufacturers similarly utilise scent inside a car to satisfy

consumer demand. This is achieved by using aerosol containers to provide

consumers with the smell of a new car (Lindstrom, 2005b). Olfactory cues with

a mixture of leather, fresh plastic, and air freshener were sprayed inside the car

to maintain the scent of a new vehicle. If the car was purchased, consumers were

given a bottle with the same olfactory cue to maintain the scent over time (Bold,

2004).

2.2.6 Tactile cues

Tactile cues have received scarce interest in the marketing domain (Peck and

Childers, 2008; Spence and Gallace, 2011). This is surprising since touch plays

an important role for consumers in evaluating and judging brands and products

(Spence and Gallace, 2011). Hence, consumers experience objects in the

surrounding environment through physical and psychological interaction, in

terms of exploring brands and products using their hands to obtain tactile

information, leading to cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses

(Hultén, 2011; Hultén, 2015b). Tactile cues play a crucial and (sub)conscious

role in evaluating, judging and perceiving brands and products (Spence and

Gallace, 2011). This shows that consumers touch brands and products to assess

their characteristics before a purchase decision is made (Streicher and Estes,

2016). However, consumers’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioural response

may vary depending on obtained tactile information (Peck and Childers, 2008).

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Consumers are more inclined to purchase a brand or product after it has been

touched and explored (Grohmann, Spangenberg and Sprott, 2007; Hultén,

2012). Tactile cues in brands and products assist in providing consumers with a

particular response (Spence et al., 2014). Thus, tactile cues in brands and

products modify material properties, such as temperature, texture, softness, and

weight, to provide consumers with a tactile experience (Hirschman and

Holbrook, 1982; Holbrook et al., 1984; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982) in

relation to the surface touch and quality perception (Kotler, 1967; Lederman

and Klatzky, 2004; Spence and Gallace, 2011). For example, various materials

are perceived differently. Natural and warm materials, such as leather and wood,

are regarded as being soft and luxurious and may be utilised to convey emotions

like happiness or a state of harmony with nature. Unnatural and cold material,

such as glass and metal, are perceived as hard and cold, and may be used outside

and indoors to convey symmetry (Schmitt and Simonson, 1997). Although

research has demonstrated that tactile cues give consumers cognitive,

emotional, and behavioural responses, little is known about the cognitive and

emotional content of brands and products, which manufacturers want to convey

to consumers through the sense of touch (Spence and Gallace, 2011).

While not much is known about the cognitive and emotional content

manufacturers want to convey through tactile cues, research shows that

consumers desire positive emotions when touching objects. Conceptually,

studies have emphasised that consumers prefer to touch and explore brands and

products that appeal to the senses. In particular, it should be fun and exciting to

touch brands and products, inducing consumers’ emotional responses

(Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Holbrook et

al., 1984). This is in line with Peck and Wiggins’s (2006) study, which

demonstrated that consumers enjoy touching products because it is fun,

exciting, and pleasurable. Accordingly, all consumers have a need for tactile

input from objects (Peck and Childers, 2003). However, touching does not lead

to a purchase per se of brands or products, rather it is related to a consumer’s

desire to feel and touch. Manufacturers use tactile cues to convey emotions,

resulting in a memorable tactile experience, which may lead to a possible

purchase (Peck and Wiggins, 2006; Peck and Childers, 2008).

Aside from having a desire to touch brands and products, consumers’

preference of touch varies. The study by Peck and Childers (2003) shows that

consumers have individual preferences for touching brands and products.

Furthermore, the researchers revealed that consumers differ in attitudes and

motivation to touch brands and products. Some individuals are satisfied with

just looking at brands and products without being motivated to pick up objects;

while other individuals are motivated to touch and become frustrated by not

having the opportunity to grasp and touch them. It illustrates the importance of

ensuring that brands and products are available for consumers in servicescapes

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to satisfy the need for touch (Yazdanparast and Spears, 2012; Brasel and Gips,

2014; Streicher and Estes, 2016).

Although tactile cues are dominant in evaluating and judging brands and

products, visual cues are more dominant, providing consumers with sensory

information from macro-structural attributes, such as shape or size (Spence and

Gallace, 2011). Research has demonstrated that it depends on the given brand

or product category. Krishna (2006) proved that when evaluating and judging

two different shapes of glasses containing the same volume, visual and tactile

cues are dominant in isolation. However, when visual and tactile cues are

present, consumers rely more on the visual cue when comparing the glasses.

Contrastingly, another category with clothing revealed the opposite effect.

Workman and Caldwell’s (2007) study proved that even if visual cues are

important in evaluating and judging clothing, it is suppressed by tactile cues.

This shows that consumers rely more on tactile than visual cues to evaluate the

clothing’s material. However, even if either visual or tactile cues are more

dominant, it is imperative that there be an interplay between these to provide

consumers with cohesive cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses

(Eklund and Helmefalk, 2018).

Tactile cues are embedded in cars, as they are in brands, products, and

servicescapes. The majority of research focuses on drivers’ reactions of

received tactile information from warning systems (e.g., Ho et al., 2005; Ho and

Spence, 2005; Ho et al., 2007; Haas and van Erp, 2014; Meng and Spence,

2015). Specifically, studies have shown that vibrotactile alerts in the seating

(Van Erp and Van Veen, 2004), seat belts (Ho et al., 2005), and steering wheels

(Enriquez and MacLean, 2004; Steele and Gillespie, 2001) inform drivers when,

for example, to brake (Ho et al., 2005) in an emergency situation, leading to a

safety response (Li, Jeon and Nam, 2015; Lylykangas, Surakka, Salminen,

Farooq and Raisamo, 2016).

2.2.7 Gustatory cues

From physical and social-emotional perspectives, the sense of taste plays an

important role in the individual’s daily life in terms of food. Due to the

importance of food, it is no surprise that billions of dollars are spent on food

marketing annually. However, it is astonishing that research has partly

overlooked the importance of gastronomic cues in the marketing domain, since

food is vital for survival, from emotional and social perspectives (Krishna and

Elder, 2010).

Research on gustatory cues has focused on consumers’ taste perceptions and

demonstrated that the role of taste is complex in food (Spence et al., 2014). This

is illustrated in the study by Makens (1965), which explored the taste and texture

of turkey in brand research. Although the actual taste of the turkey was identical,

consumers’ taste perceptions were changed when a well-known brand was

introduced. Paasovaara, Luomala, Pohjanheimo and Sandell (2012) found

45

similar results showing that taste alone is decisive, since familiar brands

influence a consumer’s taste perception. The complexity of taste is shown by

Maharaj and Badrie (2006), who examined consumers’ taste preferences of

sweetener in fruit and found no difference in consumers’ taste perceptions in

fruit soaked in refined or unrefined sugar. This illustrates that additional

dimensions, such as emotional and cognitive responses (Murphy and Jenner-

Leuthart, 2011) and cultural background (Zarantonello and Luomala, 2011)

influence consumers’ taste perceptions.

Moreover, research shows that other senses impact consumers’ taste

perceptions (Krishna, 2012). Evaluating and judging if something is tasty may

have little to do with the sense of taste, and rather is dependent on other sensory

cues (Krishna and Elder, 2010). The olfactory cues are especially important

since the combination of smell and taste is the foundation of flavour. Although

olfactory and gustatory cues enhance consumers’ taste perceptions, unpleasant

scents negative affect the flavour of food (Krishna, 2012). Furthermore,

research on visual cues has evaluated the impact of colour on consumers’ taste

perceptions. For example, Hoegg and Alba (2006) examined consumers’ taste

perceptions of orange juice based on visual cues like colour. The results show

that consumers’ taste perceptions and associations with oranges are dependent

on the colour of the juice, and are enhanced when the juice is more yellow.

Similar results were demonstrated by DuBose, Cardello and Maller (1980), who

found that 20% of the participants identified the flavour when blind to the colour

of juice, compared with 100% identification when the colour of the juice was

present. In addition, research shows that auditory cues impact consumers’ taste

perceptions. Knoeferle et al. (2015) examined auditory cues of the impact of

music on consumers’ taste perceptions. It was concluded that musical

compositions fit a particular taste – for instance, sweet music enhances

consumers’ sweet taste perceptions. Lastly, research illustrates that tactile cues

influence consumers’ taste perceptions. Krishna and Morrin (2008) explored the

effect of tactile cues in terms of how materials impact consumers’ taste

perceptions. The study demonstrated that consumers’ taste perceptions of

beverages varies depending on the material of the drinking glass. It was

demonstrated that consumers considered the same beverage in a crystal glass as

being tastier than the same beverage served in a flimsy disposable cup.

Although consumers may not taste a car as a beverage or food, it is argued

that manufacturers can use gastronomic cues to enhance consumers’ taste

perceptions of the brand. It can be said that the Norwegian petrol company

Statoil (now known as Equinor) has gastronomic cues by selling food and

beverages, such as sandwiches and coffee, to allow consumers to “taste” the

brand (Hultén, Broweus and Van Dijk, 2009). Even though consumers do not

eat the car, food and beverages are consumed inside the vehicle, which houses

cupholders and trays.

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2.2.8 Summarising sensory cues

This section featured an overview of sensory cues. In summation, research

shows that sensory cues are embedded in brands, products, and servicescapes

to provide consumers with cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses

(Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014). It suggests that

manufacturers can plan and design for consumer response depending on the

characteristics of embedded sensory cues. These embedded cues can be visual,

auditory, olfactory, tactile, or gustatory, and can also be combined (e.g.,

Zampini and Spence, 2004; Littel and Orth, 2013; Szocs and Biswas, 2016;

Streicher and Estes, 2016; Biswas et al., 2017; Eklund and Helmefalk, 2018;

Helmefalk and Berndt, 2018). Hence, manufacturers can create an experience-

based value proposition using the characteristics of embedded sensory cues for

a planned co-creation with consumers. Table 2.3 shows an overview of the

sensory cues as a basis for creating an experience-based value proposition.

Table 2.3. Summary sensory cues

2.3 Brand experience

2.3.1 What is an experience?

Before designing an experience, it is important to know what an experience is

(Pine and Gilmore, 1998). Research in various domains has focused on the

notion of experience, with the common denominator that an individual

experiences something (Carù and Cova, 2003). The present dissertation uses

Holbrook and Hirchman’s (1982) pioneering article, which emphasises that an

experience occurs when consumers interact with objects and interpret obtained

sensory information, leading to value. However, an experience does not reside

in a chosen brand or purchased product, but rather in the consumption

experience derived therefrom. In essence, all brands and products have the

opportunity and capacity to furnish consumers with an experience, but it needs

to be provided by the manufacturer to create consumer value (Holbrook, 1999).

Hence, an experience occurs by interacting with a brand or product to provide

47

consumers with sensory, emotional, cognitive, behavioural, and relational

values, which have replaced utility value (Schmitt, 1999).

Nevertheless, interacting with consumers is not enough, they need to be

engaged in the experience. This is exemplified in Pine and Gilmore’s (1998)

logic of making a taxi journey into a memorable experience. A taxi journey is a

service to drive consumers from A to B. Despite this, a taxi can provide

consumers with something more than just transportation. The journey becomes

a memorable event by serving consumers food and beverages with a singing

taxi driver conducting guided tours during the transportation. Although the

service is transportation, the taxi becomes a stage for selling the experience. The

experience occurs when manufacturers deliberately use a service as the stage to

engage consumers so they can create a memorable event.

For consumers to create the desired value, manufacturers need to embed cues

in the brand to affirm the nature of their wanted experience to make it

memorable. Since an experience is not amorphous, manufacturers need to treat

it as an offering to differentiate it from competitors. This is achieved by creating

a memorable theme. Although the theme is the point of departure, the

experience needs to be harmonised with cues. It alludes that consumers’

impressions are the takeaway of the experience, which is fulfilled by the theme

created by the manufacturer (Pine and Gilmore, 1998).

This implies that all products are meaningful (Levy, 1959) and manufacturers

are encouraged to go beyond products’ attributes to create human experiences

(Ramaswamy, 2011). Although various research domains have ascribed

different meanings to experience, research shows that it is subjective and

constructed within the individual based on interactions in everyday life (Carù

and Cova, 2003). Consumers (sub)consciously interact with brands and

products continuously, thus the experience is formed through past and ongoing

perceptions (Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2013). This shows that an experience is

not amorphous, since manufacturers deliberately design experiences in

traditional offerings to add value for consumers (Pine and Gilmore, 1998).

Compared with goods, an experience is not purchased; the experience forms

meaning for consumers based on the interaction with materials and experience

dimensions of the given object (Schmitt, Brakus and Zarantonello, 2015b).

Hence, an experience creates value (Whelan and Wohlfeil, 2006) and meaning

for the consumer in the consumption (Schmitt et al., 2015b).

Therefore, experience has become crucial in understanding consumer

behaviour (Addis and Holbrook, 2001). It has been shown that consumption and

experience are closely linked (Schmitt et al., 2015a). Hirschman and Holbrook

(1982) proposed that consumption is related to consumers’ fantasies, feelings,

and fun when interacting with objects. The experience occurs when consumers

search for products, acquire a service, and are in the consumption process

(Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Arnould and Price, 1993; Chang and Chieng, 2006). Specifically, a consumer’s cognitive experience (fantasy) influences the

48

affective experience (feeling), leading to a behavioural experience (fun)

(Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982).

However, an experience is individual and occurs due to responses to

stimulation in encountering products or services, or by participating in an event,

either in dreams, reality or virtually (Schmitt, 1999). The provided consumer

states are categorised as rational activities based on cognition, emotional

responses related to affection, and behavioural intentions due to conation

(Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). It shows that

experience is related to the pleasure of consumption, which occurs

simultaneously with consumers’ fantasies and feelings, while interacting with

products and having fun. Based on this notion, all products have non-verbal

cues that consumers experience by playful interaction through the senses of

vision, sound, taste, touch or smell (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Holbrook et al., 1984).

Moreover, research has linked experience products through the human senses

with brands. In this regard, sensory marketing contributes to an experience by

appealing to consumers’ human senses in brands, products, and servicescape to

build favourable consumer responses (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et

al., 2014). This has evolved by connecting consumers’ experience of brands and

products with the five human senses (Schmitt, 1999). Experiences occur when

firms deliberately create and embed cues in brands and products to have an

interaction with consumers (Pine and Gilmore, 1998). Therefore, it is important

to manage experiences by including a sensory experience to encourage

consumers to act, think, relate, sense and feel (Schmitt, 1999) by staging an

experience offer (Edvardsson, Enquist and Johnston, 2005; Schmitt et al.,

2015b).

By planning and designing experiences in products, manufacturers can

influence consumers’ brand preferences and subsequently their emotional

responses. If manufacturers address consumers’ emotions, it subconsciously

activates consumers to process information and refine brand-related stimuli held

in the memory into experiences and image creation (Zambardino and

Goodfellow, 2007). It is suggested that experience does not just consider

emotional values, since it includes everyday sensations, feelings, cognitional

and behavioural responses, which are provided by brand-related stimuli. Over

time, these responses lead to an emotional bond with the brand. However,

emotions are the internal outcome, which the consumer emanates from the

stimulation of the provided experience (Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2013;

Schmitt et al., 2015b). Hence, experiences reinforce consumers’ self-image,

which is fulfilled by interacting with the given stimuli (Petruzzellis, Chebat and

Palumbo, 2018).

49

2.3.2 Staging a brand experience

Brand experience may take different forms. Research has shown that a brand

experience depends on the brand-related stimuli of the given brand, which in

turn provide consumers with various outcomes and values (Shamim et al., 2016). For example, a bank provides consumers a particular brand experience

(Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014), while a restaurant provides another (Khan and

Fatma, 2017). This suggests that brand-related stimuli in context serve as a

foundation for staging the brand experience with consumers. Considering this

and the context of the present dissertation, the foundation for staging a brand

experience is brand-related stimuli of premium brands.

A premium brand consists of luxury brand-related stimuli (Kapferer and

Bastien, 2009; Kapferer, 2012b). This is in order to offer consumers high-

quality products and added value (Kapferer, 2012b) that imbue a luxury

experience and convey a social belonging (Kapferer, 2015a). In relation to cars,

this can be higher quality, better handling, more connectivity, more

sophisticated electronics, more car interior comfort, more space for passengers,

and less vibration and noise in cars (Kapferer and Bastien, 2012). This shows

that consumers’ emotional attachment is equally important as having a high-

quality product (Granot, Russell and Brashear-Alejandro, 2013; Ko, Costello

and Taylor, 2019). Hence, luxury experience leads to premium brand

associations. However, it does not only convey an image of authentic,

performance, and high quality, but also includes providing an experience to the

consumer’s lifestyle by embedding sensory, cognitive, and emotional values

(Atwal and Williams, 2009).

Premium brands are made up of values that are out of the ordinary to provide

consumers with luxury (Kapferer, 2012b). These are emotional, functional, and

symbolic values (Aaker, 1997a; Speed, 1998), which are necessary for

manufacturers to go beyond the quality of brands and products (Kapferer and

Bastien, 2012). For a product to be perceived as luxury by consumers, emotional

values – the foundation of positioning the brand as premium – need to support

this perception (Kapferer and Valette-Florence, 2016). In the automobile

industry, emotional values are the locus of consumers’ desires to possess a

particular car brand (Kapferer, 2012b). It shows that consumers’ responses to

cars are emotional and unconscious (Seidel, Loch and Chahil, 2005) and that

premium manufacturers need to go beyond product satisfaction and create an

emotional bond between the brand and consumers. However, if a premium

brand does not have emotional values, the brand is just considered the name of

the product range (Kapferer, 2012b). This is particularly important in the

automotive industry’s exterior design (Löffler and Decker, 2012), which

furnishes consumers with unique emotional associations of the given brand

(Baltas and Saridakis, 2009). This is an opportunity for manufacturers that

mass-produce cars to embed emotional values in the product characteristics to

address consumers’ desire for premium offerings. Numerous premium car

50

manufacturers address consumers’ propensity to purchase more exclusive cars

than originally intended by offering optional car equipment associated with

emotional values, leading to consumers buying more expensive car models

(Parment, 2008).

Although a brand’s functional values are related to utilitarian benefits, such

as high quality to increase the likelihood of a purchase (Wiedmann, Hennigs

and Siebels, 2009), consumers expect functional and emotional values in

premium brands to enhance the luxury image (Kapferer, 2012b). It shows that

consumers’ perceptions of functional and emotional values positively impact

willingness to pay a premium price (Keller, 1993). In other words, premium

brands are perceived as having the perfect products associated with luxury

hedonic values, which suppress the functional values (Kapferer and Bastien,

2009; Kapferer and Bastien, 2012).

Even if hedonic values suppress functional values, they are still interlinked

(Helmefalk and Eklund, 2018). The fabric in haute couture may be elegant and

luxurious, but not pleasant for consumers to wear. For example, car seats may

be uncomfortable but considered as elegant and luxurious. However, this is

related to luxury since products without defaults and soul are for consumers

who do not know better. Accordingly, luxury in premium brands is not just

about functional values, but also relates to aesthetic appearance from a sensory

point of view. For example, besides the visual design of a car, it includes the

sound of the engine. This shows that luxury in premium brands depends on a

multisensory experience (Kapferer and Bastien, 2012) to go beyond an

exclusive brand image related to rarity and beauty. Although premium brands

are mass-produced, luxury attributes, such as rarity and beauty, are utilised to

justify premium prices by having objects with rare craftsmanship, leather,

material, or pearls (Kapferer, 2012a; Kapferer, 2015b). It shows that premium

brands are characterised by craftsmanship and customisation generated by

product rarity to obtain exclusivity (Nueno and Quelch, 1998).

Symbolic values in premium brands provide consumers a luxury experience

(Kapferer and Bastien, 2012). These values are embedded in brands to create a

link between the product and consumers, which otherwise would not be present

(Kapferer, 2012b). This is why premium brands have moved from production

into creating memorable experiences by attaching symbolic values in the brand

to be perceived as luxury in consumers’ minds (Kapferer and Valette-Florence,

2016). This can be seen in the premium car brands. These brands are purchased

by consumers to satisfy and differentiate their social identity and self-image

from others (Bartikowski and Cleveland, 2017). In the automotive industry,

premium brands go beyond the utility to drive cars by adding, for example, a

safety solution that reduces the speed if the hand grip becomes too gentle, which

is a sign of drowsiness, leading to a symbolic value of safety (Kapferer, 2015b).

Thus, consumers’ attraction to premium cars is not just about tangible functional values, but also includes intangible symbolic values (Seidel et al., 2005), and

51

the reassurance, uniqueness, and image of established brands enhances the

perceived brand value of cars, which justify a price premium (Agarwal and Rao,

1996; Ailawadi, Lehmann and Neslin, 2003).

Accordingly, brand image is created by consumers’ associations of the given

car brand. Therefore, luxury is a social phenomenon and is fundamental to

distinguish symbolic values from functional values due to the dreams they

convey (Kapferer and Bastien, 2012), such as status, power, wealth, and social

belonging (Wiedmann et al., 2009). Although the distinction between symbolic

and functional values is difficult to make, it is necessary since functional values

are objective, measurable, and easy to define; while symbolic values are

subjective, individual, and ambiguous, since consumers’ dreams differ

(Kapferer and Bastien, 2012). This is shown by consumers’ giving meaning to

conveyed symbolic values in relation to cars’ identity and character – for

instance, a Jaguar is exotic, fast, and sleek, or a Mustang is playful and youthful

(Tom et al., 1987) – leading to “total brand experience”, which includes

entertainment and lifestyle (Seidel et al., 2005).

However, it should be noted that brand experience is distinct from brand

associations and brand image (Keller, 1993). Brand experience is dynamic in

relation to sensations, feelings and behavioural responses (Brakus et al., 2009).

Similarly, with brand associations, brand experience is held in the consumer’s

memory. Brand experience is not just stored semantically, but episodically as

well, thus preserving a trace in the memory consisting of sensations and

emotions conceived by the brand experience (Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2013).

In this regard, brand experience can only be evaluated after consumers have

purchased and used a product, such as a car (Melewar and Sambrook, 2004).

This means that experiences are designed to be memorable and included in the

offering, resulting in consumers not being able to forget them (Pine and

Gilmore, 2016).

Although brand experience has received substantial interest and become

important among practitioners, theoretically, it has been considered implicitly

and not explicitly (Andreini et al., 2018). Compared to practice, research has

shown less enthusiasm moving beyond Brakus et al’s (2009) definition of brand

experience, suggesting the need for expanding its meaning (Schmitt et al.,

2015a). Recently, a systematic review critically examined the brand experience

development since its establishment. It revealed that research relies on Schmitt

(1999) and Brakus et al. (2009) without critically evaluating the work. In this

regard, Andreini et al.’s (2018) review proposes a framework (see Figure 2.5.)

for a renaissance of brand experience in literature.

52

Figure 2.5. Brand experience model

Source: Andreini et al. (2018, p, 128)

Andreini et al.’s (2018) brand experience model consists of micro-, meso-, and

macro-levels to advance the concept further in relation to various marketing

streams. These levels should not be confused with the metatheory, midrange

theory, and micro-level theories applied in this dissertation. At the micro-level,

research is encouraged to examine how consumers psychologically make sense

of the given brand experience to enhance the relational context (Andreini et al.,

2018). Consumer culture theory (for more information, see Arnould and

Thompson, 2005) is suggested to contribute to understanding brand experience,

since it conceptualises brands as a device to link consumers to co-constructed

brand experiences. This theory includes how consumers acquire and create

meaning from brand experiences, which can vary between cultural contexts.

This also assists with how consumers create, modify, and destroy brand

experiences when influenced by cultural contexts in regard to individuality,

communities, and markets (Andreini et al., 2018).

At the meso-level, a context-based analysis approach, inspired by SDL (see

Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2016), is

suggested to revive interest in brand experience. Through this lens, research is

encouraged to examine brand experience by combining intersubjective orientation (Peñaloza and Venkatesh, 2006) and social constructionism (Berger

53

and Luckmann, 1991; Schutz, 1967). Research should move beyond the

individual’s role to analyse how these mechanisms vary between settings, of

which brand experience is staged when marketers facilitate brand stimuli as

cues consumers can interact with (Andreini et al., 2018). According to the

authors, SDL will contribute to examining how brand experience is created at a

manufacturer’s level through product development and is designed to target

consumers. It can be achieved by including various actors to understand their

role in the creation process by considering the logic of value and resources in

SDL.

Lastly, the macro-level – i.e., the market where brand experience is – is where

manufacturers’ economic offerings are evaluated by consumers (Andreini et al., 2018), which forms their economic value (Pine and Gilmore, 1998). Andreini

et al. (2018) suggested examining these interactions in various cultural contexts

with practice theory (for more information, see Reckwitz, 2002) to understand

the dialectic relationship between agency and structure regarding macro-

(marketplace), meso- (communities), and micro-levels (single manufacturer or

consumer). This approach could shed more light on brand experience and the

underlying meaning to gain knowledge of how it can be created and managed

at cultural levels. In particular, understanding the subjective and psychological

aspects of brand experience and the role in stimulating consumers’ brand

relationships, which shows how consumers evaluate and judge brands with

brand-related stimuli as part of creating meaning across time and space

(Andreini et al., 2018).

Although Andreini et al.’s (2018) model reveals distinct directions for

continuous advancement of brand experience, not all levels are relevant in the

present dissertation. Regarding the purpose, the meso- and macro-levels in

Figure 2.5. are of particular interest. The meso-level reveals the link between

SDL and brand-related stimuli. Thus, how value is created by relating these with

one another is of particular interest. However, the micro-level is of interest to

understand consumers’ sense-making and their meaning of the provided value

of brand-related stimuli.

2.3.3 Brand experience dimensions

Before describing the brand experience dimensions, it should be noted that

brand experience is distinguished from consumer experience, product

experience, and shopping and service experience (Brakus et al., 2009).

Consumer experience occurs when consumers ingest or use products or

services. These are most often multidimensional and include feeling, fantasies,

and fun (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Holbrook et al., 1984). This implies

that consumers’ involvement is based on emotional, physical, rational, and

spiritual aspects of consumption (Gentile, Spiller and Noci, 2007). Product

experience occurs when consumers interact with products, including activities

like searching, examining, and/or evaluating products with an intention to

54

purchase (Hoch, 2002; Hekkert and Schifferstein, 2007). Shopping and service

experience occur when consumers interact with the physical environment in the

given setting they are located within (Hui and Bateson, 1991; Kerin, Jain and

Howard, 1992). Research within this experience examines how elements in a

given setting, such as atmospheric variables and employees, influence the

experience (Arnold, Reynolds, Ponder and Lueg, 2005). Consumer, product,

and shopping and service experiences are co-created by the manufacturer and

the consumer. That is either in consumption, usage of products or services, or

being inside a given setting (Shamim et al., 2016).

Contrarily, brand experience is generated when consumers are exposed to or

interact with brand-related stimuli. These can either be an advertisement,

colour, design, shape, slogan, and additional brand characteristics (Brakus et

al., 2009). Brand-related stimuli trigger consumers’ beliefs, which influence

their attitudes of the brand relationship. In this regard, consumer attitudes do

not only occur from consumer experience, product experience, and shopping

and service experience, but also the brand experience (Chattopadhyay and

Laborie, 2005; Shamim et al., 2016) with the intention of establishing a

personal, long-term brand relationship and a positive outcome (Khan and

Rahman, 2015).

Hence, these experiences occur when consumers are influenced directly or

indirectly by their cognitions, feelings, sensations and behavioural acceptance,

which derive from brand-related stimuli (Brakus et al., 2009). Brand experience

is defined as: “subjective, internal consumer responses (sensations, feelings and

cognitions) and behavioral responses evoked by brand-related stimuli that are

part of a brand’s design and identity, packaging, communications and

environments” (Brakus et al., 2009, p. 53). This shows that brand experience is

offered by manufacturers by embedding brand-related stimuli to provide

consumers with a positive brand outcome (Chang and Chieng, 2006; Khan and

Fatma, 2017; van der Westhuizen, 2018) Research supports this definition by

emphasising that brand experience occurs in the consumption process when

searching, purchasing, receiving, and consuming products and services (Chang

and Chieng, 2006; Nysveen et al., 2013; Hamzah, Syed Alwi and Othman,

2014; Khan and Rahman, 2015). Therefore, brand experience is a dynamic and

interpersonal process co-created with consumers (Esch et al., 2006). It implies

that brand experience is co-created with consumers’ responses to brand-related

stimuli when interacting with the brand (Payne et al., 2009; Shamim et al.,

2016; Merrilees, 2016; Ding and Tseng, 2015), leading to added value in

consumers’ minds (Brakus et al., 2009).

To understand how value is created in consumers’ minds, brand experience

was conceptualised into sensory experience, affective experience, intellectual

experience, and behavioural experience. These dimensions were tested and

verified as the brand experience scale (Brakus et al., 2009). The brand experience measures consumer experience stemming from being exposed to the

55

experiential brand-related stimuli in the consumption process by a given brand

(Zarantonello, 2008).

Sensory experience occurs when consumers interact with brands through the

five human senses (Zarantonello, 2008). Often, consumers use their senses to

evaluate and judge products (Hekkert and Schifferstein, 2007), and these are an

essential aspect of brand experience (Hepola et al., 2017). Sensory experience

can be brand-related stimuli, such as colours, brand characters, design, mascots,

slogans, shapes or typefaces, which affect consumers’ human senses. For

example, the colour red, in the Coca-Cola brand provides consumers with

emotions and sensations related to the brand (Brakus et al., 2009). These

responses may be related to either one or several of the five human senses: sight,

sound, smell, touch, or taste (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014).

Observing a sensory experience closer, it is seen that the dimension has its

foundation in aesthetic and sensory perception (Holbrook and Zirlin, 1986;

Schmitt and Simonson, 1997; Bloch, Brunel and Arnold, 2003; Parsons and

Conroy, 2006). It implies that the sensory experience goes beyond functionality

and that consumers desire an aesthetic experience from brand-related stimuli,

such as colour, material, packaging, shape, and surface appeal, leading to

pleasant sensory perception (Patrick, 2016).

Affective experience is related to a consumer’s affective responses, such as

feelings and sentiments engendered by brand-related stimuli (Zarantonello,

2008). Specifically, it refers to the emotional bond created between the

manufacturer and consumers, based on feelings generated by the brand (Brakus

et al., 2009). Hence, similar to experiential consumption, affective experience

is built on emotional responses like fun, excitement, and pleasure in the

consumption process as consumer value (Holbrook, 1986; Holbrook, 1999;

Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982) – for example, the sensation BMW car drivers

feel when hearing the sound of the engine during acceleration and road

maintenance, or the feeling of belonging to Disney’s Magic world (Brakus et al., 2009). Moreover, it can be seen that affective experience is based on

affections and emotions from consumer behaviour and psychology research

(Edell and Burke, 1987; Richins, 1997; Thomson, MacInnis and Park, 2005;

Esch et al., 2012). Affective experience occurs from consumers’ emotional

attachment to and judgement of brands (Thomson et al., 2005) – for instance,

the affective response of touching a product (Peck and Wiggins, 2006) and

sense-making of the brand-related stimuli (Brakus et al., 2009). This shows that

affective experience is a favourable outcome that consumers are motivated to

be provided with (Bagozzi, Gopinath and Nyer, 1999), bringing feelings of

excitement, fun, and pleasure (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982).

Intellectual experience emphasises how consumers’ mental activities are

stimulated by brand-related stimuli (Zarantonello, 2008), which is achieved by

encouraging curiosity and problem-solving. For example, Nike’s slogan “Just do it” might trigger particular emotions and imaginative thoughts or encourage

56

consumers to run (Brakus et al., 2009). However, looking beyond consumers’

curiosity and problem-solving, intellectual experience emanates from cognitive

and creative thinking within advertisements (Guilford, 1956; Smith and Yang,

2004). This is illustrated in advertisements that have unique value propositions

to differentiate a product – for example, a “funky” Volkswagen Beetle.

Consequently, when consumers are exposed to the advertisement, their curiosity

is piqued and a mental process begins to solve what is funky about the

Volkswagen Beetle (Brakus, 2008).

Behavioural experience refers to consumers’ behavioural responses, such as

bodily experience and lifestyles when exposed to brand-related stimuli

(Zarantonello, 2008). Consumers who are exposed to a brand experience

associated with a particular lifestyle identify themselves with that offering,

leading to brand loyalty (Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014). Behavioural

experience has its origin in behavioural, lifestyle, and physical aspects of

consumption (Helman and Chernatony, 1999; Arnould and Thompson, 2005).

Following this logic, the symbolic meaning embedded in advertisements,

brands, products, or servicescapes is transformed by consumers to manifest

personal and social benefits in creating their identity and lifestyle (Holt, 2002;

Kozinets, 2002). It suggests that consumer action, bodily experience, and

lifestyle occur when interacting with brand-related stimuli, which subsequently

have a positive relationship with loyalty and satisfaction (Brakus et al., 2009)

and result in reinforced brand associations (Chang and Chieng, 2006).

Brakus et al.’s (2009) four brand experience dimensions have been validated

in various settings, including: airlines (Lin, 2015), banks (Nysveen et al., 2013;

Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014), coffee houses (Choi, Ok and Hyun, 2017),

consumer events (Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2013), motorcycles (Schembri,

2009), personal care products (Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014), restaurants

(Wiedmann et al., 2018), and tourism (Beckman, Kumar and Kim, 2013). Thus,

positive experiences from the consumption of brands, products, or services

assist in strengthening the emotional bond between the manufacturer and

consumer. Consequently, manufacturers can systematically involve consumers’

acts, emotions, cognitions, senses, and values by offering brands, products, and

services that are fun to experience (Gentile et al., 2007) to provide positive

brand outcomes (Brakus et al., 2009).

Aside from Brakus et al.’s (2009) four brand experience dimensions,

research has used Schmitt’s (1999) definition of experience as a basis, which

contains “sense”, “feel”, “think”, “act”, and “relate” to point out an additional

social (relational) dimension (Nysveen et al., 2013; Schmitt et al., 2015b). With

the explicit focus on service brands, the social (relational) dimension centres on

how consumers relate to others through the brand (Schmitt et al., 2015b).

However, it should be noted that this additional dimension has not received

attention in brand experience literature (Andreini et al., 2018). Therefore, in the

57

present dissertation, the social dimension will not be considered relevant for the

brand experience scale.

2.3.4 Summarising brand experience

Research shows that experience is linked to branding (Chang and Chieng, 2006;

Brakus et al., 2009; Khan and Rahman, 2015). In summation, manufacturers

can embed brand-related stimuli, such as design and packaging, in the given

brand for consumers to interact with, leading to cognitive, emotional, and

behavioural responses (Brakus et al., 2009). This suggests that the manufacturer

and consumers co-create brand experience when interacting with embedded

brand-related stimuli in the brand (Payne et al., 2009; Shamim et al., 2016;

Merrilees, 2016; Ding and Tseng, 2015). This results in consumers’ added value

of the brand experience (Brakus et al., 2009) and positive brand outcomes (van

der Westhuizen, 2018; Khan and Fatma, 2017; Hepola et al., 2017).

Accordingly, brand experience becomes the foundation for the consumers’

holistic evaluation of the brand (Nysveen et al., 2013; Khan and Rahman, 2015).

It implies that manufacturers should design memorable experiences by

embedding brand-related stimuli so consumers do not forget the experience

when interacting with the brand (Pine and Gilmore, 2016). Hence, these leave

an imprint in consumers’ memory of sensations and emotions comprehended

by the brand experience (Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2013). Table 2.4 shows the

brand experience dimensions that serve as the foundation of consumers’ holistic

experiences of the brand.

Table 2.4. Summary of brand experience dimensions

2.4 Brand image

2.4.1 What is an image?

Before describing brand image, it is necessary to clarify what an image is. An

image is described as “the total set of attitudes, the halo of psychological

meanings, the associations of feeling, the indelibly written esthetic messages over and above bare physical qualities” (Onkvisit and Shaw, 1987, p. 15). This

58

is linked with individual behaviour, as a part of consumers’ self-image in

relation to how others should perceive them (Birdwell, 1968). As a part of how

others should be perceived, symbols (i.e., brands) are consumed to reinforce

that image (Levy, 1959). Image is related to the consumers’ perceptual beliefs

about brands. In particular, it is related to brand attributes and brand

associations, which are consumers’ holistic evaluations of brands (Keller,

1993). The image of the brand is held in consumers’ minds and based on

subjective and perceptual interpretations, either cognitive or emotional (Dobni

and Zinkhan, 1990). This has been linked with branding through “abilities to

select a brand meaning prior to market entry, operationalize the meaning in the

form of an image, and maintain the image over time” (Park et al., 1986, p. 135).

Therefore, consumers’ attitudes, feelings, and ideas about a brand become

imperative in selecting and reselecting appropriate ones (Gardner and Levy,

1955). This implies that a positive image of brands results in a positive brand

relationship with consumers (Esch et al., 2006), as value rests in the mind of

consumers (Merz, He and Vargo, 2009). Hence, brands should reflect the

holistic experience and perception of the brand (Aaker, 1991).

The image concept has been given attention in marketing research since the

1950s, labelled as brand image. Over time, brand image has been given

numerous meanings by researchers in different settings (Dobni and Zinkhan,

1990). Although there are various definitions, the common denominator is that

brand image is held in the mind of the consumers, based on how the brand is

interpreted and perceived by going beyond the product characteristics

(Patterson, 1999; Sjödin and Törn, 2006). Although the brand image was

established as meaningful in the 1950s by Gardner and Levy (1955), it is still

an important concept in marketing research today (Cho, Fiore and Russell,

2015) and is imperative to understanding why consumers prefer a particular

object before another (Birdwell, 1968). Specifically, consumers’ attitudes,

feelings, and ideas of brands are vital to understanding why a particular brand

– such as Chevrolet, Ford, or Plymouth – is purchased repetitively (Gardner and

Levy, 1955). This means that consumers decide what kind of individual they

want to be by either a reasonable or unreasonable decision of what car to

purchase (Levy, 1959), which forms the psychosocial meaning of the brand

(Levy, 1985).

Brand image is related to the holistic impression of the brand in terms of

product attributes, utility, and marketing communication (Dichter, 1985). Brand

image is everything consumers associate with the brand. These impressions are

essential for consumers’ feelings of purchase and influence the decision.

Moreover, brand image might consist of economic, functional, social and

psychological dimensions. These dimensions, which are applied in

advertisements, styling and product attributes, make the brand image definable

in consumers’ minds (Newman, 1957). Accordingly, consumers do not buy brands just for the utility, but also because they have personal and social

59

meanings (Levy, 1959). This signifies that brand image contains cognitive and

psychological elements related to consumers’ attitudes, feelings and sets of

ideas of the brand (Gardner and Levy, 1955). Hence, brand image is related with

messages and meanings that consumers associate with the brand and product

(Durgee and Stuart, 1987). However, these meanings vary between brands and

products. For example, it has been demonstrated that consumers with a Buick,

compared with those who have a Ford, have particular attitudes, feelings, and

ideas of the brand and self-image (Birdwell, 1968).

Consequently, brand image is a subjective perceptual phenomenon of a

brand, reflected by associations held in consumers’ minds (Dobni and Zinkhan,

1990; Aaker, 1991). In particular, brand image is viewed as consumers’ holistic

images of tangible and intangible brand associations (Keller and Lehmann,

2006), which result in these brand associations being critical in developing

brand image (Keller, 1993). However, a brand image can only be created and

maintained if it reflects consumers’ attitudes and emotions of the brand (Esch

et al., 2006). For instance, aesthetic appeal, emotional response, brand

impression, and expression are influenced by a car manufacturer’s product

appearance, such as design, which creates meaning and value for consumers

(Warell, 2008). Brand image is considered favourable and strong, unique brand

associations positioned in consumers’ memory, which influence the perceived

quality and attitude of the brand (Keller, 2003). This shows that creating a brand

image is based on identified consumers’ self-images that consist of brand

associations, allowing them to understand and give sensory, symbolic,

utilitarian and economic meaning to the brand (Hsieh, 2002).

2.4.2 Consumers hold a brand image

Building a strong brand is crucial in positioning a brand in consumers’ minds

(Keller, 2001). Consumers are overwhelmed with information regarding a range

of products and are forced to make decisions faster in an ambiguous world. A

strong brand assists consumers and simplifies the decision process, reducing

risk tendency and determining expectations (Keller, 2016). In this regard,

manufacturers can distinguish themselves from competitive brands by

positioning the brand in consumers’ minds through brand-related stimuli. This

is seen in the automotive industry, which consists of several strong brands

(Stringham, Miller and Clark, 2015). The manufacturers have well-established

brand images in the automotive industry, which have been built up over time

with consumers by reconfirming and linking associations with the brand in

consumers’ minds (Kirmani and Zeithaml, 1993; Hsieh, 2002).

As seen in the sensory marketing models, the link with brand image is

distinct. It emphasises that a brand image is consumers’ holistic value and

emerges based on interactions between manufacturers and consumers in a

value-generating process (Hultén, 2011). It shows that individuals can be best

understood through measure, and manage brands by making sense of the role

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consumers play in brand image (Keller, 1993), based on the characteristics of

sensory marketing. Hence, brand image cannot be understood without

considering that consumers interact and experience objects in the world through

the human senses (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014). Research on sensory marketing

has demonstrated that when consumers interact through the human senses and

experience the given object, associations in their memory are accessed, which

influence the current interaction by recalling previous encounters (Krishna,

2012; Spence et al., 2014). This shows the link with brand image since it

“occurs when the consumer is familiar with the brand and holds some favorable,

strong, and unique brand associations in memory” (Keller, 1993, p. 2). Thus,

consumers’ meaning and value of brands are based on past and ongoing

interactions, where the created brand experience becomes the key driver of

brand image (Esch et al., 2012; Helkkula et al., 2012; Lin, 2015), which is

formed by brand associations.

2.4.3 Brand image associations

Brand image is the constitution of ideas and images in consumers’ minds and

memory that store their knowledge of and attitudes towards a brand. These

attitudes and knowledge are subjective and individual perceptions, and

interpretations from previous and ongoing interactions with the given brand

(Dobni and Zinkhan, 1990). Accordingly, when consumers are engaged in

purchasing brands, products, or services, the memory is accessed. In this

activity, a consumer’s affection, cognition, emotion, judgement, and decision

making are influenced by previous encounters and play an important role in

evaluating brands, products, and services. For example, consider evaluating a

luxury product, which is a product that has a premium price due to the

manufacturer's reputation. It could be argued that it is illogical to purchase a

$2 000 Rolex watch, since other watch brands with the same functionally and

durability could be purchased for a fraction of the price. Therefore, it can be

assumed that a consumer’s purchase of a Rolex is reasonable in relation to the

individual’s belief and value associated with buying the particular brand.

Moreover, it is assumed that owning a Rolex watch provides consumers with

high status, which reflects the individual positively (Ajzen, 2008). Hence, brand

image is the result of consumers processing relevant brand information derived

from associations and attitudes from the brand’s consumers (Burmann, Hegner

and Riley, 2009).

Therefore, brand image is held by the consumer, which is a subjectively

perceived phenomenon formed by brand associations that can be emotional or

cognitive (Dobni and Zinkhan, 1990; Keller, 1993). These brand associations

have been crystallised into sensory, symbolic, utilitarian and economic

dimensions (Hsieh, 2002). Sensory brand image associations refer to the

consumers’ needs and desires for experiences in products to be provided with

sensory pleasure and cognitive stimulation (Park et al., 1986). Benefits from

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experiences are based on product-related attributes and are connected to how it

feels during the consumption of product and services. In particular, benefits

from experiences satisfy consumers’ needs for a sensory experience, such as

pleasure cognitive stimulation (Hsieh, 2002). Moreover, sensory associations

reflect consumers engaging the five human senses (Cho and Fiore, 2015).

Conceptually (Keller, 1993) and empirically (Biswas et al., 2014a; Biswas et al., 2014b), sensory associations are obtained through direct experience of how

consumers perceive the appearance and beauty of brands and products (Desmet

and Hekkert, 2007; Bloch, 2011). Moreover, sensory associations refer to what

kind of emotions the brand provides consumers with – for example, automobile

manufacturers conveying an exciting, stylish and sporty brand (Hsieh, 2002).

This shows consumers’ desires of hedonic benefits in cars, such as driving a

sports car with sinuous lines in the exterior and interior combined with a

powerful engine (Bloch, 2011), resulting in a positive brand outcome (Brunner,

Ullrich, Jungen and Esch, 2016).

Symbolic brand image associations refer to the symbolic benefits of the brand

(Keller, 1993). For example, the purchase and use of brands and products

symbolise luxury and prestige (Hsieh, 2002). Symbolic associations are related

to consumers’ internal desires of self-enhancement, self-image and social

belonging through the consumption of brands and products (Park et al., 1986).

These symbolic associations are related to the extrinsic advantages in the

consumption process of products and services. It relates to non-product

attributes and consumers’ underlying need for self-expression and social

approval, resulting in better self-esteem (Keller, 1993). Thus, consumers use

symbolic associations in brands to create meaning and self-expressive benefits,

such as enhanced prestige, self-esteem and social status (Keller, 1993; Aaker,

1997b). The importance of symbolic associations is seen in consumers’

purchase of cars, since it is assumed that a particular brand is chosen due to the

conveyed symbolic meaning as an extension of the individual personality

(Birdwell, 1968). The symbolic associations reflect created meaning and have

a positive impact on consumers’ brand evaluation (Brunner et al., 2016). It

shows that “the purchase of a car is about a lifestyle choice rather than a

technical choice” (Melewar and Sambrook, 2004, p. 174).

Utilitarian brand image associations and economic brand image associations

are related to the functional benefits of products or services (Hsieh, 2002). The

functional benefits are based on product-related attributes and intrinsic

advantages in the consumption of products and services (Park et al., 1986;

Keller, 1993). More specifically, solving external consumption-related

problems is linked to the functionality of products or services (Park et al., 1986).

In the automotive industry, manufacturers convey functional benefits of the

brand, such as durability, safety, and utility of cars (Hsieh, 2002). Another

example is Converse that develops shoes to fit different usage occasions, such as basketball, tennis, and running (Park et al., 1986). It shows that utilitarian

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associations refer to the functional, instrumental, and practical benefits of

consumption offerings (Chitturi, Raghunathan and Mahajan, 2008), leading to

functional benefits of the brand (Keller, 1993).

Contrastingly, economic brand image associations refers to non-product-

related attributes of the brand (Keller, 1993). In the automotive industry,

manufacturers convey economic values, such as a fuel-efficient car and good

sales service (Hsieh, 2002). Similarly, with utilitarian associations, economic

associations relate to functional benefits (Low and Lamb, 2000). Although

sensory, symbolic, utilitarian and economic associations refer to various aspects

of brand image, many brands offer a mixture of these to consumers (Park et al.,

1986). This suggests that consumer behaviour is complex and that it is no longer

sufficient to provide just functionality, such as an operating car for

transportation. Rather, car manufacturers need to deliver a combination of brand

image associations to successfully position the brand in the consumer’s mind

(Melewar and Sambrook, 2004).

There has been substantial research on brand image in various contexts

(Dobni and Zinkhan, 1990), including car brands (Birdwell, 1968; Malhotra,

1981; Hsieh, 2002), retail brands (Cho and Fiore, 2015; Cho et al., 2015), and

as part of customer-based brand equity (Keller, 1993; Faircloth et al., 2001).

This proves that brand image is shaped by attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions

emanating from consumers’ minds (Jaju, Joiner and Reddy, 2006). In the

automotive industry, it is not only vital to understand the nature to build and

create the brand, but also to master how to position the brand in the consumers’

minds within the given targeted customer segment. Consequently, to succeed,

it is imperative for car manufacturers to understand consumer behaviour in

terms of attitudes, needs, and trends in the automotive industry (Melewar and

Sambrook, 2004).

2.4.4 Summarising brand image

In summation, brand image refers to strong, favourable, and unique brand

associations stored in consumers’ memory (Keller, 2003). These are

subjectively perceived and are either emotional or cognitive (Dobni and

Zinkhan, 1990; Keller, 1993). Consumers possess brand knowledge from

previous encounters with the given brand, which is accessed and forms meaning

and a holistic impression in ongoing encounters (Cho and Fiore, 2015). Hence,

brand image is the holistic impression based on brand value, which is offered

by the manufacturer (Dichter, 1985). It suggests that brand image forms

consumers’ holistic value of the brand, which is everything they associate with

the brand. Therefore, based on these brand image associations, consumers

create meaning and added value through experiences (Warell, 2008). This in

turn influences consumers’ affections, cognitions, emotions, judgements, and

decision making of the brand (Burmann et al., 2009). Table 2.5 shows the brand

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image associations stored in consumers’ memory, showing that past and

ongoing interactions may influence future evaluations of the given brand.

Table 2.5. Summary of brand image associations

2.5 Theoretical synthesis

2.5.1 An experience-based theoretical framework for creating

value

As discussed before, the concepts in the theoretical framework are selected for

various reasons regarding creating value and the presented research questions

in this dissertation. Firstly, SDL contributes to the framework with how to create

value that is beneficial for different actors. Secondly, sensory marketing

contributes to how to create value through experiences. Thirdly, sensory cues,

brand experience, and brand image contribute to understanding and explaining

how to create value by using sensory marketing as a lens. Consequently, sensory

marketing connects SDL with sensory cues, brand experience, and brand image.

The theoretical framework consists of three micro-level theories: sensory

cues, brand experience, and brand image. At first glance, it may appear little is

new here, yet observing the micro-level theories more closely, it can be seen

that these do not take place in isolation, but rather occur in the process of

creating value. Following the notion of SDL (Vargo and Akaka, 2009; Vargo

and Lusch, 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2016), it is known that manufacturers offer

a value proposition to co-create value with consumers, leading to value-in-use

and subsequently to value as an experience. Thus, creating value through

experiences is a process that includes the manufacturer and consumers. It

alludes that manufacturers can embed sensory cues as mechanisms in the

offered value proposition, which consumers interact with in the given space for

their value-in-use, leading to the situated value as an experience over time.

Although research has demonstrated a direct and indirect positive impact

between sensory cues, brand experience, and a positive brand outcome

(Wiedmann et al., 2018), the process of creating value has not yet been explored

or examined regarding a value proposition, consumers’ value-in-use, and the

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holistic outcome value as an experience. These in combination with sensory

cues, brand experience, and brand image simultaneously generate the

experience-based theoretical framework for creating value. Hence, in

accordance with the suggestion of Vargo and Lusch (2017), the experience-

based framework focuses on how to create value through experiences for both

the manufacturer and consumers.

Accordingly, the micro-level theories emanate from the midrange theory

sensory marketing (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014) and are

connected with the metatheory, SDL (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and

Lusch, 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2016), regarding how value is offered, created,

and becomes meaningful and valuable through experiences. Although the

sensory marketing models are conceptual in nature, the micro-level theories

have been examined and tested empirically with various cognitive, emotional,

behavioural outcomes. However, these outcomes do not capture how value is

created, thus the focus is not to explore or examine the effects in the experience-

based theoretical framework. Rather, the focus is to develop a theoretical

framework that lends itself to explore and test empirically how value is created

through experiences in relation to the brand. The experience-based theoretical

framework for creating value is shown in Figure 2.6.

Figure 2.6. An experience-based theoretical framework for creating value

2.5.2 Sensory cues: the value proposition

The first micro-level theory, sensory cues, are related to sensory stimuli in

brands, products, and servicescapes to provide consumers with cognitive,

emotional, and behavioural responses (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014). Sensory cues reflect the sensory stimuli manufacturers have

embedded in brands, products, and servicescapes to influence consumer

responses. Although existing research have centred on sensory cues

individually or combined in brands, products, and servicescapes from an

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experience point of view, the link with branding has not been fully developed.

In contrast to existing research, and following the process of SDL (Vargo and

Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2016), the experience-

based theoretical framework connects sensory cues with manufacturers’ value

propositions. As suggested by SDL (Vargo and Lusch, 2017), manufacturers

embed sensory cues in isolation or combination, which is transmitted as operant

resources or as value propositions of experiences. This view is in accordance

with development into the experience economy (Pine and Gilmore, 1998;

Achrol and Kotler, 2012), where manufacturers make a value proposition to

fulfil consumers’ desires of pleasurable sensory experiences in the consumption

process (Hirschman and Holbrook, 1982; Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982;

Holbrook et al., 1984). Therefore, sensory cues are a mechanism that connects

with brand-related stimuli, such as colour and design, to ensure an

apprehensible value proposition. Hence, this is related to sub-question one: how

is a value proposition created by the manufacturer’s embedded sensory cues?

2.5.3 Brand experience: the value-in-use

The second micro-level theory, brand experience relates to the brand-related

stimuli manufacturers embed in the brand’s design, communication,

environment, identity, and packaging (Brakus et al., 2009). Although the

relationship between sensory cues and brand experience is established

(Wiedmann et al., 2018), the co-created value between manufacturers and

consumers is not fully explored in relation to value-in-use. Following the logic

of sensory cues as a value proposition with experiences, the brand experience is

co-created by the manufacturer and consumers, leading to the value-in-use. It

alludes that the manufacturer’s value proposition allows consumers to interact

with brand-related stimuli from an experience point of view, resulting in a co-

created brand experience. Examples of brand-related stimuli include a particular

colour in the logo (Hultén, 2015b) or the characteristics of the material

(Kapferer, 2015b). Accordingly, no physical good is exchanged; rather,

consumers are co-producers of the brand experience by interacting with the

manufacturer’s value proposition stemming from embedded sensory cues.

Aside from randomly embedding sensory cues in brands as a value

proposition, the intention is to design a memorable experience that sticks in the

consumer’s mind (Pine and Gilmore, 2016) to be associated with the brand

(Chang and Chieng, 2006). Although brand experience is co-created by the

manufacturer and consumers in the interaction moment, brand associations

stored in consumers’ memory are accessed when interacting with a brand

experience (Keller, 1993), which provide meaning and value of brand-related

stimuli (Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2013).

Moreover, following the suggestion of Andreini et al. (2018), brand

experience can be created, maintained, and developed through interaction in the

given space. In accordance with Joy and Sherry (2003), space is the given

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setting where consumers can feel, touch, hear, smell, and taste objects by

moving around inside it. Interestingly, it alludes that value is created by

planning and designing for interactions with consumers by organising the given

space. Thus, this is linked with sub-question two: how is value-in-use created

by a brand experience?

2.5.4 Brand image: the value as an experience

The third micro-level theory, brand image, captures the consumer’s perspective

of the brand’s tangible and intangible attributes (Dobni and Zinkhan, 1990;

Hsieh, 2002). Brand associations are (dis)confirmed by consumers when

exposed and interacting with manufacturers’ planned offered brand experience

in the given space. Brand image results in the consumer’s value as an experience

of the brand. Specifically, providing consumers with cognitive, emotional, and

behavioural responses is particularly important for a positive brand assessment.

Following the suggestion of the metatheory, SDL, creating value and the notion

of experience logic in the midrange theory, sensory marketing, consumer’s

value-in-use arises from the planned co-created brand experience. Therefore,

brand experience is expected to enhance brand image associations held in

consumers’ memory, which stem and are stored from previous encounters with

the brand (Santini et al., 2018).

Given the suggestion to create value through brand experience, the

experience-based theoretical framework is not based on an exchange of a

physical good. Rather, the focus is to test and examine the relationship between

brand experience and brand image to explain and understand how consumers

create value.

As seen in the experience-based theoretical framework, it is expected that

brand image is dependent on brand experience. Although prior research of brand

experience has shown a positive relationship with brand loyalty, brand

satisfaction, and brand equity (Chang and Chieng, 2006; Brakus et al., 2009;

Iglesias et al., 2011; Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014; Nysveen et al., 2013;

Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014), the relationship with brand image warrants

further analysis (Santini et al., 2018). Schmitt et al. (2015a) agree that brand

image should be tested, and emphasise that brand experience is related to

personal fulfilment and consumers’ brand image. Therefore, consumer’s value

as an experience is not limited to a given interaction. Instead, it is an ongoing

process for consumers over time with sense-making of the experience. Although

the brand experience occurs in the given moment and leads to consumers’ value-

in-use, it is influenced by prior interactions and impacts future encounters with

the brand (Andreini et al., 2018), situating value as an experience. Hence, sub-

question three examines: what is the effect of brand experience on brand image

in order to create value as an experience?

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Figure 2.7. shows the relationship between brand experience and brand

image for the hypotheses. For a detailed description of the operationalisation

and how the constructs were measured, see section 7.1.

Figure 2.7. Hypotheses within the theoretical framework

Although extant research of brand experience separates sensory experience and

affective experience as individual dimensions (Brakus et al., 2009; Andreini et

al., 2018), this dissertation treats these as one. This reasoning follows the logic

of Brakus et al.’s (2009) exploratory factor analysis, demonstrating that sensory

experience and affective experience load on the same factor. Moreover, merging

sensory experience and affective experience is in accordance with literature

emphasising that consumers’ sensory perceptions influence the affective

response (Carpenter and Fairhurst, 2005; Clarke, Perry and Denson, 2012;

Mower, Kim and Childs, 2012; Manlow and Nobbs, 2013; Pomodoro, 2013;

Cho and Fiore, 2015).

Additionally, sensory experience and affective experience are the foundation

of experiential aspects of consumption. This includes leisure activities and

sensory pleasure, resulting in emotions like it being fun to use the product

(Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982) and creating an emotional bond between the

brand and the consumer (Brakus et al., 2009). Consequently, the present

dissertation interweaves sensory and affective experience and describes it as

consumer’s sensory and emotional experience of the brand, resulting in a

positive brand association, based on the brand personality (Brakus et al., 2009).

Conceptually, it is argued that consumers’ sensory and affective experience

of brands and products influence the perception of the brand (Hirschman and

Holbrook, 1982; Holbrook et al., 1984; Holbrook, 1986). In particular,

consumers use the human senses when interacting with brands and products

(Schmitt, 1999; Brakus et al., 2009) and it should be exciting, fun and

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emotionally pleasing, leading to a more positive perception of the brand

(Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982). Although prior research has demonstrated a

positive relationship between sensory and affective experience and behavioural

concepts (Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2013), it has not been empirically tested

with brand image (Santini et al., 2018). However, in accordance with literature,

it is logical to assume that sensory and affective experience have an effect on

consumers’ value-in-use, which is related to experiential and hedonic

consumption to have a positive image of the brand. Thus, it is expected that

consumers’ sensory and affective experience impacts brand image, leading to

the following hypothesis:

H1: Sensory and affective experience has a positive effect on brand image.

Intellectual experience is described as how the brand engages consumers in

terms of convergent and divergent thinking. Consumers’ intellectual experience

is created by interacting with the brand, which is based on cognition and mental

processing of prior knowledge of the brand (Brakus et al., 2009). Consequently,

consumers’ intellectual experience becomes important for the meaning of the

brand and how it is perceived (Schmitt et al., 2015b). Brands encourage

consumers’ mental processing by having problem-solving attributes, leading to

cognitive meaning and perception of the brand – i.e., value-in-use. Although

conceptually it has been shown that intellectual experience is related to

consumer perception of brands (Esch et al., 2012; Schmitt and Zarantonello,

2013; Schmitt et al., 2015b), it has not been empirically tested with brand image

(Santini et al., 2018). Existing research has rather centred on the relationship

between intellectual experience and various behavioural concepts (Schmitt and

Zarantonello, 2013; Schmitt et al., 2015b), but overlooked the importance of

reaching positive physiological outcomes (Schmitt et al., 2015a). Based on this

discussion, it is reasonable to assume that brand image is a psychological

outcome of consumer convergent and divergent thinking, which is based on

brand-related stimuli that encourage cognitive and mental processing. Hence, it

is expected that intellectual experience has a positive relationship with brand

image, leading to the following hypothesis:

H2: Intellectual experience has a positive effect on brand image.

Behavioural experience refers to the consumers’ bodily experience, lifestyle,

and interactions with a brand. A behavioural experience occurs when consumers

engage with the brand, which is related to actions and physiological responses

(Brakus et al., 2009). In the consumption process, when interacting with the

brand, the consumers are provided with behavioural responses (Brakus et al., 2009; Schmitt et al., 2015b). Although research has not empirically tested the

relationship between behavioural experience and brand image, it has been

pointed out conceptually. Conceptually, research highlights that behavioural

experience, such as bodily state and lifestyle, influence the self-image of

consumers (Schmitt et al., 2015b; Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2013), leading to a meaningful and positive brand outcome (Schmitt et al., 2015a). Following this

69

conceptual notion, it is rational to expect that brand image is a meaningful

outcome of behavioural experience. Therefore, the following hypothesis is

developed:

H3: Behavioural experience has a positive effect on brand image.

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3 Methodology

Chapter three discusses and reflects on the research strategy’s scientific approach and the research design applied in this dissertation. It then presents

the research process and concludes with the ethical considerations.

3.1 Research strategy

3.1.1 Capture various aspects of value

To answer the overarching research question – how is value created in a car’s

interior using sensory marketing? – a research strategy combining qualitative

and quantitative methods was applied. The advantage of this research strategy

was the ability to capture the process of how value is created with experiences

as a phenomenon in the social world from manufacturers’ and consumers’

perspectives. Brands, products, and servicescapes are created by manufacturers,

which means an experience cannot be explained without interacting with

consumers’ human senses. Since consumers experience the world, such as

brands, products, and servicescapes, through the human senses, objects and the

world are full of sensory information perceived as value, which are created and

subjectively experienced and have a significant role in understanding

consumers’ cognitions, emotions, and behaviour (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014).

In this regard, it is not assumed that the explanation of the social reality is

absolute in creating value with experiences, which may be a likely situation in

the external world. Rather, it is believed that it is necessary to seek out how

value is created by offering experiences in brands, products, and servicescapes

in combination with consumer perception. The reason for this is to seek out the

best possible explanation of how value is created in the social reality, which is

achieved by bridging the gap between the external world and theory through

moving between the two. Therefore, this dissertation starts with the qualitative

sequence to reach a deeper understanding of how a manufacturer designs and plans for value to review the theoretical synthesis and hypotheses, and to refine

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the measurement scales (Churchill, 1979). Thereafter, a quantitative sequence

was employed to examine the proposed hypotheses and validate the scales to

explain consumers’ created value.

3.1.2 Scientific approach

Regarding the qualitative and quantitative nature of the present dissertation,

pragmatism is applied as the scientific approach (Biesta, 2010; Creswell and

Creswell, 2018). It is a suitable point of departure since the research strategy

consists of two empirical studies with different methods (Johnson,

Onwuegbuzie and Turner, 2007). However, the main criticism of a research

strategy combining qualitative and quantitative methods is that it has

incompatible scientific paradigms. Nevertheless, the solution to bridge these

incompatible scientific paradigms in a research strategy is pragmatism

(Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998). The advantage is that the researcher is not

limited to a particular approach, since pragmatism embraces the advantages of

both methods (Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2002). Although it may be causal

relationships in the external world, these will never be pinned down (Tashakkori

and Teddlie, 1998). Pragmatism is related to one’s belief that an external world

exists outside of the mind, thus a single truth cannot be determined. Pragmatism

considers the consequences and effects in the external world as imperative for

meaning and truth (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998; Biesta, 2010). In this regard,

this dissertation’s scientific approach is inspired by pragmatism to understand

the researched social reality (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998; Teddlie and

Tashakkori, 2002), sticking as close as possible to the external world (Alvesson

and Sköldberg, 2009) of how value is created.

To understand the social reality, pragmatism emphasises the importance of

the research question, rather than the method. The selection of method and

paradigm needs to fit the research question and rejects a forced choice between

ontology, epistemology, and logic (Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2002). Instead,

pragmatism advocates a broader scientific approach (Baert, 2005), since it

considers how knowledge is created and shared as an ongoing process (Benton

and Craib, 2011). In particular, pragmatism is suitable as it negotiates the

meaning of the world in different contexts and situations (Johnson et al., 2007).

Hence, pragmatism is advantageous as it justifies combining qualitative and

quantitative methods to accept the external world by finding explanations that

produce the most desired outcome (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998). While

searching for the best explanation of the social reality, behaviour in the social

world needs to be considered. However, it should be emphasised that behaviour

is influenced by the actions of consumers and manufacturers. Therefore, the aim

is not to unpack a single actor’s view of how value is created, but to do it with

a range of actors. In this case, it involves seeking out manufacturers and

consumers to explain the process of how value is created from production to

interpretation.

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3.1.3 A mixed methods approach

To capture the process of value, the overarching research question is an

imperative part of the research strategy. Yin (2014) emphasises that a research

strategy is determined by the study’s context and needs to fit the research

question. This dissertation’s overarching research question is: how is value

created in a car’s interior using sensory marketing?

As the overarching research question shows, this dissertation sets to explore

and examine how car manufacturers and consumers create value as a process.

Thus, the research strategy is to combine qualitative and quantitative methods

in the present dissertation. In accordance with Brinkmann and Kvale (2015),

when combining qualitative and quantitative methods, the two have a different

focus. By deploying a qualitative method, how manufacturers create value by

embedding sensory cues based on brand-related stimuli to plan and design for

the brand experiences is explored. Alternatively, the quantitative method seeks

to examine how value is created as an experience by measuring and testing the

relationship between brand experience and brand image to understand how

consumers’ value-in-use leads to value as an experience.

Accordingly, combining qualitative and quantitative in a mixed methods

approach is a suitable research strategy to understand how value is created with

experiences. Specifically, premium brands are suitable to explore and examine

since these tend to differentiate themselves by offering consumers additional

value. In this dissertation, a qualitative method with personal in-depth

interviews with a car manufacturer of a premium brand is used to explore how

sensory cues form a brand experience in a car’s interior. However, to measure

and test the relationship between brand experience and brand image among

consumers, a quantitative method is more suitable than personal in-depth

interviews or focus groups with consumers. Therefore, a questionnaire was

designed to test the extent to which value as an experience is relevant for

consumers’ brand image. Apart from just measuring and testing the relationship,

the advantage of a quantitative method, compared with a qualitative method, is

that it allows the findings to be generalised for a broader population.

If the methods are treated separately, a qualitative approach is predominantly

based on inductive logic and a quantitative approach is based on deductive

logic. Inductive logic refers to several cases and emphasises relationships of

how the observed is generalised. The observations fall into empirical

observations and are generalised before they are associated with theory. This

means that the researcher starts with the research question and/or hypotheses in

the data collection, and then constructs a theoretical framework. A weakness

with inductive logic is that it might distil a generalisation of a set of

observations. The disadvantage is that the underlying structure or situation is

not included from collecting single facts for a general conclusion or truth. It

implies that inductive logic only observes the external relationship and does not

go beyond the observations to gain knowledge about the whole. However,

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deductive logic begins with theory and describes a particular case of interest.

Deductive logic is the opposite of inductive logic and does not generalise, since

it is based on theory with a research question that describes a particular case or

data of interest. Yet, deductive logic is absent from underlying patterns and

assumptions that make the approach flat and futile (Alvesson and Sköldberg,

2009).

Nevertheless, even if inductive and deductive logic are more broadly applied

in case studies, not all research fit within these approaches. Instead, abductive

logic is employed as the most common approach in case studies. Abductive

logic refers to a single case that is interpreted from a hypothetical view if the

particular case is explained. Thereafter, observations of new cases are

conducted to strengthen the initial interpretation of the case. This means that

abduction logic is an interaction of inductive and deductive logic, and

contributes additional elements (Alvesson and Sandberg, 2011). The advantage

of abductive logic, compared with inductive and deductive logic, is that

underlying patterns may occur. These can create an understanding when the

empirical context is gradually developed, leading to modifying and refining the

theoretical concept (Alvesson and Sköldberg, 2009). Hence, the logic allows for

abductive reasoning by moving between inductive and deductive logic (Howe,

1988; Dubois and Gadde, 2002; Dubois and Gadde, 2014).As emphasised by

Dubois and Gadde (2002), the research strategy allowed for the systematic

move between the external world and theory to enhance the understanding of

the theoretical and empirical phenomena, capturing how value is created for

manufacturers and consumers to avoid incapability.

3.2 Research design

3.2.1 Exploratory sequential research design

An exploratory sequential research design employs different methods, either

qualitative or quantitative, which are collected and analysed chronologically

(Bryman, 2006; Johnson et al., 2007). The advantage of this research design is

that the collected and analysed data in the qualitative sequence builds to the data

collection and analysis in the quantitative sequence (Creswell and Plano Clark,

2011). In this case, this is the whole process from the manufacturer planning

and designing a value to the consumer’s sense-making of value. As this

dissertation has several sub-questions, it was necessary to reflect on how these

would converge and answer the research question. To address the overarching

research and reach a common ground between the external world and theory in

the present dissertation, a mixed methods approach was undertaken to employ

advantages of sequentially combining qualitative and quantitative methods to

compensate for each method’s weaknesses, respectively (Tashakkori and

Teddlie, 1998). Initially, a qualitative sequence was undertaken with the case

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company to explore how value is created and offered to answer sub-questions

one and two. Thereafter, a quantitative sequence was designed to generalise

how value is created among the manufacturer’s consumers, as developed in sub-

question three. Hence, in the first sequence, the theoretical synthesis was

developed and refined to build into the hypotheses within the theoretical

framework. In the second sequence, a quantitative questionnaire was conducted

with the intention of verifying the hypotheses’ relationships.

The exploratory sequential research design provided several advantages. In

particular, “a major advantage of mixing methods research is that it enables the

researcher to simultaneously answer the confirmatory and exploratory

questions, and therefore verify and generate theory in the same study” (Teddlie

and Tashakkori, 2002, p. 15). In this regard, the main advantage of employing

an exploratory sequential design was that the qualitative and quantitative

methods share the same research question (Yin, 2014). Thus, perhaps the most

important advantage of exploratory research design, this dissertation captured

value for manufacturers and consumers in premium brands based on sensory

cues, brand experience, and brand image. Consequently, the purpose of the

dissertation interconnected qualitative and quantitative aspects of the

overarching research question and conclusions (Tashakkori and Creswell,

2007).

The exploratory sequential research design commenced with a qualitative

method, followed by a quantitative method (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998;

Creswell and Creswell, 2018). Regarding the overarching research question and

purpose of the dissertation, data with this research design do not need to be

unanimous. Rather, the qualitative material and quantitative data are gathered

and compiled together from the same context to assist in building interpretations

of the phenomenon (Miles, Huberman and Saldaña, 2014). Therefore, the

qualitative sequence allowed for a substantial understanding of the empirical

world and social reality and its mis(match) with theory. The personal in-depth

interviews provided valuable knowledge of how manufacturers embed sensory

cues in a car’s interior to create value. These interviews were invaluable for

developing and refining the theoretical framework and building into the

quantitative sequence, including operationalisation of the constructs and

refining the hypothesised relationships. The quantitative sequence in this

dissertation, in turn, went beyond manufacturers’ planning and designing for

value as it provided opportunities to generalise and explain consumer sense-

making of the offered value. In summation, the qualitative sequence afforded

in-depth knowledge and understanding of the empirical world and social reality

from the manufacturer’s perspective, which is beyond the possibilities allowed

in the quantitative sequence. On the other hand, the quantitative sequence

allowed for the testing, verification, and generalisation of value from a

consumer’s perspective. Hence, with an exploratory sequential research design, the present dissertation succeeds in capturing and explaining the process of

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value from various actors. Accordingly, employing a research design that

combines qualitative and quantitative methods has allowed rich insights of the

phenomenon to be developed, which could be captured using one of these

methods (Venkatesh, Brown and Bala, 2013).

3.2.2 Case study research design

A case study research design emphasises understanding the dynamics within a

sole context (Eisenhardt, 1989). It may include a single case or multiple cases

with a qualitative or quantitative method, where numerous levels of analysis are

employed for one study (Yin, 2014). In this dissertation, a case study was

suitable for two reasons. Firstly, it allowed for the exploration and examination

of how value is created among different actors within a single setting in one

study. It meant the specific process could be studied with a manufacturer and

consumers as actors in a single context and case to capture value from planning

and designing to its perception. This is in line with Yin’s (2014) notion of

including several actors, as they contribute beyond the observed phenomenon

to an in-depth understanding of the case. Secondly, in accordance with

Eisenhardt (1989), the case study allowed for the combination of different data

collections to make sense of a single context and case within the dissertation.

This allowed for the utilisation of the strengths of qualitative and quantitative

methods. In the qualitative sequence, the strength was to explore how and why

the manufacturer plans and designs for value. In the quantitative sequence, the

strength was to test, verify, and generalise to what extent value impacts

consumers’ outcomes. Hence, a case study is appropriate since it assists in

telling a story that is in the context and case (Eisenhardt, 1991).

With this in mind, the researcher should select a case that can be learnt from

the most. Thereafter, the case is made to a subject for detailed studies that allow

the researcher to go beyond and understand the problem, as well as produce an

in-depth analysis (Stake, 1994). In this regard, the automotive industry is of

interest since all car designs were initially identical in terms of shape and black

colour. However, over time, manufacturers have personalised designs to ensure

associations with particular brands. Admittedly, over the years, the importance

of an appealing design in exterior and interior has suppressed the utilitarian

value of cars, which can be seen in various shapes on the body of the car and

seating. Although an appealing design is imperative to distinguish the brand

from its competitors, the utility value of cars remains the same – i.e., to get from

A to B. It suggests that manufacturers need to provide consumers added value.

This development is in accordance with Pine and Gilmore’s (1998) notion of

the experience economy, wherein consumers want to be provided with a sensory

experience in the consumption of brands and products to create memorable

experiences.

Accordingly, the selection of the automotive industry for the case study was

deliberate (Lincoln and Guba, 1985; Eisenhardt, 1989). For the purpose of this

77

dissertation, a car brand that provided access to the manufacturing process and

its consumers – namely Volvo Cars – was explored and examined to capture the

process of creating value. While premium car manufacturer, Volvo Cars,

fulfilled this criterion, it was also suitable for the case study for two reasons.

Firstly, like any car brand, the manufacturer is interesting since the consumption

goes beyond the purchase to position the brand. It is a continuous experience

that extends to every time consumers use their cars. Secondly, Volvo Cars has

manufactured cars with various designs since 1927, and recently updated its

exterior and interior design interface. This was of interest to the current

dissertation since the manufacturer stated that emotional values and the

consumer experience were the driving forces for developing the new design

interface.

However, exploring exterior and interior of all the manufacturer’s models

would be problematic and ambiguous since each car model has its own

character. Therefore, delimitations in the case study were set. When comparing

the manufacturer’s models, it was found that the XC90 was in the product

development and design process, and had just been modified with a design

interface in affirmation to emotional values and consumer experience based on

brand-related stimuli. Moreover, when comparing a car’s exterior and interior,

it was found that the interior has more opportunities for planning and designing

value than the exterior of the car. In particular, a car’s exterior is limited to

emotional values and consumer experience of the visual design. However, a

car’s interior is more like a servicescape in which consumers continuously

interact with the manufacturer when using the vehicle. In this regard, the car’s

interior is a suitable area of study, specifically the Volvo XC90 to explore and

examine value with the manufacturer and their consumers based on sensory

cues, brand experience, and brand image.

3.3 The research process

Although some activities in the research process have been done in parallel, an

exploratory sequential research design was employed with qualitative and

quantitative methods (Bryman, 2006; Johnson et al., 2007) based on

pragmatism (Teddlie and Tashakkori, 2002; Biesta, 2010; Creswell and

Creswell, 2018). To clarify and avoid confusion, Figure 3.1 shows an overview

of the research process in the form of a sequential map.

78

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pro

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The overarching research question – how is value created in a car’s interior

using sensory marketing? – was developed to capture the essence of the

qualitative and quantitative sequences. To answer the overarching research

question, three sub-questions were developed regarding the two sequences. The

qualitative sequence was designed to explore how value is created from the

manufacturer’s perspective. Sub-question one (how is a value proposition created by the manufacturer’s embedded sensory cues?) and sub-question two

(how is value-in-use created by a brand experience?) were developed to aid and

reply to the overarching research question in the conclusions of how value is

offered. That is, how and why the car manufacturer planned and designed a

value proposition for consumer interaction in regard to the micro-level theories’

sensory cues and brand experience. Moreover, harmony was identified in the

qualitative sequence and was part of how the manufacturer planned and

designed a value proposition. Interestingly, to fully understand the role of

harmony in creating value, harmony built into the quantitative sequence. This

is elaborated in section 6.4.3.

The quantitative sequence was designed to capture value from the

consumers’ perspective. Sub-question three (what is the effect of brand

experience on brand image in order to create value as an experience?) was

formulated to examine consumers’ perceptions of the situated value. This was

achieved by testing the relationship between the micro-level theories’ brand

experience and brand image. Since harmony was identified in the qualitative

sequence, harmony experience was operationalised and tested to establish if it

could be an additional dimension of brand experience (see section 7.1.3).

Hence, sub-question three aided in answering the overarching research question

in the conclusions with the consumers’ perspective by demonstrating that

harmony experience is incorporated in brand experience and that not all

dimensions are relevant for consumer-created value.

Therefore, the conclusions capture various aspects of how value is created

through experiences. The role of harmony in creating value is also concluded,

which will be elaborated on in chapter nine.

3.4 Ethical considerations

3.4.1 Sensory marketing

Media has labelled sensory marketing with a biased tone as being a strategy that

manufacturers use to manipulate consumers into purchasing objects

subconsciously. However, this is not the case (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012;

Spence et al., 2014) since consumers evaluate objects cognitively, emotionally,

and using the senses (Cho et al., 2015). Nevertheless, the underlying assumption

of consumer evaluation of objects will not be discussed in this dissertation – for

more information on consumers’ free will in consumption, see Wilson, Gaines

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and Hill (2008). Instead, the dissertation provides a view of sensory marketing

in relation to ethics.

Manufacturers’ use of sensory marketing to manipulate consumer behaviour

to increase sales and revenue is an intermittent argument. Although it is an

ongoing debate in academia and society that marketing tactics are manipulative

(Sher, 2011), these cases seldom occur (Alvesson, 1994; Gummesson, 1994).

Research emphasises that manipulating consumers to purchase an object with a

defective quality does not meet consumer expectation. In situations where

manufacturers deliberately deceive consumers, the latter will not stay loyal over

time (Knox and Walker, 2001), which will decrease income and revenue.

Therefore, being ethical and not manipulating consumers makes good business

sense (Willmott, 2003).

In the marketing domain, a transaction between a manufacturer and a

consumer is emphasised as a conscious act (Bettman, Luce and Payne, 1998).

For a transaction to take place, there needs to be mutual trust between the

involved actors (Morgan and Hunt, 1994), which leads to a bodily sensation for

the consumer (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014). Although brands, products, and

servicescapes are filled with sensory stimuli to appeal to the consumers’ human

senses (Idea Watch, 2015b), many other attributes influence consumer

behaviour. However, what manufacturers can do with sensory marketing is

embed sensory cues to provide consumers with an offer for evaluation and

sense-making through the human senses. In this regard, sensory marketing is a

twofold concept, where the manufacturer can only construct and embed sensory

cues in brands, products, and servicescapes to increase the chances for the

consumers to interpret the object positively. Hence, if the manufacturer’s

objective is to manipulate and lure consumers, the trust will be violated and

impact the interpretation negatively.

3.4.2 Research ethics

Several considerations regarding research ethics have been made in this

dissertation. In the qualitative sequence, Brinkmann and Kvale’s (2015) ethical

guidelines were followed, which are outlined below.

1) To go beyond the scientific value sought out in the dissertation, a semi-

structured template was thematised based on theory (see section 4.2).

2) The informants were informed in advance about the purpose of the

dissertation to obtain their consent to partake in the study,

confidentially, and consider possible consequences of their

participation.

3) In the interview situation, the interaction with the informants was

considered. The interviews were scheduled in convenient time slots to

avoid informants feeling stressed about getting back to work.

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4) All interviews were recorded and transcribed with permission from the

informants. This was to ensure the presented empirical material

remained loyal to the informants’ answers.

5) In the discussion of the empirical material, no informants have had a

say on how their answers have been interpreted.

6) The researcher has been ethically responsible for reporting knowledge

and has not critically questioned informants’ oral answers. This was

done to secure and verify the empirical material as much as possible.

7) In the reporting of the empirical material, the informants’ anonymity

has been maintained (see section 4.3 and Table 4.1).

In the quantitative sequence, several ethical considerations have been made

in relation to the questionnaire. To ensure there was no ethical misconduct with

the questionnaire, the Vetenskapsrådet and Centrala Etikprövningsnämnden in

Sweden were contacted before distributing the questionnaire to the respondents.

Neither of these bodies found ethical issues in the collected material. Hence, in

the quantitative sequence, respondents remain anonymous and no personal

information can be traced back to them.

In relation to publishing the questionnaire online, an informative text was

developed for the respondents to read prior to responding. This introduction to

the questionnaire included: 1) a presentation of the researcher; 2) the purpose

for the questionnaire; 3) an explanation that the questionnaire’s focus is to map

out and analyse the results in research; 4) the reassurance that all of the

respondents’ replies remain confidential and no information will be handed over

to a third party; and 5) a mention that the replies are published in aggregated

form and cannot be traced back to the questionnaire’s participants. Lastly, the

settings of the system only allowed one reply per IP address. This was to avoid

the same respondent completing the questionnaire several times.

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4 Method: qualitative sequence

Chapter four describes the method for the qualitative sequence. The chapter starts with how the initial contact with the manufacturer was undertaken. It

continues with how the informants were approached and selected for personal

interviews, which were conducted using a semi-structured interview guide. The chapter ends with the principles and procedure of the analysis and issues of

trustworthiness.

4.1 Establishing contact

In the qualitative sequence, the initial contact with the manufacturer was via e-

mail on 15 May 2013. Thereafter, a meeting was scheduled for December 2013,

where it was held at Gothenburg, Sweden with several employees at

directorship level from the manufacturer. The intention and purpose of the

meeting were to inform and arouse interest to initiate a research collaboration

for the present dissertation. The research proposal/plan was presented and

discussed with the manufacturer, who reacted positively to the project. A

discussion was held to identify a suitable car model to explore how the

manufacturer’s plan and design created value in the car’s interior. The XC90’s

interior was chosen, which at the time was in the product development and

design process with its updated design interface. The XC90 was released to the

market in May 2015. A consensus was reached with the manufacturer to allow

personal in-depth interviews to be conducted with the manufacturer’s

employees who had been involved in the product development and design

process for the car’s interior.

After the meeting, a manufacturer employee of the directorship was assigned

to assist in identifying suitable informants who fulfilled the criteria for a

personal in-depth interview. These informants were initially sent an e-mail

describing the purpose of the dissertation and requesting to schedule an

interview.

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Conducting personal in-depth interviews rather than focus groups with

informants was a strategic choice. In accordance with Kvale (2008), the

advantage of this was to get deep and rich empirical material with the possibility

to nuance the complexity of creating value with sensory cues and brand

experience.

4.2 Semi-structured interview guide

The semi-structured interview guide was based on theory. In accordance with

Kvale (1996) and Brinkmann and Kvale (2015), a template was thematised to

capture the characteristics of the included theoretical concepts to answer sub-

questions one and two. This was based on an extensive literature review of

sensory marketing and brand experience deployed in ranked marketing journals

included in ‘the Chartered Association of Business Schools 2015 Academic

Journal Quality Guide’. The literature review examined the journals from 2006

to the present. The reason for imposing a time limit was that Peck and Childers

(2008) conducted a substantial literature review of sensory marketing over a 25-

year period until 2006 and that brand experience was introduced by Chang and

Chieng (2006).

Keywords relating to sensory marketing and brand experience were used

since the concepts are vital for this dissertation. For sensory marketing,

keywords in relation to the five human senses were used. Besides the keywords

sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste, synonyms like vision, audition, olfaction,

scent, haptic, gustatory and taste were included to cover a broader range of

articles and ensure that relevant studies were not excluded. A similar approach

was deployed in the literature review of the brand experience concept, in which

brand experience was used as a keyword. Consequently, literature reviews

provided a substantial understanding of sensory marketing and brand

experience.

Thereafter, sensory marketing and brand experience were thematised to

capture value in relation to the concepts. Sensory marketing was thematised into

sensory cues to explore how it is embedded in the product development and

design of the car’s interior. Brand experience was thematised into cognitive,

emotional and behavioural effects to explore how these were embedded in the

product development and design of the car’s interior and what to provide

consumers with. However, it was noted at the first meeting with the

manufacturer that the theoretical terms of sensory cues and brand experience

were ambiguous. Therefore, theoretical terms were avoided, and instead

understandable terms were used in the template. This was to ensure that the

informants understood the questions and to avoid them perceiving the template

as complex and confusing.

A semi-structured interview guide was constructed in Swedish. This was a strategic choice for two reasons. Firstly, the researcher’s thought process and

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sense-making are in Swedish. Secondly, individuals are likely to be more

comfortable, accurate, and detailed communicating in their own mother tongue,

which in this case is Swedish. Hence, this strategy was part of building trust

between the researcher and the informants.

In accordance with Kvale (1996) and Brinkmann and Kvale (2015), the

template started with introduction questions. The advantage of this approach

was to ensure that informants felt comfortable and relaxed, as well as be

acquainted with the researcher and have a more complaisant interview. This was

followed by questions pertaining to sensory cues and brand experience. Aside

from focusing on how the manufacturer embedded sensory cues in the car’s

interior, questions on the roles that consumers and suppliers played were also

included. Since it is logical to assume that consumers and suppliers were

involved in embedding sensory cues, this is a part of the planning and designing

for value in the car’s interior. All questions were designed to be open-ended,

allowing the informants to answer more in-depth. Confirming, leading and

yes/no questions were avoided. Consequently, the attendant questions were

based on how, what and why, and featured probing questions like “Can you

describe this more?” (Kvale, 1996; Brinkmann and Kvale, 2015).

The advantage of a semi-structured interview guide is that the interview

becomes dynamic, open and flexible (Kvale, 1996; Brinkmann and Kvale,

2015). It demands competence and preparation as an interviewer has to be able

to listen carefully to the informants. The benefit of this approach is that it allows

the interviewer to make on-the-spot decisions to explore what the informants

just mentioned to follow up new leads at appropriate times in relation to the

semi-structured interview guide. These new leads could be of interest either

from a theoretical or empirical point of view. For example, the interviewer can

say “You just mentioned xxx, can you elaborate on what you mean?” For the

semi-structured interview guide and the thematising, see Appendix A. It should

be noted that the presented interview guide is translated from Swedish into

English for the purpose of this dissertation.

4.3 Selecting informants

Selecting informants who possess the right knowledge is crucial for a

researcher. Purposeful sampling was used to identify suitable informants who

possessed the right knowledge relating to how the manufacturer created and

offered value in the car’s interior (Kumar, Stern and Anderson, 1993). Hence,

the advantage of this technique was getting access to individuals with rich

information who had knowledge about the case (Creswell and Plano Clark,

2011; Patton, 2014). The sampling process was achieved with the manufacturer.

As mentioned, one employee was assigned to assist in identifying suitable

informants to capture and describe central themes in how to create value in the car’s interior. To identify informants for the dissertation, two criteria were set.

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Initially, it was necessary that all informants had been involved in either the

product development or product design of the car’s interior. Moreover, the

informants needed to be considered influential, prominent and well informed

about the car’s interior in relation to the purpose of this dissertation. Thereafter,

the assigned employee at the manufacturer assisted in identifying suitable

informants. Table 4.1 shows the characteristics of the interviewed informants.

Hereafter, the informants will be referred to as IA (an abbreviation for

Informant A) and so forth.

Table 4.1. Interviewed informants

Informant Gender Area Date Interview

length

IA Female Customer

experience

14 November 2014 45 minutes

IB Female Innovation 14 November 2014 35 minutes

IC Female Engineering 15 December 2014 39 minutes

ID Male Customer

experience

15 December 2014 50 minutes

IE Female Engineering 15 December 2014 35 minutes

IF Male Design 27 February 2015 59 minutes

IG Male Design 27 February 2015 58 minutes

IH Male Design 3 March 2015 48 minutes

II Male Engineering 3 March 2015 60 minutes

IJ Male Engineering 18 March 2015 48 minutes

IK Male Engineering 18 March 2015 10 minutes

IL Male Purchasing 26 March 2015 41 minutes

IM Female Purchasing 26 March 2015 45 minutes

IN Male Research and

development

20 May 2015 62 minutes

The outcome of these two criteria in the selection process can be seen in Table

4.1. The informants work in various departments, such as customer experience,

engineering, design, innovation, purchasing, and research and development.

These individuals had expertise, insights, and knowledge about the car’s interior

either in general, dashboard in leather, illumination, seating, steering wheel, or

trim panels. By having a sample of informants from various departments and

the car’s interior, a substantial understanding and in-depth knowledge was

obtained regarding how and why the manufacturer embeds sensory cues and

what kind of brand experience they want to give consumers through the car’s

interior. The sampling process of informants has followed Miles et al. (2014)

notion and been purposive rather than random.

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4.4 Personal in-depth interviews

All informants were approached via e-mail or telephonically. In this initial

contact, the informants were made aware of the purpose of the dissertation, why

they had been contacted for an interview and were given a summary about the

focus being on exploring the car’s interior based on sensory cues and brand

experience. Thereafter, a personal one-to-one interview with the informants was

scheduled. None of the informants declined to be interviewed. All of the

interviews were conducted in Swedish, aside from the interview with IH, which

was conducted in English since the informant’s mother tongue is English.

It should be noted that the interview with IK was not pre-scheduled. An

opportunity for this interview arose when IJ suggested that a colleague was

more suitable to answer a particular question about the car’s illumination in

which IK had very specific knowledge. Hence, the interview was brief and

lasted just 10 minutes. The interview guide was not distributed to the informants

before the interview so as to keep the element of surprise and avoid rehearsed

answers, as well as being able to answer several questions at the same time.

All interviews were conducted at the manufacturer’s head office in

Gothenburg, Sweden. In accordance with Brinkmann and Kvale (2015), the

advantage of personal in-depth one-to-one interviews is the casual approach.

The one-to-one interview allowed the interviewer to bond with the informants,

resulting in an open-minded dialogue. Moreover, it allowed the interviewer to

observe the informants’ behaviour, listen carefully, bridge the distance, and

follow up on interesting leads in the given answers.

As seen in Table 4.1, 14 interviews were conducted. All interviews, which

were in-depth personal one-to-one interviews based on the same guide, were

conducted at the informants’ workplace. Attendant questions were necessary

due to a semi-constructed guide. The interviews varied from 10 minutes to 62

minutes in length. With the informant’s permission, each interview was

recorded and transcribed. Thereafter, the transcribed interview was sent to the

informant to avoid reflections and misunderstandings when retold in this

dissertation’s empirical chapter (Kvale, 1996; Brinkmann and Kvale, 2015).

Apart from allowing the informants to approve the transcribed interviews, this

allowed the researcher to be acquainted with and get a substantial understanding

of the qualitative material, resulting in the identification of themes and patterns

for analysis and discussion.

Although the semi-structured interview guide was based on theory, it opened

up for empirical facts in the informants’ responses. The benefit of this not being

narrowed to what derives from theory was that empirical input might assist in

understanding how sensory cues are interlinked with the brand experience.

Interestingly, most of the informants mention the term harmony. However,

when asked to elaborate what harmony is, none of the informants could explain

it, aside from consumers wanting a car’s interior in harmony and that the

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manufacturer has a problem to understand the notion. When looking into the

meaning of harmony from a theoretical point of view, it was noted that it had

been overlooked within the marketing literature. Due to the scarcity of

explanation from the informants and the paucity in marketing literature of

harmony, the concept warranted further exploration. This was achieved by

considering if harmony could be an additional dimension of the Brakus et al. (2009) brand experience scale. For a detailed description of how harmony was

operationalised and included in the questionnaire, see section 7.1.3.

4.5 Principles and procedure of analysis

4.5.1 Case study analysis

Analysing and discussing a case study is a challenging task to ensure high

quality (Yin, 2014). In particular, to ensure a high-quality analysis and

discussion in the qualitative sequence, Yin (2014) four underlying principles of

research. Firstly, all the evidence was attended to, which included covering the

overarching research question, seeking as much evidence as possible from the

informants to have interpretations covering all loose ends. Secondly, plausible

rival interpretations were addressed by acknowledging that other research

streams may hold different interpretations, and potential weaknesses have been

suggested for future studies. Thirdly, the most significant aspect of the present

dissertation’s case study was addressed. It means that the focus was on the

essential aspects of how sensory cues and brand experience are considered,

avoiding excessive detours. Lastly, the researcher’s prior expert knowledge was

utilised – for example, from an extensive literature review of sensory marketing

and brand experience, which were the foundation of the thematised semi-

structured interview guide.

Moreover, following the suggestion of Yin (2014), a case study analysis of

how and why became imperative in the analysis and discussion. In particular,

how was used to explain how sensory cues and brand experience were utilised

to create value in the case. Why, on the other hand, allowed for the reflection

and understanding of why sensory cues and brand experience are interwoven in

the case study. Moreover, in line with Miles et al. (2014), the case study went

beyond how and why to reach an explanation of the underlying meaning of

planning and designing value with sensory cues and brand experience. Hence,

going beyond the obvious in interviews allowed for the identification and

explanation of the implicit meaning.

The analysis was an ongoing process. Although the interviews had been

conducted and transcribed, the advantage was that an in-depth understanding of

the material was obtained and memos were made, which led to identifying

themes and patterns for the analysis and discussion of the quantitative sequence.

In accordance with Dubois and Gadde (2014) and Miles et al. (2014),

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interrelated activities were systematically combined in the research process.

This approach, intertwined activities, helped by constantly moving backwards

and forwards between empirical observation, interviews and theory. Thus, it

meant the qualitative material could be understood from an empirical and

theoretical perspective, which shaped the outcome of the theoretical synthesis

presented in chapter two. Another pro of an ongoing analysis process was that

empirical findings were allowed to be integrated into the dissertation. In

particular, harmony experience stemmed from the interviews and was

incorporated in the questionnaire to test consumers’ brand experience in relation

to the outcome brand image. Therefore, theory and empirical data are

interchanged, as are quantitative and qualitative sequences, which indicate that

how manufacturers embed sensory cues and brand experience as value in a car’s

interior and consumers’ perceptions of the phenomenon cannot be separated.

4.5.2 Systematic approach analysis

Although the case study’s advantage was to reveal in-depth findings (Lincoln

and Guba, 1985) of how to create value, scepticism of qualitative research can

be raised if the theorising is based on weak evidence (Gioia, Corley and

Hamilton, 2013). This scepticism was addressed by showing the evidence for

the assertions, devising a systematic approach analysis with a first-order and

second-order analysis to bring forth a data structure (Gioia, Price, Hamilton and

Thomas, 2010; Gioia et al., 2013).

The first-order analysis begins with the personal in-depth interviews with the

informants. The point of departure was the semi-structured interview guide to

obtain the informants’ experiences of the micro-level theories’ sensory cues and

brand experience. When conducting the interviews, extra attention was paid to

the interview guide to ensure the focus was on sub-questions one and two, and

to avoid leading questions. Although the initial focus was to adhere faithfully

to the informants’ experiences with little attempt to distil patterns, this was done

as the research progressed in the dissertation. It was conducted by seeking

similarities and differences in the empirical material inspired by the axial coding

in Corbin and Strauss (2015). These in turn emerged into first-order concepts,

which were based on the informants’ phrasal descriptions.

The second-order analysis moved into the theoretical realm. At this phase,

the first-order concepts were made more abstract to assist in describing and

explaining how sensory cues and brand experience create value theoretically.

This was achieved by following the logic of Gioia et al. (2010) and Gioia et al.

(2013) by thinking in multiple levels simultaneously regarding “what’s going

on here theoretically”. This was an ongoing phase until workable themes and

concepts emerged in accordance with one another to ensure theoretical

saturation (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). Thereafter, the second-order themes

allowed for engendering aggregate dimensions, which enabled the discussion

of how sensory cues and brand experience are used for creating value.

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In summary, the tandem reporting of both the voice of the informants and the

researcher allowed for qualitative rigour in the analysis of the empirical

material. The first-order concepts, second-order themes, and aggregate

dimensions became the foundation for building the data structure. However, the

data structure did not only allow the data to be configured as a visual aid for the

research, it also provided a graphical representation of the systematic approach.

In particular, it shows the progression of how the empirical material was

analysed into concepts and themes to be discussed in the aggregate dimensions,

which is part of ensuring qualitative rigour (Pratt, 2008; Tracy, 2010). Figure

4.1. shows informants’ experiences in the first-order concepts that emerged into

the identified second-order themes related to theory, leading to the aggregate

dimensions for discussion.

4.6 Issues of trustworthiness

Issues of trustworthiness in the qualitative sequence are about ensuring that the

research has been conducted in accordance with norms and rules. It falls into

the observed external world and results from informants reflecting the social

reality (Lincoln and Guba, 1985; Wallendorf and Belk, 1989; Creswell, 2014).

Consequently, to enhance trustworthiness for the qualitative enquiry, various

techniques were employed. Initially, in accordance with Morse (2017), at the

proposal stage of the dissertation, the purpose was explicit – namely to find

what type of qualitative enquiries and data best suited the goal. Although the

overarching research question and qualitative enquiries have been modified

over time, this was done cautiously with planning regarding the collected data.

It was done to recognise (ir)relevant collected data to produce trustworthy

meaningful findings (Miles et al., 2014; Merriam and Tisdell, 2015).

Aside from the proposal stage, Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) four techniques of

enhancing trustworthiness were considered in the dissertation. The first

technique, credibility, assimilates with internal validity to establish confidence

in findings and interpretations of the research (Lincoln and Guba, 2013). To

enhance credibility, interviews were conducted with the manufacturer’s

employees from various levels and departments of the organisation who had

been involved in the product development and design of the car’s interior.

Trustworthiness was enhanced by interviewing informants who possessed

accurate knowledge (Shenton, 2004) of how sensory cues and brand experience

have been utilised in the car’s interior. Furthermore, by having informants at

various levels, the interviews covered how sensory cues and brand experience

were used on a strategic and operational level, which enhanced the

trustworthiness of the results.

The second technique, transferability, assimilates with external validity.

However, the aim is not to generalise the findings, but to ensure that these can be applicable in different contexts, which are decided by others who apply the

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findings and interpretations (Lincoln and Guba, 2013). Aside from selecting

relevant informants, interviews were conducted until empirical saturation was

fulfilled (Glaser and Strauss, 1967). In accordance with Miles’s (2014) notion

of saturation, it was recognised that the informants answered questions

similarly, which indicated trustworthiness from the collected data. Hence, the

interviewing of informants was seized after empirical saturation was obtained,

since the informants provided no significant new answers to the questions.

Consequently, if more interviews with additional informants had been

conducted, it is highly likely that similar answers would have been obtained.

Nevertheless, it should be noted that the aim was not to generalise the findings.

Instead, the aim was to ensure thick descriptive data to allow future research to

apply the findings in comparable contexts and settings (Lincoln and Guba,

1986).

The third technique, dependability, assimilates with reliability (Lincoln and

Guba, 2013). To enhance trustworthiness in the dissertation, all of the

interviews were recorded and transcribed. These were then sent to the

informants to ensure dependability of the data collection. In addition, it was

assumed that the external world and social reality corresponded with theory.

However, due to interesting observations and findings in the external world, it

was changed into an abductive approach inspired by theory. In this regard,

conditions of the phenomenon value in the empirical world and research design

were captured as a result of the social reality (Graneheim, Lindgren and

Lundman, 2017). Thus, it is not assumed that there is a single truth for the

empirical world and social reality. Therefore, the dissertation goes beyond the

manufacturer’s view of value to examine consumer perspective of the

phenomenon.

The fourth technique, confirmability, assimilates with the objectivity of the

data collection (Lincoln and Guba, 2013). As mentioned above, an abductive

logic inspired by theory approach was employed. In an attempt to map out and

explain the richness and complexity of the findings, the qualitative sequence

builds into the quantitative sequence. Hence, triangulation was used by

employing a sequential mixed methods design with interviews and a

questionnaire (Shenton, 2004). This was to ensure consistency in findings in the

process of how value is created with sensory marketing.

As a result of the employed techniques above, trustworthiness in the

qualitative sequence has been considered. The observed social reality of the

manufacturer and informants has been reproduced to reflect the phenomenon of

sensory cues and brand experience, and conveys a justified interpretation of the

external world and social reality. Although the qualitative sequence of the

dissertation has enhanced the trustworthiness of how value is created with

sensory cues and brand experience, consumers’ perceptions of the phenomenon

has been measured and tested to enhance the authenticity of the case study.

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5 The case: Volvo Cars empirical

findings

Chapter five commences by describing the case company, Volvo Cars. The

interviews with the manufacturer’s informants are then presented. This serves to provide an understanding of how the manufacturer creates and offers value

to consumers through the car’s interior in relation to the human senses.

5.1 Introduction

This section is an overall description of Volvo Cars, which includes an overview

of its history, ownership, and locations of manufacturing and design facilities.

It also accounts for the corporate strategy design, which points out the

manufacturer’s brand development by centralising the human in the car.

Volvo Cars was officially founded on 14 April 1927. On this day, at 10am,

sales manager Hilmer Johansson drove the first series-manufactured Volvo Car

off the manufacturing plant and out of the factory. However, the history of the

manufacturer started in 1915, when Volvo was incorporated as a subsidiary of

Svenska Kullagerfabriken AB, which has become a global market-leading

manufacturer of ball bearings. In 1924, Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson,

Volvo Cars founders, started constructing a Swedish car. The original car

models were manufactured to withstand the rigorousness of rough, stony

Swedish roads, and low temperatures. Even today, where the manufacturer has

become a global car manufacturer with a premium range of vehicles that include

cross-country cars, sedans, station wagons, sports cars and SUVs, the

characteristics of the durability of the first car are interwoven in these new

models and continuously developed. For example, the 1998 Volvo S80 sedan

and the 1999 V70 station wagon, feature engineered safety solutions and a

design that the founders Assar Gabrielsson and Gustaf Larson would recognise

regarding quality products, adapted to address consumers’ needs and desires in

the sophisticated automotive industry.

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In 1999, the manufacturer was acquired by the US’s Ford Motor Company.

The driving force to sell Volvo Cars to Ford Motor Company was the difficulty

in coping with large-scale car manufacturers in the global automotive industry

as a small individual car manufacturer. For instance, a small individual car

manufacturer like Volvo Cars had comprehensive costs for product

development of new cars. Moreover, in 2010, Ford Motor Company sold Volvo

Cars to Zhejiang Geely Holding Group for $1.8 billion.

Today, the manufacturer belongs to the Volvo Car Group. This group

consists of Geely Sweden AB, Volvo Car Corporation (Volvo Personvagnar

AB), as well as all subsidiaries that Volvo Cars have a voting interest of more

than 50% or the power to control, and joint venture firms that can be referred to

Volvo Car Group. However, the holding company, Geely Sweden AB does not

conduct direct business, other than holding shares through Volvo Car

Corporation. Geely Sweden AB indirectly operates through Volvo Car

Corporation and its subsidiaries in the automotive industry with business related

to cars, such as design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and sales.

Geely Sweden AB is registered in Stockholm. It is a subsidiary of Geely

Sweden Automotive AB, which is a subsidiary of Geely Sweden Holdings AB

that is owned by Shanghai Geely Zhaoyuan International Investment Co., Ltd

and registered in Shanghai, China, where Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Ltd.

– registered in Hangzhou, China – holds majority ownership.

At present, Volvo Cars has its main office in Gothenburg, Sweden. Aside

from the main office in Gothenburg, the manufacturer has product development,

design centres, marketing, administration and car production. Moreover, the

manufacturer has its car production in Ghent, Belgium; an assembly factory in

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and manufacturing plants in Chengdu, Daqing and

Zhangjiakou in China. Volvo Cars’s design centres are located in Gothenburg

(Sweden), Barcelona (Spain), Camarillo (US), and Shanghai (China). In

summary, the manufacturer produces a broad range of premium cars, such as

cross-country, sedans, sports cars, SUVs and station wagons, with sales in

approximately 100 countries.

Since Zhejiang Geely Holding Group purchased the manufacturer, the

corporate strategy has been radically changed. At present, the corporate strategy

emphasises consumer focus as a human that imbues the corporate culture and

strategy, “Designed Around You”. Therefore, attractive design for consumers

is a crucial part of the corporate strategy. The approach is about understanding

consumers and providing them with a luxury experience that is human-

orientated, simultaneously linking it to heritage, safe, and dependable cars. In

this regard, the foundation is consumers’ perceptions and associations of the

manufacturer’s character and personality. Hence, the design is strongly

influenced by the Scandinavian heritage regarding elegance, function, and

purity, which distinguishes them from competitive brands and allows consumers to make a statement about themselves as persons.

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5.2 Planning and designing for value

5.2.1 An ongoing process

The product development and design phase for the XC90’s interior started

several years before the car entered and was available on the market. At this

phase, consumers were contacted to get their perceptions of the car’s interior.

Based on these characteristics and consumer input, an internal order was placed,

which became the foundation for the research and development department. The

characteristics were not static and were subsequently modified during the

industrialisation phase due to increased costs and collaboration with suppliers.

It ensured that the stated fundamental characteristics are present, even if

modified, once the car entered the market (IA).

The product development process for the car’s interior started with a decision

of what kind of car the manufacturer wanted to develop for the market. This

included chassis size, a description of the targeted segment, main competitive

models, and markets where the car was suggested to be available. Once this was

decided, the design department and technology product development worked

together and were involved and assigned with bringing forth several design

sketches of the car’s interior for further discussion. These sketches were derived

from different design offices over the world, each with a different focus to

distinguish it from another (IN).

Although various design managers have influenced the sketches, the

foundation was the original description of the car’s interior. Based on these

sketches, a limited number was selected and developed into detailed three-

dimensional clay models. Once the three-dimensional models were completed,

the corporate management board together with the responsible design manager

decided which model and theme was to be further developed. Following this

decision, the industrial project was started and the design department

constructed a three-dimensional model that was sent out to the engineering

department. Thereafter, it was an interactive process with meetings held

between the design and engineering departments to find a joint solution of how

technical issues fitted into the car’s interior (IN).

In this interactive process, the product development and design of the car’s

interior started with a brief description of the project’s expectations. However,

the actual project started by creating six design proposals from various

designers. These proposals went through an evaluation phase to select the

adequate ones to be developed in the wanted direction. In total, two different

proposals were selected and brought into digital models, and from those digital

models cut into a physical claim. Subsequently, the models were presented as a

single model selection that was reviewed before the most suitable was chosen

(IH).

After the most suitable proposal had been selected, the team worked with the model to start building up the interior regarding digital data before cutting the

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claim and feeding data back into the claim. The process changed between digital

and physical forms until the final version of the interior was developed, where

the manufacturer started working with engineering, manufacturing, and cost, as

well as project requirements. Thereafter, the design was refined until digital data

was signed off as feasible and had the wanted design. From that phase, the data

was handed over to the engineering department, which created the surface layer

that was sent to suppliers for tooling. IH expressed the following during the

interview:

“Based on consumers’ needs and desires of luxury in the XC90

interior, the design is created to provide car drivers with a calm and sober feeling, as well as a beautiful environment to not disturb

them with additional attributes. However, when the driver wants to use specific attributes these are simple to use, but don’t disturb

them while not using them”.

However, the interactive process consisted of intensive discussions that usually

fell into the corporate level, where the heads of design and product development

decided on the design. Based on these decisions, the product development

continued and the design model was refined in several feasibility checkpoints

to review the model from an industrial and manufacturing perspective. Once the

feasibility checkpoint was fulfilled, a mature model was released, which means

that the model is delimited into, for example, a whole dashboard with split lines

(IN).

After the mature model was released, the first of three manufacturing loops

began. During these manufacturing loops, engineering provided feedback and

input to the design department about what was and was not feasible. The initial

standpoint was that the design was set very early, but it was not, even if the core

ideas of the dashboard were clear. The process was characterised by interactive

discussions between designers and engineers regarding what could or could not

be manufactured. Hence, engineering provided technical input to designers who

considered the feedback. The information was sent back to engineering, who

gave new feedback to the design department with the purpose of making the

dashboard feasible within the budget, for instance regarding draft angles and

radius. The process was elongated and eventually included cost decisions to see

if the dashboard could become a bit more expensive than initially intended.

Lastly, the corporate board decided if the visual appearance of the dashboard

was approved or not. The initial proposed design was not approved.

Consequently, more time was spent than originally planned on the design, since

it was worth the additional cost in the long run for the car to position the brand

as premium. IN expressed that “The product development and product design

is a tedious process and top-down controlled”.

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Therefore, the product development and design of the car’s interior was a

complex process. Initially, it was a needs and means process for the interior’s

product development and design. Different demands were emphasised within

the organisation, and the resource and development department delivered

possible solutions to satisfy the needs. Thereafter, the needs were synchronised

in a matrix system, since several departments were involved in the product

development and design required to work cross-functionally with different

attributes, components, and systems for the interior at an innovative phase

before being managed as a normal project procedure (IB). To cope with the

complexity of the product development and design of the car’s interior, several

parameters were included as demands. This was necessary since the seating

consisted of a lot of information. Demands like comfortable seating were stated

as being competitive. During the interview, ID expressed that “Volvo Cars does

not want to have a surplus of delivery or too few attributes since the consumer’s

experience is affected”.

Moreover, product development and design were modified to provide an

appearance interior language, such as for the seating, which was dependent on

cost efficiency for the whole car. The product development and design for the

seating followed a certain procedure from product start to product start

financial. Product start implicated actual costs for seating to begin the project,

and product start financial had to do with different complete phases of seating

in the project (ID).

5.2.2 Consumers’ involvement

The previous Volvo Cars XC90 model had strengths that the manufacturer

wanted to maintain in the new model. With the updated model, a new consumer

segment was targeted, where luxury was emphasised to strengthen the

manufacturer as a premium brand. The transaction into the luxury car’s interior

with, for example, the gear lever knob in crystal, was necessary to survive as a

brand, as well as a consequence of Geely Holding being the new owner of the

organisation. Initially, the design team received a brief about how the new car

was expected to be visualised from a holistic perspective. Thereafter, the design

team started exploring what kind of interior consumers perceived as luxurious.

This was achieved by inviting consumers to get their perceptions of luxury to

ensure that the design language became accurate and appealing. During the

interview, IG said “Consumers expressed that luxury is not only about the

pleasure of car’s interior, but rather a tool to provide a luxury feeling”.

The manufacturer involved consumers since the seating in the old model was

not satisfying. The reason for the continuous development of the seating for the

updated model was to enhance and improve current strengths. New criteria,

such as improved safety regarding reduced weight and to improve the loading

space of the updated model, forced the manufacturer to change the seating

structure. For instance, the new seating is thinner to provide consumers with a

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feeling of there being more space in the cabin thanks to improved leg room

while driving and to reduce the overall weight. The product development for

seating in the first row started approximately seven years before the car was

launched. Due to there being less complexity in the second and third rows,

product development and design for these two rows started at a later phase.

Hence, the construction team began with preparation development for design to

get input about how the final version of the seating was supposed to be

visualised (II).

After the manufacturer had visualised the seating, it was ready for

manufacturing. Several suppliers participated in the process of product

development and design. That is, one supplier created and delivered the skeleton

structure and sent it to another supplier who assembled the leather and a plastic

surface layer on the seating (IF). However, the product development and design

for the trim panel followed a different process compared with other cars’

interiors, as it was constructed in-house by the manufacturer. Initially, an

assignment from Vehicle Binder stated what the project was – in this case, the

updated model – and what was supposed to be included. Based on that

assignment, the team together with the packaging department developed the

architecture of the trim panel. At this phase, the focus was to ensure that

demands, such as safety, legislative, collisions and ergonomics, were fulfilled.

Thereafter, feedback from engineering was provided on whether the trim panel

could be manufactured in relation to visibility and shade angles. Nevertheless,

this early phase of product development and design had a low degree of

elaboration and emphasised surfaces and attachment concepts. After this

feedback, all demands of the car’s interior were released simultaneously. Based

on that information, with details like heating, solidity, collision and legislative

demands, the team continued to develop the trim panel until the next release.

Every release was separated by 12 to 13 weeks, after which an updated version

of the trim panel was provided to ensure it fulfilled the demands. The process

was repeated until all involved actors were satisfied, or continued until joint

solutions had been found (IJ).

5.2.3 Suppliers’ involvement

Before the manufacturing process began, potential suppliers were involved in

product development and design. The suppliers participated in the process in

advance through an engineering intent or a design competition. In this process,

particular demands were stated to be fulfilled for the seating and involved

several suppliers in the procedure to identify suitable seating to become the final

version in the car’s interior (IF; II).

Once a supplier was selected, the purchase department participated in the

contract signing with suppliers for the interior. Initially, a sourcing agreement

was established, which is a declaration of intent with a suitable supplier for

manufacturing, before the commercial and programme agreement is signed,

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which is the final contract. In the case of the steering wheel, a sourcing

agreement was signed at an early stage with a supplier (IL), which was founded

on specifics from a final version of the interior. However, the design of the

steering wheel changed over time, compared with the original sourcing

agreement, as well as with the signed commercial and programme agreement.

This resulted in the signed contract for the steering wheel being different from

the one in the manufactured car’s interior (IL). In a normal case, seating as an

interior is purchased in unison with resource and development, and a request for

a quotation is established. This collaboration was necessary to develop a

technical specification to be approved by the design and styling department.

Thereafter, based on technical information, a concept for seating that the

manufacturer believes it wants was sent with specifications to suppliers for

purchase. At this phase, the car’s interior, such as the seating, was not absolute

and was modified over time. That is, attributes were added and there were

modifications to the design language, even if the manufacturer had a particular

design in mind when the original sourcing agreement was signed (IM).

5.3 Consumers’ role from the manufacturer’s

perspective

5.3.1 Exploring consumers’ sensory preferences

Consumers were essential for manufacturing the wanted car. Historically, the

manufacturer has focused on consumers and this continued to increase due to

their importance for the final car. To be able to receive input on the car’s

interior, the manufacturer took photographs of consumers’ homes to understand

the consumers, see how their homes looked and how they lived to get

knowledge on how to design the car’s interior (IA). Although the manufacturer

visited and listened to consumers, not everything was implemented in the car’s

interior. The reason for this was that there needed to be a balance between the

manufacturer’s car knowledge, consumers’ wants and what to integrate into the

car or future models. Hence, the manufacturer tried to stick to what was

originally decided in the product description and avoided too many changes,

otherwise it would have damaged the holistic impression of the car’s interior

since it was not originally considered in the process (IA).

To ensure a holistic impression of the car’s interior, consumer research was

conducted before it was designed. Consumer groups were held with current and

potential owners, and through questionnaires. Thereafter, consumer clinics were

conducted to show and test the design to get substantial feedback. Based on the

feedback from the clinics, consumers’ important aspects regarding the interior

and the design features they preferred were prioritised. For example, the car’s

second and third rows were equipped with movement on each seat for

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consumers to adjust the seats for different reasons and to make the whole system

flat, making it flexible to load items in the back (IH).

Another example of consumer preference integrated into the car’s interior

was the human-machine interface. This technology is related to today’s

consumers who are accustomed to tablets and easy movement. Nowadays

children walk right up to a screen and touch it; they do not look for a remote

control. In other words, the manufacturer is up to date with people’s lives and

considered this in the car’s interior by providing comfort and flexibility about

technology to make consumers feel special in the cabin. Once the consumer

preferences had been implemented in the car’s interior, media and press were

invited to test the car and concept. This was to allow media to write about the

driving experience, which influences consumer expectations of test-driving the

vehicle at car dealerships and the perception of the car’s interior. IH expressed

the following:

“We design cars for our consumers; it is so incredibly important. It is one of our core values. We design cars that people want and

not just design cars for designers. So at the end of the day, we are

a human-centric brand that designs for people and their lifestyle. That is the absolute key to getting the product right”.

The manufacturer strives to have cars that consumers want. Over time, the

manufacturer has been successful in developing comfortable seating. During

product development of the seating, clinics and surveys were used for data

collection. The clinics were conducted in-house with employees from different

departments. The clinics focused on evaluating and testing the seating to

identify the most suitable regarding shape, foam, comfort, and a suitable

position in relation to the steering wheel and buttons since consumers vary in

age, height, and weight. This was achieved from previous expertise and

knowledge about the seating and comfort. Moreover, data was collected from

an external survey company, which collected consumer preferences from the

automotive industry. This was important since the automotive industry has

become more global, and the seating needed to accommodate consumers in

various markets and countries. Another trend was that consumers wanted the

car to have more space inside, as well as to be fuel-efficient. Therefore, the

seating became smaller and was reduced in weight compared with previous car

models. The changes to the car’s interior provided consumers with a feeling of

space and reduced the total weight of the car, resulting in a more fuel-efficient

vehicle (ID).

To get the holistic impression of the car’s interior, it was tested with

consumers before becoming available on the market. As an illustration, comfort

was tested through test drives to get the human perspective of how consumers regarded the seating. The test drives were conducted with consumers over

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shorter and longer distances, and occurred before, during and after the product

development and design of the seating. In particular, the manufacturer wanted

to get consumers’ perceptions of how the seating was experienced from a

holistic point of view to enhance the driving experience. In this regard, the first

signed contract with the supplier had ambiguities relating to the characteristics

of the seating. It was developed over time to fit consumer needs, which resulted

in the contract with the supplier needing to be renegotiated. IM stated that “The

end consumers are imperative since they are the foundation for Volvo Cars to

sell cars”.

As with the seating, consumers’ preferences were investigated before

developing the steering wheel. Consumers were imperative for the product

development and design of the steering wheel. The investigation looked at what

kind of buttons and functions to include, and consumer preference of the visual

appearance of the steering wheel. Consumer clinics were conducted, wherein

surveys evaluating the steering wheel were handed out. The results from these

surveys showed it was crucial that the steering wheel be visually appealing and

user-friendly with buttons that are easy to learn without having to consult an

instruction book, so as to have a car that is effortless to drive (IL).

5.3.2 Exploring consumers’ emotions and preferences

Consumers played a significant role in the product development and design of

the car’s interior in several ways. The manufacturer first scanned eventual

complaints from owners of the previous car model about the car’s interior. This

was to identify and address weaknesses to improve the quality of the car’s

interior from the old model to the updated model. For example, third-row

seating has high comfort even if it has become smaller, which increases adult

passengers’ leg space. Another input on the car’s interior was obtained through

clinics arranged in-house to identify consumers’ perceptions about the interior

in different phases before the car became available on the market. A third input

that had an immense impact on the interior was focus groups with target

consumers. Results from the focus groups showed that consumers are willing to

pay a premium price for luxury components. For example, if consumers in the

focus groups had an adverse impression regarding the gear lever knob in crystal,

this interior would not have been included in the car (IG).

Since the interior was developed for the consumers, the manufacturer

explored and learnt as much as possible about them. This, in combination with

prior knowledge about the previous model, was used in the product

development and design of the car’s interior. Consumer feedback, complaints

and consumer demands from owners of the old car model were considered.

Moreover, various attributes and components were tested on different occasions

to ensure a uniform car. The tests were divided into functional and emotional

tests. Functional tests were clinics where consumers were invited to try different

interiors, such as the seating, and express feedback about that component.

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Emotional tests were performed on the whole car, with old and new consumers

expressing their impressions, opinions, and emotions about the vehicle. The

emotional tests were crucial since the focus has moved from practical to

experience attributes (IB).

Apart from emotional and functional tests, it was important to know about

consumer emotions and preconceptions of the brand and product range. Since

the luxury segment was targeted, consumers from the premium segment were

identified and involved to follow the car from production to manufacturing.

These consumers discussed, for example, materials of the interior. In addition,

cars are global products and need to appeal to consumers worldwide, thus global

trends and general attributes, such as mobile phones and tablets, were

considered to be able to connect and integrate these with the technology in the

car (IB).

Over time, the manufacturer followed global trends to develop comfortable

seating to have a high reputation among consumers. Consumers’ knowledge of

attributes to the design of comfortable seating was considered. Based on this

information, a prototype of the seating was developed, which had comfortable

surface areas consumers tested and evaluated. Therefore, in-house comfort tests

were arranged for the seating. The comfort tests were organised in different

phases of product development and design at a driving track where consumers’

drove the car with the prototype seating. These consumers varied in height and

weight to evaluate the comfort feeling and overall perception when driving and

sitting in the seats. For example, consumers established whether the material

felt soft and natural against their skin and adapted to their body. Regarding this

information, the seat’s surface was adjusted with the intention of satisfying as

many consumers as possible (IF).

In conformity with the seating, consumers were imperative for the product

development and design of the steering wheel. From a consumer perspective,

the steering wheel had to be comfortable to hold, be grip-friendly, be easy to

use, have soft edges, and have buttons within reach. Moreover, lessons learnt

and consumer feedback from previous steering wheels were used to enhance the

comfort and quality experience for driving. To identify the optimal steering

wheel, consumer clinics was conducted to test different attributes, such as the

thickness of the rim, thumb grip, heating, and material (IC).

Moreover, when purchasing the car, consumers can select between various

predefined options to personalise the car’s interior, such as regular or sports

seats, which have different characteristics. Compared with the regular seating,

the sports seats have lateral support for consumers to sink down and get a racing

feeling while driving, which affects how consumers get in and out of the car.

These were characteristics investigated and explored at the comfort tests during

the product development and design of the seating (IF).

Through input channels for the leather dashboard, the manufacturer investigated and explored consumer complaints regarding quality and warranty

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issues from previous car models. These consumer input channels were used

since the leather dashboard has no practical value. Instead, the material of the

dashboard is selected by consumers to enhance a feeling of luxury by adding a

leather component. Therefore, previous consumer complaints were an

important input channel to enhance the luxury feeling. For instance, the leather

dashboard is strongly associated with consumers who want exclusive natural

materials in cars to enhance a luxury image and aesthetics. IE expressed that:

“The dashboard in leather is the ultimate luxury car interior

consumers can have. Only an exclusive limited number of

consumers purchase it. That is why the dashboard in leather is emphasised in Volvo Cars commercials and exhibitions to give

consumers a luxury image”.

5.3.3 Appealing to consumers’ human senses

In the product development and design process for the seating, the consumer

was centralised. The seating was developed to be comfortable in road curves

based on individuals’ preferences, in terms of their height and weight, to achieve

the perfect seating to accommodate as many consumers as possible. The reason

for this was that the manufacturer otherwise needed to manage and have several

seats to fit various consumers on the global marketplace. In other words, the

manufacturer needed to know how consumers behaved and whom they are in

relation to seating biomechanics. Moreover, the product development and

design of the car’s interior focused on functional attributes. For example, the

main focus for the steering wheel is to steer the car and work properly on the

road. Hence, the consumer who drives the car was centralised, since the car’s

interior is built around it. Another example was the location of the screen.

Consumers need to be within reach of and be able to see the information on the

screen while driving. Another example of an important feature in the car is the

human-machine interface, since consumers widely use technology like mobile

phones and tablets in their daily lives. Consequently, a central aspect was how

to integrate this technology in the car’s interior. Therefore, how consumers used

technical products was explored on the US West Coast, which is where

individuals are trendsetters for technology and design (IN).

Although the car was developed for the US and Chinese markets, it is

available for consumers worldwide. The challenge was to adapt to these markets

and consumers without losing the Scandinavian heritage. This was imperative

since US and Swedish consumers perceive appealing luxury design differently.

US consumers associated luxury design with wood and plush materials in dark

wood. However, Swedish consumers related luxury design with simplicity and

calm, cool colours. These two ways of perceiving luxury design were used in

the interior to bring forth a balance of luxury design without losing the

Scandinavian brand heritage. For example, the car’s interior is designed to

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reflect Scandinavia by using material like birchwood in calm, cool hues as well

as using dark wood panels. Hence, when consumers purchase the car, it provides

a luxury design based on their preferences (IN).

Compared with previous models, targeting a new consumer segment pushed

for a premium car interior to be perceived as luxury. To achieve a premium car

interior, the manufacturer provided the latest technology since consumers

perceive premium as being centred on technology. Moreover, compared with

previous models, the design focused on attracting consumer lifestyle through

active gear for skiing to the architecture of the coastline of light and ambient.

To achieve and enhance a premium feeling, quality materials in the car’s interior

fit and finish were used. Quality materials, such as leather and birchwood, were

combined with clean architecture to create true Scandinavian design surfaces.

This was inspired by the Oslo Opera House and Scandinavian shades and

materials, such as Orrefors glass, which is intelligent to resolve to make the best

of the material. For example, the shallow back of the seat and the soft cushion

on the front help consumers to get into a seat and the comfortable and clean

design are related to Scandinavia. Instead of having plastic switches

everywhere, four to five beautiful details – such as soft leather, wood, solid

crystal light gear leader and diamond-patterned rotary switches – were created,

which are called the car’s jewels. Therefore, the step from the league of a plain

interior into a premium interior was to have intelligent design, beautiful

materials with gorgeous jewel details, and the latest technology (IH).

In the seating, besides a premium car interior, an important aspect was

consumer needs. In particular, consumer needs for visually appealing design,

and low weight for environmental and tax classification. That is, the car’s

interior design was developed to be as attractive as possible for consumers. The

manufacturer added attributes related to consumers needs, such as ergonomics

and perceived quality. Ergonomics is related to comfort in seating, while

perceived quality is associated with the car interior’s holistic visual appearance.

For example, all of the seating’s material is uniform to enhance consumers’

holistic impressions of the interior. Moreover, quality systems were used to

measure errors consumers had in previous cars, though consumers could have

been satisfied with a car interior even if it had malfunctioned. In other words,

the system was filled with quality problems and consumers’ perceived opinions

that the manufacturer used in product development and design for the seating.

Thereafter, comfort clinics were conducted at different phases with employees,

allowing them to drive and experience the seating as well as to evaluate the

comfort. Employees looked at things like how hard the padding is and how the

lateral support worked in road curves, and how these were experienced by

consumers. II expressed that, “The consumer is crucial. The foundation to

develop something new is a combination of consumers’ future needs and

feedback on prior seating and other dimensions”.

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A balance of combined and integrated innovations with a good design

language in the car’s interior was seen as delivering beyond consumer

expectation. Nevertheless, the most important aspect was to provide an

attractive car’s interior from a design point of view. When consumers enter and

sit in the car, they assume that the car’s interior has the aesthetic quality, feels

comfortable and, compared to other brands, provides the feeling that the XC90

is better (IH). Therefore, the consumer need for ergonomics was considered in

the interior. For example, a spacious feeling inside was emphasised, which was

achieved by creating more volume in the cabin through having smaller interior

so consumers could get in and out of the car easily. More space was created by

modifying the car’s interior, so consumers have more room around their head

and shoulders, have a comfortable height on seatbelts and air conditioners, and

panels and clothes hangers are in the right places without obscuring vision while

driving. In addition, the manufacturer worked with surface materials and

interior lights in the dashboard, door panels, and roofing to make consumers

perceive the cabin as pleasant and roomy (IJ). IH expressed the below:

“You have to create your identity, you cannot just say we are a

car manufacturer, and we will do very similar to Audi, BMW, and Mercedes. We are a coacher and have an identity of our own and

then make the best of that”.

5.4 Suppliers’ role from the manufacturer’s

perspective

5.4.1 Evaluating suppliers

Suppliers for the seating were evaluated and involved in the product and

development process from early on. Suppliers were invited to compete for the

contract before the product and development process started. The competition

allowed several suppliers to compete for the contract based on a restriction

model involving demands like weight, ergonomics and quality for future

seating. During the competition, suppliers worked closely with the

manufacturer and received feedback and support to develop technical solutions.

Thereafter, all the suppliers’ solutions were evaluated by the manufacturer, who

made a holistic decision of which supplier was most suited to meet the

restriction model and become the official supplier. For example, one supplier

might have had a lower price per unit, but lacked prior experience and

knowledge of critical manufacturing aspects (II).

Afterwards, when the suppliers had the contract, they were needed for the

product and development of the seating. The manufacturer and suppliers had an

integrated collaboration, where the suppliers had accurate competence and

know-how, as well as abrasion resistance and structure to reply quickly to

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technical specifications from the manufacturer during the product development

of seating. However, the suppliers did not have solutions in storage, and used

previous experience and knowledge to alter components delivered to other

original equipment manufacturers to fit the demands. Since suppliers in the

automotive industry have standard components for a car’s interior, such as

seating rail and curve back systems, car manufacturers use these as original

equipment. Hence, if standard components could be utilised or modified, neither

the manufacturer nor the suppliers wanted to invest in new components for the

interior (II).

Therefore, suppliers of the car’s interior had an important role and

participated in the product development process, but this depended on what car

interior component suppliers provided to the manufacturer. In general, product

development was not conducted in-house. Instead, suppliers were involved in

product and development to find solutions related to the manufacturer’s

demands. During this phase, there was a close collaboration between the

manufacturer and suppliers to ensure that the requirements were fulfilled as

much as possible. Additionally, the manufacturer had suppliers that were of

strategic importance, who were involved in product and development before a

project started (IB).

Between the manufacturer and the strategically important suppliers, there

was close cooperation. It emphasises the demands to ensure that suppliers

developed solutions to fit the project. However, at this phase, suppliers were not

suppliers, they were considered external partners. To become a supplier, a

contract was needed stating that suppliers are delivering car interior components

to the manufacturer. The purpose of having a contract with suppliers at an early

stage was to explore if the project was feasible. Nevertheless, suppliers did not

wait for the manufacturer to contact them, and developed interiors that they

believed would benefit them, as well as contacted the manufacturer to identify

needs that could be fulfilled (IB).

To maintain a high-quality car interior, the manufacturer provided suppliers

with the specifications and tolerance to meet their needs. The specifications

were standard and suppliers coped within the tolerance. However, the closer

suppliers were within the tolerance of the car’s interior, the better product.

Moreover, suppliers were brought on board as soon as possible since they

assisted with knowledge and problem-solving through feedback. For instance,

suppliers assisted the manufacturer with knowledge on how to improve the car’s

interior through better fit, finish, and quality. This feedback was necessary for

the interior design to be feasible since end suppliers worked with the design and

could influence last-minute changes regarding technologies. Regarding the

seating, one supplier had just developed new heating/cooling systems for

versatile systems, which was offered to be integrated into the interior at the same

cost. This was because the manufacturer and the supplier had collaborated to that extent to incorporate the versatile systems. However, the manufacturer did

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not say to the supplier that they wanted a new technology in the seating that was

not in line with the design and fit. As an illustration, for a sound system in the

seating, technology needed to be explored with an expensive development cost.

As a foundation for discussion, the manufacturer had a dialogue with suppliers

and informed them what interior is interesting in forthcoming platforms and the

future. From the interview, IH said:

“The suppliers are crucial. It does not matter how much work we do within Volvo Cars, if the suppliers cannot produce the parts to

the right quality, the right dimensions or on time, then the car is

not complete. You cannot create a product and not have seats in it, infotainment in it or a steering wheel; it all has to come together

and have the right quality. So that puts real importance on the suppliers”.

The supplier of the seating was important for the manufacturer’s product

development. The seating supplier had in-house product development, and what

the supplier had was considered in combination with what was wanted, what

competitors had and what end consumers wanted. Once the manufacturer knew

what it wanted, there was a close collaboration and involvement with the

supplier, since the product development was not conducted in-house. For the

seating, the manufacturer decided on the design and told the supplier how the

structure was visualised, the shape of the foam and how it feels when end

consumers sit in it. The supplier contributed know-how on the underlying

structure, such as how to fit technical attributes like heating into the decided

design. Moreover, the supplier conducted in-house product development of

seating to show upcoming trends and suggested changes to exert downward

pressure on price per unit for the manufacturer (ID).

Similarly, suppliers were involved and assisted the manufacturer in the

product development of the trim panel. The manufacturer decided what kind of

demands the trim panel had and a collaboration with the supplier regarding

uncertain process parameters ensued. In these uncertain process parameters, the

supplier had an important supporting role in finding solutions to what kind of

technology was or was not feasible, such as in the case of textile compilation.

Hence, the supplier had knowledge and information regarding what was or was

not technically possible to deliver (IJ).

Aside from what was or was not possible, the supplier was limited in

influencing the car’s interior design. The manufacturer set the design and sent

it to the supplier as a build to print, which is the foundation of the construction

plan for the supplier. Thereafter, the manufacturer tested and ensured that the

trim panel fulfilled the stated criteria and demands, such as material, to fit the

interior in a holistic manner. In the next phase, the supplier used series tools and equipment and produced until pipestatus, which means that the supplier showed

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that the trim panel could be mass-produced without deviating from previously

stated criteria and demands (IJ).

5.4.2 Different suppliers

Suppliers of the car’s interior contributed to the product development process

regarding technical input to ensure a feasible design. The suppliers were part of

the engineering process of the car’s interior, particularly if the construction was

purchased from the supplier. In that case, the supplier constructed the car

interior and delivered it to the manufacturer. However, if the manufacturer had

in-house construction, the suppliers contributed with tool knowledge on, for

instance, how the tool was visualised and if the design was feasible (IN).

Before the technical project regarding product development of the feasible

car’s interior design, the manufacturer’s purchase department managed the

dialogue with the suppliers. Once the technical project was initiated, the

engineering department took over all contact with the suppliers. During the

collaboration, the manufacturer’s engineer together with the suppliers

elaborated the product development of the car’s interior regarding technical

solutions to make it feasible. However, the main design and holistic feeling of

the car’s interior were already set before the suppliers’ involvement in the

product development. Hence, if the interior design was not feasible, the design

department became involved in the collaboration to approve or reject changes.

For example, in complex situations with solutions to make the design feasible,

the manufacturer’s design department had direct contact with the suppliers

instead of the engineering department. Although the suppliers could suggest

changes in the car’s interior design, they also developed standard components

for car manufacturers. Safety is a core value of the manufacturer and suppliers

know that the manufacturer has cars with high safety, thus suppliers often

presented novel technical solutions, such as new seat belts and airbags, to the

manufacturer. If the supplier succeeded in selling these safety components to

the manufacturer, other car manufacturers would assemble the same solution in

their cars due to the reputation (IN).

Regarding the leather dashboard, the supplier did not just sell a standard car

interior; it had a tremendous influence on product development and design.

Since the manufacturer purchased the product development from the supplier,

the latter provided expertise and knowledge in the manufacturing process and,

to some part, in the architectural drawings. However, the manufacturer

conducted product development and design of the standard dashboard in-house

and stated that a particular supplier provided the leather. Hence, the supplier

focused on additional attributes, such as cladding the leather on the standard

dashboard (IE).

Furthermore, the collaboration between the manufacturer and the supplier

was complex, with several actors involved. Besides the collaboration between

the manufacturer’s design department and the supplier of the particular

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component of the car’s interior, another supplier for the leather was involved.

An example of complexity was that when purchasing the car, end consumers

select if they want a standard or leather dashboard. In this regard, both

dashboards needed to have the same measurements and design to fit in

manufacturing, as well as have the same design language as the rest of the car’s

interior. Therefore, the supplier for the leather dashboard provided input and

solutions based on their equipment and manufacturing tools to assemble in

accordance with the decided design language (IE).

Assembling problems in the product development and design for the car

interior occurred over time. Suppliers had solutions to the problems since they

were responsible for the construction process. Initially, the manufacturer

created a sketch based on a design theme – that is, Scandinavian design – that

was the foundation of a surface model for the structure of the seating. The

structure depended on technical solutions below the surface of the seating. One

issue involved the button on the seat that went into the door; another problem

was the seats on the third row with some metal pieces that the supplier solved.

The product development concerned several suppliers, and one particular

supplier was responsible for assembling and delivering the complete seating to

the manufacturer. That is, a particular supplier manufactured the structure of the

seating, and another manufactured the foam for the manufacturer as engineering

intent. Hence, the manufacturer in the product development process provided

suppliers with information about the future design language and technical

attributes for the seating to identify solutions and suggestions to make it

feasible. In other words, the manufacturer had a contract with the suppliers for

the seating based on general characteristics, and not by studying underlying

components in detail. Thereafter, the design vision merged over time with the

suppliers’ solutions to technical attributes and components of the seating (IF).

All suppliers involved in the seating were full-service suppliers. They worked

with the product development and played a significant role in selecting

components, as well as the visual appearance. Design and appearance were

decided by the manufacturer to have the right visual appearance and feeling.

The suppliers assisted the manufacturer in ensuring that the design and visual

appearance of the seating were feasible in the construction phase (IM).

Moreover, the manufacturer’s purchase department did not influence the

design. The purchase department received information about the design and

appearance, as well as the criteria and demands from the design department to

sign a contract with the supplier. Based on this purchase information, a

specification was sent to the supplier, who replied to meet criteria and demands

before the contract was signed. However, changes occurred during the product

development process, and a tender contract with additional information like

technical changes was added to the original contract. These technical changes

occurred due to non-feasible components in relation to the design or number of units to be delivered (IM).

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5.4.3 Suppliers’ input

Suppliers played a significant role in the manufacturer’s product development

and design of the car’s interior. They provided input and feedback regarding

trends in and news on the automotive market, as well as attributes that might

become standard in the future. Regarding the design, the manufacturer gave new

and old suppliers of the interior information pertaining to how the future design

is visualised, which made the collaboration close in the product development

process. In rare cases, suppliers of underlying car interior components could

influence the design. If so, suppliers needed to ensure that the design change

fulfilled the stated demands and was cost-efficient. However, the visible interior

on the surface was designed based on the manufacturer’s demand to have a

coherent design concept – in this case, Scandinavian design (IA).

The steering wheel supplier was responsible for determining what

technology was feasible under the coherent design. The manufacturer provided

the supplier with a three-dimensional model of the steering wheel’s look and

design. Based on lessons learnt and existing knowledge, the supplier gave

feedback on whether the steering wheel design was feasible or not. However,

the manufacturer was responsible for the design and decided if changes were

approved. Examples of demands given to the supplier were high quality and

sustainable material. Hence, the manufacturer decided on the design of the

steering wheel and the supplier ensured it was feasible for production by

developing the component according to the contract (IC).

It was important for the supplier of the steering wheel to bring forth technical

solutions based on the contract. However, before a contract with a supplier was

signed, several suppliers were shown the steering wheel and allowed to suggest

improvements. Thereafter, a supplier was selected that fitted the design and was

in line with the interior concept of the car, with the manufacturer collaborating

with this supplier in the product development. At this point, the manufacturer

informed the supplier how the steering wheel was designed, and the supplier

developed technical solutions to fulfil the design. For example, the supplier

adapted the steering wheel to the manufacturer’s new emblem. The challenge

for the supplier was to assemble and fit the emblem in the centre of the steering

wheel. The supplier resolved this by working with new attachments so the

emblem was nailed to the steering wheel in case there was a collision and the

airbag was disengaged. Other problems with the airbag that the supplier solved

were related to the collision, safety, and performance. Initially, to integrate a

steering wheel with an airbag was complicated. The supplier had to trim and

identify solutions during the development process – in particular, the airbag was

modified to have the right fit until mass production started. Moreover, the

manufacturer had a constructor informing the supplier how the design for the

steering wheel was visualised as well as providing feedback on technical

solutions developed by the supplier. That is, the supplier influenced simple

issues, such as attachments of the steering wheel, steering column, as well as

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how the attachments and thread are visualised. IL expressed that, “The supplier

for the steering wheel had nothing to do with the design”.

Suppliers for the car’s interior had an important role, since the manufacturer

just assembled the interior components in the car. This role was different

depending on what car interior component suppliers provided. For example, a

standard component with a common manufacturing method was the inside of

the door, where only the material was exchanged for the car. Other suppliers

had in-house product development of the car’s interior. Suppliers visited the

manufacturer from time to time to show the latest interior and wanted to discuss

how to fit this into future cars. In the interview, IG stated that, “For Volvo Cars,

all car interior components are important to achieve harmony in the car’s

interior”.

To attain this, it was important that suppliers were responsive, considered the

manufacturer’s needs and had the interest to modify the car’s interior

components to fit with the car as a whole. An illustration of this is a supplier for

the touchscreen. Standard touch screens, such as an iPad, have a conductive

function, which means consumers need to put their finger on the screen to click.

However, the touchscreen in the car’s interior had an infrared grid system above

the screen, which means that a small stream runs through the finger, and the

consumer does not need to press on the screen. Light beams sense the finger

before the consumer touches the screen. Another example is the supplier for the

gear lever knob in crystal. It was the first interior component of the car that the

supplier delivered to the manufacturer. Therefore, an interest and a problem-

solving spirit were necessary (IG).

Aside from an interest and a problem-solving spirit, the collaboration with

the supplier for the gear lever knob in crystal demanded a deeper and more

flexible approach. Since the supplier had never manufactured a component for

a car’s interior before, the interest to work with the manufacturer was necessary.

Challenges that occurred during the product and development process were that

the supplier manufactured handmade products with no knowledge or experience

of mass production. From the manufacturer’s perspective, the supplier needed

to ensure that all car interior units were produced identically, since the gear lever

knob was sent to another supplier that assembled the complete gearbox

transmission and glued plastic components on the crystal. Another problem that

demanded attention was that crystal is not like glass. Since there is a light

refraction, consumers cannot see through the crystal. Hence, the manufacturer

needed to modify the design of the gear lever knob in crystal and find a joint

solution with the supplier with floodlights to have a more pleasant experience

(IG).

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5.5 Embedding sensory cues

5.5.1 Based on the human senses

The car’s interior is something consumers can see and touch all the time. For

this reason, the manufacturer focused on creating a pleasant car interior that is

human-centric. In particular, the car’s interior is visually appealing, and easy to

use to simplify consumers’ lives. Therefore, touching the car’s interior is a

critical dimension to ensure a high-quality perception – this includes how it feels

to press control buttons, to hold the steering wheel, and to touch surfaces.

However, most important are that all of the components of the car’s interior

converge into a holistic design that is simple and user-friendly (IB).

Apart from fitting the holistic interior design of the car, the seating was

created according to the theme “Designed Around You”. This theme ensures

that the seating is ergonomically designed to cater for the consumers’ bodies.

Designing slim seats expresses handcraft and the seating’s surface was designed

for the human body, which allows the consumer to sit more comfortably. The

seats are available as comfort or sports shapes, and can be selected in different

materials, such as leather or fabric, and each has different features. The sports

seating has frictional material that supported the spoon-like shape with vertical

angles on the cushions. The spoon design enhances a sporty experience, and the

consumer is sucked down into the seat and feels like he/she fits perfectly. The

comfortable seating focuses on comfortable dimensions, as the horizontal seat

cushions allow the consumer to, for instance, move and turn freely in the seating

to check on children in the backseat, or to jump in and out of the car more easily.

Nevertheless, the appearance of both types of seats is identical in the second

and third rows, as well as the rest of the car’s interior. The prior car model had

different headrests for each row, but with this model, the manufacturer

implemented headrests with the same design in all three rows, which means that

the comfort is the same throughout (IF).

The manufacturer wanted to take the next step in the design of the car’s

interior, having it perceived as luxurious and positioning the manufacturer as a

premium brand with a higher market price. In the interior, this was achieved

through certain features in product development and design. Initially, compared

with previous car models, better materials were used, placed and shaped in a

way that the inside is perceived as being more appealing. For example, the doors

have wooden panels in a split shape, so as to have a bright area on top of the

wood, creating a shadow on the lower part, which enhances the perception of a

lively interior (IG).

Another way luxury was portrayed in the interior was through the use of

indirect illumination with a warm white hue. Indirect illumination is light bulbs

that are hidden and light a broad area of the interior to provide an impression of

harmony and warmth. A warm and harmonious illumination gives consumers a comfortable experience while driving. Areas in the cabin that have indirect

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illumination are storage areas, such as glove and luggage compartments, door

panels, as well as the floor and under the seats (IK). Moreover, the dashboard

was designed with horizontal lines to give the cabin a wide, roomy feeling. The

lack of external buttons furnished consumers with an ambience that is not

overwhelming. Compared with a Porsche Panamera, which has a middle section

that looks like an airplane with its buttons and switches, the Volvo XC90’s

interior has a down-to-earth design that represents a comfortable car that is for

more than just driving. An example of this is by having responses in control

buttons with a comfortable feeling without making any disturbing noises.

Hence, the car’s interior was designed coherently with a harmonious visual

appearance. From the interview, IG expressed the following:

“In total, the car’s interior has approximately 284 details. It is on an entirely new platform for our cars. Our responsibility was to

visually ensure that all cars’ interiors fitted with one another.

Hence, it is as attractive as possible and addresses consumers’ expectations today through a modern and appealing design. It

includes everything you see when you are in the car. We are

responsible for everything you see or touch. Our responsibility for design is the width, pillar, ceiling in the cabin, doors, carpets, in

other words, everything you can see and touch”.

The seating is attractive and its high quality can be felt when touching it. The

appearance was important, since the material needed to be visually appealing

with a slim design, but large enough to provide an impression of safety and

quality. For instance, the seating has leather that is not shiny, which could

provide an impression of it being plastic and a cheap design. In addition, the

seat material needs to feel good when consumers touch it – that is, it should feel

solid and robust. Similarly, when consumers touch buttons, they should hear no

sound, since disturbing noises negatively influence perceived quality.

Consumers expect and want natural sounds when doing things like adjusting the

seats. Another dimension that influences perceived quality is scent. Consumers

expect the leather seats to smell like leather. However, leather has no natural

scent, so this material was processed to fulfil consumers’ expectations of how

leather smells (II).

Besides fulfilling expectations of comfort and ergonomics, the seating

consists of small unique details that end consumers might not see straight away.

An example of these details is the small Swedish flags on the headrests. These

details encourage consumers to want to experience the seating subconsciously.

Once consumers are sitting in the car, they feel how comfortable and ergonomic

the seats are during long drives, and have the option of easily modifying things

like the angle of the backrest (IM).

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When driving, the steering wheel gives consumers an impression of the car

being premium. The most important aspect to achieving this premium

impression of the steering wheel was its appearance. It provides a feeling of

luxury since it is an eye-catching interior central to all cars. For that reason, an

attractive design is crucial for consumers. However, the steering wheel has to

be user-friendly and attributes like the paddle shifters must be at a comfortable,

reachable distance and not make any sounds during usage (IL).

When consumers purchase the car, they can choose from two steering wheel

models – normal and sports. The models are similar in design and are available

in a bright or dark colour with three spokes. Both steering wheels are

constructed to be comfortable and grasp-friendly, and have a thumb grip so

drivers have a natural position to place their hands. The difference between the

two types of steering wheels is that the sports one has cavernous spokes, a

different design for the manufacturer’s emblem and perforated leather for a

sportier grip. Although the steering wheel itself does not make any sounds, an

important aspect related to quality is the sound from the car paddles and

switches, and the horn. For example, consumers’ impressions of perceived

quality can be influenced negatively if disturbing noises come from the car

paddles and switches or the horn, or if there is a plastic feeling when pressed

(IC).

The quality of the trim panel is dependent on the visual aspect of the rest of

the interior. In particular, the manufacturer focused on the interplay between the

interior in colours and available concepts for consumers purchasing the car. For

example, trim panels, such as air outlets, covers, and high adjustments, are

designed to be unified with everything else inside the car, so the holistic visual

impression is interconnected without any gaps. The material used for the trim

panel is a robust engineering plastic, as it has dimensional stability and solidity,

and has a trim panel that is easy for consumers to clean. The trim panel’s

material is sustainable, does not scratch during daily usage, and withstands

cleaning and vacuuming, looking “new” for several years. In terms of touch, the

trim panel feels solid and robust. Therefore, particular spots of the trim panel

that consumers usually touch was identified and coded into numbers. This

because the manufacturer needed measurements to work towards regarding how

much the trim panel was allowed to move when consumers touch it, as well as

not squeak and rattle (IJ).

5.5.2 Based on brand-related stimuli

Nowadays, most car brands are safe, which is the basic requirement for

transportation, and consumers become committed to a brand by looking at the

attractive design. Therefore, much effort was put into creating a design with

clean architecture of the car’s interior to visually attract consumers. Moreover,

the manufacturer ensured it had the right touch and feel on its surfaces and

materials. For example, the leather of the car’s interior is visually appealing and

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feels like leather when consumers touch it, as well as smells like leather. In

terms of sound, compared with previous models, the car has a more silent cabin.

For example, glass was developed to shelter the cabin from unwanted noises.

Furthermore, a new sound entertainment system was introduced to enhance the

driving experience. The engine also has a beautiful tone that is not loud and is

responsive to more sound when the driver accelerates. Although the cabin is

quiet, and free from squeaks and road noise under normal driving conditions,

consumers can hear the engine when they accelerate quickly. IH had the below

to say:

“What we want people to do when they first sit in the car is to identify something from Scandinavia. There is a design

philosophy behind that. It is about visually clean design and not overcomplicated and too busy. It is about correctly using the

materials. Moreover, it creates an environment that feels kind of

calm and resolved; it is a lot about intelligent design thinking on how to solve the problem. Having that when you sit in the car, it

makes you feel special and relaxed; you want to be in this

environment, and that is what we set out to do. You may find another brand, an Italian brand or a German brand that is more

focused on the driver’s experience and engagement. That is their kind of core belief. Ours is about the actual environment and this

tranquillity and design and connecting to people’s lifestyles and

their comfort”.

The visual appearance was vital in the product development and design of the

car’s interior. Most important was how consumers perceived the car interior as

high quality, providing solid and harmonious feelings. In particular, the

Scandinavian design was a central aspect of the appearance of the car’s interior.

To portray the Scandinavian heritage, the manufacturer used materials in calm,

cool colours and simple shapes, such as the soothing white light in the cabin.

As the interior’s material is important, it all fitted together holistically, making

other dimensions critical for consumers’ perceived quality of the interior. For

example, if the consumers see a control button that appears to be metal and it

does not provide the sensation of metal when touched, the perceived quality will

be influenced negatively. Therefore, the focus on the car’s interior was to use

natural materials and, for instance, if an aspect of the interior looks like metal,

it needs to be metal. Another example of perceived quality is different sounds.

The interior should not rattle or make any disturbing noises as this will

negatively impact consumers’ perceived quality. In the interview, IA stated:

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“We have changed strategy. We have manufactured good

pragmatic cars, which have lacked personality and emotional

values. However, we have noticed that personality and emotional values are more important in the premium segment”.

The leather dashboard has a specific shape and geometry that is unique in the

premium segment of the automotive industry. This dashboard embodies the

manufacturer’s Scandinavian history by translating the Swedish nature into the

car’s interior design, which is reflected in the shape and material of the

component. For instance, the leather panel has an undulated shape that is

distinguishable from other interior components without losing the coherent

design language. Materials like leather and wood from Scandinavian forests

were used as these provide consumers with a luxury feeling through the sense

of sight due to the dashboard’s location. Real leather was used, rather than vinyl

material, so consumers feel a sense of luxury is when they look at and touch the

dashboard (IE).

Specific materials and colours were used in the interior to remind consumers

of Scandinavia. These materials – including birchwood and crystal, coastal

colours, and lots of illumination with a big sunroof allowing light to enter the

cabin – are dimensions used together to create the right environment. Hence,

what makes the brand premium is connecting Scandinavia with the human

senses. It all started with visual elements in the interior design that provided the

rest of the experience through touch, sound and smell. According to the

manufacturer, a visually appealing design is a priority for all brands. Even if

safety is the most important core value for the manufacturer, the car’s interior

still needs to be attractive for the sense of sight (IH).

To be visually attractive, it was crucial to use colours, materials, and shapes

associated with Scandinavia in the interior. This is exemplified in the interior

through flame birchwood panels with mountain patterns coloured in dark red.

The car’s interior is customised for the US automotive industry with the dark

wood, but still retains the Scandinavian design. Another example of the

Scandinavian design is the light, matt wood panel that provides the cabin with

a bright impression. Moreover, the fabric selection was crucial for the sense of

touch, as there is an enormous difference touching vinyl and leather compared

with wood and plastic. In particular, consumers’ perceptions of the car’s interior

will be influenced if they sit in the seats and get a visual impression of leather,

but it is actually vinyl; or if the interior appears to be wood, but it turns out to

be plastic. For that reason, the manufacturer ensured that material was real, so

the consumer could have the right experience when looking at and touching the

interior (IN).

Aside from the right look and touch, the car’s interior needed to be solid and

not rattle, since this influences consumers’ emotions negatively. For instance, a heavy sound occurred when a door is closed, but had this been soft or plastic-

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sounding, consumers would get the wrong impression. Hence, sounds in the

interior needed to have the right character, which is exemplified by the sounds

consumers create themselves. For instance, the tablet in the car’s interior makes

a specific noise when touched. If it was a dull plop sound, another impression

not associated with a quality tablet occurs. A further example of the importance

of sound is that the car is quiet. In this regard, the sound of the engine is not too

loud, since the cabin is manufactured to be silent. This is portrayed when a

person in the front seat can speak and hear someone in the third row. IN

expressed the following:

“Entering the XC90 is like stepping into a nicely decorated living room. It is bright and has a lot of space. We have designed the

seating with slim backs that are very thin that give an impression of brightness and space, rather than narrow and dark. You also

have good vision from the seating, both of the cabin and outside.

The location of the seating feels very exclusive when entering the car and sitting down on it feels expensive, which it is”.

The manufacturer focused on having the seating in line with the car’s exterior

and purpose. The car is a traditional family SUV with a young look and a

premium feeling of luxury. To achieve this feeling, the seating had to become

slimmer and not occupy space, and provide a roomy sense. The car’s interior

provides consumers with a feeling of being out in nature and in the sun.

Moreover, the seat fabric feels like a Scandinavian design with functional and

natural features. An illustration of this design is the leather in calm colours with

detailed stitching used for the seating, which invites the consumer to look at it

and feel luxurious and comfortable while sitting on it. These feelings are

maintained while driving the car – a crucial part of the experience. Since

consumers drive almost every day, they might get frustrated if the seating is

uncomfortable. Therefore, the Scandinavian design of the seats feels inviting

and, combined with superb ergonomic elements for the back, ensures that the

consumer feels comfortable when driving long distances. In addition, the seats

do not make any sounds that negatively influence consumers’ feelings of luxury

and comfort. ID expressed the below during the interview:

“Once you open the door to the car, the visual appearance you

see must feel super premium. We have worked to provide that feeling. Of course, when you sit in the seating, you will see the

passenger and back seats, where the same feeling is maintained”.

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5.6 Staging the brand experience

5.6.1 Sensory appealing

It was imperative that the car’s interior appealed to consumers’ human senses.

Therefore, the Scandinavian design was vital due to the association with silence

in the Nordic countries. The car has a big cabin that is silent but functional,

which was achieved by the manufacturer removing redundant buttons, and

replacing these with a user-friendly tablet. The silence and simplicity of the car

are Scandinavian aspects that the manufacturer has embedded in the car’s

interior. Furthermore, the car’s high seats, which are characteristic of premium

SUVs, give consumers more control while driving. Hence, the Scandinavian

design reflects the car’s interior to provide a holistic appearance of high quality

that translates as premium (ID).

However, the manufacturer did not just focus on the visual experience to

construct the car’s interior to appeal to the human senses. Although it all starts

with the visual experience, it goes beyond the design, since other senses are

needed to relate to the sense of sight – for example, a window or light needs to

be in a particular position. Hence, the car’s interior is not developed only from

a visual point of view, but as well from the holistic consumer experience

perspective. This is exemplified by that particular area needing to be soft, and

others needing it to be hard or calm and cool to get the right car interior

experience (IH).

The car’s interior provides a holistic impression. For example, the steering

wheel in terms of colour, shape, and leather was in unison with the rest of

interior, such as the seating, to be perceived as one harmonious unit. Moreover,

the steering wheel is high quality and feels safe, as when the consumer holds

the steering wheel, he/she feels that it is natural, comfortable, and pleasant to

hold. These feelings are important as steering the car influences the daily

driving experience. Therefore, the steering wheel needed to be natural with a

clean finish and feel soft without disturbing consumers with sharp edges, as well

as correlate with the seating so the driver has enough room and is comfortable

with his/her hands and feet. IC explained that:

“The silence and simplicity of the car are Scandinavian aspects that the manufacturer has embedded in the car’s interior.

Furthermore, the car’s high seats, which are characteristic of

premium SUVs, give consumers more control while driving. “

The manufacturer’s theme “Designed around you” and safety core value are the

foundation of the seating. To achieve these, the consumer was the focus, which

means having a caring, modern and efficient design that was slim and well-

equipped. Challenges with the design were to ensure that the seating was soft and not hard, fit consumers’ bodies, and aligned the component with the rest of

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the car’s interior to reflect the simplicity and purity of the Scandinavian design.

Moreover, once the consumers open the door, the car’s interior must make them

feel happy, satisfied and want to sit in the car, rather than to give an impression

of wood and being boring. Hence, consumers portray the seating as being

comfortable to sit in and the car to be trusted when driving long distances,

without feeling uncomfortable. In other words, the seating is necessary for the

consumer to experience the car’s interior. Through the seating, consumers get

to know the car when driving. Therefore, the seating was designed to

accommodate the human form, supporting the curve of the back to avoid hurting

the consumers with unnatural seating positions. In the interview, IF expressed

the following:

“A challenge was to design comfortable seating that is different. If the design is visually appealing with concave or double concave

surfaces, which do not follow the body, the seating is

uncomfortable for consumers”.

With a car’s interior that appeals to the human senses, the seating provides

consumers with several emotions. For example, the design of the seating is

slimmer with cushion extensions and lots of stitching. The consumers view this

new slim design as visually appealing, comfortable and ergonomic, as the seats

are high quality, flexible and user-friendly with adjustable settings like the back

angle. The consumers experience all this when they open the door to the cabin,

and feel that they have selected the right car. Hence, the seating is a central

aspect of these impressions. Moreover, the seating is harmonised with other

elements of the interior design, such as the dashboard and centre console, to be

high quality. This is seen in the material through touch and sound, as the same

design language was used for the interior, including buttons to have the same

feeling and sound when touched by consumers. Additionally, buttons are easy

for consumers to press without being disturbed while driving. Another

dimension of emotions is pleasure while driving, which is reflected in the design

of seating with a shape that has been adapted to the human body with lateral

support. This allows consumers to sit comfortably while driving and to not have

their knees against the tunnel console or door (II).

Similar to the seating, the steering wheel appeals to the human senses with

emotional values to enhance quality. The steering wheel is easy to grip and has

high-quality leather, providing consumers with a premium feel. Moreover, the

steering wheel is an optimal size and the consumer is to be able to hold it

comfortably, see the dashboard through it, and see the windscreen that has a

head-up display in the field of vision through which the consumer is informed

about current speed, cruise control, and navigation. In addition, the shape of the

steering wheel is in harmony with the rest of the interior, buttons and emblem, which has changed from blue and silver to black and silver (IL).

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Hence, the main focus for emotional values is that the car’s interior appeals

to consumers’ human senses. In particular, the gaps are important for the sense

of vision. The trim panel was not allowed to have any gaps and needed to be in

harmony with the fabric on the door and ceiling, with no metal visible. For

instance, the trim panel is next to the windshield because it influences how much

the consumer will see outside. Moreover, the material is textile on top and

plastic on the bottom to prevent stains from things like coffee, other beverages,

and chocolate, making it easy to clean and use on a daily basis (IJ).

To create a uniform car interior that appeals to the human senses, the

manufacturer x marked particular suppliers to have a consistent car interior

regarding materials and colours. This is exemplified by trim panels in chrome,

which are attributes in several different aspects of the interior. The advantage

with x marked suppliers is that all other suppliers that purchased chrome from

that particular supplier do not have varying finishes. If suppliers use different

sub-suppliers of chrome for a component of the interior, those chrome attributes

could end up looking iridescent and deviate from the standard. Another example

of x marked supplier is the foam used in the interior. Suppliers of components

containing foam, such as the dashboard, doors, and waist rail, purchased this

foam from the same sub-supplier. The reason for using these x marked suppliers

was to have the same colour and material to enhance the visual attractiveness of

the interior design (IN).

5.6.2 Emotionally appealing

Advertisements for the car communicated the manufacturer’s new beginning,

since it had never produced a car targeting such aware consumer segment

before. A high number of exclusive options were available in the car, such as a

dashboard in leather, cameras for parking and air suspension. Compared with

previous car models, everything was upgraded in this model in terms of

technical solutions and exclusive material to have a more expensive price tag

on the car. The safety core value did not disappear since it is a vital part of the

manufacturer heritage, although premium might become the next core value in

the future (IN).

With a premium car interior, US and Chinese consumers were targeted. To

understand what premium means for consumers, US consumers on the West

Coast with a high income and social status were explored in focus groups. Even

if Swedish people are aware of premium status, they are not as aware as US

consumers as the latter value the right brands, shoes, material, and the

importance of having an exclusive and elegant watch. In this regard, the car’s

interior needed to fulfil these criteria, since the targeted consumer segment

expects nothing less. Therefore, emotional values were imperative for when

consumers enter the cabin. For example, in terms of the material, if it looks like

leather, it must be leather since premium consumers expect nothing less (IN).

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Thus, the car’s interior was more important than the exterior. In most cases,

the person who purchases the car is the one who normally drives it. Therefore,

the car’s interior, particularly in the cockpit, was vital to appealing to

consumers’ emotions so that they feel comfortable in the seating and with the

steering wheel to obtain a pleasurable driving experience. Since the car is an

SUV, the manufacturer adapted the interior to consumers’ expectations and

needs. Compared with previous models, this is seen in the seating being higher,

since the consumers want to be in control and have a clear view like in a truck.

Hence, the interior reflects the character of the car and provides that impression

to consumers. The Scandinavian design focused on calm, cool colours with

smooth shapes to provide a holistic impression of serenity and simple

functionality. During the interview, IA expressed that:

“We talk about well-being. You feel that it is a comfortable

environment that is visually appealing, and you do not just enter

for transporting yourself. You get a pleasure driving; it is fun to drive, and you are enjoying it. Moreover, music is included, there

is so much more than what meets the eye. Everything needs to be

in concordance, such as harmony”.

The manufacturer did not define emotional values in product development and

design regarding the car’s interior. However, in the cockpit, several components

of the car’s interior were unified. From a design perspective, the car’s interior

is positioned to make consumers feel welcome when they enter the car – that is,

it must be appealing. Even if the main focus is driving the car, elements of the

car’s interior, such as the steering wheel and seating, are positioned to be

functional and safe to allow consumers to have an overview and be able to pay

attention to their surroundings, both inside and outside the car. For example, the

seating on the second and third rows is positioned so passengers do not feel

boxed in by the first row’s seats, nor that the window line is too low and gives

an impression of feeling small in a big car. In other words, the cabin of the car

is pleasant and not disturbing. IB expressed the following:

“We do not have a big vocabulary defining and describing emotional values, but we express us in a way to get there. What

we do have is a project statement, with the purpose of the car with

what kind of feelings and what part it plays in consumers’ lives. Hence, what we want internally with our branding strategy is to

have a higher price for a product that not only has functional value, but rather is selected with heart and emotions”.

The car’s interior design had emotional values that the manufacturer wants to provide to consumers. According to focus groups conducted by the

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manufacturer, consumers expressed that substance and style were needed in the

interior. The intention with substance is that a product is simple to understand,

just like an Apple product, and that in a matter of seconds consumers are

supposed to be able to use it, without reading a manual or trying different

features. Moreover, the human-machine interface is related to the substance

with the safety core value to simplify communication and information for the

consumer. However, even if the human-machine interface is not always online,

consumers should feel and know that the car is safe to drive. Alternatively, style

relates to having a visually appealing design, where the Scandinavian heritage

in the interior provided a calm ambiance. This was achieved through the use of

calm, cool colours, design, and shapes of the interior, as well as material

associated with Scandinavia. IG had the below to say:

“The consumer sits in the cabin. It is where he wants to be all the

time. The outside is how others look at me. It feels good that we

started to value the car’s interior more than the outside since it is related to our brand, where we think more about the cabin of the

car. It is where you care the most about the human. It means that

the car is the grease in the consumers’ lives just as luxury is the grease in the machine that is my life”.

The car’s interior is an important part of the consumer’s daily life. The

consumer enjoys the cabin just by sitting in and experiencing the car’s interior.

Moreover, the consumer feels that the seating is extremely comfortable and

experiences a sense of joy as the car is worth the extra cost. This was achieved

by creating an impression of space in the cabin that is simplistic, based on

Scandinavian design. For example, the design lines of the interior are large,

simple and horizontal sweeping without interruption to give a sense of an

environment that is roomy and neat. IN expressed the following during the

interview:

“We wanted to create a welcoming feeling when consumers enter the car. It feels like you want to be there. However, exactly

pinpointing what that is, is a combination of how consumers perceive and experience the car’s interior through their senses.

That feeling is crucial, as well as when consumers touch materials

that it feels good. It is very important”.

To ensure the right feel in the seats, detailed statements with substantial hard

facts were given to the supplier. These statements ensured that the seats fit in

the car body – for example, with screws in correct positions – and that it was in

line with the rest of the car’s interior, fulfilling measured aspects of the seating, such as position and angle, to best fit the human body. The demands were not

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described as emotional values, but as numbers in product development and

design that were given to the suppliers. However, the product development and

design for the different interior were isolated from each other in terms of

detailed statements. The demands were produced from a holistic perspective to

ensure that the total impression of the car was fulfilled. In addition, the seats

influenced the driving experience in different aspects. For instance, the seating

was not only visually appealing and looked comfortable, but also consisted of

small details like the Swedish flag, even if consumers cannot see it. Moreover,

while driving, the seating was comfortable and practical to adjust, and the right

height to easily get in and out of the car. IM said:

“We have demands on comfort. However, the problem is that it

needs to be experienced. Even if we, in written text, try to explain what we want, the final adjustment of seating was most crucial.

This was not anchored properly in written text since it was

problematic to emphasise emotional values in a detailed statement”.

Although the product development and design started with a detailed statement,

it was set up describing how the steering wheel and seating were connected in

relation to the floor and pedals. This was emphasised so that consumers are in

a favourable sitting position while driving. Moreover, details like being in line

of sight with windows were emphasised to ensure that the consumer could see

out of the car and what kind of experience it gives from a holistic perspective

(IG). When consumers sit in the car, they feel that the interior is special and has

an expensive environment, such as in a nice restaurant, house, or a boutique.

The experience of wanting to be in the cabin was to provide the latest

technology that is user-friendly, a nice calm architecture, beautiful materials

and details, good illumination, a silent environment and a sense of quality

through the smell of the material. This was combined with high quality in the

car’s interior, a tactile response when touching switches and a visual response

to create a premium experience. In the interview, IH expressed the following:

“Cars are a big part of people’s lives. It is the daily commute, it is the weekend enjoyment, and it is something that probably is

your second biggest expensive purchase. Apart from a house, a

car has the biggest value you purchase. It is also a symbol of who you are, what you want to achieve, and a statement of your

character, so I do think it plays an important role in who you are. The driving experience is if you have someone in the car and go

on a journey, the whole interior and how it was created and its

qualities will give him an experience. So the design is a fundamental part of that. You know if you get into an old van that

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is 20 years old or something, the car’s interior you are entering

in the XC90 will be completely different. Moreover, that is also

reflected in the balance of these elements in the design, architecture, technology, and details like comfort of the seats. It

creates an environment that feels premium”.

The leather dashboard supplied additional premium value for consumers, as it

is the ultimate luxury car interior consumers can have in the cabin. Natural

materials, such as leather, were used as they are associated with luxury and a

high-quality product. Moreover, to provide a holistic visual impression of the

cabin, the same design theme and colours were used as in other aspects of the

interior. However, a dashboard has no practical relevance or value and does not

enhance consumers’ driving experiences. Adding leather to the standard

dashboard is associated with image and provides consumers with emotions by

looking at it. Although the leather dashboard is not in the consumers’ line of

sight while driving, they feel happy, satisfied, and proud to have it. In addition,

the dashboard in leather is visible from the exterior, for example, when

individuals walk past the car in a parking area (IE).

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6 Discussion of the qualitative findings

Chapter six discusses the manufacturer’s qualitative findings. These findings offer insights and knowledge of how the manufacturer creates a value

proposition by considering sensory cues and brand-related stimuli, and what

intended responses consumers are provided with from the brand experience. To conclude, the chapter discusses and reflects on harmony, which was identified

in the qualitative sequence, and how it is applied in the present dissertation.

6.1 Planning and designing the value proposition

6.1.1 The car’s interior as the value proposition

At the first meeting with the manufacturer, it was stated that they wanted to

establish themselves as a premium brand in the automotive industry. Based on

the empirical material in the qualitative sequence, it can be seen that this is

achieved through the car’s interior.

Creating a servicescape with the car’s interior was a process that demanded

planning and designing to provide the consumer with the right experience. To

achieve this, the whole car needed to be considered. This suggests that the

planning and designing of the car’s interior was not done in isolation, since the

exterior needed to be considered in the development process to provide

consumers with a harmonious holistic impression of the car. In this regard, the

car’s interior needed to emanate luxury just as the exterior.

To ensure that the car’s interior was luxury, several actors were involved in

the planning and designing. This is in accordance with service-dominant logic

(SDL), which underlines that a manufacturer’s value proposition to consumers

includes the involvement of several actors (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and

Lusch, 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2016). As mentioned, this process was top-

down controlled by the manufacturer. Although it was stated that the planning

and designing of the car’s interior were controlled by the board, other actors were involved and contributed their knowledge and expertise to provide the

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consumer with value. This suggests that the planning and designing of the car’s

interior had a top-down and bottom-down approach. Although it was a top-

down approach from the board to position the brand as premium, no details on

how to achieve it was provided. Hence, it was more of a bottom-up approach,

since the manufacturer’s employees embedded luxury in the car’s interior based

on brand-related stimuli – i.e., the Scandinavian heritage.

Moreover, to offer value in the car’s interior in the bottom-up approach, the

manufacturer involved consumers and suppliers. These actors were seen as

being involved in the planning and designing of a value proposition through the

car’s interior to appeal to consumers’ human senses. The manufacturer was the

driving force in planning and designing value in the car’s interior. Since the

manufacturer was responsible for ensuring that the end product expressed

luxury in the correct way for people and their lifestyles, it controlled the process

of creating value in the car’s interior. However, consumers and suppliers were

necessary for the manufacturer to provide the preferred value in the car’s

interior. This differs from sensory marketing research (Hultén, 2011; Krishna,

2012; Spence et al., 2014), which emphasises that either manufacturers or

consumers create value. Comprehending the role of consumers and suppliers

will increase the understanding of how to plan and design a value proposition

in the car’s interior. Consumers are essential for the car’s interior since they are

the ones who interpret and evaluate the manufacturer’s provided value in the

car’s interior.

The manufacturer involved consumers in the planning and designing of value

since they are the end customers. This was part of moving beyond having an

ordinary car’s interior to be able to position the brand as premium. Thus,

consumers’ perceptions of luxury in a car’s interior becomes imperative, since

they hold the power to decide the outcome of the value proposition. By

exploring and getting an in-depth understanding of consumer expectations and

preferences of value, the manufacturer got insights of what kind of value to

include in the car’s interior to make the brand attractive in the premium segment

– for example, which attributes and materials were needed to perceive the car’s

interior as luxury. What is interesting with involving the consumers is that they

assisted the manufacturer to tailor a value proposition based on their

expectations and desires to experience luxury in the car’s interior. This

highlights the importance of manufacturers involving consumers in the process

of identifying the right value proposition to increase the chance for a positive

brand outcome by having an appealing car interior, thus leading to a better

sensory experience. It is exemplified by having the right fit and finish regarding

colour and material in the car’s interior. This is in accordance with sensory

marketing (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014) and brand

experience (Brakus et al., 2009; Khan and Fatma, 2017; Andreini et al., 2018)

literature, which emphasises the importance of understanding consumers’ cognitions, emotions, and behavioural responses. Hence, by involving the

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consumers, the manufacturer can acquire a deeper understanding of what is

perceived as important in the car’s interior in relation to the value proposition.

It suggests that the manufacturer enhances and modifies the value from previous

car models’ interiors to appeal to the human senses by highlighting brand-

related stimuli. For example, focusing on consumers’ desired utilities by having

a tablet controlling settings, which may be more fun than turning a button and

providing consumers with an emotional response of happiness. In other words,

the manufacturer has acquired knowledge about consumers to be able to

position the brand as premium in consumers’ minds and distinguish itself from

competitors in the automobile industry by having the value proposition in the

car’s interior.

Although consumers were involved to ensure an appealing value proposition,

the manufacturer did not create it alone. Based on this, the manufacturer planned

and designed consumer involvement with the car’s interior. However, since the

design of the car’s interior was decided by the manufacturer, suppliers were

involved in making the value proposition feasible. The suppliers did not have

anything to do with the design, but still played an important role in the car’s

interior. In particular, to ensure that the manufacturer’s value proposition fulfils

consumers’ desires and wants for an appealing car interior. This points at the

necessity to involve suppliers since they contribute with knowledge and

expertise regarding a car’s interior in accordance with SDL, where several

actors apply their skills in the value creation process, leading to a value

proposition for the consumers (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008;

Vargo and Lusch, 2016). Consequently, suppliers assist in the manufacturer’s

value proposition to fulfil consumers’ desires for sensory experiences when

interacting with the car’s interior. Accordingly, suppliers’ knowledge and skills

are needed so the manufacturer can provide a value proposition that leaves a

trace and imprint of premium in consumers’ minds every time they experience

and interact with the car’s interior.

6.1.2 Premium attributes in the value proposition

To offer consumers value in the car’s interior, the manufacturer applied

premium characteristics. According to Aaker (1997a) and Speed (1998), a

premium brand is characterised by having products with functional, emotional,

and symbolic values. Functional values are seen by having an interior that

serves a utilitarian purpose, such as steering the car. Emotional values allude to

consumer response, such as simplicity and pleasantness when using the car’s

interior. Symbolic values relate to providing consumers with a feeling of

exclusivity by having an expensive and luxurious car interior. Although these

are all present in the manufacturer’s value proposition, they are not equally

prominent in the car’s interior. The functional value of cars is always present as

being a transportation vehicle, since the car’s main utility is to be able to move

from A to B. In this regard, the interior is essential to be able to drive the car. In

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particular, car interior components like seating, steering wheel, and gear lever

are needed. Seating is needed to be able to sit while driving, a steering wheel to

manoeuvre on the roads, and a gear lever to manage the engine while driving.

Thus, the utility is present regardless of whether it is a premium car

manufacturer or not. However, to position the brand as premium, the utility of

the car’s interior has been enhanced with emotional and symbolic values in the

value proposition. The emotional and symbolic values are ambiguous in the

car’s interior since they are intangible. As a point of departure, they are not

needed for the utility of the car. A similar logic applies for the car’s interior as,

for example, the functional value of the dashboard is the same irrespective of

whether it is enhanced with leather or not. This points to the importance of

emotional and symbolic values in offering a premium brand by adding

additional attributes to the functional values to provide consumers added value

in relation to their lifestyles and social belonging.

As mentioned above, positioning the brand as premium occurred using a top-

down and bottom-up approach. The corporate board strategically decided to

position the brand as premium, and it was incarnated with the meaning at an

operative level. Since prior Volvo Cars models had overlooked emotional and

symbolic values, this had to be addressed to provide consumers with a value

proposition perceived as premium. Therefore, updating the car’s interior with

luxury associations, such as functional, emotional, and symbolic values, became

imperative. The product development became a strategic tool for planning and

designing the car’s interior to have luxury associations to provide consumers

with functional, emotional, and symbolic values. In accordance with Kapferer

and Bastien (2009), it shows that functional values alone are not enough to

position a brand as premium. By planning and designing the car’s interior, the

manufacturer goes beyond the functional values to provide consumers with

luxury associations, leading to pleasure and enjoyment while sitting or holding

the steering wheel. Hence, to successfully position the brand as premium,

utilitarian, emotional, and symbolic values had to be considered to provide

consumers with added value so as to justify a premium price and differentiate

from a normal brand.

To position the brand as premium, it was necessary for the manufacturer to

identify what luxury is for consumers and implement this in the car’s interior.

The manufacturer analysed the information obtained from the conducted

clinics, focus groups, and surveys. The results from these revealed that

functional values are not centralised in the premium segment, rather consumers

demand emotional and symbolic values in the car’s interior. It means that while

functional values are needed, consumers seek pleasurable sensations in the

premium brand in relation to emotional and symbolic values. This points

towards the importance of not just satisfying consumers in the premium

segment with seating or steering wheel utilities, but also providing them with an additional value based on the core function through luxury leather covering

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the interior. This is in accordance with Alba and Williams (2013), who

emphasised that consumers are rational and emotional individuals and that the

hedonic consumption experience overwhelms functionality.

This is evident in the adding of hedonic values that are not necessary for the

functionality of the car’s interior. It is illustrated by the manufacturer providing

consumers with hedonic values in a myriad of ways in the car’s interior. The

seats and steering wheel have a surface layer, such as leather, thus the leather

provides consumers with hedonic values while driving, as they sit in

comfortable seats and grip a steering wheel that has soft, pleasant material.

However, if the manufacturer did not add the leather, the consumers would still

be able to sit in the car and drive it, but without being provided with hedonic

values. Hence, by adding premium attributes like leather, which has an

appealing and pleasant design that feels comfortable and soft, the car’s interior

can express and provide consumers with hedonic values. Although this is

distinct in the seating and steering wheel, hedonic values are provided

differently in the tablet in the car’s interior. Instead of having a considerable

number of buttons for the car’s interior, consumers can use the tablet as a remote

control for the various functions. Compared with pressing or moving a button,

this is a fun and exciting way to adjust the car’s interior. Thus, similar logic for

the tablet as for leather applies, as it is not necessarily needed but provides

consumers with hedonic values. This reasoning is in accordance with Holbrook

and Hirschman (1982), who emphasised relating multisensory dimensions with

consumers’ emotional aspects of their experience in products.

Therefore, the manufacturer plans and designs for value in the car’s interior

to provide consumers with emotional and symbolic values, which lead to a

pleasurable sensory experience. Implicitly, consumers take the utility of the

car’s interior for granted, such as being able to steer left and right. Instead, the

brand becomes premium when the steering mechanism appeals to the human

senses through luxurious attributes. This in turn demands that the manufacturer

bring forth a value proposition to the consumer to be experienced by their senses

in the consumption process (Holbrook and Hirschman, 1982; Holbrook, 1986)

– i.e., in the car’s interior.

Consumer perception of pleasurable and sensual experiences is associated

with lifestyles (Atwal and Williams, 2009; Hultén, 2011; Andreini et al., 2018).

This is related to symbolic values in premium brands, which is a social

phenomenon in terms of status, power, wealth, and social belonging (Wiedmann

et al., 2009). The symbolic values are seen in the offering from the car’s interior

to address consumers’ lifestyles. Although the car’s interior has symbolic values

based on luxury attributes, the consumers can customise these according to their

preferences. In this regard, the manufacturer has added symbolic value to the

car’s interior. However, consumer perception of luxury and its meaning may

differ between individuals. Since the car’s interior is fixed in the vehicle, the manufacturer invites consumers to engage in the value creation in accordance

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with the notion of SDL (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Vargo

and Lusch, 2016). For example, Swedish and US consumers have different

preferences when it comes to luxury and aesthetics. This can be seen clearly in

that Swedes associate luxury with lighter wood, while Americans prefer dark

wood. Although the value proposition is the same in the interior for all cars, the

manufacturer involves the consumers in the creation process by customising

their preferences of colour in wood when purchasing the car. The same applies

to the shape, material, and colour of the seating, steering wheel, and dashboard.

This highlights the importance of providing consumers with a value proposition

that lets them engage and interact to create solutions that fit their lifestyles and

perceptions of a premium brand. In this case, the manufacturer’s value

proposition based on luxury in the car’s interior is offered so consumers can

personalise the cabin just as they do with the interior in their housing, leading

to the symbolic meaning of luxury.

What is clear is that the manufacturer has planned and designed a value

proposition in the car’s interior consisting of functional, emotional, and

symbolic values to fit consumer preferences in the premium segment.

According to literature, this explains consumers’ willingness to pay a premium

price through a memorable experience that provides value and justifies the

higher price (Kapferer and Valette-Florence, 2016). Through this approach, the

manufacturer can target consumers in the premium segment who are willing to

pay more for exclusivity and luxury that goes beyond functional values, such as

just having a car’s interior for driving. This means that the manufacturer’s value

proposition departs from the functional value of driving the car, but has been

enhanced with emotional and symbolic values so consumers can experience the

car’s interior through the human senses to symbolise exclusivity and luxury.

Similar to Wiedmann et al. (2009) and Kapferer (2015a), it can be argued

that the provided value proposition in the car’s interior is a continuous offering

to consumers so that they can connect and interact with the manufacturer’s

brand in relation to their ordinary lives to satisfy themselves and express a social

belonging. This means that the car’s interior can become a part of consumers’

daily lives, just like mobile phones and tablets have become a part of daily

consumer activities. The technical development has been captured in the

manufacturer’s value proposition by allowing consumers to connect mobile

phones and tablets to the car. This illustrates the importance of adjusting to

consumer’s everyday lives, where functional, emotional, and symbolic values

are found in their homes and consumption patterns. Hence, the manufacturer

can provide consumers with a premium impression through the car’s interior by

allowing consumers to bring these daily activities into the car.

Moreover, in accordance with Kapferer (2015a), it is necessary for

manufacturers to consider the value of quality as part of the premium

impression. In this regard, it can be observed that the manufacturer has planned and designed the value proposition to provide consumers with out-of-the-

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ordinary luxury associations through a high-quality interior to be able to

position the brand as premium. This was achieved by telling and showing the

consumers what premium is, offering additional value in the car’s interior.

Much like a child standing outside a sweet shop, gazing through the window at

the candy in all kinds of colours, shapes, and sizes, the manufacturer created a

car interior that is desired by consumers. It shows that the value proposition was

planned and designed to appeal to consumers’ human senses, but instead of

candy, the car’s interior has the colour, shape, and material to remind consumers

of the luxury characteristics of Scandinavia.

Consequently, to position the brand as premium in the mind of the consumer,

out-of-the-ordinary associations are necessary (i.e., Kapferer, 2012b). This

follows SDL, where SDL manufacturers provide consumers with a value

proposition, which they in turn interpret and give meaning to. However, the

value proposition in the car’s interior is not just a one-time offer when

purchased, but is continuously available for the consumer over time. This

alludes that consumers create value at different occasions from the same

offering, where the brand is the communicator for the manufacturer. Therefore,

consumers are exposed by the value proposition in the car’s interior every time

the car is used, which can be on the commute to work, dropping off the kids at

school, or on driving to the grocery store. It means that consumers are constantly

exposed to the characteristics of Scandinavia from the car’s interior. This shows

that the manufacturer planned and designed a value proposition that is present

over time based on the brand’s heritage since Scandinavia was the theme of the

car’s interior design to create emotional and symbolic values to satisfy

consumers of luxury in a premium brand. In particular, the car’s interior was

inspired by the Scandinavian coastline in terms of colour, material, and shape

to convey emotional and symbolic values. For example, calm, cool colours were

used, crystal and leather have been added, and the shape of the seats are inspired

by the chairs in the concert hall in Oslo to embed an impression of luxury in

consumers. In addition, it means that, although consumers have not physically

entered the car, they can – just like a child outside a sweet shop – get a peak of

the inside by gazing through the window. Hence, consumers will be exposed to

luxury temptations, which are located in the car to portray an exclusive

Scandinavian environment that exudes premium qualities in terms of functional,

emotional, and symbolic value. That is, the manufacturer has furnished

consumers with unique associations in the car’s interior. Specifically, it shows

the importance to depart in the brand heritage for the intention of being

perceived as luxury – in this case, Scandinavia – to position the brand as

premium in a value proposition with a car’s interior that resembles consumers

of that environment.

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6.2 The human senses role in the value proposition

6.2.1 Understanding consumers’ sensory preferences

In planning and designing the value proposition, it was necessary to understand

consumers’ sensory preferences of a car’s interior in the premium segment. To

gain knowledge and understanding of consumers’ desires, needs, and wants of

sensory experience in the car’s interior, the manufacturer visited and

photographed their homes. This highlights the importance of getting acquainted

with consumers and exploring the interior design in their homes. In this regard,

the planning and designing of the value proposition in the car’s interior can be

tailor-made to resemble and fit consumers’ expectations, which is in accordance

with Hultén (2011), who emphasised that sensory cues are supposed to attract

and fit consumers’ lifestyles and identities. Hence, the manufacturer planned

and designed a car interior that provides consumers with value that is in line

with how they decorate their living rooms. This means that the car’s interior is

designed to resemble consumers’ living rooms regarding colour, material,

shape, and space.

Moreover, this follows the logic from the manufacturer to be perceived as a

human-centric brand by connecting with consumers. At first glance, it seems

that the manufacturer has humanised the car’s interior, so the brand is perceived

as a “nice person” for the consumers. However, it goes beyond that, since the

manufacturer has involved consumers in the planning and designing of the car’s

interior. By considering consumers’ preferences, the value proposition is aimed

at the targeted consumers. This means that consumers are supposed to feel warm

and welcomed when entering the car just as they would when entering their or

a friend’s home. Similar to Spence et al.’s (2014) sensory marketing model,

which emphasises that sensory cues in the atmosphere of retail stores impact

consumer behaviour, the car’s interior consists of sensory cues embedded by

the manufacturer based on brand-related stimuli. For example, consumers are

exposed to a car’s interior, such as seating that is not too wide, and calm, cool

colours. This shows the importance of creating an atmosphere based on

consumers’ preferences. Since consumers’ living rooms are designed in relation

to brightness and space, the car’s interior needed to be planned and designed in

a way to resemble and remind them of this environment so as to be perceived

as a human-centric brand.

In accordance with research (Krishna, 2012; Krishna and Schwarz, 2014), it

was important for the manufacturer to gain an understanding of consumers’

sensory experiences in relation to the car’s interior. This was achieved by

exploring the interior of consumers’ living rooms. Just as consumers decorated

their living rooms with specific focal pieces, such as a painting or vase, the

manufacturer used aspects like soft leather, wood, a crystal gear lever and

diamond patterned rotary switches in the car’s interior. The car’s interior was planned and designed according to how consumers create their sensory

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experience in their living rooms through bright colours on the walls and

minimalistic furniture for a beautiful, comfortable feeling. Hence, just as

individuals in the living room sit down on the sofa and control the television

with the remote control, consumers do the same with the car’s interior in the

cabin. However, in this case, the sofa is the car seats, the television is the

windshield, and the remote control is the steering wheel and tablet.

Additionally, just as the living room has furniture in various materials and

decorations like paintings, the cabin’s interior has the dashboard, trim panels

and gear lever decorated with crystal, leather, and wood to provide consumers

with value to fit the individual’s lifestyles and standard of living.

Nevertheless, understanding a consumer’s sensory experience goes beyond

the visual aspect of the car’s interior. Since a new consumer segment was

targeted by Volvo Cars, focus groups were conducted to understand their

perceptions of luxury. In accordance with research (Kapferer and Bastien, 2009;

Granot et al., 2013; Ko et al., 2019) it was imperative to understand consumers

associations with luxury. Premium brand consumers have a high status with a

high income and purchase the right brand, value the right material and wear the

right shoes and an exclusive watch, thus it was necessary to ensure this value in

the car’s interior. It means that the car’s interior is a tool for providing

consumers with a sensory experience where brand-related stimuli contribute to

luxury associations.

To have a value proposition that addresses consumers’ luxury associations,

the car’s interior was enhanced with materials like crystal, leather, and wood.

Beyond a car’s visually attractive interior design, functionality and substance

have been added – for example, regarding having simplicity in adjusting settings

with the buttons and tablet. It means that the car’s interior is designed to fit

consumers’ expectations, such as a premium brand that represents and

symbolises a social belonging (Wiedmann et al., 2009). For consumers, luxury

characteristics are conveyed to fit the social norms that are commonly accepted

for premium brands and products, and how ordinary consumers view them. This

can be illustrated by having the dashboard in leather, since it does not

necessarily need to be enhanced with this material. Rather, it is related to

consumers’ desires to have a dashboard in exclusive material like leather to

satisfy the individual need for luxury and aesthetics, and to convey a luxury

image to others.

Historically, the manufacturer has designed and planned a quality car interior

in the previous model and wants to continue to do so in future by involving

existing consumers as they have knowledge and have experienced the interior

over time. Therefore, consumers’ complaints served as important input for the

continuous development of the car’s interior regarding things like quality and

warranty issues. Although these input channels relate to malfunctions, they

serve as sources to improve quality. Since consumers have knowledge of how the car’s interior has changed over time, their perceptions served as input to

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increase the quality. These consumers shared feedback pertaining to whether

the seating had become baggy or the leather abrasion. In this regard, the

manufacturer interacted with consumers to improve and enhance the sensory

experience of the car’s interior. It means that the manufacturer does not just

want to provide consumers with value here and now, but wants to offer the same

value over time from a sensory perspective.

Moreover, the offered value in the car’s interior provides consumers with

functional and emotional responses. However, this needed to be experienced

before the car entered the market. Although the project description of the car’s

interior outlined the role of emotional values in consumers’ lives, the challenge

was to make it feasible. This was ambiguous since it described consumers’

intended emotional responses and sensory experiences. Hence, to understand

consumers’ emotional values and make the vocabulary feasible, customer

clinics was conducted. These examined, for example, how it feels to sit in the

seating and what impression the leather on the steering wheel conveys when

touched. In addition, customer clinics for the seating were conducted with

individuals of various heights and weights to test the seats and identify an

optimal interior that fits all consumers’ bodies. This illustrates the importance

of understanding consumers’ perceptions before embedding and making the

final adjustments of sensory cues in the car’s interior. Thus, it is ambiguous to

define value by describing how the car’s interior is intended to be perceived

without involving the consumers. Otherwise, the provided value in the car’s

interior, such as seating comfort and how it feels for the body or how a grasp-

friendly steering wheel is supposed to be perceived, may differ from how

consumers’ experience it. Therefore, it is vital to make final adjustments of the

car’s interior based on consumers’ input since emotional values defined by a

vocabulary are problematic.

To ensure that the provided value in the car’s interior is accurate, such as the

comfort of the seating and a grasp-friendly steering wheel, consumers need to

experience it. This is to ensure that the planned and designed value proposition

of the car’s interior is accurate and that consumers rather select the car based on

emotional attachment to the brand, not on rational expectations. This is in

accordance with the view that manufacturers and consumers need to interact

with one another (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Ramaswamy, 2008;

Ramaswamy, 2011) to create a multisensory brand experience (Hultén, 2011;

Hultén, 2015b).

6.2.2 Embedding sensory cues in the car’s interior

6.2.2.1 Collaborating with suppliers

Regarding embedding sensory cues in the car’s interior, the manufacturer

decided on the design and controlled the manufacturing process. However, suppliers were involved in the manufacturing process to make the sensory cues

in the car’s interior feasible. Since Volvo Cars is a consumer brand, it was

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crucial, as emphasised by Park et al. (1986), to maintain consistency and a long-

term view of how the brand image is perceived. For that reason, the

manufacturer decided how the suppliers should embed sensory cues to ensure

that the offered value proposition in the car’s interior was in line with

consumers’ sensory and emotional preferences. In this regard, suppliers were

imperative for the manufacturer to be able to appeal to consumers’ sensory and

emotional preferences in the offered value in the car’s interior.

Although suppliers played an important role, they had limited influence on

the car’s interior design. Their role was to manufacture the car’s interior to the

right quality and develop technical solutions beyond the surface fit. If the

product design of the car’s interior, such as the steering wheel, was supposed to

be modified, the supplier needed to motivate why it was not feasible to construct

and provide a cost-effective solution. However, it was difficult for a supplier to

change the product design of the interior since all components were defined in

contracts based on the Scandinavian design to position the brand as premium in

consumers’ minds. It means that if one element of the car’s interior was

modified, a chain reaction occurred and other components of the interior needed

to be adjusted to fit the changed one. Hence, the manufacturer controlled the

process of embedding sensory cues to have a holistic value proposition. The

suppliers, on the other hand, ensured that value could be offered to consumers

in the car’s interior by embedding sensory cues based on the manufacturer’s

stated outcome. This shows that the manufacturer wants to convey a particular

brand image by embedding sensory cues in the car’s interior with a coherent

theme based on brand-related stimuli associated with Scandinavia. Although

this is in accordance with SDL (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch,

2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2016), where several actors were needed to construct

value together, it also shows that one actor is deciding how to create the value

proposition. The manufacturer must ensure that embedded sensory cues

resemble Scandinavia, as well as avoid undermining the brand among

consumers.

6.2.2.2 Bringing Scandinavia to life

To ensure coherent sensory cues in the car’s interior, an experiential theme was

used, as emphasised by Zarantonello and Schmitt (2013). It means that

Scandinavian characteristics were embedded in the car’s interior and needed to

be fulfilled by the suppliers. To embed coherent sensory cues, particular sub-

suppliers were x-marked – i.e., predefined by the manufacturer for other

suppliers to purchase components from and to be used in the car’s interior. For

example, suppliers of the seating, steering wheel, and dashboard, who used

leather, had the same x-marked sub-supplier. If the suppliers purchased leather

from various suppliers, the embedded sensory cues would not be cohesive and

would vary in quality in the car’s interior, endangering the offered value

proposition to consumers. This illustrates the importance of planning and

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designing sensory cues and the challenge to describe these characteristics, such

as colour and quality, and what emotions they are supposed to convey to

consumers.

This shows the challenge in embedding sensory cues in the car’s interior,

since these (sub)consciously trigger consumer responses (Krishna, 2012).

Because consumers need to experience and interpret sensory cues to give it

meaning, the manufacturer had to communicate how these cues are supposed to

be perceived to the suppliers. However, just a vocabulary description of sensory

cues – for example, black premium leather – in the contract may be perceived

differently by the manufacturer and various suppliers, and convey an irregular

impression of the car’s interior to consumers. This is because the colour of the

leather and the quality texture may differ depending on the sub-supplier. Hence,

a uniform coherent design not only reflects the brand, but also conveys sensory

and emotional dimensions to position the brand as premium in the consumers’

minds. If embedded sensory cues are not in line with one another, consumers’

sensory and emotional perceptions of Scandinavia might be negatively

influenced. This proves that the challenge of embedding sensory cues lies in the

intended experience and emotional values.

6.2.2.3 Coding sensory cues

To ensure that embedded sensory cues provide consumers with the intended

sensory and emotional values, these were coded into numbers in the contract

with suppliers. For example, to ensure that the trim panels had the right feel and

were solid and robust when touched, particular spots were pinpointed and

encoded into numbers of hardness and softness. Other examples of coded

numbers for sensory and emotional dimensions were comfort in the seating and

whether the steering was grasp-friendly. This points at the ambiguity of

describing sensory and emotional values, and how to embed sensory cues based

on that information. By using numbers for the right feeling or colour, the

manufacturer can code sensory cues for suppliers to ensure these are feasible

and provide consumers with the intended value proposition.

6.2.2.4 Visual cues as a starting point

Embedding sensory cues in the car’s interior started with the visual cues.

According to literature, the sense of sight is the individual’s most dominant

sense when evaluating brands and products (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012).

Research emphasises that visual cues are the most dominant cues and are

imperative for the car’s interior. Visual cues are the starting point for creating a

multisensory interplay and positioning the brand as premium in the mind of the

consumers as brand experience. Once the door to the car is opened, the first

thing consumers are exposed to is the visual cues in the interior. Therefore, it is

crucial that embedded visual cues in the car’s interior be associated with the

brand and premium attributes, since it is the foundation of the value proposition.

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Phillips, McQuarrie and Griffin (2014) emphasise the importance of visual

cues to reflect the brand can be seen in the car’s interior. The visual cues are

embedded with the Scandinavian design theme in relation to colours, material,

and shapes. Calm, cool hues have been used since they are associated with the

Scandinavian landscape. For example, when out walking in the Scandinavian

forest, people are exposed to greenery, lakes, sky and wood, which are soothing

and convey a calmness and an impression of space. Since the embedded visual

cues are based on the Scandinavian landscape, consumers are supposed to get

the same visual impression – that is, that they are walking in the Scandinavian

nature – in the spatial servicescape of the car’s interior. It alludes that consumers

on the international market, regardless of whether they are familiar with

Scandinavia – will be exposed to the characteristics of its natural phenomenon.

Moreover, the car has a glass sunroof. Thus, it can be said that the

Scandinavian phenomenon, Northern lights, is used as a visual cue. It means

that consumers get exposed to the visual elements, such as the colour and light

of the sky, no matter their location in the world. Since the car’s interior is

embedded with visual cues relating to the Scandinavian landscape, consumers

can feel like they are in that region. Although visual cues like the sky’s colours

and light coming through the sunroof convey an openness from the region, this

may vary depending on where the consumers are driving. Hence, irrespective

of whether the consumer is driving in the north of Sweden or in New York, a

feeling of openness takes place. It means that the colours and light from the sky

shape a different kind of feeling of openness.

Aside from colour, visual cues have been embedded in the material selection

of the car’s interior. Exclusive material, such as birchwood, crystal, and leather,

have been used as sensory cues as they are associated with the Scandinavian

landscape as well as luxury. Although birchwood is used in the panels, it is

available in a natural white hue or a dark red colour with patterns of a mountain.

It shows that regardless of consumers’ colour preferences, the manufacturer

wants the interior to convey the Scandinavian landscape and nature associated

with the brand heritage. The gear lever has been enhanced with a crystal knob

as part of the luxury and premium perceptions in the value proposition.

According to literature, crystal is considered a cold, unnatural material

associated with an open-air environment (Schmitt and Simonson, 1997).

Therefore, by embedding crystal visual cues in the car’s interior, the

manufacturer can provide consumers with the additional value of the luxury

material located in Scandinavia, which symbolises exclusivity. Furthermore,

leather was used as a sensory cue in the car’s interior in areas like the dashboard,

seats, steering wheel, and trim panels. Leather is considered a natural material

that is soft and warm to convey a relaxing feeling and be in harmony with nature

(Schmitt and Simonson, 1997). This highlights the importance of visual cues in

the car’s interior, as not only do they provide consumers with visual associations of Scandinavia, but also feelings of the landscape. Since materials with various

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characteristics are used in the car’s interior, it can be seen that the

manufacturer’s intention is to convey calm, muted, and peaceful feelings to

consumers through the servicescape.

This reasoning is in accordance with Spence et al. (2014), who emphasised

that sensory cues in a given setting can influence consumers’ responses, which

can be seen in the embedded visual cues in the car’s interior. For example, the

seating is designed with shallows on the back, a soft cushion on the front, and a

small Swedish flag to remind consumers of Scandinavia and the manufacturer’s

heritage. It illustrates that embedded visual cues are a mechanism for providing

consumers with pleasant sensory impressions. Similar logic is seen in the shape

of the dashboard, which is constructed as one single horizontal component,

which gives the impression of being a wider, more spacious area. Consider a

small hallway that is supposed to be redecorated with a new wooden floor. If

the wooden floor is placed vertically, the visual impression of the hallway will

be elongated; but if the floor is placed horizontally, a visual impression of a

wide hallway will occur. Just as the wooden floor is strategically placed in a

horizontal direction, so too is the dashboard placed. This shows that the

manufacturer is embedding visual cues in the dashboard with the intention of

providing a sensory impression of a wide spatial servicescape inside the car,

which is in line with influencing consumers’ evaluation and judgement of

products (Krishna, 2006; Lin, 2013). This can be related to the open space in

the Scandinavian landscape, which the manufacturer has tried to illustrate in the

car’s interior.

A third example of the interior shape includes trim panels and doors. The

trim panels are enhanced with leather without split points showing metal, and

the doors have a wooden décor split. The manufacturer has excluded metal

when embedding visual cues in the car’s interior, as metal is not located in the

Scandinavia landscape and, if found, it would be considered as shiny misplaced

junk thrown in nature. In this regard, metal does not fit in with the Scandinavian

aesthetic, which may provide consumers with an incongruent or dissonant

sensory experience of the car’s interior. The wooden décor splits ensure a bright

area on the top and a shadow on the lower part to enhance the perception of a

lively interior. However, wood as a visual cue is a lively material that fits in

with Scandinavian material and colours and, depending on illumination, it may

vary in shades just like the seasons in Scandinavia. Thus, the manufacturer

embeds visual cues in the car’s interior so a value proposition is associated with

the characteristics and famous environments in Scandinavia, which

subsequently should remind consumers of Volvo’s brand heritage.

6.2.2.5 Reinforcing visual cues with other sensory cues

Aside from embedding visual cues in the car’s interior, the manufacturer

embedded other sensory cues to reinforce the first impression of premium in the

value proposition. This logic follows Spence et al.’s (2014) notion that when

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multiple sensory cues are combined, a multisensory interplay takes place.

Although visual and tactile cues convey different sensory impressions of the

same object with various cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses of

consumers (Krishna, 2006), it is clearly seen that embedded visual and tactile

cues interplay with another. Hence, visual cues are embedded in the car to

provide consumers with a premium offering, which tactile cues do as well. It

means that visual cues of the car’s interior are designed to provide an impression

of a premium offering, and tactile cues, such as touching, pressing and sitting,

support the initially embedded cue of premium. For example, if the surface

layers of the seating, steering wheel, and dashboard look like leather, the

material is leather with a tactile response of leather. This points at the

importance of maintaining and ensuring a multisensory interplay between the

first embedded visual cues and the additional tactile cues (Eklund and

Helmefalk, 2018) to provide consumers with a coherent value proposition based

on Scandinavia. In addition to the Scandinavian theme, sensory cues have been

embedded regarding the manufacturer’s philosophy designed around the

consumer. This is evident in the car’s interior through the seating and steering

wheel, which have been embedded with tactile cues to be ergonomic to integrate

with and fit consumers’ bodies. In accordance with Streicher and Estes (2016),

it is essential to provide consumers with the right tactile response. It illustrates

that the manufacturer embedded tactile cues based on consumer preferences to

provide them a car interior that is comfortable and ergonomic. In other words,

the tactile cues in the seats and steering wheel are supposed to avoid

uncomfortable tactile responses, such as soft or hard, without the skeleton in

metal pressing through the leather against the consumers’ bodies while driving.

Just like the seating, the steering wheel is designed in leather and to fit

consumers’ bodies – i.e., hands – to provide a tactile response of comfort and

premium. It shows the importance of considering how consumers use and

interact with the steering wheel, which includes it being an optimal size so it is

comfortable to hold. Therefore, the consumer response provided by visual cues

– i.e., premium – needs to be fulfilled by tactile cues.

Moreover, tactile cues in the seating are embedded so consumers get the

sense that these have been handcrafted, since the concave surface layer is

designed to fit consumers’ bodies. Although the manufacturer stated the

inspiration for the seating was the chairs in the Opera House in Oslo, this can

be elaborated. Just like the chairs are in the centre of the concert hall when

watching the opera, the seating is in the centre of the car’s interior when driving.

Without the seats, the opera or driving would not take place, since the

audience’s and consumers’ participation is needed. In this regard, tactile cues

are embedded to ensure that the audience and consumers can enjoy and focus

on the opera or driving.

Moreover, auditory cues have been embedded in the car’s interior. As emphasised by Zampini and Spence (2004) and Spangenberg et al. (2005),

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auditory cues provide consumers product associations. However, auditory cues

do not work in isolation of the car’s interior as there is multisensory interplay

with visual and tactile cues. This is illustrated in the car’s interior through

buttons that have visual and tactile cues to provide consumers with a premium

offering, which means that auditory cues must furnish the same associations.

Interestingly, auditory cues can either be heard or not heard and have a

multisensory interplay. Regarding the tablet, the manufacturer embedded

auditory cues to be associated with technology in the consumers’ daily lives,

which interplay with visual and tactile cues. Although visual and tactile cues

are embedded similarly in buttons, the auditory cues in these are planned and

designed to be silent and have no disturbing noises. If this occurred, the visual

and tactile cues would be influenced negatively since consumers associate

quality in buttons with no sound, as noises or squeaks as auditory cues would

be associated with poor quality.

Following this logic of contradictory auditory cues, the car has been designed

to block out outside noise, unless the consumer wants it. The representation of

the Scandinavian landscape is distinct, as just like being out in the Scandinavian

forest, it is quiet; yet the lake, sea, and wind can still be heard. In a similar way,

the manufacturer has embedded auditory cues in the car’s interior. Although the

focus is a silent interior, sounds may occur, such as from the engine if the

consumer accelerates or from the sound system if the volume is increased.

Hence, the manufacturer’s value proposition provides consumers with silence

and calmness, which are associated with Scandinavia.

Besides visual, tactile and auditory cues, olfactory cues have been scarcely

embedded in the car’s interior. A possible explanation may be that the material

in the car’s interior per se does not have a scent, suggesting that consumers

expect an odourless vehicle. However, consumers expect some materials to

have a particular smell (Mattila and Wirtz, 2001). Olfactory cues are important

for car brands since a particular smell is associated with the brand image. For

example, an old Rolls Royce’s car interior had a natural smell of leather,

hessian, wool, and wood, which resulted in that an artificial olfactory cue was

developed and embedded in the interior to remind consumers of how the brand

smells and satisfy expected sensory impressions (Lindstrom, 2005b). Although

the car manufacturer does not actively embed olfactory cues in the car’s interior,

an artificial smell was added to the leather. Leather does not have a scent per

se, but as a leather product is supposed to have a particular fragrance in

consumers’ minds, it was necessary to satisfy these expectations of how the

material is expected to smell. This highlights the importance of understanding

consumers’ sensory preferences. Otherwise, the car’s interior may not provide

a value proposition perceived as high quality, and the brand may not be

positioned as premium in the consumers’ minds.

If olfactory cues were scarcely embedded in the car’s interior, then gastronomic cues are absent. A logical reason for this may be that consumers

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cannot physically taste the car’s interior. However, it is emphasised that this

does not just relate to the physical flavour of food and beverages, but is also

associated with the aesthetic taste of brands and products. Although it is called

taste, it includes sensory impressions from visual, tactile, sound and olfactory

cues (Hultén, 2011) to evaluate and judge brands and products (Workman and

Caldwell, 2007; Hoyer and Stokburger-Sauer, 2012). Because the manufacturer

could not embed gastronomic cues, it can be observed that aesthetic cues were

embedded in the car’s interior. This means that aesthetic cues were embedded

into the car’s interior to provide consumers with an appealing design. This

includes a multisensory interplay with other sensory cues, because aesthetic

taste is the overarching sensory impression. Therefore, aesthetic cues are

embedded in regard to all sensory cues so consumers can experience and

interact with the car’s interior through multiple senses.

6.2.3 Telling the story of Scandinavia with brand-related

attributes

It is evident that the manufacturer wants to tell the story of Scandinavia through

the created value proposition. Although the value proposition follows SDL

(Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2016), the

manufacturer’s offer becomes a brand proposition. Just like SDL emphasises,

the manufacturer employs resources and embeds knowledge about the brand in

the car’s interior. To achieve this, the manufacturer has used brand-related

stimuli based on the human senses, leading to a car interior that resembles the

sensory aspects of Scandinavia. These aspects have been used since the brand’s

heritage and identity are built around Scandinavia. It alludes that the

manufacturer wants to create an emotional bond with the consumers by

displaying beautiful trademarks from the region in the car’s interior. Therefore,

this is related to positioning the brand as premium. The manufacturer has

created an interior to appeal to consumers when they look through the car

windows or open the door and get in the vehicle, which becomes the foundation

of positioning the brand as premium. It means that the manufacturer offers value

beyond the visual luxury associations and ensures that the premium impression

continues once consumers interact with the car’s interior. Specifically, it

suggests that the luxury associations observed through the window need to be

maintained via the human senses when consumers interact with the car’s

interior. In addition, this follows the logic that an aesthetic experience of

fashionable objects are based on what has been seen with the eyes (Bourdieu,

1987). It illustrates that positioning the brand as premium with luxury

associations does not just concern the visual impression to influence consumer

preferences of beauty. Although the beauty of brands is seen regarding an

aesthetically appealing car’s interior design for positioning the brand as

premium, other cues are embedded to convey the same luxury associations. This points towards the importance of combining visual cues with other sensory cues

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to have a sensory-driven design that provides consumers with additional value

(Spence and Gallace, 2011; Krishna et al., 2017). This can be seen in the seating,

which has been planned and designed to be aesthetically appealing to the eyes

and combined with other cues to maintain the first impression of luxury

associations. Explicitly, the seating has an attractive design with luxury

associations that vanish if consumers sit down and get a contradictory

impression, such as wood against their body, which is not in line with the

premium impression perceived by the eyes. This illustrates that a manufacturer,

as emphasised by Landwehr et al. (2012), influences consumer preferences of

the brand through the car’s interior design by stimulating the human senses

positively.

Additionally, a crucial part of appealing to the human senses in the car’s

interior is to offer a premium product through aesthetics. Theoretically,

aesthetics refers to the beauty of products and how they influence consumers’

preferences of brands and products (Holbrook and Zirlin, 1986; Landwehr et

al., 2012). This is evident in the planning and designing of the value proposition.

The point of departure for the car’s interior was to position the brand as

premium. It means that planning and designing aesthetics in the car’s interior to

remind consumers of the beauty of Scandinavia was part of positioning the

brand as premium. Compared with the manufacturer’s previous car models, the

focus shifted into planning and designing a car’s interior as premium so it

provides consumers with a sensory experience. This is a logical transaction as

a new consumer segment with premium consumers was targeted, particularly

because they demand additional value. In this regard, the value proposition is

not limited to tangible aspects, such as attractive visual design and the right

feeling of the material (Spence and Gallace, 2011), it also involves offering

intangible aspects, such as having the right sound in the tablet and buttons, as

well as the correct smell of leather. This points at the importance of evolving

from utility to include emotional and sensory values when planning and

designing the car’s interior. It is achieved by utilising a multisensory design

based on the unique brand-related stimuli used to provide consumers with a

harmonious sensory experience.

To provide consumers a harmonious sensory experience of the car’s interior,

the design needed to become feasible. As discussed above, the manufacturer

involved suppliers in this process. However, although the manufacturer did the

planning and designing of the value proposition, the suppliers were needed to

make this feasible. This was achieved by either outsourcing or conducting the

value proposition in-house. Car interior components, such as the seating and

steering wheel, were outsourced to suppliers and sub-suppliers, while the

dashboard and trim panel had product development in-house and the

construction was outsourced to suppliers. The reason for these two approaches

may lie in the construction complexity of the car’s interior. Seats and steering wheels are interiors with a visual surface for the consumers, but with various

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underlying technology. Contrarily, the dashboard and trim panel have no

functional or practical use, and serve as interior components that are aesthetic

to look at and provide the right tactile feedback when touched. As consumers

only encounter the surface of the car’s interior and do not see the underlying

mechanisms, they expect components like the seats to work when adjusting the

position, which makes it part of their sensory experience. This shows that the

manufacturer plans and designs the value proposition of the car’s interior, but

brings in suppliers’ expertise and knowledge to ensure a feasible multisensory

design with underlying attributes. That is, the manufacturer is responsible for

the process to ensure that bits and pieces of the car’s interior fit with each other

to provide consumers with an offer they cannot refuse since their needs and

demands have been considered in the planning and designing. Hence, the

purpose of the multisensory design is to appeal to consumers’ human senses and

remind them of Scandinavia through an emotional connection to deepen the

relationship and position the brand as premium in their mind.

6.3 The intended value-in-use from the brand

experience

6.3.1 Spatial servicescape

Having an appealing brand experience is crucial for manufacturers to position

a preferable brand image (Schmitt and Zarantonello, 2013). Brand experience

occurs in various ways, such as when consumers are searching for a product,

shopping or consuming brands in service industries or a servicescape (Brakus

et al., 2009). In these situations, the common denominator is that the

manufacturer interacts with consumers through brand-related stimuli to provide

sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioural responses. Although that brand

experience has been studied in various ways and different contexts, it occurs in

the spatial servicescape in that particular situation. It suggests that brand

experience is not limited to any given situation or context for creating value.

Rather, it may occur in all servicescapes under the assumption that brand-related

experimental attributes provided by the manufacturer can integrate with

consumers to provide sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioural

responses.

According to Andreini et al. (2018), brand experience can be institutionalised

over space and time. This can be seen in the car’s interior through a spatial

servicescape constructed by the manufacturer for consumers who are located in

the space of the car over time. As Bitner (1992) stated, a spatial servicescape

can be viewed as a physical surrounding that influences consumers’ behaviour.

However, the manufacturer’s spatial servicescape is not limited to the physical

surrounding, but includes the brand and product in the atmosphere. That is, the

manufacturer has created an arena with the car’s interior, where the brand,

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product, and servicescape are intertwined. Sensory cues are present inside the

car’s interior and include things like aesthetics, colour, form, material, and

shape. These are based on brand-related stimuli from Volvo Cars to provide

consumers with a brand experience of the space – i.e., the cabin. The cabin is

the servicescape where the value proposition becomes available for consumers

through the car’s interior in the atmosphere.

In the atmosphere, sensory cues are embedded to influence consumers on

emotional and rational levels (Spence et al., 2014). This means that regardless

of the spatial servicescape of a car or restaurant, it is planned and designed to

appeal to consumers’ minds and senses to provide sensations, feelings,

cognitions, and behavioural responses during consumption.

In a fictitious scenario, a person is dining at Fäviken Magasinet, a world-

famous restaurant in the north of Sweden. This visit includes so much more than

just the actual dinner. It is about the hedonic experience and what kind of

sensations, feelings, cognitions, and behavioural responses provided from the

given environment (Pine and Gilmore, 1998; Achrol and Kotler, 2012; Spence et al., 2014) convey a brand experience (Brakus et al., 2009). Since the

restaurant’s walls have brown wood panelling and logs in wood in the ceiling,

the inside of the restaurant looks like a Swedish hunting cabin. Moreover,

interior pieces like the tables and chairs are harmonised in the same theme with

timber and tableware in grey tones. A fur jacket and dried herbs and plants from

the local region are used as decorations on the walls. Moreover, the food is

related to the north of Sweden and the menu is adjusted to the current season in

terms of local produce and served on rocks with wooden cutlery, where bark

and moss are used to decorate the dishes. This example illustrates that the

physical surrounding and atmosphere enhance the actual consumer experience

of the given spatial servicescape.

In this regard, the inside of a car is as suitable as any other context to foster

an appealing brand experience in the given environment. This is because the

consumers are located in a spatial servicescape that allows interaction with

brand-related stimuli from the car’s interior.

Thus, as per the literature and Fäviken Magasinet, the car’s interior provides

the manufacturer with an opportunity to construct a spatial servicescape for

interaction with consumers. It means that once consumers are inside the car,

they are exposed to the interior situated in the atmosphere of the spatial

servicescape. It highlights the importance of creating a setting for consumer

interaction to engender an intended value-in-use. Because consumers use the

human senses when interacting and evaluating the car’s interior, the value

proposition provides a brand experience to interpret and give meaning to.

As emphasised by Schmitt and Zarantonello (2013), an experiential theme is

necessary to trigger a brand experience in consumers’ minds. This is evident in

the spatial servicescape of the car, which is planned and designed with Scandinavia as the experiential theme. The manufacturer creates a spatial

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servicescape to remind consumers of Scandinavia by exposing them to the

characteristics of the brand’s heritage from a sensory perspective. It shows that

the value proposition is embodied in the spatial servicescape to offer consumers

additional value by interacting with the Scandinavian landscape, a gestalt of the

experiential theme through colour, material, and shape as brand-related stimuli.

Moreover, the spatial servicescape is constructed with tangible and intangible

dimensions. The car’s interior comprises tangible objects consisting of

attributes like colour, material, size, and texture. This signifies that the

manufacturer has planned and designed the car’s interior to link value

proposition and consumers’ human senses, leading to the intended value-in-use.

That is, the manufacturer creates an opportunity for consumers to interact with

the car’s interior through seeing, feeling, touching and grasping components of

the interior, such as the gear lever, buttons, seats, and steering wheel. However,

this is not limited to a single occasion or situation. Since the consumer’s

opportunity to interact with the value proposition recurs every time he/she

enters the car, the intended value-in-use is continuous.

The car’s interior also consists of intangible attributes, such as aesthetic

design, high quality, and luxury. However, to provide consumers with the

intended value-in-use, these attributes need to be made tangible for consumers

to position the brand as premium. This is achieved with the sensory cues, which

are based on brand-related stimuli. Although the brand-stimuli are intangible,

they become obvious when embedded in the car’s interior. By using

Scandinavia as inspiration, the car’s interior makes the Volvo Cars brand

tangible in the spatial servicescape. It shows that the manufacturer intends to

position the brand as premium by providing consumers with an appealing brand

experience that is associated with luxury. Hence, aesthetic design, high quality,

and luxury become apparent through a tangible car’s interior with intangible

brand-related stimuli.

This falls into the manufacturer having a value proposition through the car’s

interior in the spatial servicescape. That is, consumers can interact with the

offered value by being exposed to sensory cues based on brand-related stimuli

when interacting with the car’s interior. Although brand experience is created

by consumers (Khan and Rahman, 2015; Andreini et al., 2018), the

manufacturer offers them a myriad of opportunities in the spatial servicescape

to interact with through the car’s interior. Therefore, it can be seen that the

manufacturer provides an arena for brand experience to occur, since

consumption takes place when interacting with the car’s interior. Although the

purpose of the car is utilitarian, the interior conveys a hedonic experience in

terms of the experimental theme of Scandinavia and convey the impression of

a premium brand. In other words, the car’s interior components, such as the

seating, steering wheel, and gear lever, are crucial for consumers to drive the

car, but do not need to have an experiential theme. For instance, a steering wheel in a cold material like metal fulfils the functionality of steering the car as well

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as one with an experiential theme. This points towards the importance of

planning and designing a spatial servicescape to offer a product with additional

value besides utility to convey an appealing brand experience to provide

consumers with sensation, feeling, cognition, and behavioural responses from

the spatial servicescape.

In this regard, the spatial servicescape is imperative for the intended value-

in-use as it gives consumers a brand experience for sense-making. According to

the manufacturer, it was essential to achieve harmony to satisfy consumers. As

per Garaus (2017), atmospheric harmony in the environment enhances hedonic

and utilitarian values to provide more favourable consumer responses. This is

clear in the car’s interior. Since the car’s interior is located in the atmosphere,

based on embedded sensory cues, these need to be in harmony to provide

consumers with a brand experience.

The provided brand experience starts with sensory cues based on brand-

related stimuli embedded in the car’s interior to influence consumers’

perceptions of the product and servicescape. This illustrates that the brand,

product, and servicescape need to be in harmony to appeal to consumers’ human

senses. In the case of Volvo Cars, the heritage from Scandinavia is used to

position the brand as premium in consumers’ minds. Because the brand

originates from Sweden, the link between Scandinavia and the car’s interior is

distinct, which shows that the brand is present in the given servicescape where

the consumer is located and driving the product car. Subsequently, the brand

experience is provided to consumers through the car’s interior in the spatial

servicescape.

To elucidate how a brand experience is furnished through the car’s interior,

recall the example sensory experience in the introduction of chapter one. This

was inspired by how the manufacturer wants to unify the car’s interior with

consumers from a sensory marketing perspective. However, with the paucity of

research on harmony in relation to sensory marketing, the departure here is the

philosophical meaning of the term. Specifically, combining various bits and

pieces in design (Veryzer and Hutchinson, 1998; Kumar and Garg, 2010), which

stems from the combination of a simultaneously sounded musical note to

produce a pleasing effect (Bruner, 1990), leads to balance and symmetry

(Henderson and Cote, 1998). Following this, a harmony experience refers to

how music is perceived by the individual’s human senses and how a balance of

several instruments played simultaneously provides a pleasant feeling (Bruner,

1990). It can be seen clearly that harmony is related to provide consumers with

a brand experience through sensory cues in the car’s interior to appeal to their

human senses.

However, the consumers need to interpret the spatial servicescape consisting

of the car’s interior, which reminds them of Scandinavia through sensory cues

like colour, material, and shape for harmony to occur. Linking this with the underlying meaning of harmony, consumers need to sit in the car seats, just like

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the concertgoers, and they can start enjoying the concert. However, in this case,

the stage and orchestra are in the spatial servicescape of the car. Although the

instrument categories are replaced by categories, such as the steering wheel,

gear lever, dashboard and trim panels, strategically orchestrated by the

manufacturer to have a balance between consumers and the car. For instance,

the steering wheel has been placed within an arm’s length away in the front of

the stage, facing the seating. The gear lever has been positioned in the centre of

the stage, to the side of the seating. Lastly, a car’s interior, such as the dashboard

and trim panels, have been placed in the background of the stage, beyond the

seating and in the outskirts of the spatial servicescape. Hence, by strategically

organising the spatial servicescape with a balance between the car’s interior and

brand-related stimuli, the manufacturer can appeal to and intensify consumers’

human senses for cognitive, emotional and behavioural responses to engender

a harmony experience.

Although harmony experience is overlooked in marketing literature, it

seemed important in the empirical world and linked with the theoretical concept

brand experience. The role of harmony in the present dissertation is elaborated

in section 5.4.

6.3.2 Bodily experience

By constructing a spatial servicescape where the car’s interior occupies the

atmosphere, the manufacturer wants to provide consumers with a bodily

experience as part of the intended value-in-use. However, a bodily experience

does not emerge per se, but is provided by sensory cues. Since individuals

experience the world through their human senses, consumers’ sense-making of

obtained sensory information leads to a bodily experience (Krishna and

Schwarz, 2014). This means that the manufacturer plans and designs to provide

consumers with a sensory experience through embedded sensory cues based on

brand-related stimuli, which subsequently leads to consumers’ bodily

experiences. Although sensory experience and bodily experience are decided

by consumers, a manufacturer can foster these by evoking a brand experience

(Schmitt et al., 2015b)

Planning and designing a sensory experience to appeal to the mind and senses

for the consumer to make sense is a complex issue (Krishna, 2012). This is

especially true because it falls into consumers’ sensory and affective responses

from brands or products (Brakus et al., 2009). The complexity of staging a brand

experience is emphasised in theory and reflected in practice. It can be seen

clearly in that a brand experience includes provided sensory and affective values

to provide consumers sensation and affective responses from the interaction

with the car’s interior. Hence, the complexity for the manufacturer’s intended

value-in-use from brand experience depends on how consumers interpret and

make sense of embedded sensory cues in the car’s interior, which according to

literature, may be subjective and differ between individuals (Hultén, 2011).

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Although the brand experience literature treats sensory and affective

experience as individual dimensions (Brakus et al., 2009), they are actually

interlinked. Since sensory cues based on brand-related stimuli trigger emotional

responses in consumers, this conveys a preferable brand image (Cho and Fiore,

2015). It highlights the importance of planning and designing a car’s interior

that affords consumers with a sensory and affective experience. Hence, it

entices the manufacturers to position the brand as premium through embedding

sensory cues in the car’s interior to ensure the intended value-in-use. Initially,

the car’s interior has a visually appealing design, since visual cues provide

consumers with a first impression of the car’s interior. Following the logic of

sensory experience fostering affective experience, the manufacturer ensured

that consumers get a welcoming feeling through the sensory experience by

having an expensive spatial servicescape that resembles a nice piece of

architecture, a nice house or a restaurant. The link with brand heritage is distinct

by using sensory cues, such as colours, material and shapes, in the car’s interior

from the Scandinavian landscape. For example, calm and cool colours, crystal

and leather, and sweeping horizontal lines as the shape are used to convey

affections, such as ambience and calmness. This shows the importance of

considering what kind of sensory experience to provide consumers since it

provides affective responses.

Although providing consumers with a brand experience starts with visual

sensory cues in the car’s interior, it goes beyond the visual design. It also

includes consumers’ multisensory experiences imbued by multiple sensory

cues, such as sitting comfortably and touching buttons. This shows how

important it is to consider what is happening with the other senses when the

consumers interact with the car’s interior. This is because sensations and

feelings are provided when consumers touch the car’s interior, such as the

steering wheel, gear lever, trim panels, and dashboard. This proves how vital it

is to consider the affective experience from individual and multiple sensory cues

in the intended value-in-use. For instance, if the material of the seating and

steering wheel looks like leather, the material must be leather to provide the

right tactile sensation and feeling. If the material just looks like leather and, for

example, is actually plastic, an unwanted tactile response occurs that is not

perceived as premium. Hence, sensory and affective experience are complex to

plan and design since they are ambiguous and interlinked with one another.

However, to ensure consumers have an affective experience, it is imperative

that there be a sensory experience for evaluation and sense-making.

To understand why the manufacturer provides the car’s interior as a sensory

experience, it is important to know how the purpose of cars has changed over

time. Initially, a car was a practical transportation vehicle that replaced the horse

and wagon. These cars had the focus on utility and how to be transported from

location a to b. However, over time cars have evolved into an emotional vehicle that provides consumers with additional value and experiences during

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transportation. This value is provided to gain competitive advantage of the

brand (Prahalad and Ramaswamy, 2004; Ramaswamy, 2008) and adapt to

changes in consumption in the experience economy (Pine and Gilmore, 1998).

Since cars have become a big part of consumers’ daily lives regarding

commuting, shopping, and driving children to leisure activities, they have

become more attractive and comfortable. Furthermore, this has influenced the

car’s interior, such as seating, steering wheel, and gear lever, from just being

necessary to drive to being enhanced with external attributes like leather. It

means that the car’s interior plays an imperative role from a sensory and

emotional perspective, since consumers today use cars daily. In this regard, the

car’s interior needs to be constructed to provide consumers a sensory

experience, leading to affective experience of the brand to engender the

intended value-in-use.

In accordance with brand experience, consumers need to feel pleasure when

interacting with the brand (Brakus et al., 2009; Khan and Rahman, 2015;

Andreini et al., 2018). Although the utility of the car’s interior is important, this

is provided from embedded sensory cues. Hence, the manufacturer has

constructed the car’s interior to provide consumers sensation and affection

responses. Initially, it can be seen that these occur from how the seating, steering

wheel, and gear lever have been positioned in relation to one another, which is

part of the sensory experience of the spatial servicescape and the utility of

driving the car. Additionally, the car’s interior is designed to be ergonomic –

for example, so consumers can sit comfortably while driving a long distance

and have a steering wheel that provide a tactile response of being premium.

Moreover, to enhance the premium feeling, the gear lever knob is made from

crystal, because having a handcrafted component, whether it is in a car or home,

symbolises luxury. Just as the gear lever has been modified, so has the

dashboard by adding leather as a surface layer. Although the utilitarian use of

the interior is fulfilled without these modifications, it shows that sensory

experience is dependent on visual cues and eye-catching attributes. This in turn

provides consumers with an affective experience through the premium

characteristics.

A consumer’s affective experience is dependent on the automotive body.

Since the vehicle referred to in this dissertation is an SUV, its interior was

planned and designed to highlight a large spatial servicescape. Compared with

other car models, the seating has been made slimmer and positioned at a higher

level, which means that consumers sit in a more elevated position and get the

feeling of being in control when driving due to the wide field of view. It also

means that the spatial servicescape feels bigger and provides space, which is

enhanced by having the windshield and windows higher up to control the

surrounding environment while driving. Aside from this, the manufacturer has

added a small Swedish flag on the side of the seats to remind consumers of the brand’s heritage. This can also be linked with how consumers decorate their

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home. A home today is decorated in a minimalistic fashion in relation to

furniture and interior to create spacious rooms. In a similar way, the

manufacturer has planned and designed the spatial servicescape with the car’s

interior, meaning that consumers’ provided sensory and affective experience are

linked to their housing and lifestyles.

However, the sensory and affective experience of brands and products may

differ between individuals (Brakus et al., 2009; Andreini et al., 2018). For a

global product, such as a car, using the car’s interior as a starting point may be

challenging to provide a sensory experience that fits all consumers. However,

when consumers purchase the car, numerous interior options are available for

selection to address various sensations and affections. For example, the seats

and steering wheel are available in a comfort or sports version. These both have

a different characteristic regarding provided sensations and affections. The

comfort seating is designed to provide sensations and affections relating to the

driving experience to sit more comfortably and be relaxed, and to allow

consumers to move around more freely. The sports seating is designed as a

spoon with vertical angles on the seat cushion to provide sensations and

affections linked to a racing driving experience. The two steering wheel options

are designed in a similar way. The comfort steering wheel supports the comfort

and relaxing sensations and affections by being grasp-friendly, while a sports

steering wheel feels closer to the fingers and supports the racing driving

experience. Besides comfort or sports selections, consumers can select between

colours that are light or dark, and materials like fabric or leather to suit

individuals’ needs for sensations and affections. It means that before the

consumption process, consumers can customise the car’s interior based on their

needs, wants, and desires in relation to their sensory and affective preferences.

Hence, by offering a car interior with various sensory and affective experiences,

the manufacturer can strengthen the brand and ensure that consumers purchase

the car based on their heart and emotions.

In this regard, it is imperative that the manufacturer is perceived as a premium

brand with a high-quality product. In accordance with brand experience,

intellectual and behavioural experiences are also included, which are related to

consumer cognition (Brakus et al., 2009; Khan and Rahman, 2015; Andreini et

al., 2018). An intellectual experience occurs from previous knowledge (Brakus et al., 2009) and prompts consumers to think (Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010).

Behavioural experience refers to how to predict consumers’ actions and

psychological reactions when integrating with a brand (Brakus et al., 2009).

However, these cannot be separated from sensory and affective experience since

they lead to an intellectual experience and behavioural experience. To elucidate,

when consumers interact with the car’s interior, they get a sensory experience

that results in an affective experience. Consequently, these obtained experiences

engender cognitive responses like intellectual experience and behavioural experience. It shows that the car’s interior has been developed in accordance

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with Brakus et al.’s (2009) brand experience dimensions to ensure the intended

value-in-use.

Interestingly, the brand experience dimensions, specifically intellectual

experience and behavioural experience, emerge from bodily experience. Since

bodily experience takes place due to consumers’ mental processes from brand-

related stimuli (Andreini et al., 2018; Brakus et al., 2009; Khan and Rahman,

2015), it is logical to assume this occurs positively or negatively based on

sensory cues in the car’s interior. To exemplify, it starts with behaviour.

Consumers are exposed to the car’s interior, where they interact with it through

the human senses. This can happen by sitting in the seats, holding the steering

wheel, or pressing buttons, leading to bodily experience from the obtained

information. Regarding the seating, consumers who sit comfortably and feel the

soft leather may engender a bodily experience by driving a long distance

without getting pain in their back, buttocks, or legs. This also works the other

way around; consumers who sit uncomfortably and feel like the leather is too

hard against their bodies may cause a bodily experience by wriggling around to

find a comfortable position. Similar logic applies for the steering wheel, as

consumers who hold the steering wheel may feel the soft leather against their

skin and keep the same position while driving, resulting in bodily experience.

On the other hand, consumers who hold the steering wheel and feel

uncomfortable, may move their hands around to find a suitable position, which

leads to a frustrated bodily experience. This points towards consumers needing

to engage in a behaviour, which subsequently causes a bodily experience, which

as per Krishna and Schwarz (2014), is stored and remembered over time. Hence,

the bodily experience occurs in the given moment, but also influences future

interactions with the car’s interior and the intended value-in-use.

However, the manufacturer provides a car’s interior related to different kinds

of bodily experiences. As mentioned before, the car’s interior is available in

comfort and sports versions, which are planned and designed with separate

intentions. The comfort seating allows the consumers to move around a bit, but

still be at ease with slightly adjusted positions leading to a bodily experience of

being able to move around freely. However, the sports seating has the opposite

intention, as consumers who sit in these seats sink into them and are not able to

move around. In this case, consumers who accelerate fast may be pushed even

more into the seating, which engenders a bodily experience of excitement and

fun. These different bodily experiences may be enhanced by the steering wheel,

since it follows in the same selection package. Thus, either with a comfortable

grip allowing consumers to move their hands freely or a sporty grip that sees

consumers holding more tightly when driving, two different bodily experiences

occur.

It is evident that consumers’ bodily experiences are imperative for the car’s

interior. However, from an intellectual experience and behavioural experience points of view, customers are encouraged into thinking and problem-solving by

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using prior knowledge (Brakus et al., 2009). In this case, the car’s interior has

been planned and designed in a way that does not engage consumers into

thinking and problem-solving. For instance, the tablet’s menu has been

simplified, where only four clicks are needed to activate a particular setting in

the interior. This shows that the tablet has been designed to limit consumers’

thinking and problem-solving through a short interaction. A complicated menu

with settings that are hard to locate would demand a longer activity in

identifying the wanted function and cause a bodily experience like frustration.

Rather, the focus is to imbue consumers a user-friendly bodily experience that

stems from behaviour with little mental activity involvement in the intended

value-in-use.

Aside from simplicity, the tablet is equipped with light beams that sense

consumers’ fingers before they press the screen. This means that consumers do

not necessarily need to touch the tablet to click on a setting, as the light beams

sense the consumers’ selection when the fingers are close to the tablet with a

simulated touch. In this way, the tablet will be kept clean and have no

fingerprints. Like consumers’ surfaces and floors at home are dusted, vacuum-

cleaned, and mopped, the car’s interior follows the same logic. For instance,

individuals open and close a refrigerator and a freezer with their hands. If the

material looks like quality, but when touched leaves fingerprints, individuals’

bodily experiences decrease because the first thing they will see is that it is dirty.

Therefore, by having sensors on the tablet, the consumers’ fingerprints do not

end up on the screen and will always be clean, which may increase a bodily

experience of cleanliness. Another example showing the bodily experience and

cleanliness of the interior is trim panels. The trim panels are constructed with

robust, sustainable material to withstand abrasion. It means that consumers, just

like in their home, can dust, vacuum-clean and wipe off the interior, and it will

look new and maintain the bodily experience over time.

Moreover, when consumers interact with the interior using their fingers, it

must not only feel right in terms of material, but must sound right, too. Hence,

the clicking sound from the tablet relates to the quality impression. As

emphasised by Spangenberg et al. (2005), having the proper sound is important

since the wrong sound conveys another unwanted impression, which may harm

the intended value-in-use. Therefore, identifying a suitable sound for the tablet

was imperative. It means that consumers’ prior knowledge of quality sounds is

important when evaluating the tablet. This is illustrated when pressing a setting

on the tablet and the sound is not in line with how consumers expect it to sound,

which may make them relate the sound to something else that does not represent

the sound from a quality tablet. Another example of bodily experience

associated with sound are the buttons. However, compared with a tablet, no

sound occurs, as when buttons are touched or pressed and, for example, make a

creaking sound, consumers’ mental activities relate the noise with low quality.

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Thus, in this case, no sound increases consumers’ bodily experience because

prior knowledge of pressing or touching buttons is associated with silence.

Lastly, bodily experience concerns technology. Nowadays, individuals are

used to having smartphones and tablets, so it was necessary to integrate these in

the car’s interior. In this way, consumers can connect and integrate their

smartphones and tablets with the one in the car’s interior as a remote control to

adjust various settings. It illustrates that consumers’ previous knowledge of how

to use technology is imperative for the bodily experience. If consumers cannot

recognise, for instance, the menu on the tablet in the car’s interior, the bodily

experience may decrease because they are encouraged to think and cope with

settings in a way that is not in line with how technology, such as smartphones

and tablets, are used in their daily lives.

6.4 Harmony

6.4.1 Definition and nature

In the qualitative sequence, the informants revealed the importance of harmony

when planning and designing value in the car’s interior. In this regard,

marketing literature was consulted to examine harmony from a sensory

marketing point of view. Surprisingly, little attention in the marketing domain

has been given to harmony, except for pointing out its necessity. Despite the

importance of harmony as a design dimension to achieve unity by connecting

stimuli characteristics in a meaningful way (Henderson and Cote, 1998) that

contributes to brand meaning and a positive brand outcome (Garaus, 2017),

little is known.

To fully understand the nature of harmony, the underlying assumptions were

sought out. It is acknowledged that harmony has been used in various ways,

such as in culture (e.g., Hofstede, 1980; Schwartz, 1999; Trompenaars and

Hampden-Turner, 2004) and gestalt theory (e.g., Hoyt, 1944; Koffka, 2013).

Although harmonising cultural values or the cognitive process of merging

information from seemingly disconnected bits and pieces into a whole are

interesting, they are not in line with creating value from a sensory marketing

perspective. Instead, it is more suitable to depart in how individuals perceive

created art, architecture, and design through the human senses, and if a pleasant,

harmonious effect occurs (Veryzer, 1993; Veryzer and Hutchinson, 1998;

Kumar and Garg, 2010). The effect of harmony can be illustrated as being

broadly used as a musical term. Harmony in music derives from ancient Greek

writings to describe if a melody’s composition is consistent or not. The melody

is broken down into individual notes to find out if several elements are

combined in unison of notes based on different instruments. Hence, the term

harmony is used to describe the melody’s composition if a consonant harmony

experience occurs or not (Bruner, 1990).

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6.4.2 Contrast with congruency

Although there is research on harmony in the marketing domain, it has mostly

focused on congruency. Congruency is based on the notion that consumers

mentally hold two or more objects relevant to one another, but to some part

inconsistent with each other (Gross and Wiedmann, 2015). At first glance, it

seems harmony and congruency are the same, but these are distinguishable.

Although there are various definitions of congruency (Fleck and Quester,

2007), it has been described in relation to sensory marketing as “the degree of

fit among characteristics of a stimulus” (Krishna et al., 2010, p. 412). Most

often, congruency is the link between a source and message to predict an attitude

outcome (Osgood and Tannenbaum, 1955; Gross and Wiedmann, 2015) – for

example, consumers associate Colgate with the message of freshness and not

with cavity protection (Vriens and Martins Alves, 2017). Despite the numerous

studies on congruency (e.g., Mitchell et al., 1995; Mattila and Wirtz, 2001;

Spangenberg et al., 2006; Krishna et al., 2010; North, Sheridan and Areni, 2016;

Helmefalk and Hultén, 2017), little is known about it (Mari and Poggesi, 2013),

aside from the fit between objects (Helmefalk, 2016). The brand is congruent

with consumer attitudes or values, since the brand-related stimuli match or fit

the self (MacInnis and Folkes, 2017). As an example, the latest Beetle model

used the same colour schemes and shapes in the car’s design and marketing

communication to provide consumers with a compelling experience (Brakus,

Schmitt and Zhang, 2014).

Moving beyond congruency, which is limited to fit, match or relevance

between objects, harmony elucidates how various elements, such as brand-

related stimuli, provide an understanding that may be integrated into a cognitive

map of brand associations held by the consumers (Gross and Wiedmann, 2015).

Simply put, harmony is a pattern of bits and pieces perceived in symmetry and

balance with each other (Henderson and Cote, 1998) to the degree of the visual

arrangements making up a coherent and unified (Veryzer, 1993; Kumar and

Garg, 2010) holistic experience (Hekkert, 2006). In this regard, harmony

departs into what degree visual cues align one or several objects to form a

coherent and unified pattern (Kim, 2006).

However, harmony goes beyond how visual cues align and should engage all

five senses in designing an experience (Alcántara et al., 2014). This is achieved

by harmonising various sensory cues to provide consumers with memorable

sensory and cognitive information (Pine and Gilmore, 1998). For example, a

hotel room’s façade and interior are designed in harmony and include a

comfortable bed and carpet as part of the coherent and unified brand experience

(Montaña, Guzmán and Moll, 2008). In a similar way, a car’s interior can be

designed coherently to provide consumers with a harmonious experience. For

instance, it is logical to assume that a sports steering wheel in a station wagon

would not provide consumers with a harmonious experience. It is vital to have

an optimal balance of included sensory cues to provide consumers with a

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pleasant brand experience, strengthening the relationship between the brand and

consumers (Morrison and Crane, 2007). Accordingly, harmony goes beyond

congruency, since consumers tend to map sensory cues that are close together

in the given situation by using the senses to make these belong together in a

coherent way (Kumar and Garg, 2010).

In this regard, manufacturers can tailor and gestalt the visual appearance of

brands, products, and servicescapes to target and provide a particular consumer

segment with harmony (Haberstroh, Orth, Bouzdine-Chameeva, Cohen, Corsi,

Crouch and De Marchi, 2018). However, as mentioned above, harmony is not

limited to visual appearance since it may include inputs for all human senses

and research may benefit from extending from just the sense of sight. Harmony

covers all elements in the given setting and consumers tend to organise and

structure obtained sensory information in their minds. Therefore, arranged

elements, such as placement of objects in the given setting, form a meaningful

entity, subsequently advancing consumers’ processing fluency harmony, which

may vary depending on whether the included elements fit the offering, leading

to added value (Garaus, 2017). Table 6.1 presents the differences between

harmony and congruency.

Table 6.1. Harmony versus congruency

Harmony Congruency

Definition and nature “pattern or

arrangement of parts

that combines

symmetry and balance

and captures good

design from a gestalt

perspective” (Henderson and Cote,

1998, p. 16).

Various definitions

exist. In these, fit,

match, relevance, and

similarity are recurrent

(Fleck and Quester,

2007).

Perspective Broad Narrow

The role of the senses Engaging all senses Primarily engaging the

visual sense

Example Emotions, gestalt, and

the overall perception

Focus on the fit

between identified

information in an

advertisement and the

product or brand.

6.4.3 Application in the present dissertation

Regarding the empirical finding in the qualitative sequence and the discussion

of harmony above, it was necessary to grasp the content and examine the

potential impact on consumers’ brand image, value as an experience. Although

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the qualitative sequence revealed that harmony might be an additional

dimension of brand experience, this has been overlooked in marketing. As a

consequence of the ambiguity of harmony revealed by the informants and in

marketing literature, this dissertation views it as an outcome that can be

integrated into brand experience. This can be achieved by operationalising,

measuring, testing, and generalising harmony.

Three hypotheses were stated in chapter two, which were developed based

on prior literature on brand experience (Brakus et al., 2009; Nysveen et al., 2013; Khan and Rahman, 2015). Although the original dimensions of brand

experience are interesting to test with brand image, there was a need to modify

the hypotheses in the research model based on the findings in the qualitative

sequence. As it was revealed that harmony might be incorporated in brand

experience, it builds into the quantitative sequence as a hypothesised

relationship with brand image. Figure 6.1. shows the revision of the

hypothesised relationships by adding a fourth hypothesis. How harmony

experience as a construct was operationalised and measured is elaborated (see

section 7.1.3) and the testing of its incorporation and generalisation in brand

experience is presented in section 8.2.

Figure 6.1. Revised hypothesized relationships within the theoretical framework

As discussed in chapter two, H1, H2, and H3 are theoretically predicted based on

prior research. In regard to H4, the nature of harmony is related to consumer

evaluation of various elements based on the human senses, which subsequently

form a coherent and unified pattern (Kumar and Garg, 2010). Research shows

that consumers tend to prefer harmony rather than disharmony regarding the

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composition of design elements (Bell, Holbrook and Solomon, 1991). From a

gestalt perspective, humans tend to see objects that are closely interlinked with

one another or look, feel, or sound as though they belong with each other

(Koffka, 2013). In this regard, it is logical to assume that the car’s interior

comprises numerous sensory cues to provide consumers with a holistic brand

impression (Orth and Malkewitz (2008). This is triggered when consumers are

exposed to or interact with brand-related stimuli (Brakus et al., 2009), leading

to classifying information, interpreting the meaning (Kumar and Garg, 2010;

Gross and Wiedmann, 2015), and forming the holistic experience (Hekkert,

2006), which results in a positive brand outcome (Garaus, 2017), such as brand

image. Hence, harmony experience is staged by brand-related stimuli in objects.

These should not just fit, match or be related, but need to be orchestrated in

unison to provide consumers with a balanced impression of the brand-related

stimuli. Thus, it is expected that consumers’ harmony experience impact brand

image, leading to the following hypothesis that will be examined in chapter

eight:

H4: Harmony experience has a positive effect on brand image

6.4.4 Closing remarks

Although harmony has received little attention in research, it is possible to

incorporate its nature with sensory marketing. Departing from Henderson and

Cote’s (1998) definition of harmony, the link with sensory marketing is distinct.

How individuals perceive sensory stimuli, leading to a harmonious experience

of all obtained sensory information, suggests that manufacturers can orchestrate

sensory cues like musical tunes in a myriad of ways to interact with consumers

through sensory design (Zomerdijk and Voss, 2010).

This highlights the importance of manufacturers interacting with consumers

to create and deliver a positive, memorable experience (Lemon and Verhoef,

2016; McColl-Kennedy, Zaki, Lemon, Urmetzer and Neely, 2019).

Interestingly, for cars, the experience does not only rely on the point of purchase

and consumption, since the durability also needs to be consistent every time

they are used. This suggests that the challenge for car manufacturers is not just

to produce and sell cars, but is related to all the interaction possibilities over

time (Lienert, 1998). Based on the discussion above, the car’s interior is full of

interaction possibilities. From a sensory marketing perspective, the key aspect

of this is not just to plan and design the car’s interior and is not just limited to

congruence with brand-related stimuli, but has harmony within, for example,

between the seating and steering wheel.

Moreover, the manufacturer applies sensory cues in the car’s interior to

interact with consumers’ human senses. In this dissertation, sensory cues, brand

experience, and brand image contribute to providing a harmony experience in

the car’s interior. As a conductor organises and ensures that all instruments play

a coherent melody, Volvo Cars orchestrates sensory cues embedded in the car’s

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interior to provide consumers uniformity. Like the audience experiences and

makes sense of the melody by unifying all the sensory impressions provided by

the orchestra, the same logic goes for consumers inside the car, where they are

experiencing the coherently planned and designed spatial servicescape with

sensory cues embedded in the car’s interior as a brand experience. Once the

event with the orchestra is over, the audience will go home and remember the

holistic experience, and if they want to experience the same event again, they

will purchase another ticket. However, once the consumers get out the car, they

will come back for their next drive. This points at the importance of planning

and designing the car’s interior to be fun and exciting, which is memorable and

sustainable over time. This is because the consumers do not just purchase the

car, they interact and experience the interior every time they drive the vehicle.

Hence, it is imperative that managers treat the car’s interior as being worthy of

remembering over time to ensure harmony in the brand experience, which may

provide consumers with a coherent, holistic impression – e.g., a positive brand

image. Thus, the car’s interior is a continuous interaction opportunity between

the manufacturer and consumers, which will not end until the car is sold.

In summary, an important insight gained from the discussion of the

qualitative findings is the manufacturer’s pursuit of harmony in the car’s

interior. The view is that the pursuit of harmony is ambiguous but imperative to

consider when planning and designing for value, though it may differ depending

on the brand. Therefore, managers need to consider their brand-related stimuli

from a sensory perspective and to understand consumer perception. This is to

embed sensory cues strategically in car’s interior, where the manufacturer and

consumer interact with one another to ensure harmony as part of the brand

experience, which leads to a sustainable positive holistic impression of the

brand over time. Thus, managers can be seen as conductors of an orchestra,

planning and designing objects in the given environment together so they can

provide the audience with a harmonious melody to be able to engage all the

consumers’ senses.

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7 Method: quantitative sequence

Chapter seven presents the method of the quantitative sequence. The chapter looks at how the qualitative sequence builds into the quantitative sequence.

Thereafter, it outlines how the questionnaire was operationalised and

distributed, its population, and how the data was analysed. Lastly, validity and reliability are introduced to ensure robustness in the analysis results.

7.1 Operationalisation

7.1.1 Building into the quantitative sequence

As emphasised in section 3.1.1, this dissertation has pragmatism as a scientific

approach and an exploratory sequential research design – in particular, the

qualitative sequence generation information that builds into the quantitative

sequence. This information was used to ensure a more structured and

quantifiable questionnaire instrument (Tashakkori and Teddlie, 1998). Ethical

considerations were also discussed in this section.

In the quantitative sequence, the operationalisation of the questionnaire was

based on an extensive literature review of brand experience and brand image.

This literature review served as a filter to identify the most relevant constructs

and items to be included in the questionnaire. Although the questionnaire was

based on prior research scales (see sections 7.1.2 and 7.1.4), it was partly

inspired by empirical material from the qualitative sequence, focus groups, and

a literature review (see section 7.1.3). Brand experience and brand image were

operationalised from prior scales. However, harmony was repeated by the

informants and its meaning not fully explained during the conducted interviews

in the qualitative sequence. Research revealed that harmony has received little

attention in the sensory marketing domain. Instead, research has focused on

congruency, which refers to the fit or match between objects (see section 6.4.2).

In this regard, harmony experience was developed as an exploratory construct

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in the questionnaire to measure and test if the dimension could be incorporated

into the brand experience scale.

Hypotheses are suppositions that the researcher makes about a predicted

outcome of relationships between variables (Creswell, 2014).

Operationalisation is a critical aspect of the predicted outcome of relationships

between variables. The main crucial aspect of the operationalisation process is

for the researcher to determine measurable variables, which are then measured

to represent constructs (Hair, Black, Babin and Anderson, 2010). Initially,

Zarantonello (2008) conducted an extensive literature review of proposed brand

scales in marketing and consumer behaviour research. The outcome was the

brand experience scale, which was conceptualised, measured, and tested by

Brakus et al. (2009).

Prior research on the brand experience has divided the concept and measured

sensory experience, affective experience, intellectual experience and

behavioural experience (Brakus et al., 2009; Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010).

In this dissertation, these experiences were measured in the questionnaire (see

Figure 2.6.). Moreover, prior research on brand experience has tested the impact

on various constructs. Brakus et al. (2009) and Nysveen et al. (2013) tested

the relationship with brand personality, satisfaction, and loyalty while Nysveen

and Pedersen (2014) tested the concept in relation to co-creation. However,

none of these constructs are relevant in the present dissertation regarding

creating value with experiences. Instead, the relationship between brand

experience and brand image is interesting. Since the focus is to capture value as

an experience, brand image is a relevant construct to capture consumers’ holistic

impressions of brand-related stimuli (Birdwell, 1968; Park et al., 1986; Dobni

and Zinkhan, 1990; Keller, 1993; Kirmani and Zeithaml, 1993; Patterson, 1999;

Hsieh, 2002). Hence, the relationship between brand experience and brand

image is distinct (Santini et al., 2018), as it is theoretically and empirically

important to understand what consumers think and feel of the brand as being

meaningful to their value-in-use (Keller and Lehmann, 2006) to assess its

impact on the holistic impression value as an experience.

Before moving on to the operationalisation of the constructs brand

experience, harmony experience, and brand image, the measurement scale and

included control variables are presented. As suggested by Podsakoff,

MacKenzie, Lee and Podsakoff (2003), all items in the questionnaire were

measured on the same scale. The advantages of having the same scale format

for all variables are that it might influence covariation and assist respondents in

completing the questionnaire due to a standardised format. The scales used to

measure the items were on a seven-point ordinal scale similar to Brakus et al. (2009) and (Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010). The scale ranged from one

(strongly disagree) to seven (strongly agree).

Aside from operationalising constructs for analysis, control variables are important variables to consider since they affect the phenomena in a study.

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Therefore, controlling this effect becomes important for the researcher to ensure

that operationalised variables were not affected. The control variables included

in this dissertation are gender, age, city size, marital status, number of people in

the household, number of children living at home, education, most recent

purchased car model, year of the car model, and length of ownership of most

recently purchased car. Age, gender and, geographical scope were used as

control variables in line with prior research on brand experience (Brakus et al.,

2009; Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010). However, it is reasonable to assume that

other control variables will impact brand experience stemming from a car’s

interior. In literature, buying a car is assumed to be a high-involvement product

and based on decision-making in relation to income (Nayeem and Casidy,

2013). In addition, it is reasonable to believe that marital status, education, car

model and the number of individuals in the household are part of the decision-

making of purchasing a car.

It should be noted that the questionnaire was developed and distributed in

Swedish. This was a strategic choice because the targeted population was

Swedes who own a Volvo Car; and respondents are more likely to understand

the content and provide honest and trustworthy answers on a questionnaire

developed in their mother tongue. For an overview of items in the constructs,

see the English translated version of the questionnaire in Appendix B.

7.1.2 Brand experience

To operationalise and modify the items to a car’s interior, Brakus et al.’s (2009)

brand experience scale was used. This original brand experience scale had 12

items, labelled in four dimensions with reliable Cronbach’s alpha values. These

are shown in Table 7.1.

Table 7.1. Brand experience scale Cronbach’s alpha

Dimension Number of items Cronbach’s alpha

Sensory experience 3 0,83

Affective experience 3 0,81

Behavioural experience 3 0,76

Intellectual experience 3 0,79

Observing the brand experience scale more closely, it was noted that particular

items, such as “this brand provides feelings and sentiments”, might be

problematic according to literature as the respondents may not know how to

reply. To avoid bias in the constructs, this item was separated into two questions

in accordance with Fowler (1995) to capture both feelings and sentiments.

Moreover, items with reverse wording were added for each brand experience

construct to disrupt undesirable response patterns (MacKenzie and Podsakoff,

2012). In total, 25 brand experience items were operationalised. For an

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overview of the items related to brand experience, see the questionnaire in

Appendix B.

The sensory experience construct refers to sensory dimensions that consist of

brand stimuli like colour, brand characters, design, mascots, slogans, shapes or

typefaces that affect consumers’ human senses (Zarantonello, 2008; Brakus et

al., 2009; Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010). Sensory experience is related to how

the brand appeals to consumers’ human senses (Khan and Rahman, 2015). The

essence of these items captures the extent to which a car’s interior appeals to

consumers’ human senses. In this dissertation, sensory experience is related to

consumers’ perceptions of a car’s interior and was measured using seven items

(SE1 to SE7).

The construct, affective experience, refers to dimensions like the emotional

bond between a firm and consumers based on feelings generated by the brand

(Zarantonello, 2008; Brakus et al., 2009; Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010).

Affective experience is related to what kind of emotions and feelings consumers

are provided with from the brand-related stimuli (Khan and Rahman, 2015) –

in this case, a car’s interior. These items capture the extent to which a car’s

interior provides consumers various affections and was measured using six

items (AE1 to AE6).

The intellectual experience construct denotes dimensions from a brand,

which encourages consumers’ curiosity and problem-solving triggered by

emotions, imagination or thoughts and lead to a particular behaviour

(Zarantonello, 2008; Brakus et al., 2009; Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010).

Intellectual experience refers to whether consumers are intellectually stimulated

by brand-related stimuli (Khan and Rahman, 2015), such as a car’s interior. The

items capture to what extent a car’s interior can stimulate consumers’ mental

reasoning and was measured using four items (IE1 to IE4).

The construct, behavioural experience, deals with consumers’ bodily

experiences of interacting with the brand (Zarantonello, 2008; Brakus et al., 2009; Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010). Behavioural experience refers to

different behaviours that occur when consumers engage with the brand (Khan

and Rahman, 2015), such as a car’s interior. These items capture the extent to

which a car’s interior provides consumers with various behavioural outcomes

and was measured using eight items (BE1 to BE8).

7.1.3 Harmony experience

Although harmony has been overlooked in sensory marketing research, Garaus

(2017) demonstrated that sensory cues in a servicescape form a harmonious

atmosphere that contributes to consumer meaning of brands, resulting in a

positive brand outcome. Although harmony was identified in the qualitative

sequence, additional steps were carried out to operationalise it as a construct.

To ensure acceptable content validity (Carmines and Zeller, 1979), it was

imperative that the items reflected the present dissertation’s reality. With the

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paucity of harmony research in sensory marketing, no established scale was

relied upon. Instead, the items derived from the notion that harmony occurs

from bits and pieces, which are combined in a coherent and unified way

(Veryzer, 1993; Henderson and Cote, 1998; Kim, 2006; Kumar and Garg,

2010), leading to attractiveness (Haberstroh et al., 2018). In this regard,

Henderson and Cote’s (1998) study served as inspiration when operationalising

the items.

As this dissertation seeks to understand how to create value with sensory

marketing, it was necessary to move beyond the manufacturer’s perspective.

Therefore, the matter of whether the consumers’ conception of harmony is

similar to the manufacturer’s was raised, and was addressed by conducting

focus groups with consumers. Like Calder (1977), a phenomenological

approach was taken in this research. To ensure trustworthiness, a semi-

structured template with the logic of emergent and open-ended questions was

applied. This allowed the participants to discuss harmony and brand experience

regarding the car’s interior based on their experience and perception

(Kamberelis, Dimitradis and Walker, 2017). Since harmony is overlooked in

sensory marketing, an exploratory focus group approach was considered

(Churchill, 1979) to identify underlying meanings, patterns, or themes (Patton,

2014). According to Malhotra, Nunan and Birks (2017), this approach was

suitable as existing research has given little attention to harmony.

Four focus groups were conducted: three with consumers and one with

students. To partake in the focus groups, the consumer participants had to have

recently purchased a brand-new vehicle from Volvo Cars. These focus groups

were conducted at a customer evening at a Volvo Cars dealership. The

eligibility criteria for the student participants was that they were required to

have knowledge from the physical experience of a car’s interior. In addition, to

ensure student participants had sufficient knowledge about the car’s interior, it

was necessary for them to have driven the vehicle within the last three months.

This was so that there was retrospective access in the memory of the

experienced car interior. The focus group with student participants was

conducted at the university. The advantage with this population and sampling,

with its mix of participants in regard to age, gender, and profession, was that it

allowed for a deeper and richer discussion (Calder, 1977; Kamberelis et al., 2017).

Like Stewart and Shamdasani (2015), this dissertation also conducted four

focus groups until saturation was reached. The focus groups comprised 25

participants (16 men and nine women), ranging from 20 to 72 years old. The

focus groups lasted between 38 and 48 minutes, and were audio recorded with

the participants’ consent and later transcribed. In accordance with Calder

(1977), the researcher acted as a moderator in each focus group. The moderator

ensured the participants’ anonymity and described the purpose of the focus groups. Subsequently, the participants were asked to introduce themselves,

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allowing them to get acquainted with one another to enhance the group dynamic

before discussing brand experience and harmony. Consistent with Hamzah et

al. (2014), introduction, transaction, and core questions were asked with the

advantage of getting an ongoing discussion among the participants.

Lastly, when the harmony experience items had been developed for the

questionnaire, they were evaluated by marketing experts. Moreover, the

harmony experience items were pre-tested on a consumer panel (see section

7.2.1) and checked for acceptable Cronbach’s alpha value (0,849). Hence,

internal validity was ensured.

Consequently, harmony was operationalised into emotional states in words

that derive from a balance and symmetry of various bits and pieces in a design.

The construct harmony experience captures to what extent the essence of

various bits and pieces of a car’s interior provide consumers with a harmonious

state. In this dissertation, the harmony experience construct is measured in

relation to consumers’ perceptions of the car’s interior. This is measured using

six items – HE1 to HE6. Table 7.2 shows the inspiration for the six

operationalised items.

Table 7.2. Operationalisation harmony experience

Item In-depth

interviews

Focus

groups

Theory

Peacefulness x x (Henderson and Cote, 1998)

Calmness x x (Henderson and Cote, 1998)

Peace of mind x x (Henderson and Cote, 1998)

Congruency x (Mitchell et al., 1995; Mattila and

Wirtz, 2001; Spangenberg et al., 1996; Krishna et al., 2010)

Mindfulness x x (Henderson and Cote, 1998)

Harmony Reversed item

7.1.4 Brand image

The second part of the questionnaire focused on brand image, which is defined

as consumers’ perceptions of the brand, and how brand associations are

reflected and preserved in individuals’ memories (Aaker, 2002; Zambardino

and Goodfellow, 2007; Kapferer, 2012b; Keller et al., 2012). These associations

can be emotional, functional, symbolic, or combined (Park et al., 1986; Alsem

and Kostelijk, 2008; Esch, 2008). It means that brand image is shaped by

attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions in consumers’ minds (Jaju et al., 2006).

Research on brand image thus far has mostly centred on integrating the concept

as a dimension of brand equity considered from a brand management

perspective (Keller, 1993; Aaker, 1996; Park et al., 1986; Park and Srinivasan,

1994; Agarwal and Rao, 1996; Burmann et al., 2009). Hence, a limited number

of studies have measured brand image with no generic scale.

165

Therefore, the logic of Christodoulides, Cadogan and Veloutsou (2015) was

followed by bringing together measures from multiple studies in the

operationalisation of brand image. This dissertation uses the four dimensions of

brand image, that is sensory, symbolic, utilitarian and economic (Hsieh (2002),

adapting these from previous studies measuring brand image (Birdwell, 1968;

Malhotra, 1981; Dobni and Zinkhan, 1990; Keller, 1993; Faircloth et al., 2001;

Cho and Fiore, 2015; Cho et al., 2015). This was a strategical choice, as the

scale was originally developed (Hsieh (2002) with reference to the automotive

industry (Zarantonello and Pauwels-Delassus, 2015). In total, 24 items were

operationalised to measure the brand image associations. For an overview of

items related to brand image, see the questionnaire in Appendix B. However, to

ensure robustness in the analysis, a reliability analysis was performed for each

brand image association. The Cronbach’s alpha values for sensory associations,

symbolic associations, utilitarian associations, and economic associations are

0,920; 0,874; 0.884; and 0.756, respectively (Table 7.3). Hence, each brand

image association has a Cronbach’s alpha value > 0,7, which is considered the

lowest accepted value (Nunnally, 1978; Cronbach, 1987), even if in exploratory

studies alpha values > 0,6 are acceptable (DeVillis, 2016). Consequently, all

brand image associations have an acceptable Cronbach’s alpha value ensuring

internal reliability.

Table 7.3. Brand image operationalised items

Association Number of items Cronbach’s alpha

Sensory associations 8 0,920

Symbolic associations 6 0,874

Utilitarian associations 6 0,884

Economic associations 4 0,756

The sensory associations construct refers to the pleasant experiences of brands

and products (Hsieh, 2002; Cho et al., 2015). Sensory associations are related

to consumers’ perceptions of pleasant experiences of the owned car brand. This

construct captures to what extent a car’s interior provides consumers with

various sensory associations. It is measured using eight items – SEA1 to SEA8.

The construct, symbolic associations, applies to a symbolic process based on

experiences stored in consumers’ memory, relating to events and objects

(Faircloth et al., 2001; Hsieh, 2002). Symbolic associations are connected to

consumers’ perceptions of the car brand’s symbolic meaning. These items

capture to what extent a car’s interior provide consumers different kinds of

symbolic associations. This is measured using six items – SYA1 to SYA6.

Utilitarian associations denotes the practical benefits of brands and products

(Hsieh, 2002). This construct is related to consumers’ perceptions of the

practical benefits of owning the car brand. This construct captures to what

166

extent a car’s interior offers consumers various utilitarian associations. It is

measured using six items – UA1 to UA6.

The construct, economic associations, deals with the economic benefits of

brands and products (Hsieh, 2002). Economic associations are related with

consumers’ perceptions of the economic advantages of owning the car brand.

The items capture to what extent a car’s interior provides consumers with

varying kinds of economic associations, which are measured using four items –

EA1 to EA4.

7.2 Questionnaire administration

7.2.1 Pretesting the questionnaire

Before the questionnaire was administrated to respondents, it was pre-tested on

a consumer panel of 10 consumers. The criteria for being included in the

consumer panel were to own a car and drive it on daily basis. The consumers

were aged between 19 and 78 years old. Each respondent was asked to complete

the questionnaire and mark the question(s) that was perceived as complex or

confusing. Thereafter, each participant was interviewed to discuss why the

question(s) had been marked. The advantage of the pre-test was that criticism

and comments on the questions could be addressed to avoid misunderstandings

to ascertain validity in the questionnaire. The final questionnaire consisted of

67 questions, including 12 control questions, and took approximately 10

minutes to complete.

7.2.2 Distributing the questionnaire

After the pre-test and modifications of the questionnaire, a suitable approach to

reach the informants was identified – the questionnaire was sent out through a

Swedish car magazine. The car magazine has one of Sweden’s leading web

pages about cars with more than 154 000 unique visitors per week. In 2017,

each issue had 225 000 readers. According to the car magazine, a typical reader

is male and aged between 35 and 54 years old. The readers are interested in

motorsport, new technology, and spending money on men’s clothing and

consumer electronics, as well as car parts and computer games.

The web page has a responsive design, which means that it is available for

the readers on several platforms, such as a computer, tablet and mobile phone.

Moreover, the car magazine has articles regarding car meets, racing tracks, car

auctions, readers’ traveling experiences, and reviews of new car models. The

advantage of administrating the questionnaire through the car magazine web

page was that respondents with an interest in cars were encountered directly.

Hence, a convenience sampling was used. The benefit was that the respondents

were easily accessed. However, the downside was that respondents might not

be representative of the entire population (Hair et al., 2010).

167

To increase participants’ response rate, a presentation about the dissertation’s

researcher, the project, and the aim of the questionnaire was written and

published with a link to the questionnaire. For a screenshot of the information,

see Appendix C. The questionnaire was published on the car magazine web

page on Thursday, 15 October 2015. As the questionnaire was published on the

web page, the car magazine put up a link to the article on their Facebook and

Twitter accounts. The questionnaire was available for 20 days. Each week, the

car magazine reminded the visitors to fill out the questionnaire by putting the

link at the top of the newsfeed to obtain a higher response rate. The last day for

respondents to answer the questionnaire was Wednesday, 4 November 2015.

Moreover, the questionnaire had restrictions in place, allowing just one

questionnaire per IP address to avoid the same individuals responding several

times. In addition, no questions on the questionnaire were mandatory for

respondents to avoid dropouts by not having completed the questionnaire before

sending in. The questionnaire was completely anonymous and did not require

respondents to fill in names or contact information. The advantage of this

approach was that missing values could be used and recalculated in SPSS. As

per Hair, et al.’s (2010) suggestion, respondents who had more than 20%

incomplete answers were removed from the sample.

7.3 Population

7.3.1 The sampling process

The sampling procedure required the identification of a suitable population in

relation to the purpose of the dissertation. Respondents were sampled from the

population of car owners in Sweden. The questionnaire was addressed to

consumers with an interest in cars. As described in the section above, to

distribute the questionnaire, respondents were reached electronically through

the car magazine’s web page. This was to ensure that people with an interest in

and knowledge of a car’s interior were available to answer the questions.

However, it should be noted that car owners in the sampling process were not

limited to Volvo Cars. A total of 907 questionnaires were received, of which

887 respondents were included in the sample due to incomplete questionnaires.

However, to meet the criteria of being included in the sample in this dissertation

study, respondents had to have the Volvo Cars brand. From this sampling, 164

respondents were included. Since all sampling processes may have limitation

issues, these will be discussed in chapter nine.

7.3.2 Descriptive and frequency statistics of the sample

As discussed above, the sample of this dissertation was part of larger data

collection among consumers with various car brands. In this data collection, the

questionnaire was designed, planned and developed. However, since the present

168

dissertation is a case study of Volvo Cars, only respondents from that particular

manufacturer were included in the sample. Overall, 164 respondents who owned

Volvo Cars completed the questionnaire. However, when observing the data for

Volvo Cars, three respondents were excluded from the sample as they had more

than 20% incomplete answers on the questionnaire and thus were excluded from

the sample. Hence, the sample for the questionnaire consists of 161 respondents.

Table 7.4 shows the descriptive statistics of the sample.

Table 7.4. Descriptive statistics

Variable N Min Max Mean Standard

deviation

Age 161 18 78 41,713 14,3276

Number of

people in the

household

161 1 6 2,892 1,3066

Number of

children at

home

161 0 4 1,044 0,9866

Monthly

income

before taxes

(SEK)

161 0 150000 40025,806 20460,0062

Latest

purchased

model of the

year

161 1981 2015 2009,826 6,0203

Number of

years owned

161 1 13 2,460 2,2500

The sample ranged in age from 18 to 78 years old, with an approximate mean

value of a 42-year-old person. The number of individuals in the household

varied between one and six, with the mean household consisting of three

individuals. The number of children in the household varied between zero and

four, with an average of one child per household. The monthly income before

taxes per individual varied from zero to 150 000 SEK per month. The average

individual in the sample earned approximately 40 000 SEK per month.

Moreover, respondents in the sample comprised people who have purchased a

Volvo Car with a model that was released between 1981 and 2015, and have

been owned between one and 13 years, with an average of two-and-a-half-years

ownership.

169

Table 7.5. Frequency statistics

Gender Frequency Percent Valid

percentage

Cumulative

percentage

Male 154 95,7 95,7 95,7

Female 3 1,9 1,9 97,5

Size of city

< 3000 12 7,5 7,5 7,5

3001 – 49999 55 34,2 34,2 41,6

50000 – 199999 33 20,5 20,5 54,1

> 200000 59 36,6 36,6 98,8

Marital status

Single 36 22,4 22,4 22,4

Separated 6 3,7 3,7 26,1

Married 45 28,0 28,0 54,1

Divorced 72 44,7 44,7 98,8

Highest education

Elementary school 15 9,3 9,3 9,3

High school 65 40,4 40,4 49,7

University 81 50,3 50,3 100,0

Most recently purchased car model

Coupé 1 0,6 0,6 0,6

Hatchback kombi 92 57,1 57,1 57,8

Sedan 29 18,0 18,0 75,8

Small car 8 5,0 5,0 80,7

SUV 31 19,3 19,3 100,0

Buy Volvo Car next time

Yes 86 53,4 53,4 53,4

No 13 28,5 38,5 61,5

Unsure 62 38,5 38,5 100,0

As seen in Table 7.5, the majority in the sample were men (n = 154) and there

were few women (n = 4). Most of the respondents stated that they live in a big

city (n = 59) and a minority that they live in a small city (n = 12). Most of the

participants were divorced (n = 72), and a few individuals were separated

(n = 6). Moreover, the majority of respondents have a university degree

(n = 81), and the most common car model is a hatchback (n = 92). In total, 86

respondents are interested in purchasing Volvo Cars as their next vehicle, 62

individuals are unsure, and 13 will not purchase the brand next time.

170

7.4 Selecting data analysis

7.4.1 Exploratory factor analysis

As discussed above, the operationalisation of the brand experience was based

on an established scale (Brakus et al., 2009; Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010),

and harmony experience was identified in the qualitative sequence. Although

reliability (pre-test, internal validity, and consistency of samples) and validity

(factor and discriminant validity) of the brand experience scale have been

established by Brakus et al. (2009), it was necessary to test if harmony

experience could be incorporated as an additional dimension. In this regard, the

underlying structure of the variables needed to be defined, which was achieved

by performing an exploratory factor analysis of the dependent variable of brand

experience, in which harmony experience was included. The reason for

conducting an exploratory factor analysis was that prior research has tested the

original brand experience dimensions – sensory experience, affective

experience, intellectual experience and behavioural experience (e.g., Brakus et al., 2009; Nysveen et al., 2013; Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014; Hepola et

al., 2017; Khan and Fatma, 2017), without including an additional dimension.

The exploratory factor analysis was applied since the technique is a common

tool to confirm established measurement scales and constructs that may have to

be modified. In summary, an exploratory factor analysis deals with factor

loadings. The technique exploits the correlation between the original variables

and factors, where the outcome is to understand each factor by removing

problematic items to avoid items loading on the same factor (Hair et al., 2010),

and to identify the underlying dimensional structure (Stewart, Barnes, Cote,

Cudeck and Malthouse, 2001). Hence, an exploratory factor analysis was

performed using SPSS version 23 in this dissertation to identify the underlying

nature of the brand experience scale when harmony experience was added in

the analysis. The exploratory factor analysis was conducted by using principal

component analysis and varimax rotation method, as these are the most broadly

applied methods in exploratory research and the most widely used for

orthogonal rotations (Hair et al., 2010). The performed exploratory factor

analysis is presented in section 8.2.2, Table 8.3.

7.4.2 Hierarchical multiple regression analysis

The obtained factor solution was tested in a hierarchical multiple regression

analysis using SPSS version 23. The main motivation for conducting a multiple

regression analysis was to find a relationship between a dependent variable and

several independent variables. In particular, to assess the nature of the

relationship between the dependent variable and independent variables (Hair et

al., 2010). Therefore, a multiple regression was conducted to test the

relationship between the independent variable of brand experience, consisting

of dimensions like sensory experience, affective experience, intellectual

171

experience, behavioural experience, and harmony experience, and the

relationship with the dependent variable of brand image.

Moreover, prior research on the brand experience scale used analysis

methods, such as structural equation modelling (Brakus et al., 2009; Iglesias et

al., 2011; Nysveen et al., 2013; Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014; Nysveen and

Pedersen, 2014) and cluster analysis, followed by an ordinary least squares

(OLS) regression (Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010). However, in the current

dissertation, a hierarchical multiple regression was performed. The motivation

for not conducting a structural equation modelling was that prior research

included many constructs and treated brand experience as one single construct

in the studies. The present dissertation is of an exploratory nature and examining

and testing the relationship between brand experience and brand image are in

line with the purpose: to understand and explain how value is created within a car’s interior by applying sensory marketing as a lens. In this regard, it is

appropriate to use multiple regression for evaluating variables and relationships

between variables (Hair et al., 2010).

Furthermore, hierarchical multiple regression is a technique that includes

several regression models by adding variables to a baseline model with a full

model as the outcome. It is of interest to determine if added variables to a prior

scale have a significant improvement in R2 (Hair et al., 2010). Thus, the

advantage of hierarchical multiple regression is that it accounts for the R2

change when each dependent variable is added, and if the main effects qualify

or not due to the interaction between the variables – i.e., brand experience and

brand image. The results from the hierarchical multiple regression analysis are

presented in section 8.3 (Table 8.5).

7.5 Research quality

7.5.1 Validity

Validity is achieved by designing a measurement instrument for measuring what

is supposed to be measured (Hair et al., 2010). To achieve validity, the

guidelines of Buckingham and Saunders (2004) were followed by considering

face, content, construct, and external validity. Face and content validity are

interlinked since they both regard whether concepts, items, and questionnaires

are valid or not. Regarding face validity, the measurement instrument was

designed (i.e., the questionnaire) and was pretested (see section 7.2.1) before

being distributed. This was performed to avoid subjective assessment and to be

able to measure and adequately express items of brand experience and brand

image in the questionnaire. Consequently, the items and assumptions in the

questionnaire were developed in a clear manner (Fowler, 1995). Content

validity, on the other hand, was assured by allowing colleagues with expertise

172

and knowledge in brand experience and brand image to review the

operationalisation of the constructs.

To achieve construct validity, the items of the constructs had to be consistent

(Buckingham and Saunders, 2004). In this regard, the foundation of the

measurement instrument was based on an extensive literature review and from

prior scales of brand experience and brand image. It is in line with Eisenhardt

(1989), who states that prior research is the foundation for research to enhance

construct validity. The advantage of this approach was that it allowed for the

condensation of the most central items so that they could be included in the

questionnaire.

External validity refers to if the result is consistent with the evidence

(Buckingham and Saunders, 2004). This was ensured by adjusting the items in

the questionnaire for the context of this dissertation. Moreover, the

manufacturer’s consumers were sought out, which fulfilled Hair et al.’s (2010)

rule of thumb of sample size. This was conducted to ensure trustworthiness in

the results and assure generalisability beyond the current sample. In addition,

the result was compared with prior literature and empirical analyses to ensure

external validity.

Moreover, robustness checks and validity were controlled in the hierarchical

multiple regression analysis. Hence, outliers, linearity, multicollinearity,

homoscedasticity, and normality were tested to ensure reliability in the

quantitative sequence. For details of these tests, see section 8.5.

7.5.2 Reliability

Reliability is related to whether the measurement instrument measures what is

intended to be measured (Hair et al., 2010) – that is, the possibility to replicate

the study (Buckingham and Saunders, 2004). In this regard, several actions were

considered. Initially, the constructs included in the questionnaire were latent

variables, which means that brand experience and brand image were not

measured directly, but rather indirectly at the item level. As per Hair et al.

(2010), single measures of the constructs were avoided. Rather, a representation

of the constructs underlying dimensions was covert, of which the

operationalisation from constructs into items becomes imperative. Moreover, to

avoid the bias of fatigued respondents answering the questions, the

questionnaire was divided into sections for control variables and included

constructs, as suggested by Podsakoff et al. (2003). With this approach,

respondents’ answers become more accurate, which minimised missing values.

Reliability was further assessed in the factor analysis and hierarchical

multiple regression. The factor analysis, which preceded the hierarchical

multiple regression, tested all items to identify the underlying factors of brand

experience. The outcome of the factor analysis – i.e., the factor solution – was

in line with prior research, where convergent and discriminant validity were

sought out. Each factor was tested with Cronbach’s alpha to enhance reliability.

173

This is presented for brand experience in in Table 8.3 of section 8.2.2. For

Cronbach’s alpha values for the brand image, associations are presented in

Table 7.3 of section 6.1.4.

175

8 Brand experience and brand image:

consumers’ perspectives

Chapter eight presents the data analysis and discusses the results of the

hypothesised relationships. The brand experience and brand image constructs are observed before the employed analyses are examined. Thereafter, various

robustness checks are presented and the hypothesised relationships assessed.

8.1 Observing brand experience and brand image

Before testing the hypothesised relationships between brand experience and

brand image, the items in the questionnaire were examined to ensure a normal

distribution and symmetry in the distribution. Table 8.1 shows the distribution

of the observed brand experience items included in the questionnaire. The items

are shortened as follows: sensory experience (SE), affective experience (AE),

intellectual experience (IE), behavioural experience (BE), and harmony

experience (HE), with the number referring to the question in the questionnaire.

The whole questionnaire can be seen in Appendix B.

176

Ta

ble

8.1

. D

istr

ibu

tio

n o

f th

e b

ran

d e

xper

ien

ce i

tem

s

Item

N

Min

imu

m

Maxim

um

M

ean

V

ari

an

ce

Sk

ewn

ess

Ku

rto

sis

Sta

tist

ics

Sta

tist

ics

Sta

tist

ics

Sta

tist

ics

Std

.

dev

iati

on

Sta

tist

ics

Sta

tist

ics

Sta

tist

ics

SE

1

161

1

7

5,0

40

1,3

01

1,6

92

-0,4

44

0,1

41

SE

2

161

1

7

5,3

80

1,2

12

1,4

69

-0,7

13

0,5

60

SE

3

161

1

7

5,1

40

1,2

18

1,4

82

-0,7

45

1,1

37

SE

4

161

1

7

4,8

70

1,4

54

2,1

15

-0,4

27

-0,3

00

SE

5

161

1

7

4,5

90

1,5

97

2,5

52

-0,3

59

-0,4

95

SE

6

161

1

7

3,2

50

1,9

99

3,9

96

0,3

59

-1,0

66

SE

7

161

1

7

5,0

50

1,7

60

3,0

99

-0,5

15

-0,7

12

AE

1

161

1

7

4,8

60

1,5

25

2,3

27

-0,5

33

-0,2

78

AE

2

161

1

7

3,0

70

1,6

60

2,7

56

0,5

16

-0,3

75

AE

3

161

1

7

5,4

70

1,4

19

2,0

13

-1,1

19

0,9

15

AE

4

161

1

7

5,2

40

1,4

18

2,0

10

-0,7

31

0,0

40

AE

5

161

1

7

5,4

90

1,2

84

1,6

49

-0,9

26

0,7

42

AE

6

161

1

7

5,2

44

1,8

99

3,6

07

-0,8

52

-0,4

97

IE1

161

1

7

4,2

90

1,6

02

2,5

68

-0,2

27

-0,5

82

IE2

161

1

7

4,3

30

1,6

62

2,7

64

-0,1

32

-0,7

25

IE3

161

1

7

3,8

30

1,6

79

2,8

20

0,1

49

-0,7

07

IE4

161

1

7

3,8

30

1,6

79

2,8

20

0,1

49

-0,7

07

BE

1

161

1

7

3,7

20

1,8

13

3,2

88

-0,0

74

-1,0

70

BE

2

161

1

7

4,0

30

1,7

91

3,2

08

-0,2

69

-0,9

46

BE

3

161

1

7

3,7

20

1,8

13

3,2

88

-0,0

74

-1,0

70

BE

4

161

1

7

3,8

40

1,8

00

3,2

40

-0,0

91

-0,9

92

BE

5

161

1

7

3,7

30

1,8

53

3,4

32

0,0

49

-1,0

89

177

BE

6

161

1

7

4,1

70

1,8

56

3,4

46

-0,2

46

-1,0

33

BE

7

161

1

7

4,2

72

2,0

18

4,0

72

-0,1

24

-1,2

92

BE

8

161

1

7

4,5

41

1,9

58

3,8

32

-0,3

16

-1,1

39

HE

1

161

1

7

4,7

50

1,5

87

2,5

18

-0,6

03

-0,1

54

HE

2

161

1

7

5,2

50

1,2

63

1,5

95

-0,6

20

0,5

14

HE

3

161

1

7

5,2

50

1,2

63

1,5

95

-0,6

20

0,5

14

HE

4

161

1

7

5,0

70

1,3

65

1,8

63

-0,6

06

0,1

85

HE

5

161

1

7

4,7

50

1,5

18

2,3

03

-0,7

42

0,4

01

HE

6

161

1

7

4,8

35

2,0

19

4,0

75

-0,5

20

-1,0

42

Sen

sory

exper

ience

(S

E),

aff

ecti

ve

exper

ience

(A

E),

inte

llec

tual

exper

ience

(IE

), b

ehav

ioura

l ex

per

ien

ce (

BE

), a

nd

har

mo

ny

exper

ience

(H

E)

178

All items were measured on a seven-point scale, with 1 representing “strongly

disagree” and 7 “strongly agree”. The mean value of the items varied from 3,07

to 5,49, except for SE6 and AE2, which were below 3,5. This means that the

respondents do not agree with these two items, but agree with all the other items.

The standard deviation for the mean values ranged between 1,212 and 2,019,

which illustrates how much each observed item deviates from the mean value.

Small standard deviations are preferred as they determine the variability of each

observed item (Hair et al., 2010).

Moreover, variance refers to the sum of squared distances from the mean

value (Hair et al., 2010). The variance in Table 8.1 shows each brand experience

item included in the questionnaire. The variance ranges between 1,469 and

4,075, where AE3 has the lowest variance and SE6 has the highest. The total

sum of the items variance is 83,494.

In addition, kurtosis measured the peakedness or flatness of the distribution

compared with the normal distribution. Positive values of kurtosis indicate a

somewhat peaked distribution, compared with negative values that indicate a

somewhat flat distribution. To obtain asymmetry, the rule of thumb for absolute

value is between -1 and 1 (Hair et al., 2010). Table 8.1 shows the kurtosis values

for the items, which is between -1,119 and 0,516. All items, aside from AE3,

fulfil the rule of thumb of the absolute value for asymmetry and kurtosis to be

considered acceptable to prove normal univariate distribution. Although Table

8.1 indicates a flat distribution for AE3, it is less problematic for the following

reasons. Firstly, -1,119 is close to the rule of thumb -1 to 1. Secondly, the value

is for a single item, which is part of a construct consisting of several items.

Lastly, the value may be considered as less problematic, since Pituch and

Stevens (2015) stated that values may range between -2 and 2 and still have a

peaked distribution. Hence, each observed item has peaked distribution.

Lastly, skewness measures the symmetry or balance of the distribution,

compared with the normal distribution. The rule of thumb for an absolute

skewness value is between -1 to 1 to be considered acceptable to obtain

asymmetry (Hair et al., 2010). Table 8.1 shows the skewness values for the

items range from -1,292 to 1,137. All items, aside from BE5, BE7, BE8, and

SE3, have symmetry of the distribution. This indicates a non-symmetric

distribution for items BE5 (-1,089), BE7 (-1,292), BE8 (-1,139) and SE3

(1,137) indicating a skewed distribution. However, these items may be less

problematic for three reasons. Firstly, the skewness values are relatively close

to the rule of thumb -1 to 1. Secondly, items BE7, BE8, and SE3 are excluded

from the factor solution due to cross-loadings (see next section), while BE3 is

part of a construct consisting of several items. Lastly, these items may be

considered less problematic as values can range between -2 and 2 without

having an unsymmetrical or unbalanced distribution (Pituch and Stevens, 2015). Hence, all items have a skewed distribution.

179

8.2 Establishing central factors in brand experience

8.2.1 Factor extraction

To ensure the measured constructs of brand experience were separated, a factor

analysis was conducted. An exploratory factor analysis was performed as the

items have not been tested previously with consumers in the automotive

industry or with the additional dimension of harmony experience incorporated

into the brand experience scale. Moreover, exploratory factor analysis was used

because it is a common technique to confirm ideas of established measurement

scales and constructs (Stewart et al., 2001), which in this case is brand

experience. However, it does not make the factor analysis confirmatory, which

is another technique that includes testing hypotheses (Stewart, 1981). In the

exploratory factor analysis, a principal component analysis and varimax

rotation method were used. Varimax as a rotation method was used since it is

the most widely applied method for orthogonal rotations (Hair et al., 2010).

Table 8.2 shows the correlation matrix of the brand experience items. This

was observed and shows that items have a correlation > 0,3 and < 0,9, which is

the criterion to conduct a factor analysis. No correlation was > 0,9, which would

have indicated multicollinearity (Hair et al., 2010). Before the conducted factor

analysis, the Cronbach’s alpha values were 0,898 (sensory and affective

experience), 0,894 (intellectual experience), 0,909 (behavioural experience),

and 0,849 (harmony experience). In addition, observing Item-Total Statistics

tables for the factors, it was suggested that SE6 and HE6 be excluded to improve

the factors’ Cronbach’s alpha values. When these two items were excluded, the

Cronbach’s alpha values increased. SE3, AE2, and AE5 were problematic due

to loading on several factors and thus were excluded. Moreover, one factor

consisted of items BE7, BE8, and SE7, with dissipation in different directions.

Hence, the only common denominator was that BE7, BE8, and SE7 are reversed

questions. In summary, SE3, SE7, IE4, AE2, AE5, AE6, BE7, BE8, and HE6

were excluded, and a four-factor solution was obtained. Cronbach’s alpha value

for the respective factor is shown in Table 8.3.

180

Ta

ble

8.2

. C

orr

ela

tio

n m

atr

ix

SE

1

SE

2

SE

4

SE

5

SE

6

AE

1

AE

3

AE

4

IE1

IE

2

IE3

B

E1

B

2

BE

3

BE

4

BE

5

BE

6

HE

1

HE

2

HE

3

HE

4

HE

5

Corr

elat

ion

S

E1

1

,00

0

0,7

97

0,6

39

0,5

33

0,5

42

0,6

02

0,6

22

0,6

28

0,5

46

0,5

21

0,5

04

0,4

56

0,4

78

0,3

51

0,4

91

0,3

73

0,3

65

0,6

78

0,5

95

0,5

75

0,5

52

0,6

14

S

E2

1,0

00

0,5

91

0,4

72

0,4

00

0,6

36

0,7

11

0,6

64

0,5

82

0,5

66

0,4

92

0,4

06

0,4

95

0,3

24

0,4

94

0,3

83

0,4

07

0,6

11

0,6

03

0,5

70

0,5

74

0,6

14

S

E4

1

,00

0

0,4

81

0,4

58

0,4

88

0,5

99

0,5

05

0,4

87

0,4

24

0,4

04

0,4

15

0,4

22

0,4

22

0,4

35

0,3

90

0,3

48

0,5

32

0,4

87

0,4

64

0,4

99

0,4

94

S

E5

1,0

00

0,5

94

0,4

18

0,3

87

0,4

41

0,3

00

0,2

72

0,2

45

0,3

17

0,2

62

0,3

31

0,3

73

0,3

51

0,3

36

0,5

01

0,4

49

0,4

17

0,4

56

0,4

08

S

E6

1

,00

0

0,3

73

0,3

08

0,4

08

0,4

46

0,3

34

0,3

94

0,2

83

0,2

11

0,2

93

0,2

94

0,2

90

0,1

30

0,3

41

0,3

76

0,3

32

0,4

37

0,4

24

A

E1

1,0

00

0,6

02

0,6

64

0,5

96

0,6

19

0,5

68

0,5

08

0,6

32

0,4

63

0,5

84

0,5

04

0,5

91

0,5

43

0,5

09

0,5

12

0,4

59

0,5

69

A

E3

1

,00

0

0,7

38

0,5

78

0,4

63

0,4

23

0,4

59

0,4

79

0,3

69

0,4

70

0,3

45

0,3

75

0,5

86

0,5

03

0,5

50

0,5

73

0,5

19

A

E4

1,0

00

0,6

43

0,5

74

0,5

46

0,4

54

0,5

17

0,4

04

0,4

93

0,4

31

0,4

44

0,5

29

0,5

15

0,5

40

0,5

16

0,5

30

IE

1

1,0

00

0,8

21

0,7

73

0,5

87

0,6

65

0,4

58

0,6

24

0,4

58

0,3

86

0,5

06

0,5

30

0,5

70

0,5

83

0,6

53

IE

2

1

,00

0

0,8

09

0,5

92

0,6

75

0,4

34

0,6

15

0,5

01

0,4

15

0,4

90

0,5

09

0,5

33

0,5

79

0,7

11

IE

3

1,0

00

0,6

13

0,6

99

0,5

30

0,6

46

0,5

23

0,4

91

0,4

59

0,4

58

0,4

43

0,5

18

0,6

24

B

E1

1,0

00

0,8

05

0,7

25

0,7

50

0,6

09

0,4

98

0,4

46

0,4

42

0,4

11

0,4

30

0,5

35

B

E2

1

,00

0

0,6

69

0,8

42

0,5

90

0,6

52

0,5

14

0,5

07

0,5

06

0,4

59

0,5

98

B

E3

1,0

00

0,8

11

0,6

15

0,5

90

0,3

87

0,3

81

0,3

47

0,3

03

0,4

02

B

E4

1

,00

0

0,5

89

0,6

65

0,5

37

0,5

16

0,5

33

0,4

58

0,5

92

B

E5

1,0

00

0,7

28

0,3

19

0,3

12

0,3

10

0,3

34

0,4

34

B

E6

1

,00

0

0,4

07

0,3

33

0,3

37

0,3

33

0,4

41

H

E1

1,0

00

0,8

63

0,8

00

0,6

86

0,6

98

H

E2

1

,00

0

0,8

51

0,6

83

0,6

96

H

E3

1,0

00

0,7

11

0,7

06

H

E4

1

,00

0

0,8

29

H

E5

1,0

00

Sen

sory

exper

ience

(S

E),

aff

ecti

ve

exper

ience

(A

E),

inte

llec

tual

exper

ience

(IE

), b

ehav

ioura

l ex

per

ien

ce (

BE

), a

nd

har

mo

ny

exper

ience

(H

E)

181

A sample size of 150 respondents is needed to suppress coefficients > 0,45 (Hair

et al., 2010). This dissertation obtained 161 respondents. In this regard, all

coefficient values are shown in Table 8.3, but only the values that are > 0,45

were considered to eliminate cross-loading issues in the factor analysis.

The data appeared suitable with many appropriate observations. In

accordance with Kaiser’s (1974) rule of thumb, a KMO of 0,913 was obtained,

and all commonalities were > 0,6, which is suggested as the threshold for

conducting a factor analysis (Tabachnick and Fidell, 2013). All items loaded on

their factors as expected and as per the Brakus et al. (2009) exploratory factor

analysis of brand experience items. The criterion for eigenvalue was used to

determine the number of factors (Table 8.3). Hence, factors with eigenvalues

> 1 were considered in the exploratory factor analysis (Hair et al., 2010). A

four-factor solution was obtained, and the factors represent behavioural

experience, harmony experience, sensory and affective experience, and

intellectual experience, with 75% explained variance, which is higher than the

52% explained variance in the study by Brakus et al. (2009). A possible reason

for this may be that harmony experience was incorporated as an additional

dimension to the brand experience scale.

In total, 21 items were included in a four-factor solution. Table 8.3 shows the

underlying/latent variables pattern for each factor. Only behavioural experience

items load on Factor 1 (six items), harmony experience items load on Factor 2

(four items), sensory experience and affective experience items load on Factor

3 (eight items), and intellectual experience items load on Factor 4 (three items).

Hence, the four-factor solution has convergent validity without cross-loadings,

meaning that discriminant validity was obtained and the four-factor solution has

construct validity.

8.2.2 Obtained factor solution

Prior research on brand experience treats the scale as sensory, affective,

intellectual, and behavioural experiences (Brakus et al., 2009; Zarantonello and

Schmitt, 2010; Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014; Schmitt et al., 2015a). However,

the obtained four-factor solution is in accordance with Brakus et al.’s (2009)

initial factor solution consisting of sensory and affective, intellectual, and

behavioural experiences. Hence, the present dissertation’s obtained a four-

factor solution (sensory and affective, behavioural, intellectual experiences, and

harmony experience as an additional factor), which separated as expected. The

obtained four-factor solution is shown in Table 8.3. The factors are presented in

the obtained order from the factor analysis.

182

Table 8.3. Factor analysis rotated component matrix

Rotated component matrixa

Component

Behavioural

experience

Harmony

experience

Sensory and

affective experience

Intellectual

experience

BE3 0,841 0,139 0,178 0,116

BE6 0,789 0,148 0,199 0,100

BE4 0,783 0,330 0,158 0,302

BE5 0,761 0,032 0,275 0,187

BE2 0,725 0,309 0,082 0,463

BE1 0,722 0,226 0,143 0,356

HE2 0,212 0,848 0,276 0,160

HE3 0,188 0,840 0,244 0,221

HE1 0,246 0,820 0,345 0,121

HE4 0,217 0,698 0,330 0,343

HE5 0,273 0,655 0,267 0,449

SE5 0,261 0,280 0,735 -0,170

SE6 0,077 0,100 0,723 0,163

SE1 0,183 0,395 0,688 0,294

SE4 0,254 0,277 0,655 0,169

SE2 0,166 0,397 0,622 0,385

AE4 0,245 0,244 0,579 0,474

AE3 0,190 0,348 0,563 0,370

AE1 0,428 0,246 0,468 0,418

IE2 0,334 0,305 0,181 0,781 IE1 0,297 0,289 0,295 0,760

IE3 0,441 0,203 0,181 0,726

Eigenvalue 11,836 2,202 1,273 1,085

Variance

explained, % 53,799 10,008 5,785 4,931

Cronbach’s

alpha 0,924 0,918 0,897 0,922

Extraction method: principal component analysis

Rotation method: varimax with Kaiser normalisationa a Rotation converged in seven iterations

Sensory experience (SE), affective experience (AE), intellectual experience

(IE), behavioural experience (BE), and harmony experience (HE)

Factor 1: Behavioural experience. This factor measures consumers’

behavioural responses when integrating with the car’s interior. The items best

describing behavioural experience are: “I engage in physical actions when I

touch my car’s interior” (0,841), and “I engage in a physical behaviour when

183

my car’s interior makes sounds” (0,789). It is related to physical actions and

behaviour provided by brand-related stimuli embedded in the car’s interior

design.

Factor 2: Harmony experience. Although harmony experience stems from

the qualitative sequence, it is separated into a single factor when tested with the

brand experience scale. Harmony as a factor represents the assumption of

consumer perception of the car’s interior design composition as a whole. It can

be best described by “the design of my car’s interior provides me with peace of

mind” (0,840), and “the design of my car’s interior provides me with

peacefulness” (0,820). This is linked with the balance, regularity, and symmetry

in the relationship between bits or elements of the car’s interior, such as its

architecture, colour, and design. In this regard, it is logical to assume that

consumers do not process brand-related stimuli embedded in the car’s interior

separately, but rather group and organise these into a meaningful entity.

Factor 3: Sensory and affective experience. This factor measured consumers’

experiential dimensions and assessed their sensory and emotional responses of

the car’s interior design. This factor is best described by “the design of my car’s

interior makes a strong impression on my sense of smell” (0,735), and “the

design of my car’s interior makes a strong impression on my sense of taste”

(0,723). As per Brakus et al. (2009) exploratory factor analysis, sensory and

affective experience merged into a single factor. Interestingly, sensory

experience items have a higher factor loading than affective experience items.

This is supported by literature emphasising that sensory dimensions shape

consumers’ emotional responses, leading to a positive brand outcome

(Carpenter and Fairhurst, 2005; Clarke et al., 2012; Manlow and Nobbs, 2013;

Mower et al., 2012; Pomodoro, 2013; Cho and Fiore, 2015). Although this

indicates that sensory experience is more dominant than affective experience in

the obtained factor, they are interrelated. This is consistent with the assumption

that affective experience involves sensory experience (Barsalou, 1999) and

occurs within the human body (Krishna and Schwarz, 2014).

Factor 4: Intellectual experience. This factor measures consumers’ mental

stimulation when interacting with the car’s interior. The items that best describe

this factor are: “when I look at the design of my car’s interior, it stimulates my

problem-solving” (0,781), and “when I look at the design of my car’s interior,

it stimulates my curiosity” (0,760). Thus, it is logical to assume that attributes

in the car’s interior provide consumers with mental stimulation.

Moreover, a reliability check for each factor in the obtained four-factor

solution was conducted. The results of the Cronbach’s alpha for behavioural

experience, harmony experience, sensory and affective experience, and

intellectual experience are 0,918; 0,897; 0,922 and 0,924, respectively (Table

8.3). Therefore, each factor has a Cronbach’s alpha value > 0,7, which is

considered the lowest accepted value (Nunnally, 1978; Cronbach, 1987), even

184

if in exploratory studies alpha values > 0,6 are acceptable (DeVillis, 2016).

Hence, all factors have an acceptable alpha value, ensuring internal reliability.

8.3 Testing the hypothesised relationships

Before conducting a hierarchical multiple regression analysis, preliminary

analyses were performed to ensure no violation of the assumptions of normality,

linearity, and homoscedasticity (Hair et al., 2010). Table 8.4 presents the mean

values, standard deviations, and correlations of the obtained four-factor solution

and the dependent variable of brand image (symbolic, sensory, utilitarian, and

economic associations). The mean value of the variables ranges between 3,775

and 6,217, with a standard deviation of 0,758 to 1,537. Moreover, all

correlations were significant (p < 0,05) and ranged from 0,208 to 0,735, which

in accordance with Cohen (1988) guidelines, revealing small, medium, and

large strengths between the variables. Hence, there are no apparent signs of

multicollinearity issues between the variables. Table 8.4 shows the results from

the correlation analysis of the independent variable of brand experience, and the

dependent variable of brand image.

A hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to assess the relationship

between brand experience (sensory and affective experience, intellectual

experience, behavioural experience, and harmony experience) and brand image.

Following the recommendation of Hair et al. (2010) of hierarchical multiple

regression, the independent variables were entered and tested in accordance

with theory. That is, the independent variables were entered and tested the

hierarchical multiple regression based on Brakus et al. (2009) brand experience

scale, followed by the additional construct harmony experience. Control

variables were included in the model to rule out competing explanations for the

result. Table 8.5 shows the results of the hierarchical multiple regression.

185

Ta

ble

8.4

. D

escr

ipti

ve s

tati

stic

s a

nd

Pea

rson

co

rrel

ati

on

co

effi

cien

ts

Va

ria

ble

s M

ea

n

SD

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Ind

epen

den

t var

iab

le:

bra

nd

exp

erie

nce

1:

Sen

sory

an

d a

ffec

tive

4,8

40

1,1

42

1,0

00

2

: In

tell

ectu

al

4,1

53

1,5

37

0,6

63

**

1,0

00

3:

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avio

ura

l 3

,755

1,2

01

0,5

76

**

0,6

03

**

1,0

00

4:

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mon

y

4,9

25

1,2

85

0,7

35

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74

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00

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end

ent

var

iab

le:

bra

nd

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age

5:

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boli

c 5

,440

1,0

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0,6

28

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38

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98

**

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14

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sory

5

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1,1

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0,6

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0,3

62

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72

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< 0

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; **p

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; tw

o-t

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ests

186

Ta

ble

8.5

. H

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ica

l m

ult

iple

reg

ress

ion

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ult

s o

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)

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)

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189

The baseline model, model 1 in Table 8.5, accounts for 25,6% of the variance

in the brand image variable. When independent variables were entered,

respectively in models 2, 3, 4 and 5, as well as when all independent variables

were entered simultaneously in model 6, the adjusted R2 increased significantly.

Models 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 account for 53,3%; 49,6%; 31,6%; 52,6%; and 56,6%

of variance in brand image, respectively.

Table 8.5 shows the F-scores of the models (model 1: F = 4,122; model 2:

F = 15,066; model 3: F = 9,418; model 4: F = 6,684; model 5: F = 14,648; and

model 6: F = 11,665), which were highly significant on the dependent variable

of brand image.

Furthermore, Table 8.5 shows the results of the hierarchical regression

analysis of the relationships between brand experience and brand image. Firstly,

a baseline model is presented that only consists of control variables (model 1).

Among the control variables, “Purchase Volvo Cars as a next car” exhibits a

highly significant negative relationship (p < 0,001) with brand image. Similarly,

the “Number of people in the household” has a significant negative relationship

(p < 0,05), and “Monthly salary before tax” has almost a significant adverse

effect (p < 0,1) on brand image. However, “Most recent purchased model of the

year” has a highly significant positive relationship (p < 0,001) on brand image.

In models 2, 3, 4 and 5 (Table 8.5) the effects of sensory and affective

experience, intellectual experience, behavioural experience, and harmony

experience were examined by entering these independent variables one by one

in the baseline model. Moreover, in model 6 (Table 8.5), the effects of sensory

and affective experience, intellectual experience, behavioural experience, and

harmony experience were examined by entering these independent variables

simultaneously in the baseline model.

In H1, it was predicted that sensory and affective experience has a positive

relationship with brand image. Model 2 provides evidence that sensory and

affective experience has a highly significant positive (p < 0,001) effect on brand

image. In H2, it was predicted that intellectual experience has a positive impact

on brand image. Model 4 proves that intellectual experience has a highly

significant positive (p < 0,001) effect on brand image. In H3, it was predicted

that behavioural experience has a positive relationship with brand image. Model

3 shows that consumers’ intellectual experience has a highly significant positive

(p < 0,001) effect on brand image. In H4, it was predicted that harmony

experience has a positive impact on brand image. Model 5 provides evidence

that consumers’ harmony experience has a highly significant positive

(p < 0,001) effect on brand image. Finally, model 6 (Table 8.5) shows the results

for the final model with H1, H2, H3 and H4. All hypotheses were accepted

(p < 0,001) when the independent variables were entered into a baseline model

separately. However, when the independent variables were entered

simultaneously in the baseline model, only H1 and H4 were accepted (p < 0,001). Hence, in model 6, H1 and H4 were fully accepted, and sensory and

190

affective experience and harmony experience have a highly significant positive

impact on the dependent variable of brand image. H2 and H3 were partially

supported because intellectual experience and behavioural experience were

significant in models 3 and 4, but insignificant in model 6.

8.4 Summary of tested relationships

An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to revalidate the brand experience

measures. A total of 31 items were included in the questionnaire, of which 21

loaded on four constructs: behavioural experience (six items), harmony

experience (four items), sensory and affective experience (eight items), and

intellectual experience (three items) with 75% variance. Ten items were

excluded due to high cross-loadings. The four-factor solution is found in Table

8.3.

A hierarchical multiple regression was conducted to assess the obtained four-

factor solution of brand experience to predict consumers’ brand image. In line

with prior research on brand experience scale (Brakus et al., 2009; Zarantonello

and Schmitt, 2010; Nysveen et al., 2013; Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014), it was

expected that the hypotheses would have a significant positive impact on the

dependent variable of brand image. Four hypotheses were tested in the

hierarchical multiple regression model. In accordance with prior research

(Sousa and Coelho, 2011; Ndubisi, 2013) that applied multiple hierarchical

regression, the hypotheses supported in the full model are accepted and the

hypotheses supported in individual models are partially supported. This means

that when individually testing the relationship between independent variables

and the dependent variable, the hypotheses are accepted. However, when the

relationship of several independent variables is tested simultaneously with a

dependent variable, the accepted hypotheses are rejected. Hence, hypotheses

accepted on an individual level and rejected when tested simultaneously with

other hypotheses are labelled as being partially supported. For a summary of

tested hypotheses, see Table 8.6.

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Table 8.6. Summary of the results

Hypothesis Expected

direction

Accepted/rejected1

H1: Sensory and affective

experience has a positive

relationship with brand image

+ Accepted***

H2: Intellectual experience has a

positive relationship with brand

image

+ Partially supported***

H3: Behavioural experience has a


image

+ Partially supported***

H4: Harmony experience has a


image

+ Accepted***

1For a hypothesis to be accepted, it must be significant on a level of at least

5%. The significant level of each individual β value is indicated by ǂ p < 0,10;

*p < 0,05; **p < 0,01; ***p < 0,001

The results from the hierarchical multiple regressions show that two hypotheses

are accepted, while the other two hypotheses are partially supported.

Interestingly, support was found for H1 and H4, which is related to experiential

dimensions, such as sensory and affective experience and harmony experience;

while H2 and H3, which were partially supported, are related to cognitive

dimensions. It provides an opportunity to discuss why emotional dimensions

are essential and why cognitive dimensions are less important for consumers’

brand experience in the relationship with brand image.

In model 6, as shown in Table 8.5, sensory and affective experience (H1) and

harmony experience (H4) were accepted because of significant p-values, which

were below the 5% level (0,001***). Intellectual experience (H2) and

behavioural experience (H3) were partially supported because the hypotheses

were accepted individually, in models 2 and 5, but in model 6, H2 and H3 had p-

values above the 5% level with p-values of 0,663 and 0,771, respectively.

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Figure 8.1. Accepted and partially supported hypotheses

As seen in Figure 8.1., sensory and affective experience (H1) and harmony

experience (H4) were accepted. Although intellectual experience (H2) and

behavioural experience (H3) were not accepted, they are partially supported on

an individual level. In contrast to prior research of brand experience, the results

may be explained by the implementation of different methods, constructs and

contexts. Therefore, this dissertation applied a hierarchical multiple regression,

but previous studies used analysis methods like structural equation modelling,

cluster analysis, and OLS regressions. Brakus et al. (2009) used a structural

equation modelling using constructs besides brand experience, such as brand

personality, satisfaction, and brand loyalty. Zarantonello and Schmitt (2010)

applied cluster analysis and OLS regression to predict purchase intentions for

various brands. Nysveen et al. (2013) performed a structural equation modelling

with the constructs of brand experience, brand personality, satisfaction and

brand loyalty in the context of service brands. Nysveen and Pedersen (2014)

applied structural equation modelling with constructs like satisfaction and brand

loyalty in the context of banking. Hence, compared with prior research on brand

experience scale, the present dissertation is different regarding analysis method,

constructs, and context. For a more in-depth discussion, see section 8.6.5.

193

8.5 Ensuring robustness and validity

8.5.1 Diagnostic tests

To ensure the robustness and validity of the hierarchical regression models and

results, additional diagnostic tests were conducted. Firstly, the initial

assumptions of the hierarchical multiple regression, outliers, and linearity were

checked through scatterplots and residual statistics (Cook’s distance) (Hair et

al., 2010). It was noted that no cases of extreme outliers were identified and,

based on the scatterplots, the models were linear. Thereafter, multicollinearity,

normality, homoscedasticity and autocorrelation in the residuals were checked

(Hair et al., 2010). It was found that the residuals were normally distributed.

In all models, the results of the Durbin-Watson test ranged between 1,893

and 2,012, which is within the rule of thumb of 1 to 3 (Hair et al., 2010). Hence,

no autocorrelation was identified. Regarding multicollinearity, none of the

correlation (r) values of the independent and control variables were > 0,9 t, and

no VIF scores were > 10 (Hair et al., 2010). The VIF score varied between 1,047

and 4,031. The average VIFs were not substantially greater than 1, indicating a

low degree of multicollinearity among the independent variables (Hair et al., 2010). Therefore, no multicollinearity was identified in the models. Regarding

homoscedasticity, the scatterplots illustrated a random array of dots and there

were no funnels out, whereof homoscedasticity assumptions were met (Hair et

al., 2010). Moreover, normality assumption was checked through histogram and

P-P plots. The dashed lines on the P-P plots did not deviate considerably from

the straight lines, and the histograms indicated that normality of errors of

assumptions of regression was fulfilled (Hair et al., 2010).

In addition, since the data in the quantitative sequence is based on

respondents’ replies to the questionnaire, validity tests were conducted to

account for possible common method variance (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986;

Podsakoff et al., 2003; Chang, van Witteloostuijn and Eden, 2010). In

accordance with Chang et al. (2010), several tests were carried out. A Harman’s

single factor test was performed, in which all constructs were entered into an

exploratory factor analysis. Although the fixed numbers of factors were set to

one, more than one factor emerged. The first factor accounted for 59,4% of the

variance, indicating that common method variance is not a major issue in the

quantitative sequence.

However, Harman’s single factor test alone does not provide sufficient

information about the validity (Podsakoff and Organ, 1986; Podsakoff et al., 2003; Chang et al., 2010). Therefore, a partial correlation test using a marker

variable to control for common method variance was performed to control for

common method variance (Lindell and Whitney, 2001). A partial correlation

test using a marker variable is appropriate since a common scale format and

common anchors were used in the questionnaire (Podsakoff et al., 2003). The test controls for if the marker variable is partialling out if obtained original

194

correlation is reduced to statistical non-significance (Williams, Hartman and

Cavazotte, 2010). Observing zero-order correlations, partial correlation, and

partialling out the non-theoretical marker variable – in this case, the importance

of environmental dimension – an inconsiderable difference was obtained

(< 0,006) compared with original correlations. It shows that the relationship

between the marker variable has a very weak relationship with the original

variables, indicating a very low common method variance. Thus, the partial

correlation test using a marker variable complements Harman’s single factor

test, suggesting there is no issue with common method variance in the

quantitative sequence. In regard to the results of Harman’s single factor test and

partial correlation test using a marker variable test, it can be concluded that there

are no major common method variance issues, with the data having a

substantially negative effect on the results. Hence, the diagnostic tests suggest

that the quantitative sequence has sufficient validity.

8.5.2 Robustness tests

Following the logic of Chang et al. (2010) that one test is not sufficient for

ensuring robustness, further tests were conducted. Thus, to examine the

robustness of the effect of brand experience on brand image in the main model

(see Table 8.5), additional hierarchical multiple regressions were performed.

Similar to the main model, each independent variable, individually and

collectively, impacts the relationship with the dependent variable of brand

image. However, unlike the main model, the additional test was performed to

evaluate the relationship with each of the four-brand image associations. The

results from these hierarchical multiple regressions are very similar to the main

model. All independent variables as individual models were statistically

significant and affected the dependent brand image association. Moreover,

when all independent variables were tested simultaneously, sensory and

affective experience and harmony experience had a statistically significant

impact on brand image sensory associations, symbolic associations, and

utilitarian associations. Regarding the last dependent variable, brand image’s

economic associations, results show that sensory and affective experience had

a statistically significant impact on the relationship. Hence, these results are

almost consistent with the result in the main model. Consequently, additional

hierarchical multiple regressions results confirmed the robustness of the main

model. The results of each additional hierarchal multiple regression are shown

in Appendix D.

195

8.6 Discussing the hypothesised relationships

8.6.1 Sensory and affective experience and brand image

Although prior literature on the brand experience scale treats sensory experience

and affective experience as individual dimensions, the two are interwoven for

consumers’ value-in-use. The obtained four-factor solution merged sensory

experience and affective experience into a single factor. This solution is

supported by the literature, which emphasises that sensory dimensions shape

consumers’ emotional responses, which are interlinked (Carpenter and

Fairhurst, 2005; Clarke et al., 2012; Manlow and Nobbs, 2013; Mower et al.,

2012; Pomodoro, 2013; Cho and Fiore, 2015). Moreover, the obtained solution

of that sensory and affective experience loaded on the same factor is supported

by Brakus et al. (2009), whose exploratory factor analysis merged the two into

one factor. Thus, prior literature supports the present dissertation’s obtained

factor solution, where sensory and affective experience merged into one factor.

In this dissertation, brand-related stimuli embedded in the car’s interior provide

consumers with a sensory and affective experience, which shapes their value-

in-use of the brand.

The sensory and affective experience provides consumers a sensory and

emotional condition stemming from brand-related stimuli (Brakus et al., 2009).

The objective with H1 was to test the relationship sensory and affective

experience has with brand image among consumers who own the

manufacturer’s car. As expected, H1 was supported, and the result is in line with

extant research on the brand experience scale (Brakus et al., 2009; Iglesias et al., 2011; Nysveen et al., 2013; Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014; Khan and

Fatma, 2017). Moreover, the support for H1 is as per Aaker’s (1997a) and

Speed’s (1998) notion that consumers’ desires, needs, and wants are emotional,

leading them to evaluate brands positively. In this regard, consumers’ value-in-

use is formed by the sensory and affective experience provided by the car’s

interior, which has a positive impact on the brand image, forming the value as

an experience.

To understand the effect of sensory and affective experience on brand image

to form consumers’ value as an experience, the obtained factor must be

evaluated. The car’s interior appeals to consumers’ human senses and provide

them emotional responses, such as feelings, happiness, and driving experience,

which has a positive relationship with brand image. Consequently, it is logical

to assume that consumers situate sensory and affective value-in-use by

experiencing the car’s interior, which in turn impacts the brand image positively

and influences value as an experience. This reasoning is in accordance with Pine

and Gilmore (1998) and Achrol and Kotler (2012), who emphasised that

manufacturers can embed sensory cues in brands to provide consumers with

additional value, such pleasurable sensory and affective responses, thus leading to a stronger brand image. It suggests that manufacturers can distinguish

196

themselves from competitive brands by planning and designing consumers’

sensory and affective experience by embedding brand-related stimuli in the

car’s interior. This makes sense, since all cars, regardless of the manufacturer

or brand, have the same basic utility and value – i.e., driving the car from A to

B. In addition, it is in accordance with the qualitative sequence, where it was

revealed that the car manufacturer embeds sensory cues in the car’s interior to

provide consumers with a sensory and affective experience to position a brand

image associated with premium so they can situate value as an experience.

Hence, sensory and affective experience has a positive relationship with

brand image. By accepting H1, it can be seen that a car interior that appeals to

the senses and provides emotional responses results in a more positive brand

image. As per previous literature on brand experience (e.g., Brakus et al., 2009;

Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010), providing a car interior that assists consumers

to situate value through a sensory and affective experience generates a positive

value as an experience from the hypothesised relationship.

8.6.2 Intellectual experience and brand image

Intellectual experience is related to consumer intellect and mental processing

when integrating with brands (Brakus et al., 2009). In H2, it was hypothesised

that consumers’ intellectual experience has a positive relationship with their

brand image. Unexpectedly, this hypothesis was partially supported, which

indicates that intellectual experience may not influence brand image. The result

is not in accordance with prior research on brand experience, where intellectual

experience concerns predicting consumers’ mental stimulation (Brakus et al.,

2009; Nysveen et al., 2013; Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014), with the ability to

engage consumers’ convergent and divergent thinking (Zarantonello and

Schmitt, 2010), resulting in a positive brand outcome (Brakus et al., 2009). In

this regard, it seems that consumers’ value-in-use based on intellectual and

mental processing of brand-related stimuli in the car’s interior does not impact

their holistic value as an experience. It indicates that consumers’ situated value

from the value proposition in the car’s interior does not affect their past and

ongoing experience of the brand.

Interestingly, when intellectual experience is tested individually, there is a

positive relationship with brand image. However, when sensory and affective

experience, intellectual experience, behavioural experience, and harmony

experience are tested simultaneously, intellectual experience has no significant

positive effect on brand image. The partial support for H2 may be explained by

the content in the factor. Although existing literature demonstrates the

importance of stimulating consumers’ intellectual experience through problem-

solving and curiosity, leading to a positive brand outcome (Brakus et al., 2009;

Ding and Tseng, 2015; Khan and Fatma, 2017), it is logical to assume that it

differentiates between contexts. Examples of this would be with bank services

(Nysveen et al., 2013) and laptops (Iglesias et al., 2011), where consumers’

197

intellectual experience is stimulated by mentally processing the utility of the

service and product, resulting in a positive outcome. Thus, the consumers’

value-in-use of the intellectual experience may be necessary for their value as

an experience (i.e., brand outcome). However, based on the result of the

analysis, it appears that intellectual experience does not positively impact brand

image. This result is in accordance with Aaker (1997a) and Speed (1998), who

stated that utilitarian values are less important for evaluating and judging the

consumer experience of premium brands. This suggests that consumers’ value-

in-use of the intellectual experience provided by the car’s interior does not

influence value as an experience (i.e., brand image).

This finding is reasonable since consumers may focus on the utility (i.e.,

driving the car) rather than the value as an experience of the car’s interior. It is

logical to assume that driving a car demands a mental presence, such as

convergent and divergent thinking of the road and traffic. A possible

explanation for this reasoning may be that consumers’ sight and hands focus on

driving the car, rather than making sense of value-in-use of the intellectual

experience from the car’s interior. Based on the analysis, it can be deduced that

intellectual experience from the car’s interior may have no positive impact on

brand image.

Hence, it appears that intellectual experience has no positive relationship

with brand image. The partial support for H2 indicates that the value-in-use of

intellectual experience from the car’s interior does not influence consumers’

value as an experience from brand associations. This reasoning is related to the

qualitative sequence, where it was revealed that technologic solutions were

simplified to avoid consumers engaging in mental processing, such as

convergent and divergent thinking, while driving. This was to enhance the

safety of the cars and to elude that consumers forfeit the attention from driving

into the car’s interior as a part of positioning the brand as premium.

8.6.3 Behavioural experience and brand image

Behavioural experience alludes to consumers engaging in physical actions and

behaviours when interacting with brands (Brakus et al., 2009; Khan and

Rahman, 2015). In H3, it was hypothesised that consumers’ behavioural

experience has a positive relationship with brand image. Unexpectedly, this

hypothesis was partially supported, which indicates that behavioural experience

may not influence brand image. The finding is not in line with prior research on

brand experience, where behavioural experience predicts particular actions and

psychological reactions when consumers integrate with a brand (Brakus et al.,

2009; Nysveen et al., 2013; Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014) and provides

individuals with bodily experience based on their lifestyles and interactions with

the brand (Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010), resulting in a positive brand

outcome. In this regard, it seems that consumers’ value-in-use based on physical

actions and behaviours from brand-related stimuli in the car’s interior has no

198

influence on their value as an experience. Hence, the result suggests that

consumers’ represented value from the car’s interior does not positively

influence their value as an experience of the brand.

Moreover, the contradictory result from the analysis is interesting. In

particular, behavioural experience changes from having a positive relationship

with brand image individually to not having a positive impact when sensory and

affective experience, intellectual experience, behavioural experience, and

harmony experience are tested simultaneously. A possible explanation for why

it is partially supported may lie in the factor measuring consumers’ engagement

in physical action and behaviour with the car’s interior. Although prior research

on brand experience shows a positive relationship between behavioural

experience and brand outcomes (Brakus et al., 2009; Iglesias et al., 2011;

Nysveen et al., 2013), consumers may evaluate, judge, and experience various

brands differently. It may be possible that consumers’ value-in-use from

behavioural experience in, for example, the bank industry (Nysveen and

Pedersen, 2014), is more necessary and influences their value as an experience

since consumers actively interact in physical actions and behaviour, such as

reading agreements and transferring money. However, in cars, consumers’

situated value from the interior does not influence their brand image, as their

actions and behaviour may be focused on driving and traffic.

This assumption is rational as the purpose of a car is driving and the

surrounding environment should not distract consumers. Therefore, it is logical

to deduce that consumers engage in physical action and behaviour in relation

the utility of the car (i.e., driving), where the value-in-use of the behavioural

experience situated by the car’s interior does not influence their value as an

experience from held brand image associations. This can be compared with the

brand experience from soap and perfume, resulting in a positive brand outcome

(Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014). In this case, it is logical to assume that

consumers’ behavioural experience occurs from physical actions and behaviour,

such as cleaning themselves and putting on perfume, where the positive brand

outcome is feeling clean and smelling nice. However, it is possible that

consumers’ behavioural experience in cars are more complex and may not have

a positive impact on past and ongoing experiences, such as brand image.

Therefore, it appears that behavioural experience has no positive relationship

with brand image. The partial support for H3 shows that brand-related stimuli

in the car’s interior for consumers’ behavioural experience may not have an

effect on their brand image. The result indicates that consumers’ represented

value-in-use of behavioural experience are not imperative for their value as an

experience. Theory supports this, stating that emotional values are more

relevant for a positive brand image than utilitarian values (Aaker, 1997a; Speed,

1998). Interestingly, the results are also linked to the qualitative sequence,

where it was emphasised that the manufacturer put more effort into making the car comfortable to drive and having simplistic solutions, rather than

199

encouraging consumers to engage in physical actions and behaviour of the car’s

interior.

8.6.4 Harmony experience and brand image

Although harmony has been overlooked in the marketing domain, Garaus

(2017) demonstrated its importance in designing a store environment to provide

consumers with a positive brand outcome. This is in accordance with Henderson

and Cote (1998), who emphasised that harmony is about designing various bits

and pieces in a given situation or environment to provide individuals with a

harmonious state. Based on this, harmony experience was operationalised,

measured, and tested to examine whether it contributed to the sensory marketing

domain, in particular towards branding. Hence, it was examined if harmony

experience could be incorporated as an additional dimension of the brand

experience scale and had a positive relationship with brand image, since prior

research overlooked if consumers can be provided with a harmony experience

from brand-related stimuli.

The obtained four-factor solution demonstrated that harmony experience

items loaded on the same factor. Compared with established brand experience

dimensions (Brakus et al., 2009; Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014; Khan and

Rahman, 2015), harmony experience is distinguished from sensory experience,

affective experience, intellectual experience, and behavioural experience as it

provides consumers with consensus and unifies sensory impressions in the

given setting, leading to a harmonious state. In this regard, harmony experience

contributes additional value to Brakus et al.’s (2009) brand experience scale by

proving how different bits and pieces based on brand-related stimuli in the given

setting are integrated and perceived within a whole to provide balance and

regularity in the consumers’ bodies and minds. Consequently, the brand

experience scale does not only consider how consumers’ senses are stimulated,

it provides feelings and sentiments, mental stimulation, and physical actions and

behaviours. It also includes how brand-related stimuli in the given setting

provide consumers with a pleasing effect in their body and mind – i.e., harmony

experience. The car’s interior with brand-related stimuli can be compared with

how various instruments in an orchestra have been strategically placed on a

stage to simultaneously play a melody to give the audience a harmony

experience.

As previously mentioned, harmony experience in this dissertation refers to

consumers’ impressions of a car’s interior based on brand-related stimuli. The

objective with H4 was to test the relationship between harmony experience and

brand image. As expected, H4 was supported and shows that harmony

experience has a positive impact on brand image. Although prior literature on

the brand experience scale has overlooked harmony experience, the result is in

accordance with Garaus’s (2017) notion of atmospheric harmony, resulting in

positive pleasure and judgement. Hence, atmospheric harmony relates to how

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store elements are organised in a meaningful visual entity in a given setting to

provide consumers additional value. That is, atmospheric harmony provides

consumers with unity by experiencing objects in the surrounding environment.

In this regard, atmospheric harmony provides consumers with meaning and an

understanding of the environment, and connects parts in the surroundings in

meaningful ways to convey an impression of unity, which forms their value-in-

use. This means that a well-balanced car interior unified with the brand-related

attributes provide consumers with an emotional state of a harmony experience,

resulting in a positive brand image that goes beyond their experience of driving

the car.

Thus, harmony experience has a positive relationship with brand image. By

accepting H4, it can be seen that a car’s interior provides consumers with peace

of mind and peacefulness, which positively influence brand image. This

suggests that consumers’ value-in-use of harmony experience influences their

value as an experience in relation to brand image. A possible explanation for

this may be how the car’s interior has been placed in the cabin. Just as

instruments in an orchestra are carefully and strategically placed on a stage, so

too has a car’s interior – such as the seating, steering wheel, and gear lever –

been orchestrated in a meaningful way to provide consumers with a harmony

experience, resulting in a positive brand image. This is in accordance with

Garaus (2017), who demonstrated that a harmonious atmosphere results in a

positive brand outcome. Moreover, it can be related to the qualitative sequence,

which shows that the interior is designed with sensory cues in terms of colour,

material, and shape, as well as organisation in the cabin to convey an impression

of harmony to position the brand as premium.

8.6.5 Contradictory results

From the analysis results of the quantitative sequence, it appears that the

outcome from the multiple hierarchical regression shows contradictory results

for the relationship between the hypothesises of brand experience and brand

image. When the hypothesised relationships were tested respectively (models 2

to 5 in Table 8.5), H1 to H4 were accepted. It indicates that consumers’ sensory


harmony experience have a positive impact on their brand image. However,

compared with individual models, the final model (model 6 in Table 8.5)

demonstrated contradictory results for the hypothesised relationships. Results

from the final model show that H1 and H4 were accepted, while H2 and H3 were

rejected, but accepted in models 3 and 4, meaning they were partially supported.

Interestingly, when H3 was tested individually and accepted (model 2 in Table

8.5), behavioural experience had a positive relationship with brand image.

However, in the final model (model 6 in Table 8.5), it changed from a positive

into a negative relationship with brand.

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A possible explanation for the contradictory results regarding the accepted

and partially supported hypotheses compared with prior research (e.g., Brakus

et al., 2009; Khan and Fatma, 2017; Andreini et al., 2018) may be related to the

analysis methods, constructs, contexts, and respondents. Previous research on

brand experience used analysis methods, such as structural equation modelling

(Brakus et al., 2009; Iglesias et al., 2011; Nysveen et al., 2013; Francisco-

Maffezzolli et al., 2014; Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014; Shamim et al., 2016;

Hepola et al., 2017; Khan and Fatma, 2017), multiple regression analysis (Lin,

2015), and cluster analysis, followed by an OLS regression (Zarantonello and

Schmitt, 2010). However, this dissertation applied an exploratory factor

analysis, followed by multiple hierarchical regression. Prior research tested the

impact of brand experience as a concept a single hypothesis (e.g., Brakus et al.,

2009; Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014; Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010), whereas

this dissertation tested each dimension as a hypothesis on an individual level.

The advantage of this is that it allows for the examination of each dimension’s

impact on brand image individually and collectively.

Aside from another analysis method, a possible explanation for the

contradictory results may be related to the brand outcome and measured

constructs. In addition to the brand experience construct, this dissertation

measured brand image, which is the brand outcome. It can be compared with

previous research on brand experience that used constructs, such as brand

personality, satisfaction and brand loyalty (Brakus et al., 2009; Nysveen et al.,

2013); purchase intention (Zarantonello and Schmitt, 2010); affective

commitment and brand loyalty (Iglesias et al., 2011); brand relationship quality

and brand loyalty (Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014); and satisfaction and

brand loyalty (Nysveen and Pedersen, 2014), with brand loyalty as a brand

outcome. More recent research of brand experience has used constructs like

brand equity and brand satisfaction (Lin, 2015); subjective norms, customer

value co-creation attitude, and customer value co-creation behaviour (Shamim et al., 2016); consumer brand engagement and brand equity (Hepola et al.,

2017); and trust, brand loyalty, customer satisfaction, brand creditability, word

of mouth, and brand attitude (Khan and Fatma, 2017). However, in accordance

with experiential marketing, which emphasises that experiences are exciting

and fun to leave an imprint of the product in the consumer’s mind (Holbrook

and Hirschman, 1982; Holbrook et al., 1984; Holbrook and Zirlin, 1986), brand

experience was tested in relation to a brand outcome located in the memory.

Thus, the relationship between brand experience and brand image was relevant

to examine, since the brand outcome concerns associations located in

consumers’ memory. Moreover, compared with the brand personality concept,

which considers how firms want to gestalt the brand (Aaker, 1997b; Andreini

et al., 2018), brand image relates to consumers’ perceptions of the brand (Park

et al., 1986; Hsieh, 2002). In this regard, it is relevant to examine brand image as a brand outcome of brand experience, as experiences provide sensations and

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emotions, which leads to brand evaluations (Esch et al., 2012). Therefore, a

possible explanation of contradictory results may be related to testing brand

image as brand outcome, leaving a trace and imprint of the brand experience in

consumers’ memory.

Furthermore, a possible explanation for contradictory results may be that the

context and respondents differ from prior research on brand experience. Brakus et al. (2009) had a student sample measuring 12 brands in six product

categories: Apple/Dell (computers), Fiji/Poland Spring (water), J.Crew/Liz

Claiborne (clothing), Puma/New Balance (sneakers), Volkswagen/Saturn

(cars), and The New York Times/USA Today (newspapers). Iglesias et al. (2011)

had a student sample regarding products like cars, laptops, and sneakers.

Nysveen et al. (2013) had a random sample of a representative population in

brands that provide telecommunication, such as broadband services, mobile

services, and television services. Francisco-Maffezzolli et al. (2014) had a

random sample of products like perfume and bath soaps. Nysveen and Pedersen

(2014) had a sample of online panel members in eight customer banks. Lin

(2015) sample comprised passengers from airlines like Cathay Pacific

Singapore, EVA Air, China Airlines, Korean Air, and Air Asia. Shamim et al.

(2016) studied customers in the Malaysian retailing context. Hepola et al. (2017) used customers of a Finnish tableware brand. Khan and Fatma (2017)

used a student sample from restaurant brands like McDonald’s, KFC, and

Subway. These contexts and respondents can be compared with the present

dissertation, which has a single context – i.e., cars from one manufacturer – and

a sample of consumers who own that particular brand. It is logical to assume

that the provided brand experience by the car’s interior is in direct contrast with

the one from, for example, soap. A brand experience of soap may be related to

feeling clean and smelling fresh, which fades away over time and does not occur

again until the individual showers again, using the same soap brand. However,

the brand experience from the car’s interior is different as a car is a high-

involvement product that demands more consideration and information seeking

before an actual purchase, because the price is high and may involve several

family members in the decision-making. Thus, consumers who own and use a

car may have spent more time investigating the brand and product since it will

be a big part of their daily life. It means that consumers are exposed to brand-

related stimuli provided by the car’s interior every time they drive

(sub)consciously by past and ongoing interactions, which influences brand

image.

Another possible explanation for the contradictory results may be related to

the independent variable of brand experience. Although extant research on

brand experience departed from Brakus et al.’s (2009) brand experience scale

without evolving the concept (Andreini et al., 2018), an additional social

(relational) dimension has been mentioned (Nysveen et al., 2013; Schmitt et al., 2015b). However, this dissertation’s qualitative sequence suggested that

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harmony experience could be added as an additional dimension of brand

experience. In this regard, harmony experience was operationalised, measured,

and tested in an exploratory factor analysis, which revealed the dimension to be

incorporated in brand experience. Moreover, the obtained four-factor solution

merged sensory experience and affective experience into one factor: the sensory

and affective experience. Consequently, the relationships between the sensory


harmony experience with brand image were tested. Thus, the structure of the

independent variable may explain the contradictory results of partial support for

H2 and H3.

Although contradictory results for the hypothesised relationships between

brand experience and brand image are shown, interesting patterns have

emerged. Previous research on brand experience demonstrates that emotional

and cognitive values are essential for a positive brand outcome (Brakus et al.,

2009; Nysveen et al., 2013; Francisco-Maffezzolli et al., 2014; Ding and Tseng,

2015; Khan and Rahman, 2015; Schmitt et al., 2015a; Shamim et al., 2016;

Hepola et al., 2017). It is logical to assume the same results would occur in the

analysis of the relationship between brand experience and brand image. Based

on the analysis in the present dissertation, emotional values are accepted, while

cognitive values are partially supported. Therefore, it can be deduced that

emotional values suppress cognitive values when all brand experience

dimensions are present in a car’s interior since they have a positive relationship

with brand image. It indicates that consumers’ situated value from the car’s

interior is that the emotional dimensions are more imperative for consumers, as

these positively impact brand image, leading to their value as an experience and

goes beyond the current situation. The results and reasoning are in accordance

with Kapferer and Bastien (2012), who emphasised the importance of going

beyond quality in brands and products. By designing the car’s interior with

emotional values that provide consumers with sensory, affective and harmony

experiences, a more positive brand image is obtained. Consequently, it is logical

to assume that the contradictory results may be explained by sensory and

affective and harmony experiences becoming predominant over intellectual and

behavioural experiences in the hypothesised relationships between brand

experience and brand image. This is related to Kapferer and Bastien (2012) view

that hedonism suppresses utilitarian values in premium brands, which may

explain why emotional values in the car’s interior have a positive impact on

brand image, while cognitive values are suppressed when all brand experience

are tested.

To ensure the robustness of the final model (model 6 in Table 8.5), an

additional analyses was performed (see the tables in Appendix D). Similar

results were obtained from these analyses, which strengthens the contradictory

results of the hypothesised relationships between brand experience and brand image. Although similar results were obtained, the relationship between

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harmony experience and brand image’s economic associations was accepted on

an individual level, but rejected when all brand experience dimensions were

tested simultaneously – i.e., these were partially supported. The results are

interesting as they indicate that harmony experience may not impact brand

image’s economic associations, but has a positive relationship with the concept

of brand image. This allows possible explanations, since brand image includes

various associations. Initially, it suggests that symbolic and affective experience

and harmony experience are more crucial for brand image regarding symbolic,

sensory, and utilitarian associations than with brand image’s economic

associations in the hypothesised relationships. Moreover, following the notion

of Parment (2008), this result makes sense since premium brands position their

brand through emotional values in product attributes. Although the present

dissertation examined the relationship between brand experience and brand

image of a premium brand, it is logical to assume that the result may differ from

an ordinary brand in the automotive industry. It can be presumed that a premium

brand has a positive brand image regarding symbolic, sensory, utilitarian

associations, while an ordinary brand may be related to economic associations.

This reasoning is supported by literature (Kapferer, 2012a; Kapferer, 2015b;

Kapferer and Valette-Florence, 2016), which emphasises that premium brands

offer a high-quality product with additional value by having emotional,

functional, and symbolic values to provide consumers with a holistic

experience.

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9 Conclusions

Chapter nine discusses the findings and conclusion of this dissertation. It starts by answering the overarching research question through the sub-questions.

This is followed by the developed conceptual framework, with the theoretical,

managerial, and ethical implications then stated. Lastly, the limitations and suggestions for future research are presented.

9.1 Main conclusions

This dissertation has its departure in the following overarching research

question: how is value created in a car’s interior using sensory marketing? The

main conclusion is that no sole actor can create value within a car’s interior.

Instead, creating value in the car’s interior is a strategic process achieved by

embedding sensory cues as mechanisms in the car’s interior to provide

consumers with the opportunity to interact with the brand in the given space –

e.g., spatial servicescape. Subsequently, value is sustainable over time.

Following service-dominant logic (SDL) (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and

Lusch, 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2016), several actors are involved in the process

of creating value through a value proposition, value-in-use, and value as an

experience.

Following the essence of SDL, the foundation pillar of creating value is by

identifying the service that provides a benefit for others through an exchange.

In this case, the service is to administer the experience and concretise the

viability of the car’s interior to create value for the manufacturer and consumers.

At first glance, this occurs when consumers interact with the car’s interior, but

it is more complex than consumers experiencing and interacting with the car’s

interior through the human senses when exposed to sensory cues. It moves into

the manufacturers planning and designing the car’s interior to position the

Volvo Cars brand as premium for consumers’ sense-making. Although the

manufacturer is the driving force and decision-maker in planning and designing the value proposition, suppliers and consumers are also involved in the process.

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Suppliers assist with competence and knowledge to make the value proposition

feasible for consumers, while consumers are involved in clarifying what value

they expect from the value proposition. Hence, the offered value proposition

has been created to be unique for Volvo Cars and their consumers since the

brand becomes the experience through the car’s interior (Prahalad and

Ramaswamy, 2004).

The reasoning that created value is unique is in accordance with SDL.

However, it is not only unique, but also phenomenologically determined by the

beneficiary actor (Vargo and Lusch, 2008), suggesting several dimensions of

value. In this regard, it can be concluded that the manufacturer, consumers, and

suppliers benefit from the created value in different ways. The manufacturer

benefits from the created value by positioning the brand as premium and

ensuring that consumers pay a premium price. Consumers benefit from the

created value by having a continuous memorable experience in the car’s

interior. Suppliers benefit from being actors involved in creating the unique

value proposition. This may make it hard for the manufacturer to replace

suppliers with competitors as they possess expertise, knowledge, and skills on

how to make the value proposition feasible in the car’s interior. Therefore, it

can be concluded that value is co-created by multiple actors who benefit

respectively (Vargo and Lusch, 2016), even if consumers hold the power to

determine the value as an experience. This contributes to SDL by shedding light

on the fact that consumers’ participation is imperative in creating a value

proposition by making sense of the experience, which is their beneficial value.

As experiences occur when the manufacturer deliberately offers value in the

car’s interior, the aim is to engage consumers in creating a memorable event. In

this regard, it can be concluded that creating value with sensory marketing as a

tool is a strategic process. The strategic process is in accordance with Pine and

Gilmore’s (1998) staging experiences, which has different steps and follows the

logic of creating value from the perspective of SDL.

In phase one, the manufacturer offers a value proposition, which is the

foundation for creating value through experiences. This is achieved by

deliberately planning and designing to command a fee for the offered

experience – that is, by using Scandinavia as a theme by embedding sensory

cues. These cues not just embedded in isolation or have a multisensory

interplay, rather all sensory cues are harmonised with one another to offer value,

such as leather that looks, feels, and smells premium.

In phase two, the manufacturer and consumers’ interaction of staging the

brand experience leads to consumers’ value-in-use. The brand experience

occurs when consumers use the car’s interior in a way that they situate value.

Aside from Brakus et al.’s (2009) brand experience dimensions, harmony

experience is imperative in consumers’ value-in-use. To ensure a harmony

experience, the manufacturer links the Scandinavian theme with the brand.

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Subsequently, consumers can harmonise all obtained sensory information of the

Scandinavian theme to give meaning and value to the brand experience.

Lastly, stage three accounts for the impact of consumers’ brand experience

on brand image, which subsequently forms their value as an experience. Results

show that sensory and affective experience and harmony experience positively

influence brand image. It proves that perceiving the brand experience

harmoniously is essential for consumers to create value as an experience from

brand-related stimuli in the car’s interior. Hence, the consumers’ value as an

experience is the outcome of the process in creating value. Table 9.1

summarises the three phases in creating value, which starts with the

manufacturer and ends with the consumers.

Table 9.1. The process of creating value in a car’s interior

Phase Stage in SDL Process description

One Value proposition Creating a theme by embedding sensory

cues. Harmonising all sensory cues to

offer value.

Two Value-in-use Harmony experience is a part of the

brand experience. Ensure that consumers

harmoniously experience the car’s

interior. Linking the theme with the

heritage to ensure that the meaning of the

brand harmonises all obtained sensory

information.

Three Value as an experience Perceiving the brand harmoniously

(sense-making) leads to a positive brand

image.

As concluded above and outlined in Table 9.1, harmony interconnects the three

phases to create value from a sensory marketing perspective. This alludes to the

fact that harmony takes place within the process of creating value. To elucidate,

creating value through a car’s interior occurs much like an orchestra provides

harmony for the human senses. The foundation to harmonising value in the car’s

interior is to plan and design the current spatial servicescape, which is in

accordance with Henderson and Cote (1998), who highlighted the importance

of aligning bits and pieces to have symmetry and balance with one another. Like

a conductor organising the stage with various instruments and musicians to play

a coherent melody in harmony for the audience, creating value for the car’s

interior follows the same logic. However, instead of arranging various

percussion and wind instruments on the stage without one being predominant,

the manufacturer strategically organises the car’s interior to intensify and unify

consumer’s human senses to provide a harmony experience. Therefore, the

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manufacturer is the conductor for the consumers and suppliers, who ensure that

all car interior components play a coherent melody for the audience.

Moreover, when performing on the stage, an orchestra can either have an

instrumental melody or be accompanied by a singer. The car’s interior is not

accompanied by a person who, for instance, sings hard rock or opera songs,

instead the car’s interior is accompanied by the Volvo Cars brand. In this sense,

just as an orchestra’s music melody is adjusted to the singer’s voice, the car’s

interior is in compliance with the embedded sensory cues based on brand-

related stimuli to provide consumers with a memorable experience on the stage.

Hence, just as concertgoers can enjoy a well-composed event with an orchestra,

consumers can enjoy the planned and designed stage of the car’s interior. This

falls into harmony being an essential component to creating value in a car’s

interior from a sensory marketing perspective, which includes the manufacturer

and consumers.

Lastly, the main conclusions portray the different steps in the strategic

process by linking sensory cues, brand experience, and brand image to create

value, wherein harmony is included. To advance the theoretical and empirical

understanding of creating value, it has been argued that sensory marketing is

essential as a lens. It has also been reasoned that sensory marketing (Hultén,

2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014) has distinct links to the micro-level

theories of sensory cues, brand experience, and brand image (see section

2.1.2.5). Due to the research question’s comprehensiveness, it was divided into

three sub-questions. The sub-questions were designed to reflect different

aspects of creating value, thus contributing to answering the more stated general

question.

9.2 Developing a conceptual model for creating

value

Based on the main conclusions, a conceptual model was developed (Figure 9.1).

The conceptual model is an extension of the experience-based theoretical

framework (Figure. 2.6) and shows how the sensory cues, brand experience, and

brand image are related in creating value. In accordance with Vargo and Lusch

(2017), bridging concepts are essential for understanding how value is created

and perceived. To advance the understanding of how to create value, Figure 9.1

has bridged SDL with the micro-level theories of sensory marketing to

understand and explain the process of creating value.

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Figure 9.1. Conceptual model for creating value

From the main conclusions, it can be stated that value is created with sensory

cues, brand experience, and brand image in a strategic process, as shown in

Figure 9.1. The process follows SDL to create value. The manufacturer

strategically creates a value proposition by embedding sensory cues to embed

the Scandinavia theme in the car’s interior. In this regard, sensory cues are

mechanisms seen as rigid bodies from brand-related stimuli to accomplish the

desired theme in the car’s interior. Hence, the manufacturer strategically plans

and designs sensory cues in the car’s interior to become the brand experience.

Since the manufacturer can only deliver a value proposition, creating value

in the car’s interior includes consumers’ sense-making. This occurs when

interacting in the given space – i.e., the spatial environment of the car – with the

manufacturer’s value proposition. Subsequently, in this space, consumers form

their value-in-use by making sense of the brand experience. Although

consumers hold power to situate meaning to the brand experience, this is not the

outcome. The outcome is rather how consumers’ brand experience impact brand

image, leading to their value as an experience formed over time by past,

ongoing, and forthcoming interactions with the car’s interior. Consequently, the

conceptual model captures different aspects of creating value reflected in the

sub-questions of the present dissertation. These will be elaborated in the

following sections.

9.2.1 Sensory cues as a mechanism

The first sub-question to answer is: how is a value proposition created by the manufacturer’s embedded sensory cues? As pointed out, sensory cues are

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(sub)conscious triggers embedded by manufacturers and employed in brands

(Krishna and Schwarz, 2014) to appeal to consumers’ human senses (Krishna,

2012). These can be embedded in endless ways – individually or in combination

(e.g., Biswas et al., 2014a; Helmefalk and Berndt, 2018) – to be harmonized

with one another and the brand.

Although attention has been given to sensory cues in brands, products, and

servicescapes, there has not been a lot of focus on how manufacturers embed

these cues into brands to create value. This dissertation reveals that the purpose

behind embedding sensory cues in the car’s interior is to set the stage in the

given space by providing consumers with a memorable experience so the brand

is sustainable over time. The manufacturer administers sensory cues on the stage

based on brand-related stimuli, such as calm, cool colours, crystal and leather

materials, and sweeping horizontal lines typical of Scandinavia. This is

achieved by strategically planning and designing what sensory cues to embed,

where the intention is to provide consumers with a brand experience to position

the brand as premium and convey ambience and calm. Despite the outcome

being decided in the consumers’ minds, it can be concluded that the

manufacturer embeds sensory cues in harmony with the Volvo Cars brand in a

given space with the intention that it be perceived as premium.

In this regard, sensory cues are considered as mechanisms. The sensory cues

are connected to engender a created value proposition available for consumers’

sense-making when interacting with the car’s interior. Hence, by connecting

various sensory cues, these can work together to ensure that the car’s interior

becomes an experiential entity. That is, sensory cues are mechanisms that the

manufacturer connects and unites into a single body by planning and designing

the value proposition in harmony with the Volvo Cars brand. Thus, sensory cues

are mechanisms to ensure that the car’s interior becomes an experiential entity

that reflects Scandinavia. This is achieved by using the competence, knowledge,

and skills of the employees through cross-departmental collaboration to make

brand-related stimuli feasible in the car’s interior. Therefore, it is imperative to

strategically plan and design the embedding of sensory cues to be able to tell

consumers the Scandinavian story of the brand.

Hence, all embedded sensory cues in the car’s interior are harmonised with

the Scandinavian theme. Although sensory cues are embedded individually or

in combination (e.g., Zampini and Spence, 2004; Idea Watch, 2015b; Streicher

and Estes, 2016), the manufacturer has ensured a strategic multisensory

interplay between these. This all starts with the visual cues, which imbue the

other sensory cues. In accordance with literature (Krishna, 2012; Hultén,

2015b), the manufacturer has considered visual cues as the most dominant and

prominent ones, since consumers start by looking at the car’s interior.

Consequently, visual cues are the point of departure in the car’s interior, and the

provided sensory information should be maintained in the interplay with other sensory cues. The car’s interior illustrates this as if the material inside looks like

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leather, it needs to feel and smell like leather, otherwise a contradictory

impression occurs, which is in accordance with the reasoning by Eklund and

Helmefalk (2018).

Lastly, embedding sensory cues goes beyond ensuring cue congruency. In

this dissertation, it was revealed that the manufacturer embeds sensory cues to

be in harmony with the car’s interior. This is not limited to matching sensory

cues with another, but includes planning and designing a car’s interior that

allows consumers to harmonise all sensory impressions when interacting in the

given space.

9.2.2 Brand experience in the given space

The second sub-question is: how is value-in-use created by a brand experience?

Research shows that the consumers decide on brand experience through

exposure or interaction with brand-related stimuli (Brakus et al., 2009; Khan

and Rahman, 2015; Andreini et al., 2018). However, research has emphasised

that manufacturers can foster consumers’ brand experience by evoking

particular experiences (Schmitt et al., 2015b).

Although research has mostly focused on consumers’ brand experience

(Andreini et al., 2018), few studies have explored how to design experiences

like Hamzah et al. (2014). This dissertation advances the understanding of how

brand experiences are designed to become valuable, and thus value-in-use. By

embedding sensory cues based on brand-related stimuli in the car’s interior, the

manufacturer provides consumers with opportunities to interact and situate

meaning by experiencing the Volvo Cars brand in the given space. The given

space has been strategically planned and designed based on consumers’ input

to engender a brand experience in accordance with their demands and

expectations of a premium car’s interior. Similarly, as an orchestra in a concert

hall plays for the audience, the manufacturer has arranged an event in the given

space so that the consumers can experience Scandinavia. Hence, the

manufacturer is the conductor leading the car’s interior, which plays a coherent

melody accompanied by the Volvo Cars brand. The purpose of this is to unify

all brand-related stimuli in the car’s interior to have a balance and symmetry,

which will be filtered by consumers’ human senses into a brand experience.

However, the value for consumers does not occur per se. Consumers need to

evaluate whether the provided brand experience in the car’s interior was

valuable, leading to value-in-use. To elucidate, when consumers use the car’s

interior, such as sitting in the seat, holding the steering wheel, or pressing

buttons, the value-in-use is fostered by sensory and bodily experiences. For

example, the brand experience becomes the value-in-use when consumers sit in

comfortable, ergonomic seats and do not need to wiggle around due to bad

design and material.

In this regard, the conclusion is that the manufacturer is in accordance with

Schmitt and Zarantonello’s (2013) reasoning, utilising the melody of

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Scandinavia to trigger and gestalt the brand experience in the consumers’ mind.

This is achieved by the manufacturer considering how Brakus et al.’s (2009)

brand experience dimensions become valuable for consumers. The

manufacturer designs the sensory experience by using brand-related stimuli,

such as colour, material, and shape, inspired by the Scandinavian landscape to

become valuable when filtered by consumers’ human senses. These in turn are

intertwined with the affective experience since the manufacturer provides

feelings like ambience and calmness, with the intention that consumers become

happy and satisfied thanks to the car’s interior, which is the value-in-use.

Contrastingly, intellectual experience and behavioural experience are present in

the given space by having a user-friendly car interior, such as an interior that is

easy to navigate. Counterintuitively, to brand experience research (Chang and

Chieng, 2006; Brakus et al., 2009; Iglesias et al., 2011; Shamim et al., 2016;

Khan and Fatma, 2017), the manufacturer does not want to engage consumers

in mental processing or bodily behaviour as it may not be essential for

consumers’ value-in-use. Instead, the focus is on comfort and ergonomic

solutions in the car’s interior. This suggests that simplicity from the

manufacturer in the car’s interior still fosters intellectual experience and

behavioural experience, and are evaluated as valuable by consumers.

Although the brand experience dimensions are created in the given space,

consumers’ value-in-use is not formed per se (Sandström et al., 2008; Vargo

and Lusch, 2008; Grönroos and Gummerus, 2014). Reasonably, the

manufacturer can only plan and design the car’s interior with brand-related

stimuli to provide consumers with an experience for sense-making in the given

space. The strategy from the manufacturer for this to succeed is to include

harmony in the provided brand experience. By harmonising the car’s interior

with the brand, the manufacturer wants to ensure that the consumer’s brand

experience is evaluated as valuable and forms the value-in-use. Since harmony

is revealed as an important part of making the brand experience valuable in the

car’s interior, the consumers’ perspective was examined in sub-question three.

9.2.3 Brand image sustainable over time

The third and last sub-question is: what is the effect of brand experience on

brand image in order to create value as an experience? As concluded in sub-

question two, the manufacturer provides brand-related stimuli in the car’s

interior to be experienced, which contributes to consumers’ value-in-use. Sub-

question three departs from consumers’ brand experience from brand-related

stimuli in the car’s interior. Although most research on brand experience has

demonstrated a positive relationship with brand loyalty (Khan and Rahman,

2015; Andreini et al., 2018), this dissertation shows a positive impact on brand

image (Birdwell, 1968; Dobni and Zinkhan, 1990; Keller, 1993; Kirmani and

Zeithaml, 1993; Hsieh, 2002; Cho and Fiore, 2015). This is in line with the

dissertation’s purpose to understand various parts in the process to create value.

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Hence, the examined relationship between brand experience and brand image is

one aspect of creating value. Since the consumers’ value-in-use (Sandström et

al., 2008; Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Grönroos and Gummerus, 2014) is formed

by evaluating if the brand experience is valuable, it influences value as an

experience (Helkkula et al., 2012; Tynan et al., 2014) from the holistic

perception of the brand image.

In contrast to prior brand experience research, each dimension was tested

separately and in the full model. Although brand experience literature treats

sensory and affective experience as individual dimensions (Brakus et al., 2009),

they are interlinked. Moreover, harmony was measured and tested positive as

an additional dimension of Brakus et al.’s (2009) original scale. Therefore, each

dimension was hypothesised into a relationship with brand image and

demonstrated interesting findings. Initially, in separate models, H1, H2, H3, and

H4 were accepted. However, when tested in a full model, only H1 and H4 were

accepted. In this regard, it is concluded that not all brand experience dimensions

are relevant to a positive brand image. The results allude that consumers’

situated value-in-use from the brand experience are formed by sensory and

affective experience and harmony experience. Subsequently, this suggests that

the value of emotions, sensations, and unity of the car’s interior are essential for

value as an experience, because past and present experiences of value from the

car’s interior go beyond the current interaction moment.

In conclusion, consumers’ value-in-use developed in the given space by

interacting with the car’s interior influences the value as an experience over

time. Although brand experience occurs in the given moment of interaction and

affects brand image, associations held in the memory are accessed for sense-

making in the current situation. This dissertation demonstrates that sensory and

affective experience and harmony experience have a positive relationship with

brand image, which relates to how consumers form their value as an experience

over time.

9.3 Implications

9.3.1 Theoretical implications

This study contributes to the growing attention on the concept of sensory

marketing (Hultén, 2011; Krishna, 2012; Spence et al., 2014) by viewing it as

a lens to create value based on the SDL notion. The dissertation advances

Hulten’s (2015b) notion that manufacturers create value with the intention of

positioning the brand as an image. The proposed conceptual model (Figure 9.1)

shows a novel view of sensory marketing that neither manufacturers nor

consumers can create value in isolation. This advances the theoretical

understanding to create value from a sensory marketing perspective by relating

it with branding and SDL.

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In sensory marketing, there has been little attention on creating value in

relation to the brand. Since neither manufacturers nor consumers can create

value without one another, sensory cues are linked with brand experience and

brand image. Sensory cues are based on the manufacturer’s brand-related

stimuli, such as colour, design, material, and shape, thus ensuring that

consumers can recognise the brand when experiencing it. This in turn falls into

the manufacturer’s staged brand experience stemming from embedded sensory

cues and consumers’ sense-making. However, following Hultén (2015b), the

resolute outcome for sensory marketing is brand as an image. In this regard, this

dissertation shows that the consumer held brand experience of the dimensions

sensory and affective experience and harmony experience have a positive

impact on brand image. This advances the theoretical knowledge of creating

value with sensory marketing in relation to branding, in accordance with

Veloutsou and Guzman (2017). Hence, relating sensory marketing with brand

experience and brand image shows that brands, products, and servicescapes are

experiential entities, which allow manufacturers to offer value that consumers

evaluate with the human senses.

Aside from linking sensory marketing with branding, the present dissertation

shows the process of how to create value in accordance with SDL. From an SDL

perspective (Vargo and Lusch, 2004; Vargo and Lusch, 2008; Vargo and Lusch,

2016), value is created with various actors based on their competence,

knowledge, and skills to propose a value proposition to consumers. However,

little attention has been given to how the process of value is planned and

designed into value proposition, which together with consumers’ sense-making

forms value-in-use, leading to value as an experience. This has been addressed

by showing that manufacturers can only offer value, as consumers determine

how value is created through their value as an experience. In this regard,

manufacturers need to consider consumers’ cognitive, emotional, and

behavioural outcomes from a sensory marketing perspective to be able to

provide them with an offer they cannot refuse for sense-making. Considering

that the manufacturer can only provide value, sensory cues, brand experience,

and brand image are essential in understanding how value is created. Since

sensory marketing research thus far has overlooked the process of creating value

with SDL, this dissertation amplifies the knowledge of the process of how to

create and perceive value by including manufacturers and consumers for

premium brands. Sensory cues are the mechanisms that manufacturers can

utilise in the value proposition. Brand experience is the given space in which

the manufacturer’s value proposition meets the consumers for interaction,

forming the value-in-use. Brand image is the outcome from the given moment

of interaction, which is related to time through past, ongoing, and future

interactions, forming consumers’ value as an experience. In this regard, it can

be concluded that understanding the process of creating value is imperative for the manufacturer. After all, the manufacturer is the actor who must gain insights

215

about consumer preference of value and utilise suppliers’ competence and

knowledge to make the car’s interior feasible. This is to ensure a car interior

that appeals to consumers’ preferences of expected value to position the brand

as premium.

As part of capturing different aspects to create value, harmony was identified

in sub-questions one and two. Thereafter, harmony was operationalised,

measured, and tested successfully in sub-question three. The finding of the

harmony dimension goes beyond congruency (Osgood and Tannenbaum, 1955;

Fleck and Quester, 2007; Krishna et al., 2010; Gross and Wiedmann, 2015),

which is limited to assert of fit, match or relevance between objects. Rather it

shows how manufacturers strategically plan and design sensory cues to ensure

that consumers perceive various bits and pieces in symmetry and balance. This

dissertation argues that this contributes to new knowledge on how to

strategically embed sensory cues to ensure consumers have a harmonious brand

experience, resulting in a positive brand image over time as part of creating

value.

9.3.2 Managerial implications

The present dissertation has managerial implications for car manufacturers that

seek to position their brand as premium. Firstly, these manufacturers can only

provide consumers with a value offering by embedding sensory cues. This is

achieved by departing in the brand heritage from a sensory point of view, which

serves as the foundation of embedding sensory cues. Hence, car manufacturers

are advised to base and embed sensory cues on brand-related stimuli, which

consumers are exposed to and interact with when using the car’s interior.

Secondly, in a crowded automotive industry, car brands are competing for

the consumers’ attention. Therefore, car manufacturers are encouraged to

embed sensory cues in the car’s interior that will engage all the consumers’

senses to create value. In this regard, car manufacturers need to ensure that when

combining multisensory cues, a harmonised sensory impression is provided to

consumers to appeal to the overall perception.

Thirdly, it is not enough to embed sensory cues without considering

consumer preference. Since consumers hold the power to make sense of the

offered value in the car’s interior, car manufacturers need to have insights and

knowledge of the targeted segments’ sensory preferences. For example, what

colours and materials are favoured and what does that mean for the consumers

and their value-in-use and value as an experience. Due to changes in consumers’

behaviour, it is imperative for car manufacturers to understand consumers’

cognitive, emotional, and behavioural responses.

Fourthly, car manufacturers need to consider the space of the car’s interior

where the value offering is present for interaction with consumers. The

conclusions show the importance of organising this space like a concert hall

with an orchestra playing to create value. For car manufacturers, this includes

216

choosing the right mix of sensory cues in relation to brand-related stimuli and

ensuring a harmonious impression of included elements. Thus, car

manufacturers are encouraged to view the space as an arena that includes the

brand, product, and servicescape. This requires knowledge of which sensory

cues to embed regarding brand-related stimuli and an understanding of how

consumers use the car’s interior. It also demands an understanding of the

atmosphere in the servicescape, since it is the given setting where consumers

interact with the brand and drive the car.

Lastly, car manufacturers need to ensure that sensory cues in the given space

are sustainable over time. Regardless of a car’s interior or any other premium

brand, such as a watch, managers are encouraged to consider that the

consumption is continuous over time. Specifically, the current interaction with

brand-related stimuli is influenced by past interactions held in the consumers’

memory, which will influence future interactions between the brand and

consumers. Therefore, it is imperative to consider that sensory cues with brand-

related stimuli are ongoing entities that will form brand associations based on

consumers’ brand experience and positively influence brand image.

9.3.3 Ethical ramifications

Regarding the ethical considerations of sensory marketing, it is impossible not

to consider morals and the consciousness of sensory cues in relation to the brand

and create value. The stance point is that car manufacturers should have a moral

compass when it comes to conducting business, as emphasised by Sher (2011).

A similar discussion is ongoing with artificial intelligence regarding the moral

compass (e.g., Stuart, Dewey and Tegmark, 2015). Although the solution may

be that car manufacturers inform consumers that they apply the logic of sensory

marketing as a strategy to build up a theme in the car’s interior, it is more

important to consider the intention of why it is applied by the manufacturers.

For example, are manufacturers being driven by profit and revenue in the short-

term by deceiving consumers into buying a brand or establishing a long-term

continuous relationship? Car manufacturers need to have a moral compass with

sensory marketing since unethical implementation and bad intentions may lead

to fatal consequences, such as being out of business, by having consumers who

suffer from being misled by the car manufacturer’s offering in the value

proposition. For a more in-depth view see section 3.4.1.

Hence, it is highly recommended that car manufacturers develop clear

guidelines and norms of how to create value through sensory marketing.

Although it is vital that car manufacturers understand how to apply sensory

marketing, it can be argued that it may not be possible to understand consumers’

cognitive, emotional, or behavioural responses to experiencing the theme. For

instance, can car manufacturers be fully aware that using calm, cool colours in

the car’s interior creates attention and results in an actual purchase? Therefore,

it is logical to assume that car manufacturers cannot fully understand the

217

outcome since consumers evaluate sensory cues (sub)consciously.

Consequently, car manufacturers face a crossroads of how to get to their

destination to create value by revealing their character and intention. Sensory

marketing is neither good nor bad; it is a powerful tool to implement for good

or bad deeds. It shows that car manufacturers need to carefully consider if they

want to offer value through embedded sensory cues or manipulate consumers

to increase sales and revenue. Consumers who feel misled will not purchase the

same car brand in the future, since it is a high-involvement product that demands

a substantial amount of money and the approval of several family members.

Alternatively, consumers who purchase a premium car brand expect a higher

standard in the car’s interior, where creating a theme may justify paying a

premium price. In this regard, this dissertation concludes that manufacturers

should implement sensory marketing in the value offering to consumers and not

as a tool for misleading them. After all, consumers are the ones who hold the

power by determining the meaning of the offered value, which will impact their

brand image, and in turn the value as an experience over time.

9.4 Limitations and future research

Although this dissertation has explored and examined the process of creating

value from a sensory marketing perspective with a premium brand, it has

limitations and opens up avenues for future research. Initially, it can be assumed

that not all car brands have the same value proposition, with these fostering

other brand experiences and brand images. Despite cars being high-involvement

products, Volvo Cars tends to be more costly than, for example, a KIA. Future

research is suggested to explore how various car brands create their value

proposition individually in relation to sensory cues, brand experience, and brand

image. It is reasonable to believe that consumers who pay more for a car form

value as an experience based on sensory associations and symbolic associations,

compared with those who pay less and regard economic associations and

utilitarian associations as being more important.

Since car manufacturers offer a broad range of models at various price levels

under the same brand, such as Volvo Cars, each model’s car interior may

demand an adjusted value proposition for consumers’ sense-making and what

is considered as valuable. In this regard, a limitation may be that a particular

Volvo Cars model was explored and followed in the qualitative sequence. In the

quantitative sequence, the relationship among Volvo Cars owners was

examined irrespective of the model, since the particular model at the time had

just entered the market. Thus, a limitation may lie in that the provided value

proposition in the explored car model was not examined in isolation among

consumers.

Moreover, it is encouraged that future research moves beyond premium brands in the automotive industry. It would be interesting to explore and

218

examine various car brands in the automobile industry to point out similarities

and differences in creating value. In addition, purchasing a car demands thought

and engagement since it is a rare purchase and consumers want to be satisfied

over time. Therefore, future research should look at the fast-moving consumer

goods brands, which are purchased frequently with less thought and

engagement.

Continuing on the generalisation track, a limitation may be the gender

perspective in the quantitative sequence. However, it should be noted that the

present dissertation’s intention was not to compare similarities or differences

between the genders. This was addressed by including various control variables

aside from gender. Consequently, it is reasonable that age, education, and

income also impact consumers’ value as an experience, yet researchers are

encouraged to consider the gender perspective in future research.

This dissertation’s findings conclude that harmony is a contribution.

However, research has thus far given little attention to harmony in sensory

marketing. Regarding the vastness of research, there are ample opportunities for

studies on harmony. It would be interesting to explore and examine the optimal

stimulation and identify the right balance of intensity of sensory cues to avoid

sensory overload (Malhotra, 1984) to create value. Although the dissertation

concluded that harmony is related to a sense of calm and colour, future inquiries

should explore how predominant and intensive sensory cues can be. Therefore,

additional research is required to understand harmony beyond fit and match,

which is the limitation of congruency.

As part of embedding sensory cues to provide consumers with a value

proposition for sense-making, future avenues pertaining to ethics and morals

should be studied. Specifically, interesting questions, such as what are

manufacturers’ intentions, how far can manufacturers go before becoming

unethical, what justifies manufacturers’ unethical behaviour, and what is ethical

and unethical behaviour for consumers, are suggested for further research.

This is seen as research encouraging the continual unpacking of the eclectic

concept of sensory marketing. Although the present dissertation focused on the

manufacturers’ and consumers’ roles in creating value, suppliers were identified

as key players for planning and designing the value proposition. Hence, future

research should seek out suppliers’ views on how their competence and

knowledge are considered in planning and designing the value proposition. In

turn, consumers’ roles can be explored from a social construction approach to

grasp how value as an experience is co-created to understand how embodied

bodily experiences occur.

219

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249

Appendices

A. Interview guide

Introduction questions

Can you describe what work you do at Volvo Cars?

What kind of components do suppliers provide for the XC90 interior?

Does a supplier offer several components?

Has Volvo Cars always used the same interior suppliers?

Sensory cues

Can you describe how XC90’s product development and design look for the

car’s interior?

What importance do suppliers have in the XC90’s product development and

design of the car’s interior?

How does the collaboration between the XC90’s product development and

design for the car’s interior and suppliers look like?

How are the XC90’s product development and design for the car’s interior

influenced by suppliers’ in-house development?

What role do the Volvo Cars core values have in the XC90’s product

development and design for the car’s interior?

How do you see the future regarding components with multifunctional

attributes from suppliers of the car’s interior?

What importance do consumers have for the XC90’s product development

and design for the car’s interior?

How do Volvo Cars involve consumers in the XC90’s product development

and design for the car’s interior?

What is the role of consumers in the XC90’s product development and design

for the car’s interior?

How do consumers influence the XC90’s product development and design

for the car’s interior?

How have the XC90’s product development and design for the car’s interior

been influenced by trends from consumers

250

What role do consumers of the XC90 have in relation to the suppliers of the

car’s interior?

Can you describe the shape for the XC90’s car interior?

How do you view the XC90’s car interior in relation to creating an experience

based on the human senses?

Which of these senses are most important in the XC90’s production

development and design for the car’s interior?

How does the XC90’s product development and design for the car’s interior

look like to be visually appealing?

Brand experience

How does the XC90’s product development and design look like for the car’s

interior to be emotionally appealing?

What emotions should the XC90’s car interior give to car drivers?

What role should the XC90’s car interior play in car drivers’ lives?

What does the XC90’s product development and design for the car’s interior,

seating and steering wheel look like to construct a holistic experience?

Do you see any relationship between the car’s interior and the consumer, and

how does this affect his/her driving experience?

How do you view the XC90’s car interior in relation to sensory cues?

251

B. Questionnaire

Construct Measurement item Type of scale

Brand experience

Sensory

experience

SE1: In general, I find the design of

my car’s interior to be interesting in a

sensory way.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

SE2: The design of my car’s interior

makes a strong impression on my

sense of vision.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale



sense of touch.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale



sense of sound.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale



sense of smell.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale



sense of taste.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


does not appeal to my senses.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

Affective

experience

AE1: The design of my car’s interior

provides me with feelings.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

AE2: The design of my car’s interiors

provides me with sentiments.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


enhances my driving experience.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


makes me happy.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


provides me with pleasure.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

AE6: I do not have strong emotions

towards the design of my car’s

interior.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

Intellectual

experience

IE1: When I look at my car’s interior

design, it stimulates my curiosity.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

IE2: When I look at my car’s interior

design, it stimulates my problem-

solving.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

252

IE3: I engage in a lot of thinking

when I interact with my car’s interior.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

IE4: My car’s interior design does not

make me think.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

Behavioural

experience

BE1: I engage in physical actions

when I look at my car’s interior

design.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

BE2: I engage in physical behaviour

when I look at my car’s interior

design.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


when I touch my car’s interior.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


when I touch my car’s interior.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


when my car’s interior makes sounds.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


when my car’s interior makes sounds.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

BE7: I do not engage in physical

actions from my car’s interior.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

BE8: I do not engage in behavioural

actions from my car’s interior.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

Harmony

experience

HE1: My car’s interior design

provides me with peacefulness.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


provides me with calmness.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


provides me with peace of mind.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


provides me with congruency.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


provides me with mindfulness.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

HE6: My car’s interior design does

not provide me with harmony.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

Brand image

Sensory

associations

SEA1: I believe my car brand is

exciting.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


comfortable.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


emotional.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

SEA4: I believe my car brand has an

appealing design.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

253

SEA5: My car brand adds to my life

experiences.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

SEA6: I have good memories of my

car brand.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

SEA7: I have positive memories of

my car brand.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

SEA8: My car brand awakens good

memories within me.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

Symbolic

associations

SYA1: I consider my car brand to be

premium.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


prestigious.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


luxurious.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

SYA4: I consider my car brand

interior to be natural.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

SYA5: My car brand reflects the

social status I hope to have.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

SYA6: My car brand symbolises the

image I want.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

Utilitarian

associations

UA1: I consider my car brand to have

a strong heritage.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

UA2: I consider my car brand to have

high quality.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

UA3: I consider my car brand is made

to last.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

UA4: I consider my car brand to be

reliable.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


robust.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale


safe.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

Economic

associations

EA1: I consider my car brand to have

low fuel consumption.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

EA2: I consider resellers of my car

brand to have good service.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

EA3: I consider repair shops of my

car brand to have good service.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

EA4: I consider my car brand to be

worth its price.

1 to 7 Ordinal

scale

254

C. Introduction to the questionnaire

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Linnaeus University Dissertations Below please find a list of recent publications in the series Linnaeus University Dissertations. For a full list and more information: Lnu.se

346. Margaret Wallace Nilsson, 2019, Kin, Friends and Unfriends :A Study of the Axelsson Tott Network during the Period of the Kalmar Union, (historia/history) ISBN: 978-91-88898-45-6 (print) 978-91-88898-46-3 (pdf).

347. Kostiantyn Kucher, 2019, Sentiment and Stance Visualization of Textual Data for Social Media, (datavetenskap/computer science) ISBN: 978-91-88898-47-0 (print), 978-91-88898-48-7 (pdf).

348. Gustaf Waxegård, 2019, Conceptualizing professionals´ strategies in care path-ways for neurodevelopmental disorders, (psykologi/psychology) ISBN: 978-91-88898-51-7 (print) 978-91-88898-52-4 (pdf).

349. Anders Svensson, 2019, Räddningsaktörers tidiga närvaro vid akuta situat-ioner på svensk landsbygd (hälso- och vårdvetenskap/caring science) ISBN: 978-91-88898-53-1 (tryckt), 978-91-88898-54-8 (pdf).

350. Maria C. Johansson, 2019, The institutionalisation of validation and the transformation of vocational knowledge (pedagogik/pedagogy) ISBN: 978-91-88898-55-5 (print), 978-91-88898-56-2 (pdf).

351. Johanna Thulin, 2019, Putting words to child physical abuse – Possible conse-quences, the process of disclosure, and effects of treatment. From children’s perspectives (socialt arbete/social work) ISBN: 978-91-88898-57-9 (print), 978-91-88898-58-6 (pdf).

352. Sigridur Sia Jonsdottir, 2019, Effects of perinatal distress, satisfaction in part-ner relationship and social support on pregnancy and outcome of childbirth (hälso- och vårdvetenskap/caring science) ISBN: 978-91-88898-60-9 (print), 978-91-88898-61-6 (pdf).

353. Helena Roos, 2019, The meaning(s) of inclusion in mathematics in student talk: Inclusion as a topic when students talk about learning and teaching in mathe-matics (matematikdidaktik/mathematics education) ISBN: 978-91-88898-62-3 (print), 978-91-88898-63-0 (pdf).

354. Magdalena Sjöstrand Öhrfelt, 2019, Ord och inga visor – konstruktioner av förskolebarnet i kunskapsekonomin (pedagogik/pedagogy) ISBN: 978-91-88898-67-8 (print), 978-91-88898-68-5 (pdf).

355. Maude Johansson, 2019, Postpartum depression, depressive symptoms and pa-rental stress in mothers and fathers 25-30 months after child birth: A family perspec-tive (psykologi/psychology) ISBN: 978-91-88898-74-6 (print), 978-91-88898-75-3 (pdf).

356. Andreas Aldogan Eklund, 2019, Harmonising value in a car’s interior using sensory marketing as a lens (marknadsföring/marketing) ISBN: 978-91-88898-76-0 (print), 978-91-88898-77-7 (pdf).

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