When Aesthetics Meets Neuroscience: Neuroaesthetics

Seeing or hearing a beautiful creation — of art, design, or nature — usually makes us feel good, bringing in us a feeling of pleasure, elevation, calm or thrill. Often enough, the aesthetics of a scenery, artefact or person is realised almost instantly (i.e., astounding beauty). Neuroaesthetics, a young field of the neurosciences, is devoted… Read More

Listening to Managers and Consumers When Building Marketing Theory

Academic articles in marketing can be very instructive, occasionally eye-opening, on various issues and topics; one can learn from them about theory, research methodology and models, and the findings and conclusions reached from their analyses. Yet, it would not be presumptuous to say that managers do not rush to search for, read and consult with… Read More

Dual Meanings Embedded in Creative Logo Designs

Creative designs that can reveal something beyond what is initially perceived and reaslised intrigue viewers and attract them to the object of design (e.g., image of brand logo): implicit visual information, hidden meanings, a puzzle or metaphor. Inspiring designs can improve memorability of the brand and strengthen a positive brand attitude. However, the designed image… Read More

Wake-Up to Your Energy Drink

Every now and then people need a little help to ‘boost their energy’. To the rescue comes the ‘energy drink’ (e.g., Red Bull, Monster, Rockstar, and more recently Prime). It is an invigorating, non-alcoholic drink, but one that usually contains high levels of sugar, caffeine, and other stimulants to create its effect. Energy drinks have… Read More

Understanding Consumer Approach to Transformational Vehicle Technologies

Two important technological developments with transformational power in vehicles are taking place side-by-side: electric vehicles (EV) and autonomous vehicles (AV). They have the power of transforming consumers’ experiences of driving their cars, or travelling as passengers, and maintaining them, possibly changing the way consumers perceive passenger vehicles in whole. The purposes and functionalities of the… Read More

Rebuilding Customer Loyalty in Hospitality

The coronavirus pandemic, with its changing virus variants arriving in multiple waves, caused havoc and serious disturbances in tourism, including travel, hospitality, and myriad of touristic activities. In some periods the pandemic waves caused almost a complete halt of travel, while in other periods there was partial resumption of tourist travelling and vacations. As hospitality… Read More

A Combined Impact of Sight and Touch on Product Choice

There is ample research and articles on the roles and effects of each of the five human senses (vision, auditory-hearing, olfactory-smell, taste and touch) on perception and higher-level cognition, emotions, decision making etc. But the senses very often do not operate in isolation from each other — two or more senses can be activated together… Read More

Laundry Detergent Pods Are Not Like Candies

Rounded shapes and playful colours, design features that are pleasant to the eye, can increase the appeal of a product to consumers. Visual design can thus be recruited to the benefit of product marketing. But what if the appearance of the product is misleading and might convey the wrong invitation to some consumers? For instance,… Read More

Between Experience and Loyalty: The Case of Retailing

There is broad agreement, growing over the past decade, about the importance of improving and enhancing the experience of customers with companies, their brands, products or services. The journeys customers undergo, from shopping and purchasing through on-going service and support, should be streamlined and facilitated to make customer experiences more friendly and productive. It is… Read More