Sensory Brand Experience: Development and Validation in the Chinese Context

Area of Science:

• Marketing
• Consumer Psychology

Background:

• Existing scales for measuring sensory brand experience are often too abstract or too concrete.
• A need exists for a scale with a medium level of abstraction to capture consumer perceptions of sensory brand elements.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a new scale for measuring the sensory brand experience from the consumer's perspective.
• To create a tool with a balanced degree of abstraction for assessing sensory brand quality.

Main Methods:

• A three-study approach combining qualitative (semi-structured interviews) and quantitative (scale validation) methods.
• Exploration of dimensions and items through literature review and consumer interviews.
• Rigorous testing of scale reliability and validity, including item examination and dimensional verification.

Main Results:

• A final 10-item scale with three dimensions: volume, uniqueness, and consistency of sensory brand stimuli.
• The scale demonstrated satisfactory reliability and validity, differentiating brands based on sensory experience.
• Most brands could be distinguished by their generated sensory experience using the developed scale.

Conclusions:

• The new scale offers a practical tool for evaluating the sensory quality of brands.
• The scale's dimensions—volume, uniqueness, and consistency—provide key factors influencing consumer perception.
• Future research can utilize this scale for brand assessment and cross-cultural validation.