Research Paper:
Stephen Randall
SPCM 2360
Atmospherics Research Paper
28 April 2011
Atmospherics Research
In the article by Richard Michon, Jean-Charles Chebat, L.W. Turley they discuss two different aspects that effect consumers in a shopping environment. In the introduction they discuss all the different types of businesses that use atmospherics such as restaurants, wine shops, banks, supermarkets, and retail stores. All of these places employ atmospherics and each to a different degree. However, the most important and the model where atmospherics was first employed was the modern mall.
The first aspect of atmospherics that is discussed is ambient odors. In the research it discusses the fact that odors are rarely researched, but they believe that they are most important out of all the atmospheric techniques. The next aspect of atmospherics that they cover is crowding and retail density. According to this article, people generally have distaste for crowds in general and they tend to turn off a person to buying products. They will buy less, spend less time in the store, deviate from normal shopping patterns, and even postpone shopping altogether. Smells are most closely associated to a person’s emotion and therefore is the easiest sense to manipulate in a retail environment. The hard part about using ambient odors in retail is that it is extremely hard to predict people’s reaction to a specific odor. In this article they performed an experiment with the two scents lavender and citrus. They both effected people’s perceptions of the mall and how much they liked it. However, it was most effective in a medium density of people. Citrus had the highest good perception of the mall, and in the same vein lavender had a positive effect. Lavender on the other hand stayed at the same perception in the high-density of people, while citrus went to the lowest perception. The research from this journal about ambient odor was inconclusive in general. However, it is true that in the right density and scent you can form a person’s perception about a retail environment. It may not make them buy more or less, but it will make them more comfortable in the store. (Michon et al. 577)
In the next article by Philip Kotler he discuss the connection between marketing and atmospherics. He asserts that they should be used together in order to have the most effectiveness possible. His definition of atmospherics is as follows, “ Atmospherics is the effort to design buying environments to produce specific emotional effects in the buyer that enhance his buying probability.” (Kotler 50). He states that one of the most effective places in which atmosphere manipulation is used is in a retail setting. On the other side of things manufacturers and wholesalers do not have to deal in atmospherics because it does not have to present itself to the consumer like the retailer does. The manufacturer might employ atmospherics in their offices of work areas, in order to create a more pleasant and efficient work environment. Kotler asserts that atmospherics are more important in a retail setting where there is a competition going on between to companies with similar or identical products. When two companies are virtually the same, there needs to be something that produces an edge and that edge should be atmospherics. When the competitive outlets increase, the need for atmospherics increase as well.
In the same way, price similarity also demands a need for atmospherics. In a retail setting a company with many competitors who carry the same product for around the same price needs to have a competitive edge. Again, atmospherics gives them that edge. Lastly he asserts that retailers need to have atmospherics based on the socioeconomic status of their intended clientele. Different social classes want a different type of shopping environment. All of Kotler’s work is basically saying that marketing and atmospherics are an important part to running a successful competitive retail store. (Kotler 50-55)
The next article about atmospherics is by Teresa A. Summers and Paul R. Herbert. In their article they describe the effects of lighting as a atmospheric tool on consumer behavior. They suggest that people are more prone to handling and eventually buying things due to the fact that display lighting is being used. Increased level of lighting causes an increase in arousal and causes people to be attracted to that item. People tended to not look at poorly lit displays and would go to the brighter objects simply because of the lighting atmosphere. This study suggests that companies install full time lighting to their most important displays in order for them to get the most amount of traffic. They also suggest that if you cannot fund full time lighting you should employ movable lights and move them from time to time to the most important aspects of your store in order to sell the most possible. This study shows the importance of visual atmospherics in retail settings, and without them the retail store would be worse off than with them. Because of these atmospheric techniques, the retail stores are successful and thriving. (Summers et al. 149)
The final article I investigated was by Anne E. Schlosser. This article asserts that stores use atmospherics as a way to promote themselves as a premium shopping experience. She states that in the past companies would ignore atmospheric suggestions and in stead hold a big sale or some other promotion. However this has been shown to not be as effective as a great shopping environment. People are more willing to shop in a aesthetically pleasing environment than in a dingy bargain barn. Schlosser thinks that social image is more important in the eyes of the consumer than the actual product. A stores atmosphere bolsters that stores social standing and in turn makes the product more important to the consumer as a social identifier. This makes atmospherics all the more important to retail environments. (Schlosser 347)
All of these articles have a similar vein in common with each other, the importance of atmospherics in retail environments. Without atmospherics stores would be drab, dull and boring. With them, stores are exciting fun and they cause people to buy more therefore improving the store. Atmospherics are a perennial mainstay in retail stores today and they will be there until the human race ends.
Citiations
Kotler, Philip. "Atmospherics as a Marketing Tool." Journal of Retailing 49.4 (1973): 48-64. Print.
Michon, Richard, Jean-Charles Chebat, and L.W. Turley. "Mall atmospherics: the interaction effects of the mall environment on shopping behavior ." Journal of Business 58 (2005): 576-583. Print.
Schlosser, Ann E.. "Applying the Functional Theory of Attitudes to Understanding the Influence of Store Atmosphere on Store Inferences." Journal of Consumer Psychology 7.4 (1998): 345-377. Print.
Summers, Teresa A., and Paulette R. Hebert. "Shedding some light on store atmospherics Influence of illumination on consumer behavior." Journal of Business Research 54 (2001): 145-150. Print.
Survey Results and information.
1.) Do you like that companies are using techniques to influence you to buy more while in a shopping environment?
2.) Do you like that malls create an enjoyable atmosphere for you to shop?
3.) Do you consider store atmospherics to be a manipulation?
4.) Do you think that this helps spread the success of capitalism?
5.) Do you think it is good for capitalism to spread?
Aimee Cundiff (white female 20)
1 NO
2 YES
3 YES
4 YES
5 Unsure
Meredith Deanda (white female 20)
1 YES
2 Unsure
3 YES
4 YES
5 YES
Matt Thompkins (white male 20)
1 YES
2 YES
3 Unsure
4 YES
5 YES
Kevin Whitaker (white male, 20)
1 YES
2 YES
3 YES
4 YES
5 YES
Tyler Berry (white male 20)
1 NO
2 YES
3 YES
4 YES
5 Unsure
Jamaal Payette (African American male 20)
1 YES
2 YES
3 YES
4 YES
5 YES
Sara Akinosha (African American Female 20)
1 YES
2 YES
3 YES
4 YES
5 YES
Sarah Jett (white female 20)
1 YES
2 YES
3 YES
4 NO
5 YES
George (White male 20)
1 YES
2 YES
3 YES
4 YES
5 YES
Alexandra Hebdon (white female 20)
1 YES
2 Unsure
3 YES
4 NO
5 YES
Jenny Leonard (white female 20)
1 NO
2 YES
3 YES
4 YES
5 YES
Nathan Schreer (white male 19)
1 YES
2 YES
3 YES
4 YES
5 YES
Michael Theobald (white male 21)
1 YES
2 YES
3 YES
4 NO
5 YES
Ronald Fallen (African American Male 20)
1 YES
2 YES
3 YES
4 YES
5 YES
Nachiket Gadre (Indian American 20)
1 YES
2 YES
3 YES
4 YES
5 NO