Perception - How does it affect the 5 senses?

Have you ever gone into a shop and walked out or turned your nose because of the smell?  That is simply your brain telling you that your nose has sensed a new scent and your brain is analyzing it, after a while you get used to it and simply forget about it. This is all down one of the 5 senses: Smell. Without smell you wouldn't be able to tell when dinners ready!!

What is perception you may ask? Perception is the process by which the five senses are chosen, organised and interpreted (Solomon, M R et al, 2010).

Many retailers use the sense of smell to attract to people to their stores. For example when a food store adds a new line to their inventory list they often do sampling so people can even taste and feel the product. This is the probably one of the best forms or marketing because the people are hearing about the product and can instantly get an idea about it and precept it without having to spend any money. Kotler's buyer decision model shows this example perfectly as the potential customer recognises the need for the product, the sales person then passes on information to them about the product, and helps evaluate the alternatives which leads to the purchase decision. After this stage the Post purchase behaviour depends on whether the product was bought or not. If it was the customer may make a repeat purchase or purchase another brand to evaluate the alternatives for themselves in order to make an informed decision.

If a products packaging is untidy the brain automatically tells you that your not going to like it. It is only when you are approached to test the product that you could surprise yourself and like the product - so don't always trust your initial perception of the product.

There are many other ways of using your perception apart from the sense of smell. The human body has many ways of perceiving thing. There is the sense of touch, hearing, seeing, taste and of course smell. All these different sense do different things but many interrelate. Without these senses we would not be able to differentiate things, especially taste, as everything would taste the same! How boring would that be??

The Gestalt principal says that people can only get a true idea of the item by seeing the full picture and not just bits of information. The word Gestalt means whole, pattern or configuration in German. The system implies that consumers tend to perceive an incomplete picture as complete as they are filling in the blanks with their own personal experience. This is why a person can read a sign even if some letters are missing as they can fill in the blanks with their own personal experience. (Solomon et al, 2010)

Solomon, M R et al, 2010,Consumer behaviour a european perspective, 4^thed, Harlow,Pearson Education Limited