How can B2B companies improve their customer experience- By using sensory marketing in a digital context Author: Caroline Hallgren & Paula Mamusha Supervisor: MaxMikael Wilde Björling. Examiner: Kaisa Lund. Date: 26 May 2021 Subject: : Business Administration III Level: Degree of Bachelor. Course Code: 2FE67E.
Abstract Sensory marketing is a broad concept that can be used as a marketing tool. The sensory marketing can be used in different ways and in different environments. The most common use for sensory marketing in a B2C environment where the customer can interact with their senses more.But how do B2B companies comprehend sensory marketing in a digital environment. The use of sensory marketing is a hard marketing tool to use when applying it to the digital environment.
Therefore, the purpose of this thesis has been to examine how B2B companies can implicate sensory marketing in digital marketing and how it can affect their brand image. The research questions were to be answered by using qualitative case study where eight different industries within the B2B companies participated in semi-structured interviews. Using the qualitative method to get a more in-depth understanding of how different industries within the B2B companies use sensory marketing is the right choice for collecting correct data. Later in the theisi the collected data is going to be analyzed and discussed with the theory for the purpose to see similarities and differences.
The conclusion of this explains to those B2B companies that were interviewed for this thesis, that the use of sensory marketing is not a conscious decision. The companies use vision and hearing as a subconscious method of spreading awareness about the companies. Although the B2B companies feel it's hard to imply for the business the choice of using the other sense is not aucurrent for their business. Keyword B2B company, sensory marketing, digital marketing, customer experience, brand image and touchpoints Acknowledgement We would like to express our deepest appreciation to all the participants that have dedicated their time and knowledgment to help us with completing this bachelor thesis.
Therefore we would like to send a special thanks to all of the interviewees that has taken place in this thesis without their help, knowledge and time our research would have been completed. This bachelor thesis would not have been possible without the support, valuable advice and nurturing of our supervisor MaxMikael Wilde Björling. We would also like to send a special thanks to our examiner Kaisa Lund as well as our opponents for their time and constructive criticism during the seminars that have helped us develop and improve the quality of our bachelor thesis. Linnéuniversitetet Kalmar, 21 May 2021 ______________ _____________ Caroline Hallgren Paula Mamusha Table of Contents 1.1 Relationship within B2B in a digital environment 7 2.1 Introduction to the subject 7 2.2 Relationships in B2B marketing 7 2.3 B2B marketing in a digital environment 7 2.2 Stimulating the customers five senses 8 2.1 Introduction to the subject 8 2.2 The four different elements in Sensory marketing 8 2.3 The connection between Sensory marketing and Customer Experience 9 2.4 Response and stimuli 9 2.3 Adapting sensory marketing in a digital environment 9 2.1 introduction to the subject 9 2.2 Advantages with marketing in a digital environment 10 2.3 Sensory marketing adapts in a digital manner 10 2.4 Brand Image & Expectation 11 2.1 Introduction to the subject 11 2.2 The experience economy 11 2.3 Image, expectations and touchpoints 12 2.1 Multiple case study 16 3.4 Type of data 17 3.1 Semi-structured interview 18 3.7 Selection of Cases 18 3.1 Company and employees criterias 19 3.2 Table of cases 19 3.9 Quality of research 20 3.1 Reliability in qualitative research 20 3.2 Validity in qualitative research 21 3.2 General strategies within marketing in case companies 27 4.3 Starting to know your customer 28 4.4 Stimulating the customers five senses 29 4.1 Sensory marketing in B2B companies 29 4.2 Barriers for adapting sensory marketing 31 4.3 Gain benefits and differentiation through Sensory marketing33 4.5 Brand Image & Expectation 34 4.1 General strategies within Brand image in case companies 34 4.2 Brand expectation in correlation with Brand image 37 4.3 Customer journey mapping and touch points 40 4.4 The value of understanding the customers expectations 42 5.1 Stimulating the customers five senses 45 5.3 Knowing your B2B customer in a digital environment 48 5.4 Sensory marketing adapts in an digital environment 49 6.1 Answering the research question 51 6.1 How B2B companies use sensory marketing to enhance their brand image 51 6.2 The barriers for companies for using sensory marketing in a B2B digital context 52 6.4 Social, Ethical and Sustainable Implications 53 6.6 Suggestions for future Research 54 1.1 Background In this thesis, the authors have chosen to examine how B2B companies use sensory marketing in a digital environment to improve their customers' experience.
Before this study began, a prejudice existed, that it is mainly B2C companies that use the benefits that sensory marketing can contribute to organizations. A curiosity was created about whether this prejudice is true but also if and why B2B companies do not use this opportunity to the same extent as B2C companies. If it were the case that the prejudices are not correct, i. that sensory marketing is as common in B2B companies as it is in B2C companies, it may indicate that B2B companies are generally more discreet in their marketing.
Another possible explanation for whether the prejudice could be wrong is that the authors are significantly more involved in B2C marketing than the authors are in B2B marketing because the authors are currently not part of B2B companies' target group. This may mean that the current prejudice is unfounded and is a conclusion that will be reached after the end of the work.se (2021) defindes that the B2B buying processes have changed over time. This means that companies 'sales strategies must change as the business customers' buying behavior changes. 83 % of all purchases made through B2B companies are made on their own by consumers (webbstrategerna.
Only 17 % of the purchases made involve a supplier or with a personal contact (ibid). This means that resources that have previously been invested in sales interactions between companies and buyers must instead shift focus. For the purpose of helping the customer with consumption according to their new purchasing needs (ibid). Instead, companies need to shift focus to supporting digital consumption and educating the customer online (ibid).
The companies who help and facilitate the customer's purchase journey are then the ones who succeed in attracting most of the customers (ibid). Previous information is proof that further research on B2B marketing is necessary. Buying behaviors are constantly changing as society becomes increasingly digital. The traditional B2B marketing largely consists of salespeople at the company who close a deal physically present with the customer.
According to the statistics above, this is proof that there has been a shift. At present, only 17% of sales are made through an interaction (webbstrategerna. As customers' buying behaviour changes, the supplier needs to comply with this. The interest in this thesis is based on how companies can, with the help of sensory marketing, create a better experience for the customer online.
Since customer experience is a broad concept the focus in this thesis will be on image and what expectations of a brand that a corporate image creates. 1 According to an article published on Linkedin.com, Williamson (2020) states that the customer's expectations of a brand's experience are the same regardless of whether the customer is at work or in their private role. B2C companies seem to have come further in their marketing in terms of adapting to the customer's needs (Linkedin. 94% of all marketers in B2C use data and analysis to get to know their customers' needs and to create an understanding of the experience for the customer (ibid).
While B2B marketers are considered to have come shorter in this process of switching to a more customer-oriented view (ibid).com (2020) states that customer experience is an important and prioritized topic in terms of B2C contexts. But as far as B2B companies are concerned, this development has lagged behind where customer experience is not prioritized to the same extent (ibid). It is believed that the reason for this is that B2C companies work with individuals and that it should be easier to personalize the marketing (ibid). It is considered that B2B companies can become better at working with their customer experience by listening to their customers and clearly identifying the difficulties the specific person is facing at the time (ibid).
It is pointed out that even if it is a company you are targeting and not a private consumer, it is still people you talk to and thus the relationship with the customer is important even in a B2B context (ibid). After comparing different companies' websites, the authors can see that the common thread around sensory marketing in a digital environment is that B2B companies stimulate sense vision. For example, a company called Bravura uses moving images on the website to convey a feeling (Bravura. But what the authors of this thesis have not been able to find is how B2B companies use other senses to create a multisensory experience.
A B2C company that is good at involving more senses is for example Nelly.com, for their clothing they have a recorded video where a model shows the clothes (Nelly.com 2021) this can to some extent create a perceptual re-creation (Petit, Velasco and Spence, 2019). That is, replacing the need to feel and try a product by helping the customer to visualize. The biggest obstacles that exist to using sensory marketing in a digital environment compared to a physical environment is that it is difficult to completely replace the ability to feel, smell and taste goods (Petit et al. The solution to this problem is to try to find new ways to virtually replace them with a visualization (ibid).
To circumvent the actual problem that the customer is not physically present, companies as mentioned above can use perceptual re-creation. In turn this requires creativity to find 2 new complements. But from what the authors have seen, B2C companies succeed with this but not B2B companies to the same extent. What this depends on is difficult to identify in this stage of research, but one thought is that B2B companies use physical contacts to sell and do not provide web shops to the same extent as B2C companies.2 Problem discussion When the authors started this research, the authors started exploring what has been studied so far.
The reason for this is to find a research gap so that the authors could be able to add new insights and conclusions to the subject. The authors of this thesis were able to conclude that there are some studies that have been done on sensory marketing in both a B2C context and a B2B context. What the authors were able to establish is that no one has investigated this phenomenon based on digital environments.1 Theoretical problematization A previous study by Hulten (2011) aims to investigate sensory marketing and its importance for building a clear brand image (Hulten 2011). For the brand to create a general good experience, an important factor is sensory marketing, where the five different senses have a significant factor in creating sensory experiences and stimuli (ibid).
An image is created and shaped based on how the customer receives the impression of a company. By raising awareness of the effect that sensory marketing can generate, companies can improve their marketing but succeed in creating a better experience for the customer (ibid). The conclusions that could be drawn from that article were that the more senses that the company stimulates, the better sensory experience is created for the customer (ibid). This will then create a stronger bond between the company and the customer (ibid).