In an industry plagued by high failure rates and exorbitant amounts spent on marketing, restaurants must find ways to increase the efficiency of their advertising. Present research demonstrates linkages between human senses and emotions and affective responses to marketing stimuli (e.g. Peck and Wiggins, 2006). However, there is presently a dearth of research addressing how advertising can creatively draw upon consumers' senses to elicit the desired responses by stakeholders (e.g. increased purchase intent). In response to this apparent gap in our inquiry, the purpose of this study is to explore how verbal smell references (e.g. "You can almost smell the smoky and delicious aroma of your steak grilling to perfection" stated in the ad) and congruent cooking sounds (e.g. sizzling sounds for a steakhouse) in radio food advertisements impact consumer sensory perceptions (ability to almost taste and/or almost smell the advertised product), affective response, and purchase intentions. In addition, since current research indicates that olfactory perceptions can vary by gender (e.g. (Doty, Shaman, and Dann, 1983; Cane, 1982), this research tested for gender-based differences in these hypothesized relationships. Regarding procedures, a sequence of two pretests were used to establish the reliability and validity of the verbal smell reference used in this research. In addition to these manipulation checks on the verbal smell reference construct, the two pretests also verified that undergraduate students would have the ability to adequately relate to the experimental setting — steakhouses. Next, a 2x2x2 between-subjects experiment was conducted in which the verbal smell reference was manipulated, congruent cooking sounds were manipulated, and gender was measured. Results indicate that a verbal smell reference in a radio ad does significantly influence a potential consumer's ability to almost smell and to almost taste the advertised product. The smell reference also significantly impacts individuals' affective responses to the ad and purchase intent of the product. Interestingly, this research also found that the level of "excitement" associated with the advertised brand perfectly mediates the relationship between the verbal smell reference and affective responses. That is, the verbal smell reference leads consumers to assess the advertised brand as being exciting which, in turn, results in positive affective responses. This research did not detect any significant outcomes associated with the use of congruent cooking sounds in radio ads or any significant interactions between cooking sounds and verbal smell references with regard to the outcome variables. Further, gender was not found to significantly intervene in any of the hypothesized relationships. Nevertheless, the significant outcomes associated with the main effect of the verbal smell references on consumer sensory perceptions (ability to almost taste and/or almost smell the advertised product), affective response, and purchase intentions, along with the mediation of the excitement construct, are associated with formidable theoretical and managerial implications which are discussed in the concluding chapter of this thesis. / Master of Science

Syfte: Vårt syfte med denna uppsats är att utforma ett balanserat styrkort för att genom detta visa hur en managementgrupp kan arbeta med viktiga målsättningar för att utveckla en attraktiv stadskärna och cityhandel. Metod: I denna uppsats har vi använt oss av den kvalitativa metoden med en abduktiv ansats, där vi fördjupat oss i teori samtidigt som vi genomfört intervjuer med personer som arbetar inom ämnet. Vi har utifrån denna teori och resultat analyserat vilka delar som är viktiga för att skapa en attraktiv stadskärna och attraktiv cityhandel. Resultat & slutsats: Det resultat som vi genom detta arbete kommit fram till är att de allra viktigaste målsättningarna att utveckla för att skapa en attraktiv stadskärna och cityhandel är - Motiverade och aktiva aktörer inom stadskärna, ökat samarbete inom stadskärnan, öka antalet besökare, öka andelen besökare som blir kunder samt öka andelen nöjda kunder. Om dessa målsättningar uppfylls menar vi att attraktionskraft skapas i stadskärnan och cityhandeln. Uppsatsens bidrag: Det teoretiska bidraget med denna uppsats är att det finns ett antal målsättningar som är viktigast för att skapa en attraktiv stadskärna och cityhandel. Det praktiska bidraget är ett balanserat styrkort samt målkort som centrumledare / Aim: We aim with this theses is to identify important factors required to develop an attractive city centre and city centre commerce. We are also going to look into the work needed to accomplice this and which stakeholders that are needed to be involved in this work. Method: In this essay we have used the qualitative method with an abductive approach, were we have been taking note of theory parallell with doing interviews with persons activ within this subject. From this theory and inteview results we have analyzed which parts in the city centre and city centre commerce that are important to make it more attractive. Conclusions: Our conclusion is that the most important factors to work with to develop an attractive city centre and city centre commerce is - motivated and active stakeholders within the city centre, increased cooperation within the city centre, increased amount of visitors, increased amount of visitors that become satisfied customers. If these key facors are fullfilled we mean that the city centre and the city centre commerce is attractive. Contribution: The theoretical consequence of our study is that there are several key factors to work with to create an attractive city Centre. The practical consequence of this is that the management in the city center groups can work with our balanced score card to create an attractive city center and city commerce in their cities.

Σκοπός της παρούσας έρευνας είναι να μελετήσει πως τα αισθητηριακά ερεθίσματα επηρεάζουν την αντίληψη της ποιότητας μιας καλλυντικής κρέμας προσώπου, την ικανοποίηση, την πίστη και τα συναισθήματα που αναπτύσσει ο καταναλωτής απέναντι στην κρέμα. Πλέον οι καταναλωτές θεωρούν δεδομένα τα λειτουργικά χαρακτηριστικά των προϊόντων και αποζητούν το συναισθηματικό δέσιμο με το προϊόν. Ο σκοπός του μάρκετινγκ των αισθήσεων (sensory marketing) είναι να ενισχύσει το συναισθηματικό δέσιμο των καταναλωτών με τα προϊόντα μέσω της χρήσης των πέντε βασικών αισθήσεων. Δεν έχουν πραγματοποιηθεί ακόμα πολλές έρευνες πάνω στο μάρκετινγκ των αισθήσεων και στο πως επηρεάζει την αντίληψη των καταναλωτών για το προϊόν. Το θεωρητικό εννοιολογικό πλαίσιο της συγκεκριμένης έρευνας προέκυψε από τη συγχώνευση του συμπεριφοριστικού μοντέλου S-O-R (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974) και του εννοιολογικού μοντέλου για το μάρκετινγκ των αισθήσεων της Krishna (2011). Το εργαλείο με το οποίο μελετήθηκε η επίδραση των αισθητηριακών ερεθισμάτων στην αντίληψη της ποιότητας της καλλυντικής κρέμας ήταν ένα ερωτηματολόγιο που μοιράστηκε σε 9 φαρμακεία της Θεσσαλονίκης και συμπληρώθηκε από 154 άτομα. Μέσα από την ανάλυση παραγόντων (factor analysis) προέκυψαν 11 καταναλωτικά προφίλ. Τα ερευνητικά συμπεράσματα υποδεικνύουν πως τα αισθητηριακά ερεθίσματα επηρεάζουν την αντιλαμβανόμενη ποιότητα θετικά, οδηγώντας σε ένα ισχυρό (συναισθηματικό και λογικό) δέσιμο του καταναλωτή με την κρέμα που έχει επιλέξει. / The purpose of this study is to explore how sensory stimuli influence emotions associated, perceived quality, satisfaction and loyalty towards a face cream brand. Nowadays consumers believe that the functional attributes of products are granted and look for an emotional attachment with each product. The aim of sensory marketing is to reinforce the attachment between a product and its consumers, through the involvement of human senses. Sensory marketing is yet a new practice, thus the number of studies concerning its effect on brand perception are limited. Two conceptual frameworks, the stimulus-organism-response (S.O.R.) behavioral framework (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974) and the conceptual framework of sensory marketing, (Krishna, 2011), were merged and elaborated to construct the research model of this study. The use of sensory marketing at this study was explored by administrating an anonymous self-completed questionnaire, which was distributed to 154 face cream buyers, within 9 pharmacy stores across Thessaloniki, Greece. For the purposes of the study, an exploratory principal component analysis was conducted. The factor solution identified 11 factors. All factors were labeled, interpreted and discussed in the light of existing knowledge in order to understand better the consumer behavior in relation to sensory stimuli. The findings indicate that sensory stimuli influence brand perception positively leading to a stronger (rational and emotional) bond between the brand and the consumer.

Há evidências convincentes de que o início da doença de Alzheimer é precedido por uma redução de estímulos sensoriais, como ocorre durante a aposentadoria, catarata, surdez e degeneração macular, em um cérebro idoso que apresenta deficiência de receptores tipo GABAA. Neste trabalho foi utilizado um modelo computacional fenomenológico do koniocortex, que é a primeira camada cortical que recebe estímulos sensoriais, adaptado para simular as fases iniciais da doença de Alzheimer. A arquitetura e as propriedades dos neurônios do modelo computacional do koniocortex se assemelham as do cérebro, sendo também capaz de aprender, permitindo com isso que a memória de curto prazo seja testada em qualquer momento. Usando o modelo computacional é possível também analisar as fases iniciais da doença de Alzheimer simulando o \"envelhecimento\" do koniocortex artificial através de um conjunto de parâmetros referentes à plasticidade intrínseca, à acetilcolina, aos estímulos sensoriais, ao pruning sináptico, entre outros. O modelo computacional revela que, quando o envelhecimento afeta os neurônios que expressam receptores GABA-A ocorrendo na sequência uma redução dos estímulos sensoriais, o resultado dessa cascata de eventos leva ao hipermetabolismo e ao início da fase de deposição excessiva das placas -amiloide / There is compelling evidence that Alzheimers disease onset is preceded by a reduction of sensory stimuli like during job retirement, cataract, deafness or even macular degeneration, over an aged brain with impaired GABA-A receptor inhibitions. In this paper, was adapted a phenomenological computational model of the koniocortex which is the first cortical layer that receives sensory stimuli to simulate the initial phases of Alzheimers disease. The architecture and neurons properties of the modeled koniocortex resemble those of the brain, so that the model is also able to learn, thereby allowing the assessment of short-term memory at any moment. By using the computational model, it is possible to analyze the initial phases of Alzheimers disease by aging the artificial koniocortex through a set of parameters related to intrinsic plasticity, acetylcholine, sensory stimuli, synaptic pruning, among others. The computational model shows that when aging occurs in such way that GABA-A receptor expressing neurons are affected, and, in the sequence, a reduction of sensory stimuli takes place, the result of this cascade of events leads to hypermetabolism and to the initial phase excessive deposition of beta-amyloid plaques

Denna studie har som syfte att förklara och ge en ökad förståelse för hur utvalda företag i modebranschen arbetar med det fysiska upplägget i butiker, genom bland annat atmosfär, sinnesstimuli och visuell merchandising. Samt vilken påverkan upplägget kan ha på konsumenters köpbeslutsprocesser och därmed även uppfattningen om varumärket. Sex intervjuer med olika företag har gett kvalitativa data som sedan analyserats mot varandra utifrån studiens teoretiska referensram. Resultat visar på att de studerade företagen inte planerar sin butiksyta beroende på teorier om konsumentbeteende och sinnesmarknadsföring. Utan istället planeras ytan beroende på varumärke och positionering, vilket skiljer sig åt beroende på företag. Att förmedla en känsla och att ge ett helhetsintryck med hjälp av upplägget är viktigt och baseras på hur butikerna vill att varumärket ska uppfattas, vilket sedan påverkar köpbeslutsprocessen då det avgör om kunderna väljer att konsumera i butiken eller inte. En lyckad planering av butiksytan för de studerade företagen, grundar sig därmed inte på hur väl ytan planeras utifrån tidigare forskning om sinnesmarknadsföring och visuell merchandising, utan hur bra den planeras utifrån varumärket. / This study aims to describe and to give greater understanding of how selected companies in the fashion industry works with the physical layout of stores, including the use of atmosphere, sensory stimuli and visual merchandising. Also what impact the layout can have on consumers buying process and the perception of the brand. Six interviews with different companies gave qualitative data that was analyzed together and against each other, based on the theoretical framework of the study. The result shows that the selected companies do not plan the layout based on theories of consumer behavior or sensory marketing. Instead the layout is planned based on the brand and the positioning the company works for, which differentiates itself based on what company it is. To convey a feeling and to give an overall impression of the brand with the help of layout is important, and it is based on how the companies want the brand to be perceived. This then affects the buying process because it determines if the customers choses to consume in the store or not. A successful planning of the layout, for the companies in the study, is therefore not based on how well it matches with recent research in the field, but how well it is matched based on the brand only.

Há evidências convincentes de que o início da doença de Alzheimer é precedido por uma redução de estímulos sensoriais, como ocorre durante a aposentadoria, catarata, surdez e degeneração macular, em um cérebro idoso que apresenta deficiência de receptores tipo GABAA. Neste trabalho foi utilizado um modelo computacional fenomenológico do koniocortex, que é a primeira camada cortical que recebe estímulos sensoriais, adaptado para simular as fases iniciais da doença de Alzheimer. A arquitetura e as propriedades dos neurônios do modelo computacional do koniocortex se assemelham as do cérebro, sendo também capaz de aprender, permitindo com isso que a memória de curto prazo seja testada em qualquer momento. Usando o modelo computacional é possível também analisar as fases iniciais da doença de Alzheimer simulando o \"envelhecimento\" do koniocortex artificial através de um conjunto de parâmetros referentes à plasticidade intrínseca, à acetilcolina, aos estímulos sensoriais, ao pruning sináptico, entre outros. O modelo computacional revela que, quando o envelhecimento afeta os neurônios que expressam receptores GABA-A ocorrendo na sequência uma redução dos estímulos sensoriais, o resultado dessa cascata de eventos leva ao hipermetabolismo e ao início da fase de deposição excessiva das placas -amiloide / There is compelling evidence that Alzheimers disease onset is preceded by a reduction of sensory stimuli like during job retirement, cataract, deafness or even macular degeneration, over an aged brain with impaired GABA-A receptor inhibitions. In this paper, was adapted a phenomenological computational model of the koniocortex which is the first cortical layer that receives sensory stimuli to simulate the initial phases of Alzheimers disease. The architecture and neurons properties of the modeled koniocortex resemble those of the brain, so that the model is also able to learn, thereby allowing the assessment of short-term memory at any moment. By using the computational model, it is possible to analyze the initial phases of Alzheimers disease by aging the artificial koniocortex through a set of parameters related to intrinsic plasticity, acetylcholine, sensory stimuli, synaptic pruning, among others. The computational model shows that when aging occurs in such way that GABA-A receptor expressing neurons are affected, and, in the sequence, a reduction of sensory stimuli takes place, the result of this cascade of events leads to hypermetabolism and to the initial phase excessive deposition of beta-amyloid plaques

L'observation d'une synchronisation entre les systèmes locomoteur et respiratoire soulève de nombreuses questions concernant son utilité fonctionnelle pour l'organisme et les contraintes susceptibles de moduler son apparition. A l'heure actuelle, des contradictions subsistent dans les réponses apportées à ces interrogations, notamment en raison de la multiplicité des méthodes employées pour l'étude de ce phénomène. La théorie des oscillateurs couplés, et plus particulièrement le modèle de la sine circle map, nous permet de rendre compte de façon précise des relations de couplage entre les systèmes locomoteur et respiratoire. Les objectifs de ce travail de thèse sont de renforcer la validité de l'utilisation de ce modèle pour l'étude du couplage locomotion-respiration (CLR), d'examiner le lien entre le CLR et la performance sportive, ainsi qu'identifier les contraintes influençant les relations de couplage entre ces deux systèmes. Dans des tâches de pédalage ou de course à pied, les participants avaient pour consigne ou non de synchroniser leur locomotion ou leur respiration avec une stimulation auditive dont le tempo correspondait à leurs fréquences préférentielles (locomotrice ou respiratoire). Nos résultats montrent l'efficacité du rythme auditif pour induire une stabilisation du CLR, indépendamment de la consigne donnée aux participants et du système rythmé. Ces résultats révèlent une bidirectionnalité dans le couplage entre les systèmes locomoteur et respiratoire. De plus, nous mettons en évidence une forte corrélation entre le gain de stabilité entre les deux systèmes et le gain de consommation d'oxygène (i.e., diminution). Par conséquent, la stabilité du CLR est un facteur important à prendre en compte pour la performance sportive. Nous rapportons également une déstabilisation du CLR lors de l'éloignement d'un des deux systèmes de sa fréquence préférentielle. Ce résultat suggère l'adoption spontanée par les individus d'une synchronisation optimale entre les deux systèmes. Ainsi, il semble primordial de présenter une stimulation adaptée à chacun et adaptable aux changements de fréquences locomotrice ou respiratoire imposés par les contraintes de la tâche. Pris ensemble, nos résultats permettent une meilleure compréhension de l'évolution du CLR face aux contraintes qui lui sont imposées (e.g., fréquences locomotrice ou respiratoire, rythme auditif, modalité d'exercice) et mettent en évidence l'influence positive de sa stabilité sur la performance sportive. Nous rapportons également l'efficacité d'une stimulation visuelle pour apprendre à mieux gérer les ressources énergétiques au cours de l'effort. Ainsi, ce travail ouvre des perspectives de travaux sur l'utilisation d'une stimulation auditive ou visuelle, simple (e.g., métronome) ou complexe (e.g., musique, avatar), dans le cadre de l'entraînement et de l'amélioration de la performance sportive. / The natural synchronization between locomotor and respiratory systems raises many questions regarding its functional utility for the organism, as well as constraints that may modulate its appearance. Currently, contradictions remain in answers provided to these issues, especially because of the multiple methods used to study this phenomenon. The theory of coupled oscillators, and more specifically the sine circle map model, allows to accurately assess the coupling between locomotor and respiratory systems. This work aims at strengthening the validity of the use of this model for the study of locomotor-respiratory coupling (LRC), examining the relationship between LRC and sport performance, as well as identifying the constraints influencing the coupling between both systems. In pedalling or running tasks, participants were instructed or not to synchronize their locomotion or their breathing with an auditory rhythm which tempo matched their preferred frequencies (locomotor or respiratory). Our results show the effectiveness of auditory rhythm to induce stabilization of LRC, regardless of the instructions given to participants and the system paced. These results reflect a bidirectionality in the coupling between the locomotor and respiratory systems. Furthermore, we show a strong correlation between the increase in stability between the two systems and the gain in oxygen consumption (i.e., decrease). Therefore, the stability of LRC is an important factor to consider for sport performance. We also report a destabilization of LRC when one of the two systems is far off its preferred frequency. This result suggests that individuals spontaneously adopt an optimum synchronization between the two systems. Thus, it seems important to use a customized suitable stimulation that could be able to adapt its tempo to changes in locomotor or respiratory frequencies imposed by the constraints of the task. Overall, our results provide a better understanding of the evolution of LRC when confronted to constraints (e.g., locomotor or respiratory frequencies, auditory rhythm, exercise modality) and highlight the positive impact of its stability on sport performance. We also report the effectiveness of a visual stimulation to learn how to better manage energy resources during effort. Thus, this work opens perspectives on the use of auditory or visual stimuli, simple (e.g., metronome) or complex (e.g., music, avatar), for training and performance enhancement.