Consumer behavior in the Lebanese restaurant industry: the concept of sensory marketing

Abstract

The objective of this study is to determine the major factors influencing consumer behavior in the Lebanese restaurant sector while also examining the application of certain tools used in sensory marketing such as music, scents and colors. Sensory marketing is a a new trend gaining great attention in the marketing field, it uses various tool to tackle consumers’ five senses thus influencing their behavior and perception of a brand. The goal is to achieve brand awareness, differentiation and loyalty. To achieve the research objectives a quantitative research was prepared. A questionnaire was administrated by email to a large sample of 400 people and the data was managed using the statistical package for social sciences “SPSS”. The study showed strong relationships between age, income and factors influencing consumers’ choice for a restaurant, as well as restaurant types. Moreover, respondents showed strong perception to factors used in sensory marketing techniques and their influence on their decision making process was noticeable. This research is the first in tackling consumers’ behavior in the Lebanese restaurant industry while taking into consideration the concept of sensory marketing. It will bring great benefit to marketeers in this sector by giving them an insight to their customers’ minds and by introducing a new marketing concept that could help them achieve brand awareness and differentiation.