Linguistic Framing of Sensory Experience

Abstract

This chapter reviews prior research and reports original data that speak to the potential influence of brand, category, and attribute labels on sensory perception. A focus on experiential consumer behavior addresses activities that are common within the universe of consumption but rarely investigated from a cognitive or linguistic perspective. The few studies conducted within the consumer context have a similar cross-cultural flavor but a substantive focus outside of color perception. The work of B. H. Schmitt and S. Zhang demonstrates how linguistic differences can influence product perceptions and choice, consistent with the Whorfian perspective. Although centered on cross-cultural effects, it is also consistent with a larger body of within-culture consumer research that has examined the way in which category or brand labels can influence categorization and evaluation. Research has provided robust evidence that well-known brand names can influence and even overwhelm taste perception in preference tasks.