A Commentary on “The Senses in Anthropological and Marketing Research: Investigating a Consumer-Brand Ritual Holistically”

Aradhna Krishna is the Dwight F. Benton Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. She is considered the pioneer of the field of sensory marketing. In more than fifty published articles, she has explored ways in which a product’s look, feel, taste, sound, and smell contribute to how it is perceived, and how people respond to these perceptions. Prof. Krishna organized the first academic conference on sensory marketing (in 2008), bringing together psychologists, neuroscientists, marketing academics and practitioners. She edited and contributed to the book, Sensory Marketing: Research on the Sensuality of Products, in 2009. In 2013, she published another book, Customer Sense: How the 5 Senses Influence Buying Behavior, which Kirkus Reviews calls "A sophisticated, easy-handed elucidation of the practice of marketing to our senses." Prof. Krishna is considered one of the 50 most productive marketing professors in the world. Harvard Business Review recently acknowledged her as "the foremost expert in the field" of sensory marketing. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to consumer psychology, she was awarded as a Fellow of the Society for Consumer Psychology, the organization’s highest honor. She may be reached at aradhna@umich.edu