Sensory marketing to promote sustainable consumer choices
Application period: 11 June – 10 August, 2026
Research project description
Contemporary consumer decision-making relies on sensory experiences, in both physical and digital environments. This project proposes to investigate how sensory cues influence consumer perceptions and sustainable product choices. Building on emerging evidence that sensory stimulation can shape emotional responses, product expectations, and value judgments, the project examines how linguistic, visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory cues, individually and in combination, can be leveraged to promote wood-based product consumption. By integrating sensory design, consumer psychology, and smart technologies, the research seeks to uncover principles and interventions that encourage consumers choose wood-based products over their more environmentally harmful competing products in retailing.
Consumers increasingly express interest in sustainability, yet there remains a gap between sustainable intentions and actual purchase behavior. Sensory stimuli are known to play a key role in product assessment and can serve as powerful, often subconscious, nudges that alter consumer choices. While prior studies have examined specific cues such as green visual design or eco‑labeling, there is limited research on the multimodal sensory experience and how integrated sensory strategies influence consumer choices.
Furthermore, advancing sensory technologies such as immersive audio, haptic feedback, augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR), digital scent diffusion, and smart packaging offer new opportunities to shape sustainable consumption experiences. Understanding how these technologies interact with established psychological mechanisms is crucial for designing marketing strategies and product offerings that effectively promote sustainable behavior in a digital environment.
The project aims at understanding how sensory cues (linguistic, visual, auditory, olfactory, tactile, gustatory) influence consumers’ wood-based product choices and how multi‑sensory combinations shape consumer decision‑making. The project develops and tests sensory‑based interventions, prototypes, and retail concepts that effectively promote sustainable wood-based product choices in both physical and digital shopping contexts and generates practical guidelines for companies on how to integrate multi‑sensory strategies to encourage sustainable consumer behavior.
Academic background and skills of the applicant
An ideal candidate holds a master’s degree in business administration, marketing, psychology, information systems, or a closely related field with experience in (advanced) quantitative research methods, behavioral laboratory and experimental research design. Interest in consumer behavior and consumer psychology is a prerequisite. The ability to work independently and approach problem-solving in a structured manner is essential, along with strong collaboration skills, proactivity, enthusiasm, creativity, and a willingness to travel. Excellent written and oral communication skills in English are required (with proof of proficiency). The selected candidate must fulfil the language skills requirements of the Doctoral Programme of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies at UEF (see the https://www.uef.fi/en/degree-programme/doctoral-programme-of-the-faculty-of-social-sciences-and-business-studies (Eligibility and admission criteria)).
Doctoral programme and research group
Doctoral education in the University of Eastern Finland is arranged in seven discipline specific or thematic doctoral programmes. This research project will be located in the Doctoral Programme of the Faculty of Social Sciences and Business Studies, and the submitting department is the UEF Business School.
The doctoral candidate will join the Marketing and Consumer Behavior Research Group which examines consumer behavior and business success factors in the marketplace. The research themes cover issues arising from a range of factors including product and service innovations, sustainability, bioeconomy, e-commerce, digital technology, data analytics, sensory marketing, brands, international markets, and entrepreneurial behavior. Quantitative market research serves as a cross-cutting theme for the research group. The purpose of the research group is to undertake impactful research in the marketing and consumer research domains and transfer this knowledge to academic community and business practice. The research group runs the SenseLab research laboratory that is a research space enabling multi-sensory research setups for various experimental research needs.
Other interdisciplinary, international and/or intersectoral collaboration
This project involves potential collaboration with professors from the University of South Florida (Muma College of Business), USA and Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary.
Intersectoral and interdisciplinary collaboration is strengthened through DP-FOBI’s three summer schools involving academic supervisors, non-academic partners, and other stakeholders, enabling hands-on interaction and knowledge exchange.