In The Right Sensory Mix Diana Derval constructs a compelling causal chain. We experience the world through our five senses, and individuals vary in the quality of their sensory receptors. Therefore, she reasons, variance in our receptors should explain variance in preference for consumer products. This argument has substantial face validity, and Derval does provide us with real food for thought.
As she introduces us to the idea of “taste profiles,” she provides a number of engaging examples of brand extensions, both good and bad (Michelin Guides: good. Bic perfume: bad. Coke Zero: good, but poorly targeted). These taste profiles (here we are talking about the kind of taste that happens on your tongue) group consumers into three categories: super tasters, medium tasters, and non‐tasters. Factors such as gender, testosterone levels, and occupation can be used to predict one's taste profile. For example, women have greater taste sensitivity to things like bitterness, so women would be a better target than men for Coke Zero, since it is less bitter than Diet Coke.
Incidentally, the book claims to allow users to check their sensory profile at the Derval Research website, although this reviewer could not find any way to do this.
In subsequent chapters, Derval takes this same approach to the other senses, outlining sensory profiles for each one. For example, Chapter Two deals with sound perceptions, Chapter Three with smell, etc. Derval takes the time to explain to us how each of these senses works and includes helpful diagrams of the physical apparatuses behind them. Understanding the mechanics behind these processes help us to understand why individuals vary in the quality and sensitivity of their taste, hearing, smell, touch, and sight.
Each chapter is chock‐full of engaging examples, although the transitions in and out of these examples are often rather abrupt. For example, in the third chapter Derval develops evaluation criteria for a detergent to be sold in India, then jumps into the topic of smell perception – a relevant topic, but the transition leaves the reader wishing for a segue.
While some of her observations are not terribly insightful (“households are complex purchasing centers”), others are quite interesting and useful. She makes a compelling case, for example, that some commonly used advertising stimuli may actually trigger a sense of danger.
Derval creates personae (e.g. “Chris, a 27‐year‐old web designer”) that summarize prototypical characteristics of individuals who share a given sensory profile. While I am not a fan of this approach to customer identification, I do like her next step, which considers how to innovate with the taste preferences of current customers in mind.
My gravest concern with The Right Sensory Mix has to do with Derval's dismissive treatment of statistics in marketing research. She claims that statistics are about trying to support interpreted observation “without trying to identify a model or isolate the context,” (p. 123) and that “Statistics have little to do with science” (p. 135).These statements are simply not true. Instead of overstating the value of her taste profiles and “Hormonal Quotient,” as she tends to do, Derval should more realistically claim that she has identified some additional factors that may help explain variance in our models of consumer choice.
The book is at its best when it sticks to its core thesis (taste affects preference). Derval is weakest when she strays too far from what she knows. For example, her approach to identifying “Blue Oceans” using perceptual maps is unlikely to be effective and strongly suggests that she is unfamiliar with the tools and methods advocated by Kim and Mauborgne (2005). Derval also tends to play fast and loose with other trending terms, such as “disruptive innovation.”
One leaves this brief book with the feeling that, though it was a very interesting line of research, there was not enough in it to impact how market research is executed. There are some notable tips (women have a more refined sense of taste than men, too much red in ads may put our target customers on alert), but where are the data? While I cannot blame Derval for wishing to preserve her intellectual property, I also cannot get too excited about her propositions without more detailed findings.
The Right Sensory Mix should appeal to most people with a layman's interest in neuro‐marketing, and it seems to fit well with books in that category (Martin Lindstrom's (2008) Buyology comes to mind). The practitioner will appreciate both its fresh perspective and its brevity, but will be left wanting more.
