The Impact of Taste on Credence Services: An Abstract

Past research shows that strong brands can affect consumers’ taste perceptions of food products. For example, Allison and Uhl (1964) found that consumers’ identification of a familiar beer brand significantly increased taste perceptions compared with the unbranded beer. Similarly, young consumers preferred the taste of foods and drinks that were associated with a well-known business compared to a blinded evaluation condition (Robinson et al. 2007). A number of service sector organisations with credence attributes are increasingly integrating taste into their physical environments. Examples of food and beverage add-ons to businesses’ main service offering include banks, healthcare clinics, car repair shops, investment companies, and management consulting firms. The integration of these taste atmospherics within personalised service settings are aimed at elevating positive associations with the service environment and enhancing customer experiences. Despite this widespread integration of food and beverage in many service settings, there is a lack of empirical understanding as to the benefits and impact of taste on both customer behaviours and emotions within service settings (Segovis et al. 2007). This research seeks to explore whether food and beverage integrations play a role within environments that are high in credence attributes. Credence services are a focus in this research as these environments have witnessed an increased adoption of food within the service interaction. Further, the reliance on tangible and intangible subtle cues, such as complimentary food and beverages, within credence services is higher when it is difficult for consumers to evaluate or obtain objective information. This research consists of a 2 × 2 between-subjects factorial design to evaluate the impacts of taste on customers in the credence service setting of financial services, focused on home lending. Using hypothetical scenario testing we evaluate the impacts of taste perceptions on customer behaviours and emotions in credence service settings. Findings indicate that taste influences customers’ emotions, information retention, and perceived level of interpersonal relationships. Additionally, taste does not influence stress, which contradicts existing sensory research and frameworks. Hence, further research is required to highlight certain exceptions in our existing sensory marketing frameworks. Findings from this research address a literature gap in store atmospherics and provide strategic implications for services management on the importance of environmental cues influencing customers’ emotions and behaviours. This research is timely and relevant as the role of personalising attributes and service experiences is a current research priority in cultivating the customer asset and characterising the customer journey. Overall, this research explores the impact of taste atmospherics on customers’ evaluations of services high in credence attributes.