From Aroma to Ambience: Leveraging Sensory Marketing in Traditional Restaurants

Year 2026, Issue: Advanced Online Publication

Hendra Sakti Putra Siagian , Hidayatna Putri

https://doi.org/10.30519/ahtr.1618662

Cited By: 1

https://izlik.org/JA57HT62NA

Abstract

The use of sensory cues in marketing can provide valuable experiences for consumers when visiting restaurants especially the traditional one through the five senses of consumers. This study seeks into how sensory cues affect customer decisions by using a hybrid analytical technique with PLS-SEM and fs-QCA on a sample of 352 consumers who visited local heritage dining places in Lake Toba, Indonesia. The results from PLS-SEM show that gustative, olfaction, and haptic signals make customers much more attractive, whereas visual and auditory signals have a smaller influence. The fs-QCA study also finds the best combinations of sensory signals that make customers more desirable. These results show how important it is to use both visual and gustative-based sensory marketing methods to make local heritage dining places more appealing to customers. Restaurant management should focus on original flavors, make the smells more appealing, and improve the overall sensory experience to draw in consumers. The study adds to our understanding of sensory marketing by showing how it may be used in local heritage dining places.

Keywords

Sensory Marketing , Customer Attractiveness , Traditional Restaurants , Local Wisdom , Tourism

Thanks

The authors would like to express their gratitude to DRPM for providing the funds for the Penelitian Kompetitif Nasional Dosen Pemula scheme in the implementation year 2024. The authors would also like to express their deepest gratitude to LPPM Satya Terra Bhinneka University and all parties involved in the completion and publication of the research findings.

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