News Release

Using science to design what customers want to buy

New book 'The Right Sensory Mix' helps fine-tune product development

Book Announcement

Springer

Why do some people drink black coffee and others stick to tea? What's the reason some people like pop music and others classical? Why do women often buy purple underwear for their male partners (especially when most men dislike purple)?

The Right Sensory Mix by Diana Derval contains a groundbreaking scientific method for businesses to understand and predict consumers' behavior and product preferences. Many companies fail to acknowledge disparities observed among customers and simply put it down to culture or emotion. However, new neuroendocrinological research proves that consumers are rational: They just have a different biological perception of the same stimulus.

Customers' preferences, behavior, and decisions are strongly influenced by the hundreds of millions sensors monitoring their body and brain. People with more taste buds are for instance sensitive to bitterness and are more likely to drink their coffee with sugar or milk, or to drink tea. After reading this book, managers will be able to understand and predict customers' behavior and preferences, design the right sensory mix (color, shape, taste, smell, texture, and sound) for each product, and fine-tune their positioning and offering for every local market.

Diana Derval observed, "Just being aware of the fact that individuals have a different sensory perception, that this perception is linked to hormones, and that we can therefore predict consumers' preferences and behavior is a gigantic competitive advantage for a company."

The Right Sensory Mix includes case studies from top brands, among them Red Bull, Coca-Cola, Sofitel, Blacksocks.com, Shazam, Häagen-Dazs, Carl Zeiss Vision, Velib', Björn Borg, and Nintendo. It shows how businesses benefit from decisions based on scientific observations and gives guidelines for successfully implementing this research method within the company to increase the innovation hit rate.

Marketing expert Philip Kotler of the Kellogg School of Management said, "Diana Derval has written the best book that I have seen on the critical role of the five senses in determining our brand preferences. Her writing is lively, full of relevant case studies, and rich in insights."

Diana Derval is President and Research Director of DervalResearch, a global market research firm specializing in human perception and behavior, and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Better Immune System Foundation. Visionary researcher, inventor of the Hormonal Quotient TM (HQ), member of the Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology, and author regularly featured in the media, Diana Derval is Adjunct Professor of Marketing and Innovation at Robert Kennedy College in Zurich and teaches sensory science at ESSEC Paris-Singapore Business School and the University Leonard de Vinci in Paris.

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Calculate your Hormonal Quotient TM (HQ) and learn more about your own personality, sensory traits, and leadership style: http://www.derval-research.com/archive/2009/12/16/calculate-your-hormonal-quotient-by-dervalresearch.html

Diana Derval
The Right Sensory Mix: Targeting Consumer Product Development Scientifically
2010, 146 p. Hardcover EUR 49.95, £44.99, $49.95. ISBN 978-3-642-12092-3


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