Louis Cheskin - Sensation Transference

Sensation Transference

Most people make unconscious assessments of a product, service, or event not only based on the item itself, but on secondary sensory input associated with the item, which all contribute to one general impression - whether intended or not, accurate or not. Cheskin called this "sensation transference".

Cheskin’s innovative insight was that impressions created in customers’ minds, based on experiencing products sensorially, transferred directly to concepts of value, price, quality, and emotion. These, in turn, created and fulfilled expectations of satisfaction. Cheskin’s research didn’t always explain why these associations existed, but he confirmed that they did play an important role in both customer choice and satisfaction.

Cheskin’s work was not just focused on appearance. Often his research led to understanding that added value and changed the product or service offering in valuable ways. For example, initially McDonald’s operated burger-stands designed for walk-up service. Cheskin’s research showed that these configurations were uncomfortable for families, particularly women alone with their children, accounting for low sales to these customers. Cheskin was able to show that tables, chairs, and a semblance of walls helped these customers feel safe and comfortable visiting and eating on-site. Later, this understanding led to the transformation of the burger-stands into restaurants. Research on color use and imagery, too, led to the introduction of Ronald McDonald. It was these kinds of insights that Cheskin’s research gave his clients that helped shape companies' strategies.

Some results of Cheskin and his team’s research include:

• The adoption of the spoon on Betty Crocker packages (leading to a doubling of sales)
• The consumer flop of the Edsel automobile was predicted in a legendary article Cheskin wrote before its introduction (triggering Henry Ford to hire him shortly afterward)
• Uncovering the preference of American consumers for circles over triangles on packaging
• Developing the first successful mainstream margarine (Imperial for Unilever)
• The basic market research underlying the introduction of the Ford Mustang and the Lincoln Continental
• The development of the Marlboro Man and Marlboro packaging from what was previously a women’s cigarette
• The creation of the Gerber Baby
• Rounding the corners of the Fleishmann's Gin label to appeal more to women (who made up nearly 40% of liquor store shoppers)
• The transformation in the mid-1950s of the Duncan Hines cake mix package toward a more 'colonial' style to reflect American consumers' desire for both newness and tradition

Cheskin’s approach and successes won respect from corporate leaders at McDonald's, Ford, Polaroid, General Mills, and many others. Henry Ford, Walt Disney, and Ray Kroc personally engaged Cheskin on the basis of his innovative approach.

One famous Cheskin study involved the testing of identical deodorants in different packages. Samples were mailed to users and told that the formulations were different. However, the only difference between them was their packaging (three different colour schemes). As one might expect from Cheskin's work, the trials showed that customers preferred one over the others. In fact, some perceived one of the samples as so threatening that they reported rashes and trips to dermatologists, yet had no trouble with the same formula in a different package.

It could be concluded that consumers are not aware of their reactions, that they are irrational, or that this approach was 'preying' on consumers. However, there is more to this understanding of how people behave: that people have admittedly strange reactions to elements separate from product effectiveness is amoral; i.e., not right nor wrong. It is not appropriate for companies or any other organization to cast judgement on how consumers' brains work or how society affects consumers' perceptions and experiences; instead, this is another mechanism that companies and developers of products take into account in making decisions on how to meet their customers’ needs. Whether an organization uses these understandings ethically or not is another question entirely. There is a fine line between clear, motivating communication and propaganda.