Guest article by Maximilian Bruder, finalist of the 2026 SERVSIG Best Dissertation Award.
The central idea of my dissertation
Why do some service interactions feel warm, supportive, and memorable, while others feel distant or awkward—even when the actual service outcome is very similar? Often, the difference lies not only in what is said or done, but in how service actors are perceived through the senses and how these sensory impressions shape the overall experience. This broad but, I believe, important question lies at the core of my dissertation, entitled “Advancing the Field of Sensory Marketing: Designing Human and Non-Human Subjects with Sensory Elements”. Across three projects in different service contexts, I examine how customers respond not only to what service actors do, but also to how they are perceived through cues such as voice and visual appearance. While the empirical settings differ, the underlying idea is the same: sensory cues influence service evaluations because they shape how customers perceive and interpret service interactions.
How sensory cues influence service interactions
A central insight from my dissertation is that service interactions are not judged only by what is delivered, but also by how the interaction feels. Customers rely on cues such as the sound of human and robotic voices and dress color to form impressions of the service actor and the encounter itself. These cues can shape whether an interaction feels fitting, warm, supportive, awkward, or distant, and thereby influence broader evaluations of the service encounter.
Across my work, these effects seem to unfold mainly through two routes: a cognitive route and a social route. On the cognitive side, sensory cues can shape perceived fit. Customers seem to be sensitive to whether a voice or a color feels appropriate for a given service context. This matters because coherence generally tends to have positive effects on overall evaluations, and service contexts appear to follow the same logic. On the social side, such cues can shape whether a service actor is perceived as warm, approachable, and supportive. For example, frontline employees’ dress color can reinforce the effects of positive emotion displays on perceived warmth, while in service recovery, vocal cues can influence whether customers feel socially supported in addition to receiving compensation. This social dimension seems particularly relevant in recovery contexts, because customers are often looking not only for a solution, but also for signs of care, understanding, and reassurance.
What this means for research and practice
Taken together, these findings suggest that voice is more than a channel for delivering information, and that visual cues such as color are more than aesthetic details. Both sensory elements can shape how customers interpret a service encounter and what kind of meaning they attach to it. Importantly, these impressions do not remain isolated perceptions. They can translate into broader outcomes such as overall service evaluations and customer satisfaction. For service research, this opens up numerous opportunities to further examine the interplay between sensory elements and different aspects of service interactions. For practice, it highlights that elements such as voice and dress color are not peripheral. They can be central to how service is experienced, evaluated, and ultimately remembered.
Maximilian Bruder
Assistant Professor
University of Augsburg
Image: shutterstock.com
