The Effect of Multi-Sensory Marketing on Non-Economic Performance of Ghana’s Restaurants ()
1. Introduction
1.1. Background
Businesses today are continuously facing competitive forces that drive them to modify their approach due to the rapid changes in the line of action on how organisations handle their deliverables. The growing significance of emotional needs in the consumption situation is conveyed as the basic prerequisite, which naturally calls for defining a new emotional marketing strategy. There is an obvious need to use the new model of emotional branding by means of the human multi-sensory cues which have been excluded by most researchers (Krishna, Cian, & Sokolova, 2016) [1] . In order to be efficient and up-to-date, organisations have to reorganise strategically to cope with the competitiveness of the market. In that situation, multi-sensory marketing becomes one of the key issues that could help companies to cope with the current business flow. This study focuses on the company’s multi-sensory marketing concept to advance the performance of organisations in the service settings in the long term. This research focuses on the Ghanaian foodservice industry as this sector shows significant room for growth, especially in the cities. The Ghanaian restaurant sector represents the largest and fastest growing part of the domestic economy, increasing at an annual rate of 20% (Ghana Standards Authority, 2019) [2] . The industry plays an increasingly important role in the economies of both developed and developing countries (Prentice & Jebb, 2003) [3] . Over the past two decades, restaurant business has expanded in many developing countries. Across Africa, restaurants have spread at a rapid rate, driven by rising income levels, rapid urbanisation and changing eating habits and lifestyles of the people. Along with some changes in lifestyle patterns, consumers presently prefer to buy food from restaurants or cafes because of their density of activities and limited time to prepare their own meals (Asiedu et al., 1999) [4] . The literature reviewed showed that young adults from 15 to 45 years were the biggest consumers of restaurant food in the country (Ghana Standards Authority, 2019) [2] . The sector is one of the key economic drivers which creates jobs and wealth, generates earnings as well as contributes tax revenue to stimulate other sectors of the economy (Asiedu et al., 1999) [4] .
As noted by the Ghana Standards Board (2019), the sector craves innovations and has emerged as an essential area that contributes significantly to strengthening the service sector. In 2020, the hospitality sector contributed about 3.9 billion Ghanaian cedis (640.9 million U.S. dollars) to the country’s GDP. Over 40% of higher-income earners eat from restaurants daily, 36.4% of middle-income, and 31.7% of lower-income earners (Ghana Statistical Service, 2012) [5] . The restaurant business has become highly competitive as a result of major changes that have been introduced by service providers as well as changing the needs and preferences of customers. Firms are therefore expected to provide excellent products and services, and deliver them in ways that will satisfy the needs of consumers to attain high performance standards and to justify their purpose of existence.
The study focuses on globally recognised fine dining restaurants where individuals eat with knives and forks, fingers or both, together with drinks, and typically in the company of other people in the Ghanaian setting. The study’s data was collected from fine or casual dining restaurants or waiter or table service in Ghana where the landscape of the restaurant industry and customers are totally different from that of the western world. However, it did not include restaurants who provide take-away, counter service, self-service, drive-through, buffet, door-to-door delivery, internet or telephone orders. Asiedu et al. (1999) [4] noted that most Ghanaian fine dining restaurants have become places where people sit, relax, and chat while eating or a place where people socialize. A review of the restaurant and marketing literature revealed that, traditional food, fast food (junk food, sandwiches, pastries, snack and takeaway), casual restaurant and fine dining restaurant are the major types of restaurants in Ghana. Studies showed that Ghanaian restaurants serve “globally recognised popular foods” such as French fries, pizza, fried chicken, burgers and fried rice (Asiedu et al., 1999) [4] . Some of these diets cited are not Ghanaian diets, but they were imported and are now available on the market. Some traditional Ghanaian foods include banku with ground chili pepper and grilled tilapia, jollof rice, plain boiled rice with stew, waakye with stew, and kelewele. These foods, usually hot and spicy, were mainly obtained from restaurants and traditional food vendors (Asiedu et al., 1999) [4] .
The restaurant sector was chosen for this study because it is one of the most regulated sectors in the country and also one of the most active and visited places in Ghana where data can easily be gathered. Consumers eating habits keep evolving every day because of more leisure, and out-of-home food consumption experiences for which restaurants are expected to meet customer needs more than ever before (Datta, 2017) [6] . The transformation within the restaurant sector requires that industry players adopt strategies that create brand differentiation to help them succeed in this new era (Almeyda-Ibáñez & George, 2017) [7] . Restaurants are faced with the obligation of attracting more and more customers, developing loyalty and at the same time maintaining positive image. The challenges have revolved around understanding customer needs and expectations and meeting these needs profitably. Restaurants are therefore expected to provide excellent products and services, and deliver them in ways that will satisfy the needs of consumers to attain high performance standards and to justify their purpose of existence. The contribution of the restaurant sector to the economic development of a country cannot be over emphasised. This stems from the fact that, there are differences in environments, culture of the people and structures as well as the size of the firm. Even though this work is limited to Ghana, it fairly represents a developing country context in the Sub-Saharan Africa. The aspect of non-financial performance in the foodservice sector is very important as it reflects the effectiveness of management. These indicators are crucial to measuring management performance towards the strategic objectives of the company. According to Bento, Bento, & White (2014) [8] , performance measurement indicators are used as a means of monitoring and maintaining administrative control, by ensuring that companies pursue actions that lead to the achievement of the firms’ objectives. The effectiveness of application of multi-sensory marketing in organisations is still under ambiguity as its application hangs on a variety of issues that are interrelated to the success of firms. There is a research gap in the human senses that has been neglected in marketing applications by practitioners (Hultén, 2011) [9] . Therefore, there is a need to find out an effective way to implement this multi-sensory marketing strategy in organisations. As noted in the literature, marketers need to roll out improvement from the utilisation of the human senses to become more innovative and creative in their branding strategy. The significance of this marketing strategy lies in building long-term connections between brands and socially sensitive strategies, which brings the client closer to the brand (Iglesias, Markovic, Singh, & Sierra, 2017) [10] . The study of Grębosz & Wro?ska (2013) [11] shows that combination of different multi-sensory cues together could build a strong impact which could result in better performance of companies. The study results could be used as a guideline for future researchers and academics in explaining the relationship and the degree of influence of multi-sensory marketing on performance of firms.
1.2. Research Problem
Firms make substantial investments on multi-sensory marketing because it is seen as sales booster and a value creator in a competitive market environment. In spite of these investments, firms are uncertain about the success of this marketing model. In other words, the impact of multi-sensory marketing on performance is vague and is difficult to prove the need of it. Despite the great number of theoretical significances, Chen et al. (2009) [12] , noted that there are problems in practical application of these constructs as there is no single approach for identification, classification, measurement and evaluation of non-financial performance. Apart from that, while it is generally well-accepted that multi-sensory marketing leads to non-economic performance, only a handful studies have been attempted to empirically verify the multi-sensory marketing-performance link in the restaurant context (Tešanovic, Krasavcic, Miro Kalenjuk, Portic, & Gagic, 2014) [13] . According to existing body of knowledge, no study has comprehensively investigated the relationship of multi-sensory marketing with tactical performance. The available studies have only examined the relationship of multi-sensory marketing with customer satisfaction, service quality and market share (Neema & Bapna, 2012) [14] . There are very few studies (Pentz & Gerber, 2013) [15] which have quantified the concept of multi-sensory marketing in the restaurant industry. Another gap in the literature is that the researchers are mostly focusing on one or two senses at a time rather than involving all the five senses in single research.
More research is therefore required to further explore and validate this association in other contexts. The study area has not been sufficiently researched in the past, thus, the authors of the article have analysed and evaluated researches done about multi-sensory branding and have agreed that not enough academic work has been done on the subject, and therefore more room for further research. For this reason, the foodservice industry has revamped itself according to the market dynamics as customers have become more design savvy and health conscious towards what they consume. This suggest that, designing the multi-sensory marketing helps to foster business success which leads to higher levels of performance. Without further analysis of the relationships, firms would continue to invest on multi-sensory branding without much success. Consequently, the research problem of this study is to identify how multi-sensory marketing impact on non-financial performance in foodservice business. The present study focuses to address these gaps in literature on multi-sensory marketing. The above discussed research gaps are required to be filled in order to discover the pattern and level of association between the concept of multi-sensory marketing in a developing economy perspective like Ghana.
2. Literature Review
2.1. Overview of Multi-Sensory Marketing
Multi-sensory marketing supports individual value creation and refers to how individuals react when a firm interacts, and supports their purchase and consumption processes through the involvement of the five human senses in generating customer value, brand image and business performance (Krishna, 2013) [16] . Multi-sensory marketing is based on the concept that customers are most likely to form, discover and memorise with their mind when all five senses are involved. Krishna (2013) [16] explained that multi-sensory marketing is “the marketing that engages the consumers’ senses and affects their behaviours”. Marketing is not what it used to be, even though, practitioners are adopting more and more marketing strategies to communicate with clients. This is because consumers with an urge for advertisement-free entertainment are growing. In the search for something new, we have to move right outside of the old marketing prototype. There is the need to go back to the basics and identify what actually charms human beings on an ordinary, everyday basis. If there is a sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell elements, you would probably be right in assuming that this is merely a pleasant experience. Almost our entire understanding of the world is experienced through the human senses. Human senses are our connection to memory and can tap right into emotion. One may ask why these five senses have been neglected and left to their natural protective roles.
In this study, Resource-Based View theory coined by Wernerfelt in 1984 [17] has been considered critical theory underpinning the multi-sensory marketing and non-economic performance. This concept has been used in previous studies in the area of tourism, recreation and hospitality industries (Iglesias et al., 2017) [10] . The Resource-Based View theory was developed to facilitate the understanding of how companies achieve sustainable competitive advantages (Caldeira & Ward, 2003) [18] . The theory stipulates that, for an organisation to attain a state of sustainable competitive advantage, it must secure and control valued and non-substitutable resources and competences (Wernerfelt, 1984) [17] . The RBV theory focuses on the idea of costly-to-copy attributes of the firm as sources of business returns and as a means to achieve superior performance. They theory argued that, sustained competitive advantage is generated by the unique bundle of resources at the core of the firm where companies build their businesses from the resources and capabilities that they currently possess (Dollinger, 1995) [19] . Wernerfelt concludes that, resources such as brand names, technology, committed personnel, loyal customers, trade contacts, machinery, marketing strategies, efficient procedures and capital are the foundation for attaining and sustaining competitive advantage. However, the main criticisms revolve around the positioning of the RBV, and the theory fails to provide a sound conceptual basis for resource identification which leads to problems in empirical investigation. The RBV theory has been largely overlooked by those involved in the food and beverage marketing and promotion. This raises the question of whether multi-sensory marketing offers anything to marketers in the disciplines of the restaurant sector especially in the developing world. As the roots of multi-sensory experiences are grounded in North American sensing, the researchers prefer to rely on developing country experience to critic it; thus, using the Africa perspective to deconstruct an advance country setting to help shape this ideology. Bringing on the five senses has worked very well in emotionally connecting people to the rituals of faith. These elements are discussed next:
2.1.1. Sight Marketing
Empirical studies relating to sight impressions have been deliberated by researchers such as Aprilianty and Purwanegara (2016) [20] . The sense of sight is the most powerful one for discovering changes and differences in the environment and is the most common sense in perceiving goods or services. The choice of colours and forms in the conception of a product, the layout of a point of sale, the realisation of promotion campaign are key factors of success (or failure), which are well understood by marketers. Colours and shapes are the first way of identification and differentiation. Many brands are associated to a specific colour, then it is memorised more easily by customers. Balaji et al. (2011) [21] , argued that the sense of sight, beside the purpose of receiving attention, can elicit an emotional response towards a product.
A sight strategy stresses the meaning of such multi-sensory expressions as colour, light, and theme, as well as graphics, exterior, and interior. All are underlined in picturing a brand’s identity and values. Studies show that vision can interact with such senses as hearing, touch, and olfaction (Lin, 2019) [22] . Sight has been an effective tool in marketing for decades. Be it a logo, a colourful poster or a stylish cover, sight is generally perceived to be the most powerful of the human senses, and it is also the most seductive. The strategy of sight has been into action in the food and beverage industry since its inception and is used by brand managers. Visualisation is used as an effective strategy in restaurant marketing and communication before the customer makes the decision to purchase. A huge number of hotels, restaurants, and recreation give a virtual tour of their onsite locations by giving a pictorial view of their website. Sight strategy rests upon a number of visual sight expressions which can attract and retain customers due to the service landscape (Liu, Bogicevic, & Mattila, 2018) [23] . Furthermore, researchers have showed that sight is a dominant factor in creating brand awareness and in generating customer experience.
2.1.2. Sound Marketing
The sense of sound is linked to emotions and feelings and it impacts brand experiences. Xie, Poon, & Zhang (2017) [24] have laid emphases that a sound strategy takes into account how the customer reacts with feeling when music and voice are present. Sound expressions such as jingles, voice and music offer possibilities to create memorable experiences. When sound is used consciously, a company may have the opportunity to create signature sound that characterizes its brand. The restaurant industry largely depends on this form of advertising for brand recall for their products. Companies choose good music to promote their brand identity and to influence the mood and sway customer buying habits. To associate music to a message is a good way to make the consumer remember it, since it impacts on behaviour, at a point of sale (Moreira, Fortes, & Santiago, 2017) [25] . When sound is directly linked to the product itself, consumers may interpret it as a sign of quality or familiarity. Restaurants are more concerned with increasing the spend-per-customer ratio, and slower music creates longer dining times, leading to a 29 percent increase in the average bill of customers (Liu, et al., 2018) [23] . Music and beat are distinct and can be strongly associated with the Ghanaian tradition and culture. For a holistic experience, music can be played in the background by foodservice providers whether in a restaurant, or in a casino or shopping arcades. In fact, music can be used to develop the brand experience that positively affects performance of firms.
The power of music has the capacity to contextualise the different behavious and support emotional states and attitudes. Music aims to put customer in a state of mind corresponding to the products that are sold and can be connected to the product in a way to act on the purchasing behaviour of customers. For instance, classical music will increase the quality sensation of products (Wiedmann, Labenz, Haase, & Hennigs, 2018) [26] . Music can also act on the “crowd management”, by influencing the time spent inside by the consumer. According to Liu, Bogicevic, & Mattila (2018) [23] , a fast-tempo music will push the customer to leave earlier. On the other hand, a slow music played at low volume will increase the time and the money spent inside. Same studies revealed also that clients will eat faster and consume less with a loud volume and fast-tempo music. Salhani (2013) [27] , revealed that at a point of sales, clients adopt their walk speed according to the beat of the music. Music offers a wide range of possibility to marketers to influence customers’ behaviour and to create a logical sales environment.
2.1.3. Smell Marketing
Out of all the senses, smell is the only one with a direct link to the brain. Smells trigger certain parts of the brain responsible for creating emotions and memories. According to Liu, Bogicevic, & Mattila (2018) [23] , the human nose can identify and remember as many as 10,000 cents and as much as 75 percent of our emotions are generated by what we smell. The most famous technique of smell marketing in the restaurant is the use of artificial smells to appeal to customers. This spreads the aroma of food in the atmosphere, thereby giving richer multi-sensory experience. Goldkuhl and Styfvén (2007) [28] , noted that the sense of smell is related to pleasure and well-being and is closely connected to emotions and memories. Smell can be harnessed by restaurant managers to add longevity to otherwise short-term expensive promotional campaigns. Scents are found to strengthen communication and bonding. Researchers proved the positive impact of a smell on the evaluation of a product performance (Oh & Kim, 2017) [29] . A pleasant smell positively influences the evaluation of a firm’s performance at the point of sale. The use of smell marketing can be interesting for a firm, provided that it knows how it target behave to ensure a good perception and a positive impact.
2.1.4. Taste Marketing
Research shows that, people can sense five basic tastes: bitter, sour, savory, salty, and sweet (Moreira, Fortes, & Santiago, 2017) [25] . Taste is the sense that merges all different senses together to create a complete brand experience related to emotional condition to change the mood of consumers and customer perception towards brands. Research indicates that the sense taste is highly mastered and exploited by the food operators in order to satisfy customers’ sense of taste and preferences (Moreira et al., 2017) [25] . Recent studies aimed to understand better the mechanism of taste and explore the existing relations between taste and colours. In a promotional way, companies often use taste marketing to convince customers, by making blind-tests or directly with sampling or free-tasting promotional set-ups. Biedekarken and Henneberg (2006) [30] , noted that the sense of taste is the most discrete emotional sense and often interacts with the other senses. The sensorial strategy of taste is vital to introduce in the foodservice sector because of its tangible characteristics. The sense of taste holds a huge significance in the foodservice industry, as it can be utilised by firms as well contribute to creating an image of the brand. It does not matter whether a firm or a brand naturally attracts customers to its products, taste clue is stimulated by recall for anyone who has had an earlier experience as the strong savors are difficult to forget (Oh & Kim, 2017) [29] . This can be an opportunity for the marketers to promote and sell their products by providing sample of the food or drinks to stimulate taste, encouraging their sales and enhancing their performance. According to Moreira, Fortes, & Santiago (2017) [25] , such actions can be determinant in the foodservice industry as customers are more likely to purchase a product that they already tasted and liked.
2.1.5. Touch Marketing
Finally, touch impressions have been discussed by researchers such as Peck & Childers (2008) [31] , among others noted that the sense of touch is related to information and feelings about a product through physical and psychological interactions. Brands that contribute to unique touch experiences have good opportunities to create an identity and image around them in terms of tangible marketing by incorporating the sense of touch in branding communications. This can be achieved by giving customers the encouragement and opportunity to handle products such as in trade experience―rather than putting up “Do Not Touch” signs on them. In the foodservice industry, touch marketing opportunities are present within the service setting through human contact, such as a firm handshake, can create a wonderful experience and meet the expectations of a customer in a restaurant. Furthermore, customers do a lot of marketing communication by advocating their experiences to families and friends and recounting their experiences. It has been stated that consumers search for and buy emotional experiences around what they can touch, feel and buy and no longer buy products and services alone (Moreira, Fortes, & Santiago, 2017) [25] . These authors noted that the human skin has more than 4,000,000 multi-sensory receptors that can be easily influenced through materials, weight, smoothness, and ease of the product. Sense of touch plays a great part when it comes to packaging design, or even in some promotional campaigns. It is a perfect method for getting close to consumer’s unconsciousness, perceptions, and feelings. The solid wish to pick up and touch things before buying is massive, and firms count on that in their display strategies. Our hands are an important link between our brains and the world. The fact is that, humans have more tactile nerve system in their fingers and for that matter, the weight of the cutleries, the softness of the napkins, the comfort of a chair, etc., which can affect the perception the customer has of the atmosphere since the touch experience is one of the major determinants of the well-being sensation (Rieunier, 2002) [32] .
2.2. The Relationship between Multi-Sensory Marketing and Non-Economic Performance
The link between multi-sensory marketing and non-economic performance is vital for foodservice operators to be able to achieve competitive advantage. A multi-sensory marketing takes place when more than one of the five senses contributes to positive perception of consumer purchasing experiences (Ali & Raza, 2017) [33] . It is important for firms to tap into consumer’s emotions, creating positive and long-lasting memories which can create positive-word-of-mouth about the services, with families and friends. The present study conceptualizes a model based on multi-sensory marketing and how it can be used to enhance business performance. Empirical studies show that vision, for example, can interact with such senses as hearing, touch, and olfaction (Calvert & Thesen, 2004) [34] . Other studies have demonstrated that various techniques identify multi-sensory convergence zones in the human brain, indicating that “one sense can be affected by relations with other senses” (Driver & Noesselt, 2008) [35] . Multi-sensory marketing is relatively a new trend in the foodservice industry however; its true potential is yet to be relished by marketers. Various studies have been conducted in the past to understand multi-sensory marketing and its application in the restaurant business. However, no comprehensive model has been developed yet, which would lead to stronger brand recognition and brand performance in the long term. This suggests that multi-sensory marketing is used by the different sectors of businesses to enhance overall business performance.
It is the objective of every organisation to enhance performance, which is seen as the metric for measuring the effectiveness of management in the long-term. Hapsari, Clemes, & Dean (2016) [36] , posit that the ability of an organisation to align the human and material resources for attaining organisational performance leads to sustainable competitive advantage. In measuring organisational performance, companies use non-financial performance indicators to assess the whole organisation towards business success. It is a well-known fact that financial reports are the main source of information about company performance, and basing on these, the business activities and financial position of companies are evaluated. However, under conditions of contemporary economic development, company management cannot rely only on the evaluation system of financial indicators in order to be able to manage the company successfully. The fact is that, the main indicators of business activity are not found only in financial data. The focus of this study is on non-financial performance aspects with strong emphasis on factors such as customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, service quality, repeat purchase and positive word-of-mouth. Such indicators relatively reveal the economic position of a company and opportunities for growth. These factors are being used in a wide number of organisations to support performance planning, measurement, and control. A comprehensive examination of the literature on non-financial determinants of an organisation was employed to construct the research model provided in Figure 1, which is elaborated to represent the dependent variable. The choices of the organisational factors discussed below are of the researcher’s judgment that they are more appropriate and can be easily quantified in assessing the performance of the foodservice operators.
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Figure 1. Multi-sensory marketing model. Source: Schmitt (1999) [46] .
The foodservice industry has both tangible (physical facilities & environment and food) and intangible (employee services and customer alignment) aspects. Furthermore, proper combination of these tangible and intangible aspects makes customers to perceive high service quality of the restaurant which results in more satisfied customers (Oh & Kim, 2017 [29] ; Ryu & Han, 2011 [37] ). Customer satisfaction helps in the context of differentiation of products and services of companies from the competitors especially in the service industry. So, researchers of marketing are more focused on the managing services effectively that will result in customer satisfaction (Gichunge, Ernest, & Bonuke, 2017 [38] ; Morrison & Crane, 2007 [39] ). For this purpose, more interest and attention were attracted regarding how to grasp customers through understanding the five senses (Krishna, 2013) [16] . In order to meet the trending customer need and paradigm, the service industry is extracting essence of the products and inserting them into interactive experiences to help customers in decision making (Nigam, 2012 [40] ; Wiedmann, Labenz, Haase, & Hennigs, 2018 [26] ). Loyalty depends on the customer’s valuation of the product or service depending on its demand and the accessibility of the services. Throughout the process if expectation meets with the reality, then the customer feels satisfied or vice versa about the services.
The idea for quality-of-service need came up out of total quality management theory and presently, is a key paradigm of non-economic performance. Customer’s perception of restaurant services influences their purchase decision as they are more attracted towards the high quality of services provided (Namkung & Jang, 2007) [41] . Service, atmosphere and quality of a restaurant are the most essential components affecting performance. Restaurant performance is influenced by the quality of restaurants and its atmosphere comprising of interior design, seating arrangement, music and other multi-sensory features (Ryu & Han, 2011) [37] . According to Ha and Jang (2010) [42] quality of food and quality of service have diverse impacts on customer satisfaction. The overall restaurant quality is viewed as key component of customer satisfaction and probability of customers endorsing the restaurant to others (Sulek & Hensley, 2004) [43] . Hence, restaurant quality is projected to improve satisfaction of customers and brand advocacy. Positive consumer experiences bring the customer closer to the brand and create emotional connection between them (Xie, Poon, & Zhang, 2017) [24] . Higher emotional intensity makes a costumer feel more satisfied (Rauyruen & Miller, 2007) [44] . The goal of multi-sensory marketing is to seduce the customer, while increasing his or her well-being, in order to influence the behaviour in a positive way concerning the products, or services of the company (Ali & Raza, 2017 [33] ; Hapsari, Clemes, & Dean, 2016 [36] ). Customer revisit or repurchase is a useful tool which provides an opportunity for companies to increase their sales. Marketing theory and practices are based on core concepts including customer satisfaction, loyalty, repurchase and service quality which leads to sustain competitive advantage (Gera, Mittal, Batra, & Prasad, 2017) [45] .
2.3. Objectives of the Study
The research aims at achieving the following objectives:
1) To investigate how sight marketing relates to non-economic performance.
2) To explore how sound marketing influences non-economic performance.
3) To determine the relationship between taste marketing and non-economic performance.
4) To ascertain the extent to which smell marketing is linked to non-economic performance.
5) To examine how touch marketing influences non-economic performance.
2.4. Research Hypotheses
To identify the relationship between selected management tools and measuring firm performance, the following research hypotheses have been formulated:
H1: There is a significant direct relationship between sight marketing and non-economic performance.
H2: There is a significant direct relationship between sound marketing and non-economic performance.
H3: There is a significant direct relationship between taste marketing and non-economic performance.
H4: There is a significant direct relationship between smell marketing and non-economic performance.
H5: There is a significant direct relationship between touch marketing and non-economic performance.
2.5. A Conceptual Model
For the purpose of this study, the five senses (sight, touch, taste, smell and sound) are the predictor variables and non-economic performance, which is made up of customer satisfaction, loyalty, service quality, repeat purchase and positive word-of-mouth as the outcome variable. Based on the evaluation of the gathered information an individual chooses a restaurant and along with it, develops expectations which need to be fulfilled post visitation. These expectations are the driving force of an individual to visit and revisit a particular restaurant as a loyal customer. In fact, a considerable level of customer experiences arises due to factors like security, natural surroundings, information and communication, recreation, for which a customer often does not pay directly but which are critical in creating the consumer satisfaction and thus, determining the perception of customers. In this study, these dependent variables are relied upon to assess non-financial performance with the link to multi-sensory marketing of firms are conceptualized. Assessing firm performance is critical to establishing the importance of various factors and resources combined towards the business goals and objectives. No organisation can afford to operate without evaluating and monitoring performance. Some scholars argue for the need of aligning performance metrics with that of the overall business goals.
The effectiveness of management to organise people and resources in an organisation is strategic for contributing to the interaction between multi-sensory marketing and firm performance. According to Schmitt (1999) [46] , there are a great number of design features that potentially can influence the effectiveness of multi-sensory marketing, and many of these have been empirically studied to clarify their impact. Through the review, the main purpose of this study was to identify factors influencing the implementation of multi-sensory marketing in non-economic performance management in the foodservice sector of the Ashanti Region. The model covers all the variables and represents the restaurant experience which is provided. This experience plays a very important role in the minds of the customers as they gauge the rightness of their decision on it. A restaurant has to capture every opportunity to make the visit of the customer memorable. This paper proposes the use of multi-sensory marketing to enhance the consumer experience in a positive way. Every experience can be made memorable if it has the capacity to influence one or more senses of an individual. Based on this principle, we have attempted to introduce sensorial strategies in executing the restaurant services sector to meet customer expectations. Satisfaction is achieved when one’s expectations are fulfilled. When a customer realises that his or her imaginations and expectations are met more than what they expect their satisfaction turns into delight. This customer delight can be achieved by influencing one’s multiple senses, through various means, and giving the customer a holistic experience. This feeling of delight is unforgettable and therefore it translates into repeat purchase or advocacy. A satisfied customer is a product’s best marketer and therefore this process finally culminates into enhanced business performance. The research model constructed in this study links the organisational factors towards achieving non-financial performance. Developing this framework is for the reason of selecting and using multi-sensory marketing strategy to attain and improve on non-financial performance of organisations, and is therefore, the focus of this research. This is shown in Figure 1.
The model is a complex blend and interaction of the following key elements:
1) Multi-sensory marketing: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch.
2) Non-economic performance: customer satisfaction, customer loyalty, service quality, repeat purchase and positive word-of-mouth.
These elements are interconnected as key sequential steps and comprehensively explain the rationale behind a consumer decision making process through the power of the five senses together. The model attempts to apply the concept of multi-sensory marketing to the restaurant industry, thus establishing emotional linkages to customers by wakening or activating all human senses to get closer to a customer’s mind and attention.
3. Research Methods
3.1. Data Collection Method
In this study data was collected via questionnaire, which is made of two main sections. The first section of the questionnaire contains the socio-demographic profile of the respondents such as age, gender, educational level, income level etc. The second section consists of the multi-sensory marketing indicators proposed by Schmitt (1999) [46] and the non-economic performance by Bianchi et al. (2014) [47] . The study made use of 56 items from 6 constructs namely; Sight (6 Items); Sound (4 Items); Smell (4 Items); Taste (4 Items); Touch (5 Items) and Non-Economic Performance (33 Items) on the seven-point Likert scale of the range from 1-strongly disagree to 7-strongly agree.
3.2. Participants
A total of 482 questionnaires were distributed of which only 381 questionnaires were useable for analysis (approximately 79% response rate). The questionnaires were distributed to every customer who came to the selected restaurants used for the study during the business hours (8 am-3 pm) from Monday to Sunday. Those who decided not to complete the questionnaire were eliminated from the study. The data collection took one month.
3.3. Data Analysis Technique
The data gathered were collected and analysed using structural equation modelling (SEM) supported by Analysis of Moment of Structures (AMOS 23.0) with maximum likelihood estimation to test the proposed hypotheses. SEM is a second-generation multivariate technique that combines multiple regressions with confirmatory factor analysis to estimate simultaneously a series of interrelated dependence relationships. SEM is a widespread technique in several fields including marketing, psychology, social sciences, and information systems (Hull et al., 1991) [48] .
4. Result
4.1. Socio-Demographic Profile of Participants
The result in Table 1 shows the demographic profile of respondents (customers
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Table 1. Socio-demographic profile of sample.
and management). The study used 38 management staff, 44.7% were males and the remaining 55.3% females. Out of the total of 38, 68.4% were married and 31.6% single. The result suggests that, 10.5% were junior high school leavers, 36.8% were senior high school graduates, 44.7% have obtained undergraduate certification whilst 7.9% with postgraduate certification. The result suggests that 28.9% were chief executive officers, 26.3% were general managers, 15.8% were accountants and the remaining 28.9% were administrators. The result showed that 2.6% of the managerial staff have been in operation for at most 2 years, 18.4% have worked for the company between 2 - 5 years, and 42.1% have worked for between 6 - 10 years whilst 36.8% have more than 10 years working experience with the company. In the case of the customers, out of the total of 331 respondents, 61.6% of them were males and 38.4% representing females. The result shows that 33.5% were within the age group 20 - 29 years, 36.9% were within 30 - 39 years, and 20.8% were between 40 - 49 years, 6.9% were between 50 - 59, whilst those above 60 of age, represents 1.8%. The result shows that 46.2% were married and 53.8% represent those who were single. From Table 1, 10.5% of the respondents have had up to the junior high school education, 36.8% have had senior high school education, those with undergraduate background formed 44.7% whilst postgraduate formed 7.9%. The analysis shows that 33.5% earn below GH¢2000, 30.8% earn between GH¢2100 - 3000, 17.8% earn between GH¢3100 - 4000, 11.2% represent those who earn between GH¢4100 - 5000 whereas 6.6% represent those who earn above GH¢6000.
It could be estimated from the result that 7.6% of respondents visit to sit there and work, 12.4% for business meetings, 3.9% to sit and study, 22.4% to socialise, 39.9% to eat whist the remaining 13.9% represent those who visit for entertainment purposes. As indicated in the result, 23.9% heard of the restaurant through advertisement, 12.7% through company website, 50.5% through friends, and relatives and the remaining 13% representing those who heard of the restaurants through marketers. The result shows that, 2.4% spend less than 10 minutes at the restaurant when they visit, 16% spend 10 - 30 minutes, 38.7% spend 30 minutes - 1 hour, 37.2% spend 1 hour - 2 hours whilst 5.7% spend more than 2 hours at the facility for their food and beverages. Respondents were further asked how often they visit their restaurants and the result shows that, 3.3% many times every day, 10.3% about once a day, 23.3% few times a week, 29.9% once a week, 24.8% a couple of times a month whilst 8.5% indicating rarely. Finally, the respondents were asked to indicate their profession and it was realised that 9.7% were business owners, 10% were students, 27.2% were self-employed, 26.3% were civil servants 24.2% works at the private sector whist 2.7% represent those who have retired from active services.
4.2. Descriptive and Normality Statistics
Table 2 shows the descriptive using the mean and standard deviation. The result shows that all items mean, and standard deviation ranged from (M = 4.55 to 5.51) and (SD = 1.22 to 1.65) respectively suggesting high level of agreement to almost all the questions asked. The results related to the normality test for the sample indicated that the estimated range of values for skewness was (−1.41 to −0.61) and kurtosis values from (−0.21 to 2.17). These values were less than the respective values of 3.0 for skewness and 8.0 for kurtosis as suggested by Kline (2010) [49] , hence the items assumed normality.
4.3. Measurement Model (Confirmatory Factor Analysis)
In order to achieve reliability and validity of the measurement model, confirmatory factor analysis was conducted for the six constructs. Table 3 illustrates the estimated parameters of the six-construct, first-order factor model. In the initial analysis some of the indicator loadings of items to their respective constructs were weak and after deleting four indicators and recreating the covariance matrices as an entered matrix for the confirmatory factor analysis, the results of the confirmatory factor analysis for all the items are revealed. As shown in the result table and figure respectively, the loadings for items ranged from 0.61 to 0.89 suggesting that all factor loadings are significant and provide evidence to support the convergent validity of the items measured (Hair et al., 2011) [50] . The average variance extracted ranged from 0.67 to 0.80, which were above the recommended threshold of 0.50 as suggested by Fornell and Larcker (1981) [51] , indicating that the measures for the six sub-dimensional factors had adequate convergent validity. Also, the factor loadings for all the items were above 0.50 suggesting that the constructs confirm to convergent validity (Hair et al., 2011)
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Table 2. Descriptive and normality statistics for customer indicators.
[50] . Also, the correlation coefficients of the six factors ranged from 0.226 to 0.791, this estimate is below the required threshold of 0.85 as suggested by Kline et al. (2010) [49] , indicating that the measures of the six sub-dimensional factors had discriminant validity. According to Barbara & Byrne (2010) [52] , they indicated that discriminant validity is achieved when the square root of the average variance extracted is higher than any other correlation in Table 4 and as indicated in the result, all the square root of the AVE as shown in the leading diagonal is higher than the values between any correlation factors. The estimated value for the values in the leading diagonal ranged from 0.819 to 0.894, suggesting that discriminant validity is supported, or in other words multicollinearity is absent.
4.4. Structural Model and Hypothesis Testing
To test the proposed research hypotheses and investigate the relationships between multi-sensory marketing indicators and non-economic performance, covariance structural analysis supported by the AMOS 23.0 was used. Model fit indices were used to evaluate the adequacy of the proposed model before test of hypotheses were performed. The goodness of fit indices obtained for the structural model in this study indices: Chi-square/df = 1.535, CFI = 0.973, TLI = 0.970, IFI = 0.973, GFI = 0.883 and RMSEA = 0.040. This result suggests that all model fit indices were sufficiently satisfied with their relative required values, hence the model exhibit adequate fit for the data gathered. This suggests that it was possible to proceed to examine the path coefficients. The structural model has the following properties such as the standardised path coefficients (β), standard error, and hypotheses result as indicated in Table 5. The level of significance (α) was set as 5%. The amount of variance explained (R-squared) by each one of the constructs on non-economic performance were as follows, sight (51%), Sound (33%), smell (25%), taste (36%) and touch (29%) as indicated in Figure 2 (Extracted model). Figure 3 shows the full and detailed statistics on all the models. Hypotheses 1 through to 5 proposed the association between multi-sensory marketing indicators (Sight, sound, smell, taste touch) and non-economic performance. As evident in Table 5, all hypotheses were significant and supporting at 5% significance level. The influence of the multi-sensory marketing indicators on non-economic performance were as follows; Sight (β = 0.506; CR = 9.101); Sound (β = 0.333; CR = 6.828); Smell (β = 0.254; CR = 5.498); Taste (β = 0.359; CR = 7.171); Touch (β = 0.288; CR = 6.134). Accordingly, 64% of the variance in non-economic performance has been explained, indicating that the explanatory power of the model may be considered satisfactory and that the model fits the data and is appropriate to test the hypothesis.
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Figure 2. Extracted standardised coefficient from full model.
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Figure 3. The result of proposed research model (standardised path coefficients)―full model.
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Table 4. Correlation between factors.
***Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed). Values in the leading diagonal represent square root of AVEs.
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Table 5. Summary of hypotheses testing results.
Note: β = standardised beta coefficients; S.E. = standard error; C.R. = critical ratio; *p < 0.05.
5. Discussions
As mentioned earlier, five multi-sensory marketing factors were presented that influenced performances of foodservice operators. However, on the findings in this study, three main organisational factors were found more significant that influence the implementation of multi-sensory marketing. The results showed that all factors of multi-sensory marketing were positively associated with non-economic performance dimensions of organisations. These are sight, sound, smell, taste and touch of multi-sensory marketing. Although the findings indicate that all five proposed hypotheses are supported, the strongest relationships were found to be between non-economic performance and sight, sound, smell, taste and touch respectively. Thus, indicating that sight, sound, smell, taste and touch have the most significant influence on performance. In conducting this research, the authors’ have to eliminate some factors due to irrelevancy with the situation in the foodservice. The study found out that, all hypotheses were significant and supporting at 5% significance level. In addition, this study argues that, in order to achieve high level of performance, companies should focus on symbols of emotional advertising clips, concentrate on images of emotional advertising, and create self-identification elements.
As evident in Section 4.4, all hypotheses were significant and supporting at 5% significance level. This indicates that, the positive influence of the multi-sensory marketing on non-economic performance is vindicated. This study replicates and extends previous research on multi-sensory marketing in the service setting that it cannot be ignored if a firm is poised to succeed (Wiedmann, Labenz, Haase, & Hennigs, 2018) [26] . In line with previous studies, this study shows that consumers react to the atmosphere of restaurants through the cognitive, emotional reactions and motives. The internal response (cognitive and/or emotional) of the customers facing the stimuli of the atmosphere is made by a synergy, superposition of the five human senses. For a long time, the marketers and psychologists believed that the individual was rational while making a judgment and decision, while the recent studies have shown that the person was making a fast thinking based on the experience and on memories. The sensation and perception are stimulated by the stimuli of the atmosphere and are closely linked: the multi-sensory organs catch information from the atmosphere of the point of sales (sensations). Then these sensations are transmitted through the nervous system to the brain which analyses it, interprets, and transforms it into perceptions (Iglesias, Markovic, Singh, & Sierra, 2017) [10] . Therefore, the brain transforms these perceptions and sensations into an internal response of the consumers toward the stimuli of the atmosphere through the emotional or cognitive reaction.
6. Conclusions
This study investigates factors influencing non-economic performance via a multi-sensory marketing strategy. By means of multi-sensory marketing, firms aim to stimulate consumers’ senses towards a brand, which ultimately influences firm performance. The theoretical implication of this study contributes to the body of knowledge with regard to how multi-sensory marketing impact on non-economic performance. The impact of multi-sensory marketing with all these variables in the restaurant industry is not studied simultaneously before to the best of the authors’ knowledge. The restaurant industry can utilise the findings of this study for improving customer service and loyalty (Satti et al., 2021) [53] . This study attempts to unveil the concept of multi-sensory marketing, acknowledging the fact that, a newly arising concept can be best understood and expanded through the examination of its components and outcomes in a different context. In addition, multi-sensory marketing plays a role in making the environment more effective in which they are used. The findings of the study reveal that youngsters are more attracted to the multi-sensory marketing approach. They consider such restaurants as full of attraction and want to revisit them. The environment of such restaurants is fascinating and they leave a better image on the consumers. The education of the consumers also plays a role in the liking of the restaurant, as it is supported by the results that consumers who have high level of education are more attracted to restaurants setting.
Non-financial indicators reflect individual elements of a company’s intellectual capital; they are intangible resources comprising the company’s value. In scientific literature, there is no common approach to the classification, measurement and assessment methods of non-financial indicators. As there are no common ways to reveal information, it causes difficulties in displaying information in relation to non-financial indicators. Assessment of a company’s non-financial performance errors basing on the recognition and assessment of non-financial indicators’ advantages and disadvantages provides an opportunity to consider options for improvement of non-financial indicators measurement. Knowledge in the literature on the performance of firms has been extended beyond financial performance to include new constructs, comprising customer satisfaction and loyalty, repeat purchase, positive word-of-mouth, and service quality as key performance indicators (KPIs). This study contributes to literature by advancing the knowledge of multi-sensory marketing formation process, which required further academic attention in services settings (Iglesias, Markovic, Singh, & Sierra, 2017) [10] . The findings of this study are expected to help advance the existing theoretical knowledge and debate in developing economies. This research serves as a source of literature since there is not much empirical evidence of the topic in the Ghanaian cultural background.
7. Recommendations
On the basis of the above conclusions, it is possible to make the following recommendations for the practical implementation of multi-sensory marketing for evaluation of the company’s non-economic performance. The authors hope that this study can be beneficial for properly improving the design, quality, and implementation of future researchers. This study in line with previous research has validated the positive linkage between multi-sensory marketing and the non-financial performance of firms. Above all, the important factors discussed in this article are the effective and efficient processes that drive the firm toward its objectives. From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes by highlighting more on how multi-sensory marketing works and its importance. The contribution of this paper is firstly, to expand the contextual knowledge on multi-sensory marketing and its factors that are used to influence strategic business performance. Secondly, it will add to the existing literature on multi-sensory marketing. Theoretically, it also contributes to the brand management literature and hospitality branding in a developing country background. The different components of the multi-sensory stimulations can be selected, combined and improved regarding the evolution of the needs, trends and consumer behaviour to have a better impact on the experience of customers. It was revealed that the cognitive reaction evokes the quality of the point of sales, and the emotional reaction evokes the pleasure felt by the customers through the experience of the multi-sensory marketing. It was identified that the atmospheric factors, such as visual, hearing and olfactory, stimulate the multi-sensory organs of the customers is still relatively low, there seems to be an increased awareness of the five senses in the restaurant sphere. Its successful implementation can help managers benefit strategically. Now, it is time for restaurants to realise the importance of implementing multi-sensory marketing. Managers can design such strategies that can incorporate all five vital senses.
The findings of this study will help in formulating strategies keeping in mind multi-sensory marketing principles. Managers need to know these variables and their usage in their day-to-day activities. They need to incorporate these variables in their marketing strategies to increase their profits and retain customers in the longer run. The concept of multi-sensory marketing along with service quality will direct the managers in the restaurant industry to attract customer and increase the length of their stay with the organisation. Through conducting this specific study, a review of a wide range of literature was conducted, especially in the field of marketing. In addition, the application of multi-sensory marketing model to practice in the foodservice industry with empirical research and hypothesis testing was the contribution of this study to assert the firmness of the multi-sensory marketing model to at least make it more applicable in the field of marketing. The investigation reveals the influences of multi-sensory marketing, and provides managers with a proper understanding of techniques and strategies that can be employed to influence buying behaviour through manipulation of multiple sensory cues.
The paper has illustrated the importance of non-financial performance for a company’s development and growth. Future empirical research should consider qualitative methods to gather data and use financial performance indicators of companies to explain why some companies are more economically superior. Obviously, there are still areas to discover in the multi-sensory marketing field. Though the interview-based study is a time taking process, yet qualitative study is needed in a study of this nature in Ghana. The understanding of how the senses are connected with the atmosphere, the brain, and the behaviour can be a considerable asset for the companies and marketers. Furthermore, with the increase of technologies such as the augmented reality, the virtual helmets or the touch screen in the shops, we can obviously consider research making a link between these new technologies and the senses of the individuals. And more specifically, how to create a new and rich experience for consumers at the point of sales through the digital technologies, such as digital tablets or digital noises and artificial scents in the restaurants. The present study faced constraints in terms of time, resources and the availability of data. Nevertheless, the study recommends certain measures related to future research, policy perspectives and the growth perspective of the restaurant industry. Future studies may address the gap in the literature regarding the empirical investigation of the outcomes of multi-sensory marketing on factors such as fast food and online sales, enriched with a comprehensive theoretical background. Further study could be conducted not only in the restaurant sector but also in other service sectors of the Ghanaian economy.