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The marketing literature has shown a shift in research interest towards the brand experience. While this trend is observed starting just before the turn of the century, as early as 1982, Holbrook and Hirschman have examined experiential aspects of consumption. This stream of literature focuses on similar consumption experiences, but there have been wider investigations into brand experience, defined by Brakus et al (2009, p.53) as “subjective, internal consumer responses (sensations, feelings, and cognitions) as well as a behavioural responses evoked by brand-related stimuli that are part of a brand’s design and identity, packaging, communications and environment”. While not as extensive as the literature surrounding consumption experiences, there have been research efforts focused on experiential marketing and communications. This research area has been identified as pertinent to developing an understanding of consumer interaction with ambient ads. Firstly, ambient advertising, as a communications channel, allows the brand to broaden a consumer’s brand

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experience. Secondly, ambient ads provide consumers the opportunity to have a physical experience with the brand prior to purchase, furthering the brand experience.

While Holbrook and Hirschman’s (1982) research discusses consumption experiences only, the theory can be adapted and transferred to brand messages. The pair asserts the importance of stimulating consumers beyond utilitarian function, to target consumer aspects of fantasies, feelings and fun. They suggest strategies for brands to consider, such as aesthetics, multisensory engagement, dimensions of communication, product-related imagery, and the role of fun and playfulness in consumer enjoyment. Pine and Gilmore (1998) also assert the importance of multisensory appeals in creating positive brand experiences for consumers. While developed for consumption experience, these suggestions all related to ambient marketing, as an outlet for consumers to engage with the brand, through communications channels that can be seen to be less utilitarian in conveying ad information, as compared to traditional ad media.

Triantafillidou and Siomkos (2014) further the discussion on consumption experience by investigating the post-experience outcomes of satisfaction, nostalgia, WOM and behavioural intentions. The pair presents their own dimensions of consumer experience: hedonism, flow, escapism, learning, challenge, socialisation, and communitas. The most relevant findings with respect to this research study are the relationships between favourable brand experiences and resulting positive consumer satisfaction and WOM generated. The hedonism dimension, which is “related to positive feelings of pleasure, fun, excitement and enjoyment” (p.527), is seen to produce consumer satisfaction. Whereas consumers have been shown to avoid ad messages, it may be possible for ambient ads to generate positive consumer perceptions by providing consumers with fun and pleasurable ad experiences through use of unconventional mediums. Triantafillidou and Siomkos also find that hedonism is not seen to influence immediate WOM behaviour, but that consumers “will spread positive WOM to enhance their status and self-worth because they had lived a pleasurable and fun experience” (p.535). While these findings relate to consumption experience, there is a suggestion that hedonic appeals in ambient

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ads could translate into positive WOM generated by consumers. This outcome would then allow the brand message to reach consumers that had not come into contact with the ad itself.

Schmitt’s research, both as an individual and in conjunction with other researchers, provides theory as to brand experience in a broad sense, including communications. Schmitt (1999, p.57) asserts that what consumers are looking for are “products, communications, and marketing messages that dazzle their senses, touch their hearts, and stimulate their minds…to deliver an experience”. In this paper, he makes comparisons between traditional and experiential marketing, most notably characterising the former as focused on functional features and benefits and the latter on consumer experiences through sensory, emotional, cognitive, behavioural and relational values. More importantly, Schmitt provides a framework for managing experiences through use of strategic experiential modules (SEMs) and experience providers (ExPros), which form the basis of Gambetti’s later (2010) discussion of ambient communication. Schmitt’s SEMs are categorised by the type of experience offered to the consumer: sensory, affective, creative cognitive, physical, behavioural, and social-identity. Sensory, or SENSE marketing, and creative cognitive, or THINK marketing, were seen to be the most relevant to ambient advertising within this research study. Schmitt (p.61) describes SENSE marketing as “creating sensory experiences, through sight, sound, touch, taste and smell”, and THINK marketing as “appeal[ing] to the intellect with the objective of creative cognitive, problem-solving experiences that engage customers creatively”. Social-identity, or RELATE marketing, could also be applied to ambient ad research. Schmitt (p.62) asserts that RELATE marketing “expands beyond the individual’s personal, private feelings, thus relating the individual to something outside his/her private state”. He uses the example of brand communities, such as that of Harley-Davidson, whereas Gambetti (2010) translates this concept to ambient communications through sharing of consumer experience through dialogue and content, including photos, videos and comments. Schmitt includes use of communications and spatial environments as tools, or ExPros, in helping to create these experiences for consumers. These suggestions can be implemented in ambient ads in an attempt to reach

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consumers in a more engaging manner as compared to traditional advertising, by creating a brand experience for the consumer.

Building on Schmitt’s original work, Brakus et al (2009) and Zarantonello and Schmitt (2010) further the discussion of brand experience. Brakus et al dissect brand experience into four dimensions: sensory, affective, intellectual and behavioural. They present a scale by which to measure brand experience for the consumers, where brand experience affects consumer satisfaction and loyalty. Of important note is their assertion that experiences can occur even when a consumer does not have an interest in the brand, and can be both positive and negative. These claims are relevant to ambient advertising, which can reach a broad cross-section of consumers due to placement in the public domain. An ambient ad can thus reach and create a brand experience for consumers who were not previously involved with the brand, or who are not the primary target. Additionally, ambient ads should be considered as generating both positive and negative consumer perceptions and responses. Both these observations present areas for further research, with specific reference to consumer engagement with ambient ads.

Zarantonello and Schmitt (2010) built upon the brand experience scale developed by Brakus et al (2009) to profile consumers and predict their consumer behaviour. The pair also utilises the same four dimensions of brand experience. ‘Sensory’ refers to stimulation of any of the five senses (sight, sound, touch, taste and smell); ‘affective’ to feelings generated by the brand; ‘intellectual’ to the ability to involve consumers in their thinking; and ‘behavioural’ to physical responses and interactions with the brand. Zarantonello and Schmitt state that the intensity of the brand experience varies based on the extent to which the four dimensions are evoked. Extrapolating this concept to ambient advertising, the use of commonplace objects within the OOH environment lends well to marketers considering or implementing all four dimensions when developing an ambient ad. An investigation into the usefulness or influence of these four dimensions, particularly the behavioural dimension resulting in consumer interaction with ads, would be appropriate for this research study.

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Rayport (2013) narrows the discussion of brand experience specifically to advertising opportunities. He argues that traditional advertising, in attempting to reach consumers through repetition, mass presence and interruption, is becoming increasingly less effective. He suggests that marketers consider what their advertising can do for consumers as they move away from standard ad messaging, execution and placement. Rayport suggests strategic placement of ads according to the four spheres: public, social, tribal and psychological. The social sphere refers to where consumers interact and relate to each other; the tribal sphere relates to identity through affiliate groups; and the psychological sphere encompasses where consumers attach thoughts and feelings to language. The public sphere is seen to be most pertinent to ambient advertising, and it “typically engages consumers during moments of downtime when they’re moving between one point or activity and the next and have attention free for new inputs” (p.79). Rayport recommends four guidelines for effectively implementing ads in the public sphere: (1) relevance in context to the consumer’s environment or activity, (2) helping consumers problem-solve or fulfil a personal objective, (3) as branded interventions that reach consumers in a targeted and useful manner, and (4) providing consumers with experiences that are engaging, stimulating and captivating. These guidelines all serve as considerations for ambient ad executions in providing communications that Rayport suggests must be both welcome and useful to the consumer.

The above discussion on the research into the various facets of experiential marketing, while typically not directly addressing consumer experiences with ad messages, indicates the ideas that can be applied to ambient advertising. Investigation into the concepts identified would aid in broadening the understanding of the role ambient ads play in a consumer’s brand experience, and how these ads can provide engaging encounters through sensory appeals, aesthetics and placement.