SHOPPING * Selection of academic references: Ackerman, Joshua M./ Nocera, Christopher C./Bargh, John A.: Incidental Haptic Sensations Influence Social Judgments and Decisions. In: Science, Vol. 328, 25 June 2010, pp. 1712–1715. Jostmann, Nils B./ Lakens, Daniel/ Schubert, Thomas W.: Weight as an Embodiment of Importance. In: Psychological Science, Vol. 20, No. 9, 2009, pp. 1169–1174. Kahneman, D., Knetsch, J.L.&Thaler, R. (1990). Experimental Tests of the Endowment Effect and the Coase Theorem. Journal of Political Economy, 98, pp. 1325–1348. Peck, Joann/Childers, Terry L.: Individual Differences in Haptic Information Processing: The “Need for Touch” Scale. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 30, Dec. 2003, pp. 430–442. Peck, Joann/Shu, Suzanne B.: The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership. In: Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 36, October 2009, pp. 434–447. Peck, J.&Wiggins, J. (2009). It Just Feels Good: Customers’ Affective Response to Touch and Its Influence on Persuasion. Journal of Marketing, 70, pp. 56–59. Wolf, J.R., Arkes, H.R.& Muhanna, W.A. (2008). The Power of Touch: An Examination of the Effect of Dduration of Physical Contact on the Valuation of Objects. Judgment and Decision Making, 3(6), pp. 476–482. Three years, two laptops, 609,680 charac- ters, one hectolitre of coffee, 156 studies and some 500 telephone calls and inter- views with world-eminent agencies, aca- demics and marketing experts went into the making of Touch! – the first comprehensive description of the impact of touch within multisensory marketing. Touch! will change your understand- ing of marketing.You will learn how strongly this sense subconsciously influences our perception and how critical it is to your marketing success. Touch! draws on the latest findings in neuroscience, psychology and perception research to produce some “aha” mo- ments, reveals the tremendous potential that multisensory marketing harbours and suggests ways in which it can be routinely incorporated. Touch! Der Haptik-Effekt im multisen- sorischen Marketing by Olaf Hartmann and Sebastian Haupt, published by: Haufe-Lexware, 338 pages, 2nd edition (15 February 2016), ISBN: 978-3648079386, price: €39.95 BOOK RECOMMENDATION Touch! Der Haptik-Effekt im multisensorischen Marketing (“The haptic effect in multisensory marketing”, German only) produce effects in five dimensions: creating atten- tiveness, reinforcing information, bringing cred- ibility to product or brand promises, improving the perception of quality and increasing the like- lihood of a purchase and the price that will will- ingly be paid. Nothing convinces us more than the possi- bility to touch. When we touch, we feel – in more than one sense. Merkel nerve endings are specialised sensory cells that act as pressure sensors and measure the strength or pressure of a mechanical deflection of the skin. It is significant that the participants in these studies were unaware of the opinion- shaping influence of haptic appeal or signals. Perhaps even because our sense of touch is so innate to us, it generally escapes reflec- tion. The foundations of our haptic code – a lifelong subconscious matrix of experience – are also laid down in childhood before the age of about seven. In light of all this, the tactile properties of objects and products subconsciously affect the way in which they will be valued by (poten- tial) customers. As the US researchers Joann Peck and Terry L. Childers summed up after conducting many studies into haptic influenc- es in marketing and sales: touch experiences bring emotion into, differentiate and intensi- fy the relationship between the product and the customer. The haptic optimisation of product design, presentation and communication higher spontaneous purchase rate possible if customers are able to touch products. 40% 25