Abstract:
The proliferation of choices has rendered today’s discerning customers more adventurous, presenting a significant challenge for companies to attract new customers and retain existing ones. To address these challenges, companies employ various marketing strategies, with sensory branding and celebrity endorsement remaining critical tools in customer attraction and retention. This study aims to investigate the impact of sensory elements within sensory branding strategies on consumers' brand-switching behavior and to explore the moderating effect of celebrity endorsement on this relationship, focusing specifically on the shampoo industry in Sri Lanka. The research utilizes a survey-based quantitative design, targeting shampoo users in the Western Province aged between 18 and 35 years. Data were collected from a sample of 384 respondents using a structured online survey and a convenience sampling technique. The data were analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS version 20. The study's findings indicate that sensory branding positively influences consumer brand-switching behavior within the shampoo industry. Among the sensory aspects, the sense of sight was found to have the most significant impact on switching behavior. Additionally, it was determined that celebrity endorsement uniquely moderates the relationship between sensory branding and consumer brand-switching behavior, exhibiting a positive moderating effect. These findings underscore the importance for the shampoo industry, and the broader FMCG sector, to integrate both sensory branding and celebrity endorsements to effectively retain customers. Specifically, sensory elements such as color, theme, design, and size were found to be particularly effective in attracting new customers.
