Coming from a background in musicology, Klemens Knöferle obtained a Ph.D. in Marketing from the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and is now a postdoctoral fellow at the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the Department of Experimental Psychology, Oxford University. His research focuses on how sensory aspects of products and retail environments influence consumers’ emotions, perceptions, preferences, and behaviour. Klemens is particularly interested in interactions between different sensory modalities, and builds on current insights from the fields of cognitive psychology and psychophysics into how our various senses process information and interact with each other. Moreover, Klemens specializes in the influence of auditory cues (such as product-inherent sounds and music) on consumer behaviour.
The goal of Klemens’ research is to contribute to a better understanding of the biases that arise from the way in which our senses operate, ultimately increasing our knowledge of unconscious influences on consumer behaviour. His research addresses an issue critical to companies and consumers: On the one hand, understanding how sensory features interact with each other can help to design better products, stores, and promotional activities. On the other hand, knowledge of unconscious sensory influences may enable consumers to make better choices. Klemens has consulted and collaborated with national and multinational companies in the automotive, retail, and food industries such as Audi, Porsche, Globus, and Nespresso.