Adriana Madzharov

I am a behavioral scientist in the domain of consumer psychology. I am recognized as an expert on sensory marketing and aesthetics research. Through experimental and field studies, I examine how sensory stimuli in people’s environment (e.g., ambient scent, color, sound) influence perception, and produce biases on behavior in new and unexpected ways. As sensory processing is the most basic form of information processing and precedes all other forms of information processing, sensory research has wide implications for all aspects of human behavior beyond consumption.

In my research, I explore the multisensory effects of olfactory, visual, auditory, gustatory, and tactile stimuli on behavior in physical and digital contexts. My work contributes to theories on sensory perception, hedonic consumption, and goal behavior. In addition, my research has wide managerial implications for retailing, advertising, and digital marketing. One of my research areas is food consumption where I study how food presentation (e.g., color, packaging) biases how people perceive and consume food. Another research area is ambient scent where I look at how the scents people experience in their environment might alter their perceived state and in turn influence their behavior.