The impact of sensory marketing on word of mouth marketing in marketing sports clothing products

The aim of this study is to examine the effect of sensory marketing practices on consumers' word-of-mouth marketing behaviors in the promotion of sportswear products. The relationships between the sub-dimensions of sensory marketing, which is the independent variable, and the sub-dimensions of word-of-mouth marketing, which is the dependent variable, were analyzed. The population of the research consists of students studying at the faculties of Pamukkale University, as well as academic and administrative staff working in faculties and rectorate units. The sample comprises 776 volunteers who participated in the 2023–2024 academic year. Data were collected through a questionnaire using Google Forms and analyzed using SPSS 22.0. Following the data screening, 18 outliers were identified and excluded from the analysis, resulting in a final dataset of 758 respondents. In order to reassess the measurement tools in different sample groups, which is important from a psychometric perspective, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted. Subsequently, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was performed to test the construct validity of the scales used. Multiple regression analyses were applied to measure the impact of sensory marketing practices on consumers' word-of-mouth marketing behavior in the sportswear sector. According to the results of the analyses, sensory marketing has a positive and significant effect on word-of-mouth marketing overall. It was also found that the influence of different dimensions of sensory marketing on word-of-mouth marketing is multifaceted and that each sense does not exert the same level of impact across all dimensions.