Eight Major Sensory Modes

1. Vision. Visual information transmits in the form of electromagnetic radiation. This is received by
photoreceptors in the retina of the eye such as rods and cones. Rod cells are highly sensitive to minute
changes in the stimulus and are used for twilight or nighttime vision. Cone cells are less sensitive and are
used for color and daytime vision. Attractive and colorful products like clothing, accessories, gadgets can
be more appreciated in daytime due to active cone cells.

Both cells change electromagnetic radiation into neural impulses that transmit along the optic
nerve to the areas of the brain requiring visual information in the occipital lobe, the thalamus, and the
cerebral cortex.

2. Audition. Auditory information passes through rhythmic changes in air pressure inside the ear, an ear
drum and is determined by the inner ear which is hair cells in the organ of corti, a receptor for hearing. It
is initially amplified by special bones in the middle ear before passing to the aforecited receptor of the
inner ear which serves as a response to vibration. The information is stored with regard to loudness and
pitch, and transmitted to the auditory nerve to the specialized locations of the brain, in the temporal or
auditory lobe, the thalamus, and the cerebral cortex. Marketers use music or other audio effects to attract
attention from the public.

3. Olfaction. Olfaction information arrives in the form of chemicals carried in the air. Olfactory bipolar
cells are receptors for smell which protrudes directly into the airflow inside the nostril which contains
chemical molecules. Such molecules produce an electrochemical impulse transmitted to the olfactory
cortex of the brain along the olfactory nerve. Customers can discriminate the smell of Max fried chicken
from other popular fried chicken food chains.

4. Gustation. Gustatory information means the detection of chemical molecules and is dissolved in saliva,
a saline-like fluid produced by salivary glands in the mouth. Taste cells in the taste buds are the receptors
for taste. They are located on the tongue and soft palate of the mouth. Sweet, sour, salty and bitter taste
cells are present in the saliva that respond to various chemical combinations of dissolved substance
producing a neural impulse and transmitted to the temporal lobe of the brain. Food product category is
the basic needs and wants of the consumers that makes the business most lucrative. Marketers consider
the taste of the consumers as very important in the formulation of marketing strategies.

5. Cutaneous or Tactile. Tactile information arrives in the form of direct contact with the skin. Touch, pain,
pressure, and temperature are functions of the skin. There are many specialized receptors that are located
in the different layers of the skin. Free nerve endings are general receptors for skin. From the specialized
skin receptors for pressure and temperature, they produce electro-chemical impulses transmitted via
thalamus to the parietal lobe. In the case of skin receptors for touch and pain, they transduce the neural
impulse directly to the spinal cord in the neural reflex arc that results in swift muscle action to avoid
painful or aversive stimulus. Painless drugs offered by drug companies are salable to the doctors and
consumers. Massage parlors are patronized by the customers for relaxation and stress reduction.

6. Sense of Equilibrium. Equilibrium or balance monitors the position and movement of the whole body.
In a strict sense, inner ear is the biological gyroscopes for sense of balance (Myers, 1997). Hair cells in the
vestibular membrane or semicircular canals of the inner ear are receptors for balancing. Vestibular sacs
which connect the canals with the cochlea are substances the move when the head rotates or tilt.

Head movement stimulates the aforecited receptors then transmitted to the regions of the brain
to support body position and maintain body balance. Products like bicycle or skateboard are designed
appropriate for sense of balance.

7. Sense of Kinesthesis. Kinesthesis is an information about body position and movement. Muscle
spindles, golgi tendon organs and joints, or proprioceptors are receptors for kinesthesis. They produce
neural impulses that transmit to the areas of the brain like frontal lobe, brain stem, cerebellum, and the
like. Each of these proprioceptors has links with structures of the cerebellum and other parts of the brain
that controls voluntary bodily movement in the entire cerebral cortex. A good example is a multi-purpose
gym equipment. Advertisements need to attract the awareness and bodily movements of the consumers
through the product.

8. Organic Sense. Organic sense is an information about internal body movement. Internal organs (visceral
organs like stomach, intestines, internal sex organs, throat, lungs, and heart) or interceptors are receptors
for organic sense. The moment the sensory fibers of the aforecited organs are stimulated as an outcome
of their activities, they produce electro-chemical reactions and transmit them to the regions of the brain
via thalamus, hypothalamus, and other area of the entire nervous systems thus giving rise to organic
sensation.

Organic sensation is closely interwoven with drives, needs, wants and, motives, stress,
motivations, and emotions. Biological experiences such as thirst, hunger, sexual desires, nausea, bladder,
and bowel tensions, thrills, suffocation, stress, and feeling of satisfaction are biological and psychological
activities of the visceral organs.