Prof. Aradhna Krishna is an American academic and behavioral scientist focused on persuasion. She studies how different aspects of product and communication design impact people’s perceptions and behavior. Her work has looked at decisions related to health and nutrition, sensory and non-conscious marketing, food marketing, corporate social responsibility, and political decision making. She is consistently in the lists of the most productive marketing professors in the world. Harvard Business Review recently acknowledged her as “the foremost expert in the field of sensory marketing”. She was awarded as a Fellow of the Society of Consumer Psychology, the organization’s highest honor, in recognition of her contributions to consumer psychology.
Featured In
Areas of Interest
For a full list of research and publications, please see
Professor Krishna’s vita
Work Related to Current Events
Gender Performance Difference of Female versus Male students in Business School
What should social distancing signs look like. Read what Krishna has to say in this BBC article.
How do undecided voters vote? Read what Krishna has to say in this Newsweek article about the forthcoming 2020 presidential elections.
Ongoing decision making research relevant to 2020 elections
Case Study – Keeping it Clean During COVID-19: The Sanitizer Shortage
How did white become a metaphor for all things good?
How COVID-19 Is Affecting Consumer Shopping on Wisconsin Public Radio
In The Press
Professor Krishna on NPR:
Why Vanity Sizing Works
What is Sensory Marketing?
Professor Krishna on WGN
U-M experts offer insight on Black Friday, Michigan News, November, 2014.
Books Published
KRISHNA, ARADHNA (2013), CUSTOMER SENSE: HOW THE 5 SENSES INFLUENCE BUYING BEHAVIOR, PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
For years, marketers have been experimenting with the senses and sensory experiences to create better perceptions of their products. Even with a product as simple as a potato chip, there are many factors that go into the experience of interacting with the chip. How it tastes, how it smells, the sound that eating it makes, and the appearance of its packaging can all influence our perception of the potato chip itself. As scientists and managers begin to recognize the importance of the senses in product design and marketing, more and more products and advertisements have become sensory in nature.
Accepting the importance of the senses brings about a change in how a manager views his or her products. What changes can be made in the packaging, branding, and advertising to captivate the consumer’s senses? What changes can be made to the product itself? This book helps managers to understand how customers relate to products on a sensory level, detailing the specific interactions unique to each sense and showing them how small sensory changes can make a huge impact. Customer Sense allows managers to unlock the secret world of sensory appeal and to craft unique products and advertisements for their businesses.
KRISHNA, ARADHNA (ED.) (2009), SENSORY MARKETING: RESEARCH ON THE SENSUALITY OF CONSUMERS, ROUTLEDGE
In this edited book, the authors discuss how sensory aspects of products, i.e., the touch, taste, smell, sound and look of the products, affect our emotions, memories, perceptions, preferences, choices and consumption of these products. We see how creating new sensations or merely emphasizing or bringing attention to existing sensations can increase a product’s or service’s appeal. The book provides an overview of sensory marketing research that has taken place thus far. It should facilitate sensory marketing by practitioners and also can be used for research or in academic classrooms.
Connect With Me by Emailing
aradhna@umich.edu