Visual Sensory Cues and Customer Experience Management in Coffee Shops: An Experimental Study of Gender as a Moderator

Abstract

Background Coffee shops increasingly compete through managed customer experiences rather than product quality alone. Visual sensory cues, including interior color, lighting, decoration, spatial aesthetics, product presentation, and menu design, shape how consumers interpret a service environment. This study examined whether gender moderates the effect of visual sensory cues on sensory brand experience in coffee shop consumption. Methods A 2 x 2 between-subjects experiment was conducted by manipulating visual sensory cues into strong and weak conditions and comparing female and male participants. A total of 120 coffee shop consumers participated, with 30 participants assigned to each experimental cell. Manipulation-check items were used to confirm whether participants perceived the intended difference between visual cue conditions. The main hypothesis was tested using a univariate two-way ANOVA/general linear model. Results Manipulation checks confirmed that participants distinguished strong from weak visual cue conditions. The interaction between gender and visual sensory cues significantly influenced sensory brand experience (b = 2.191, SE = 0.128, t = 17.091, p < 0.001), supporting the moderation hypothesis. However, female consumers did not report higher sensory brand experience under weak visual cues, and strong visual cues did not significantly increase male consumers’ sensory brand experience. Conclusions The findings suggest that sensory design effects are contingent rather than universal. Stronger visual cues do not automatically create stronger sensory brand experience; instead, customer experience management in coffee shops depends on the fit between environmental cues, segment characteristics, and consumer perceptual processing.