Using LLMs in sensory service research: initial insights and perspectives

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Researchers have started using large language models (LLMs), such as OpenAI's GPT, to generate synthetic datasets designed to mimic human response behavior. Several studies have systematically compared LLM-generated data with human samples in order to explore LLMs’ ability to mimic consumer decision-making. Extending prior findings, our research sets out to explore how GPT-4o responds to sensory information, and to evaluate its ability to grasp crossmodal correspondences as well as multisensory congruence–as commonly encountered in service settings. Our results indicate that while GPT-4o identifies and describes sensory stimuli accurately, it often fails to replicate the associative meanings and interpretations that humans derive from these stimuli, especially in stand-alone assessments. Our research therefore underscores the need for further exploration of the conditions under which LLMs reliably mirror human responses to sensory stimuli, and the implications of using LLMs in research on sensory-rich service settings.

Original languageEnglish
JournalService Industries Journal
Number of pages22
ISSN0264-2069
DOIs
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 2025

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2025 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

    Research areas

  • Generative artificial intelligence, large language models, sensory marketing, service research, servicescape
  • Management studies

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. Considering Teachers’ Beliefs, Motivation, and Emotions Regarding Teaching Mathematics With Digital Tools
  2. Responsibility and environment
  3. Development and characterisation of a new interface for coupling capillary LC with collision-cell ICPMS and its application for phosphorylation profiling of tryptic protein digests
  4. On the Existence of Digital Objects
  5. Influence of Long-Lasting Static Stretching on Maximal Strength, Muscle Thickness and Flexibility
  6. A hybrid hydraulic piezo actuator modeling and hysteresis effect identification for control in camless internal combustion engines
  7. Schreibt Ihr Unternehmen auch "grüne" Zahlen?
  8. CAN BUSINESS MODEL COMPONENTS EXPLAIN DIGITAL START-UP SUCCESS?
  9. On the optimal design of insurance contracts with guarantees
  10. Understanding and managing post-acquisition integration as change process
  11. From Planning to Implementation: Top-Down and Bottom-Up Approaches for Collaborative Watershed Management
  12. Comparing marginal effects between different models and/or samples
  13. Calculation of Physicochemical Properties for Short- and Medium-Chain Chlorinated Paraffins
  14. Finding the Best Match — a Case Study on the (Text‑) Feature and Model Choice in Digital Mental Health Interventions
  15. Design for the triple topline
  16. Einführung in die systemnahe Programmierung
  17. The Impact of Mental Fatigue on Exploration in a Complex Computer Task
  18. Towards a Comprehensive Framework for Environmental Management Accounting
  19. Daily breath-based mindfulness exercises in a randomized controlled trial improve primary school children’s performance in arithmetic
  20. Similarity of molecular descriptors: The equivalence of Zagreb indices and walk counts
  21. On walks in molecular graphs.
  22. New descriptions and typifications of syntaxa within the project 'Plant communities of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and their vulnerability' - Part I
  23. On the geometric control of internal forces in power grasps
  24. Cross-level Information and Influence in Mandated Participatory Planning: Alternative Pathways to Sustainable Water Management in Germany’s Implementation of the EU Water Framework Directive
  25. Current Trends in Environmental Cost Accounting - and its Interaction with Eco-Efficiency Performance Measurement and Indicators
  26. Gewalt
  27. Environmental heterogeneity modulates the effect of plant diversity on the spatial variability of grassland biomass
  28. Measuring plant root traits under controlled and field conditions
  29. Quantifying ecosystem services of rewetted peatlands − the MoorFutures methodologies
  30. Collaborative Information Systems zur Selbstorganisation von ad-hoc-Helfern
  31. Integration of risk-oriented environmental management information systems and resource planning systems
  32. SpurenLesen 3
  33. On Molecular Complexity Indices.