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. Changing societies, changing journalism
  2. Enterprise Architecture Management Support for Digital Transformation Projects in Very Large Enterprises
  3. Considering Teachers’ Beliefs, Motivation, and Emotions Regarding Teaching Mathematics With Digital Tools
  4. Performance Saga: Interview 06
  5. The relation of flow-experience and physiological arousal under stress - can u shape it?
  6. Responsibility and environment
  7. Spectral Kinetic Simulation of the Ideal Multipole Resonance Probe
  8. Construal level theory
  9. A Transatlantic Symposium on the Restatement (Fourth)
  10. Optimising patterns of life conduct
  11. Time-varying persistence in real oil prices and its determinant
  12. 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
  13. A hybrid hydraulic piezo actuator modeling and hysteresis effect identification for control in camless internal combustion engines
  14. Exploring the uncanny valley effect in affective social robotics
  15. CAN BUSINESS MODEL COMPONENTS EXPLAIN DIGITAL START-UP SUCCESS?
  16. Sliding Mode Control for a Vertical Dynamics in the Presence of Nonlinear Friction
  17. Release of monomers from four different composite materials after halogen and LED curing
  18. System and action theory
  19. Paired case research design and mixed-methods approach
  20. Schreibt Ihr Unternehmen auch "grüne" Zahlen?
  21. Mapping the vegetation of southern mongolian protected areas: application of GIS and remote sensing techniques
  22. How many organic compounds are graph-theoretically nonplanar?
  23. Survey Response and Observed Behavior
  24. Essential ecosystem service variables for monitoring progress towards sustainability
  25. On the optimal design of insurance contracts with guarantees
  26. Sustainability Science with Ozzy Osbourne, Julia Roberts and Ai Weiwei
  27. Multiobjective optimal control of fluid mixing
  28. Sustainable Development
  29. Transformation products in the water cycle and the unsolved problem of their proactive assessment
  30. Rethinking the Spatiality of Spatial Planning
  31. Application of Software and Web-Based Tools for Sustainability Management in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
  32. Investigating quality raters' performance using interface evaluation methods
  33. Co-production of nature's contributions to people
  34. The Mobile Phone: From an Instrument of Microcoordination to a Universal Control Device
  35. Circular and inclusive utilization of alternative proteins