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. Variational Pragmatics
  2. Development and criterion validity of differentiated and elevated vocational interests in adolescence
  3. Changing societies, changing journalism
  4. rSOESGOPE Method Applied to Four-Tank System Modeling
  5. Considering Teachers’ Beliefs, Motivation, and Emotions Regarding Teaching Mathematics With Digital Tools
  6. Do Linguistic Features Influence Item Difficulty in Physics Assessments?
  7. What do people do when they use the internet?
  8. Responsibility and environment
  9. Spectral Kinetic Simulation of the Ideal Multipole Resonance Probe
  10. Construal level theory
  11. Case study on delivery time determination using a machine learning approach in small batch production companies
  12. Time-varying persistence in real oil prices and its determinant
  13. 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
  14. Narrative consistency across replays of pro-social interactive digital narratives
  15. CAN BUSINESS MODEL COMPONENTS EXPLAIN DIGITAL START-UP SUCCESS?
  16. The importance of product lifetime labelling for purchase decisions
  17. Separable models for interconnected production-inventory systems
  18. Paired case research design and mixed-methods approach
  19. How data on transformation products can support the redesign of sulfonamides towards better biodegradability in the environment
  20. Can not wanting to know be responsible?
  21. The impact of goal specificity and goal type on learning outcome and cognitive load
  22. B7-H1 restricts neuroantigen-specific T cell responses and confines inflammatory CNS damage: implications for the lesion pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis.