Senses have contributed to humanity’s survival over thousands of years. Our eyes and ears, for example, help us navigate within a chaotic world, guiding us around dangerous spots or noticing friendly faces in a crowd. Smelling is another sense that you probably don’t pay much attention to, at least until something overtly stinks or pleases. Scents can be subtle, and marketing people constantly use them to steer you toward a goal.
Consider something the St. Louis Rams did at the Edward Jones Dome. They pumped the smell of cotton candy through the dome’s HVAC system.
“As expected, cotton candy sales have gone up year over year so far,” reported Lucas Dillow for the National Sports Forum. “But the interesting part is they have seen healthy growth in overall concession sales across the board. The cotton candy scent triggers a response to buy food and drinks in general, on top of just cotton candy.”
It shouldn’t surprise you that the Rams are very happy with the results.
Perhaps, though, a cotton candy scent may be too sweet.
In a 2012 study, researchers from Washington State University and Switzerland discovered that a simple scent is more effective in influencing sales. The researchers exposed shoppers to simple and complex scents (orange scent and orange-basil blended with green tea, respectively). Sales increased when the simple one was in the air. The reason is because it’s more easily processed, freeing the customer’s mind to focus on shopping, the researchers say. In a separate study, the researchers showed that students completed word problems more quickly when simple scents were in the air than when complicated or no scents were in the air.
“Most people are processing it at an unconscious level, but it is impacting them,” said Eric Spangenberg, dean of the Washington State University College of Business and one of the researchers. “The important thing from the retailers perspective and the marketers perspective is that a pleasant scent isn’t necessarily an effective scent.”
Pleasant scents, though, can be effective on one front: morality.
In a 2009 study, researchers from BYU’s Marriott School of Management, the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management, and the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern State University showed that ethical behavior improved with spritzes of citrus-scented Windex. In two experiments evaluating fairness and charity, participants in clean-scented rooms more often gave back or donated money than those in non-scented rooms. The participants, too, were unaware of the scent in the room.
“Basically, our study shows that morality and cleanliness can go hand-in-hand,” said researcher Adam Galinsky (Kellogg School). “Researchers have known for years that scents play an active role in reviving positive or negative experiences. Now, our research can offer more insight into the links between people’s charitable actions and their surroundings.”
The researchers suggest these results could help with organizations that rely on traditional surveillance and security measures to enforce rules.
“Companies often employ heavy-handed interventions to regulate conduct, but they can be costly or oppressive,” said researcher Katie Liljenquist (Marriott School). “This is a very simple, unobtrusive way to promote ethical behavior.”
Finally, let’s look at one more study. This one involves memory and one of my favorite scents: rosemary. In a paper presented at the Annual Conference of the British Psychological Society this year, researchers showed that rosemary essential oil could improve prospective memory tasks. Participants who successfully performed tasks in a rosemary scented room scored much better than those in an unscented room. The participants in the scented room also showed higher levels of 1.8-cineole, a rosemary oil compound, in their blood.
“It supports our previous research indicating that the aroma of rosemary essential oil can enhance cognitive functioning in healthy adults, here extending to the ability to remember events and to complete tasks in the future,” said researcher Jemma McCready. “Remembering when and where to go and for what reasons underpins everything we do, and we all suffer minor failings that can be frustrating and sometimes dangerous. Further research is needed to investigate if this treatment is useful for older adults who have experienced memory decline.”
As evidenced, don’t rely on just sights and sounds. There’s a whole world of smells out there influencing guest experiences.
(Image via Flickr: Cory Voglesonger/Creative Commons)
