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Renee Watkins
Renee Watkins

In 2007, scent marketing was deemed to be one of the top ten trends to watch after marketers and researchers found that scents prompt immediate and emotional consumer responses. (Bradford, 2009). To keep with the times, retailers, hotel chains, and restaurants have begun investing in distinctive smells that would hopefully amplify consumer spending and create a memorable brand experience. As a result, ad companies spend about $80 million per year on scent marketing. Furthermore, the Scent Marketing Institute estimates that that number will increase to more than $500 million per year by 2016. (Solomon, 2013). Due to the popularity of this growing trend and potential revenue generation associated to it, it is important that marketers have at least a basic understanding for the sense of smell and how it can be leveraged for marketing purposes. This paper will explore how the sense of smell effects consumer behavior, how some of today’s marketers are currently using scent marketing, and the benefits behind this particular type of marketing.

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2015 Using the Sense of Smell to Turn Scents into Cents WVUIMC612 FINAL RENEE WATKINS
1 Table of Contents Overview ...........................................................................................................................................1 How the sense of smell affects consumer behavior ........................................................................2 How marketers leverage the sense of smell in their marketing efforts ...........................................4 Benefits of leveraging the sense of smell in marketing efforts........................................................5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................6
2 Overview In 2007, scent marketing was deemed to be one of the top ten trends to watch after marketers and researchers found that scents prompt immediate and emotional consumer responses. (Bradford, 2009). To keep with the times, retailers, hotel chains, and restaurants have begun investing in distinctive smells that would hopefully amplify consumer spending and create a memorable brand experience. As a result, ad companies spend about $80 million per year on scent marketing. Furthermore, the Scent Marketing Institute estimates that that number will increase to more than $500 million per year by 2016. (Solomon, 2013). Due to the popularity of this growing trend and potential revenue generation associated to it, it is important that marketers have at least a basic understanding for the sense of smell and how it can be leveraged for marketing purposes. This paper will explore how the sense of smell effects consumer behavior, how some of today’s marketers are currently using scent marketing, and the benefits behind this particular type of marketing. How the sense of smell affects consumer behavior A person’s sense of smell is one of the most primal and deeply rooted senses of the chemical alert system. Humans process aromatic cues in the limbic system, the most primitive part of the brain, where humans experience immediate emotions. (Solomon, 2013). As a result, when a person smells something, the odor receptors produce an immediate, instinctive reaction. Unlike other sensory reactions (hearing, vision, feeling, or taste), a person’s brain responds to the sense of scent before they even think. (Bradford, 2009).
3 In addition, because the olfactory bulb in connected to the limbic system of the brain (which is the system that governs the human emotion), the sense of smell is considered to be the sense most closely related to emotional reactions. (Bradford, 2009). In fact, the sense of smell is believed to affect 75 percent of a person’s daily emotions. (Air Aroma, n.d.). The sense of smell also directly correlates to a person’s involuntarily human actions. In a recent study, researchers Krashna, Morrin, and Sayin, set out to discover if real or imagined food smells increased salivation levels and a person’s desire for various food products. Test participants were shown images of food and written cues. There were later asked to smell or imagine scents representing those images. The researchers measured their salivation levels and consumption behaviors. The researchers discovered that smelling a food scent increased salivation levels and consumption desires for all of the participants. (Krashna, 2014). Food retailers such as Cinnabon have taken advantage of these findings. In fact, Cinnabon places its ovens near the entrances of its stores so the smell of fresh baked cinnamon rolls is emitted throughout the mall or airport every time their oven doors are open. They bake their cinnamon rolls every 30 minutes and some stores have even been instructed to head additional trays of brown sugar and cinnamon to keep a fresh scent in the air. This aroma infusion has become a huge aspect of the brand’s marketing strategy for that they have found that stores who placed the ovens in the back of the stores had significantly lower sales. (Nassauer, 2014). Studies also indicate that a person will remember 35 percent of what they smell. Yet only remember 1 percent of what they touch, 2 percent of what they hear, 5 percent of what they see, and 15 percent of what they taste. (Accuscents, n.d.). The sense of smell is also the only sense that consumers can’t voluntarily turn off or avoid. Therefore, today’s marketers are
4 looking for ways to leverage the sense of smell into their marketing efforts and hopefully in turn, elicit a conditioned response from consumers. How marketers leverage the sense of smell in their marketing efforts Scents are used for marketing in various ways. Scents can be used as a marketer scent, product scent, and/or ambient scent. Marketer scents is when scents are used to attract attention to products and services as part of a promotional tactic. (Bradford, 2009). Examples include the new car smell at the car dealership or when Verizon used the aroma of chocolate in its stores to promote LG’s Chocolate phone. (Bradford, 2009). Interestingly, when it comes to chocolate, a study found that consumers who viewed ads for chocolate and who were also exposed to chocolate-like odors, spent more time processing the product information and were more likely to try different alternatives within the product category. (Solomon, 2013). While it’s not clear if the smell of chocolate prompted consumers to spend additional time reviewing the LG Chocolate, Verizon certainly hoped this marketing tactic lead to additional market spend. Product scents are developed as products for the purposes of providing personal or general odors to motivate approach behaviors or deodorizing. (Bradford, 2009). A great example of this is Bath and Body Work’s candles or Wall Flowers. Ambient scents, which date roughly back to the 1970’s, are general odors that are present as part of the retail environment. (Klara, 2012). Ambient scents can be objective, meaning that it was developed with the intention of affecting the attitudes and behavior of consumers for the benefit of the retailer. Ambient scents can also impact customers covertly, affecting the attitudes
5 and behavior of customers for the benefit of the retailer. (Bradford, 2009). A study done in 2013 by the Global Journal of Commerce and Management Perspective said that ambient scent has the strongest impact when it comes to enhancing consumer behavior in terms of emotion, evaluation, willingness to return to a store, and purchase decisions. (Smiley, 2014). Brands such as the J.W. Marriott understand the importance of ambient scents and have worked to leverage ambient scents in their marketing efforts. Mitzi Gaskins, Vice President of Global Brand Leader for the J.W. Marriott, said that scent is just as important as music, lighting, and botanical elements in creating the right mood or experience. (Smiley, 2014). Therefore, J.W. Marriott invested in developing a unique brand smell and created a fragrance from scratch. The scent is described as a soft, fresh, subtle citrus smell. Guests can even take a little piece of J.W. Marriott home with them, as the hotel scent is available for sale on the hotel’s website. (Smiley, 2014). Benefits of leveraging the sense of smell in marketing efforts Scents have been found to influence memory, impact perception, and increase sales. (Winter, 2014). In recent years, marketing researchers Madzharov, Block, and Morrin conducted four highly controlled, real-world field studies on ambient scents that differ in temperature (i.e. warm or cool) and how they affect consumer behavior. While researchers understood the power of scents on consumer behavior, they were surprised to learn that even the most subtle, warm ambient scent had a very powerful influence on consumer behavior. In fact, the findings of the studies concluded that warm-scent environments create perceptions of higher social density,
6 power preferences, purchasing of prestige products, and higher dollar spending. (Madzharov, 2015). Ambient scents are particularly beneficial for marketers. In fact, studies have found that 84% of people were more likely to buy shoes when in a scented room. Moreover, those same respondents would pay 10 - 15% more for the same product if they were in a scented room. In another study, a sweet citrus ambient scent increased the average total purchases in a retail setting from $55 to $90 per customer. (Bradford, 2009). Researchers have also found that consumers are 100 times more likely to remember something they smelled over something they saw, heard, or touched. (Bradford, 2009). Another study concluded that test subjects showed a higher recall of a test brand’s attributes if it was embedded with a scent. This effect persisted up to 2 weeks after the conclusion of the experiment. (Solomon, 2013). Therefore, based on these findings, scent marketing can be extremely beneficial when implemented correctly by the marketer. Conclusion Scents have a powerful effect on consumer behavior. If leveraged properly, scent marketing has the potential to increase brand awareness, improve brand perception, and generate additional revenue for the brand. As more brands begin to understand and learn about the power of scent marketing, the more consumers will be exposed to retail experiences that are a feast for the senses.
7 References Accuscents. (n.d.). Why and How Scent Marketing Workds. Retrieved from Accuscents: http://www.accuscents.com/business/scent-marketing-works.html Air Aroma. (n.d.). Why Scent Marketing? Retrieved from Air Aroma: http://www.air- aroma.com/scent-marketing Bradford, K. D. (2009). The Use of Scents to Influence Consumers: The Sense of Using Scents to Make Cents. Journal of Business Ethics, 141-153. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.www.libproxy.wvu.edu/stable/40665290?Search=yes&seq=1#page_ scan_tab_contents Klara, R. (2012, March 05). Something in the Air. Retrieved from AdWeek: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/something-air-138683 Krashna, A. M. (2014). Smellizing Cookies and Salivating: A Focus on Olfactory Imagery. Jounral of Consumer Research, 18-25. Madzharov, A. B. (2015). The Cool Scent of Power: Effects of Ambient Scent on Consumer Preferences and Choice Behavior. Journal of Marketing, 83-93. Nassauer, S. (2014, May 20). Using Scent as a Marketing Tool, Stores Hope It--and Shoppers-- Will Linger. Retrieved from The Wall Street Journal: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303468704579573953132979382 Smiley, M. (2014, December 09). Dollars & Scents: From Clothes to Cars to Banks, Brands Seek Distrinction Through Gragrance. Retrieved from Advertising Age: http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/smell-money-marketers-sell-scent/296084/ Solomon, M. R. (2013). Dollars and Scents. In M. R. Solomon, Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being - 10th ed. (p. 53). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Winter, C. (2014, January 09). What Should a Bank Smell Like? Retrieved from BloombergBusiness: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-01-09/what-should-a- bank-smell-like

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Rwatkins 612 w9

  • 1. 2015 Using the Sense of Smell to Turn Scents into Cents WVUIMC612 FINAL RENEE WATKINS
  • 2. 1 Table of Contents Overview ...........................................................................................................................................1 How the sense of smell affects consumer behavior ........................................................................2 How marketers leverage the sense of smell in their marketing efforts ...........................................4 Benefits of leveraging the sense of smell in marketing efforts........................................................5 Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................6
  • 3. 2 Overview In 2007, scent marketing was deemed to be one of the top ten trends to watch after marketers and researchers found that scents prompt immediate and emotional consumer responses. (Bradford, 2009). To keep with the times, retailers, hotel chains, and restaurants have begun investing in distinctive smells that would hopefully amplify consumer spending and create a memorable brand experience. As a result, ad companies spend about $80 million per year on scent marketing. Furthermore, the Scent Marketing Institute estimates that that number will increase to more than $500 million per year by 2016. (Solomon, 2013). Due to the popularity of this growing trend and potential revenue generation associated to it, it is important that marketers have at least a basic understanding for the sense of smell and how it can be leveraged for marketing purposes. This paper will explore how the sense of smell effects consumer behavior, how some of today’s marketers are currently using scent marketing, and the benefits behind this particular type of marketing. How the sense of smell affects consumer behavior A person’s sense of smell is one of the most primal and deeply rooted senses of the chemical alert system. Humans process aromatic cues in the limbic system, the most primitive part of the brain, where humans experience immediate emotions. (Solomon, 2013). As a result, when a person smells something, the odor receptors produce an immediate, instinctive reaction. Unlike other sensory reactions (hearing, vision, feeling, or taste), a person’s brain responds to the sense of scent before they even think. (Bradford, 2009).
  • 4. 3 In addition, because the olfactory bulb in connected to the limbic system of the brain (which is the system that governs the human emotion), the sense of smell is considered to be the sense most closely related to emotional reactions. (Bradford, 2009). In fact, the sense of smell is believed to affect 75 percent of a person’s daily emotions. (Air Aroma, n.d.). The sense of smell also directly correlates to a person’s involuntarily human actions. In a recent study, researchers Krashna, Morrin, and Sayin, set out to discover if real or imagined food smells increased salivation levels and a person’s desire for various food products. Test participants were shown images of food and written cues. There were later asked to smell or imagine scents representing those images. The researchers measured their salivation levels and consumption behaviors. The researchers discovered that smelling a food scent increased salivation levels and consumption desires for all of the participants. (Krashna, 2014). Food retailers such as Cinnabon have taken advantage of these findings. In fact, Cinnabon places its ovens near the entrances of its stores so the smell of fresh baked cinnamon rolls is emitted throughout the mall or airport every time their oven doors are open. They bake their cinnamon rolls every 30 minutes and some stores have even been instructed to head additional trays of brown sugar and cinnamon to keep a fresh scent in the air. This aroma infusion has become a huge aspect of the brand’s marketing strategy for that they have found that stores who placed the ovens in the back of the stores had significantly lower sales. (Nassauer, 2014). Studies also indicate that a person will remember 35 percent of what they smell. Yet only remember 1 percent of what they touch, 2 percent of what they hear, 5 percent of what they see, and 15 percent of what they taste. (Accuscents, n.d.). The sense of smell is also the only sense that consumers can’t voluntarily turn off or avoid. Therefore, today’s marketers are
  • 5. 4 looking for ways to leverage the sense of smell into their marketing efforts and hopefully in turn, elicit a conditioned response from consumers. How marketers leverage the sense of smell in their marketing efforts Scents are used for marketing in various ways. Scents can be used as a marketer scent, product scent, and/or ambient scent. Marketer scents is when scents are used to attract attention to products and services as part of a promotional tactic. (Bradford, 2009). Examples include the new car smell at the car dealership or when Verizon used the aroma of chocolate in its stores to promote LG’s Chocolate phone. (Bradford, 2009). Interestingly, when it comes to chocolate, a study found that consumers who viewed ads for chocolate and who were also exposed to chocolate-like odors, spent more time processing the product information and were more likely to try different alternatives within the product category. (Solomon, 2013). While it’s not clear if the smell of chocolate prompted consumers to spend additional time reviewing the LG Chocolate, Verizon certainly hoped this marketing tactic lead to additional market spend. Product scents are developed as products for the purposes of providing personal or general odors to motivate approach behaviors or deodorizing. (Bradford, 2009). A great example of this is Bath and Body Work’s candles or Wall Flowers. Ambient scents, which date roughly back to the 1970’s, are general odors that are present as part of the retail environment. (Klara, 2012). Ambient scents can be objective, meaning that it was developed with the intention of affecting the attitudes and behavior of consumers for the benefit of the retailer. Ambient scents can also impact customers covertly, affecting the attitudes
  • 6. 5 and behavior of customers for the benefit of the retailer. (Bradford, 2009). A study done in 2013 by the Global Journal of Commerce and Management Perspective said that ambient scent has the strongest impact when it comes to enhancing consumer behavior in terms of emotion, evaluation, willingness to return to a store, and purchase decisions. (Smiley, 2014). Brands such as the J.W. Marriott understand the importance of ambient scents and have worked to leverage ambient scents in their marketing efforts. Mitzi Gaskins, Vice President of Global Brand Leader for the J.W. Marriott, said that scent is just as important as music, lighting, and botanical elements in creating the right mood or experience. (Smiley, 2014). Therefore, J.W. Marriott invested in developing a unique brand smell and created a fragrance from scratch. The scent is described as a soft, fresh, subtle citrus smell. Guests can even take a little piece of J.W. Marriott home with them, as the hotel scent is available for sale on the hotel’s website. (Smiley, 2014). Benefits of leveraging the sense of smell in marketing efforts Scents have been found to influence memory, impact perception, and increase sales. (Winter, 2014). In recent years, marketing researchers Madzharov, Block, and Morrin conducted four highly controlled, real-world field studies on ambient scents that differ in temperature (i.e. warm or cool) and how they affect consumer behavior. While researchers understood the power of scents on consumer behavior, they were surprised to learn that even the most subtle, warm ambient scent had a very powerful influence on consumer behavior. In fact, the findings of the studies concluded that warm-scent environments create perceptions of higher social density,
  • 7. 6 power preferences, purchasing of prestige products, and higher dollar spending. (Madzharov, 2015). Ambient scents are particularly beneficial for marketers. In fact, studies have found that 84% of people were more likely to buy shoes when in a scented room. Moreover, those same respondents would pay 10 - 15% more for the same product if they were in a scented room. In another study, a sweet citrus ambient scent increased the average total purchases in a retail setting from $55 to $90 per customer. (Bradford, 2009). Researchers have also found that consumers are 100 times more likely to remember something they smelled over something they saw, heard, or touched. (Bradford, 2009). Another study concluded that test subjects showed a higher recall of a test brand’s attributes if it was embedded with a scent. This effect persisted up to 2 weeks after the conclusion of the experiment. (Solomon, 2013). Therefore, based on these findings, scent marketing can be extremely beneficial when implemented correctly by the marketer. Conclusion Scents have a powerful effect on consumer behavior. If leveraged properly, scent marketing has the potential to increase brand awareness, improve brand perception, and generate additional revenue for the brand. As more brands begin to understand and learn about the power of scent marketing, the more consumers will be exposed to retail experiences that are a feast for the senses.
  • 8. 7 References Accuscents. (n.d.). Why and How Scent Marketing Workds. Retrieved from Accuscents: http://www.accuscents.com/business/scent-marketing-works.html Air Aroma. (n.d.). Why Scent Marketing? Retrieved from Air Aroma: http://www.air- aroma.com/scent-marketing Bradford, K. D. (2009). The Use of Scents to Influence Consumers: The Sense of Using Scents to Make Cents. Journal of Business Ethics, 141-153. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.www.libproxy.wvu.edu/stable/40665290?Search=yes&seq=1#page_ scan_tab_contents Klara, R. (2012, March 05). Something in the Air. Retrieved from AdWeek: http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/something-air-138683 Krashna, A. M. (2014). Smellizing Cookies and Salivating: A Focus on Olfactory Imagery. Jounral of Consumer Research, 18-25. Madzharov, A. B. (2015). The Cool Scent of Power: Effects of Ambient Scent on Consumer Preferences and Choice Behavior. Journal of Marketing, 83-93. Nassauer, S. (2014, May 20). Using Scent as a Marketing Tool, Stores Hope It--and Shoppers-- Will Linger. Retrieved from The Wall Street Journal: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303468704579573953132979382 Smiley, M. (2014, December 09). Dollars & Scents: From Clothes to Cars to Banks, Brands Seek Distrinction Through Gragrance. Retrieved from Advertising Age: http://adage.com/article/cmo-strategy/smell-money-marketers-sell-scent/296084/ Solomon, M. R. (2013). Dollars and Scents. In M. R. Solomon, Consumer Behavior: Buying, Having, and Being - 10th ed. (p. 53). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Winter, C. (2014, January 09). What Should a Bank Smell Like? Retrieved from BloombergBusiness: http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2014-01-09/what-should-a- bank-smell-like