Product Scent and Memory

Ambient scent has the strongest impact in enhancing consumer behavior in terms of cognitive, emotion, evaluation, willingness to return to the store and purchasing intention compared to any other atmospheric variables. Congruity and incongruity of ambient scent both have similar positive effects on the consumers’ behavior. Stimulus Organisms Response Paradigm (S-O-R) claimed that scent is a very important environment cue to affect the behavior of patrons. Brand positioning can be improved with the specific scent used by retailers as scent had a unique system towards the human memory. Sensory advertisement is becoming a trend in the new century market as it can enhance the search motive and purchasing intention that exists within consumers. Appropriate scent is the right key to avoid negative behavior on ambient scent. This research’s aim is to raise awareness towards the benefits acquirable by implementing ambient scent into retailers’ outlets and aim to help consumers understand the use of ambient scent. Keywords: Ambient scent, consumer behavior, brand positioning, retail marketing

Iksad Publications, 2019

The olfactory is an important tool for marketers to create a positive impact on consumers. Mostly it is used in the stores by the retailers with unique fragrances. Some of them are selling their scent as a product. In this study it’s aimed to observe if this makes a difference in consumers perception; smelling the scent in stores only or smell it always in the home. Results show that scent buyers are more positive against the product, and it drives them to spend more time and money with their shopping experience.

Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 2012

ABSTRACTWe utilize a novel advertising context—commercials seen in a simulated movie theater setting while ambient scent is emitted into the atmosphere—to explore the effects of multisensory cues on brand evaluation and advertising recall. Although both pictorial and olfactory cues enhance brand evaluations and ad recall overall, we find that olfactory (vs pictorial) cues generate more positive feelings toward the brand and enhance recall to a greater extent. We also find that, after a long time delay, re‐experiencing the scent activates pictures' ability to facilitate recall. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

2017

Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 2022

Humans have deliberately scented their environment for purpose or pleasure for millennia. In the contemporary marketplace most consumers prefer and purchase scented versions of common household products. However, the drivers of this consumer preference have not been elucidated. To explain the attraction to scent in household products we propose a novel three-factor framework, comprising functional benefits (malodor mitigation, base odor coverage, freshening), in-use experience benefits (cleanliness, efficacy, pleasure), and emotional benefits (increasing in confidence, mood and nostalgia). To support this framework, we present new data from a market research survey on US consumer purchasing habits and attitudes towards home cleaning, laundry, and air freshening products. Further substantiating our framework, a focused review of olfactory psychological science illustrating the central role of scent in cognition, wellbeing, motivated behavior, and social behavior, as well as sensory m...

Journal of Economics and Management, 2022

Aim/purpose-Olfactory marketing is a phenomenon that is in the current trend of usage by marketing experts to ensure that consumers are more involved in the purchase decision-making process. This paper aims to review the studies involved in consumer purchase intentions influenced by fragrance and develop a framework for modeling consumer responses. Design/methodology/approach-PRISMA technique was used as a methodological approach. First, the researchers made criteria for inclusion and exclusion of studies along with the application of a set of keyword research strings to identify the relevant research articles. Second, prominent scientific search databases like EBSCO Host, Scopus, and ScienceDirect were used to mainly search the relevant literature. Findings-This article advances knowledge on the topic of fragrance marketing and proposes an integrative framework of consumer purchase responses considering the mutual relationship shared between fragrance, the influence of control variables, and response outcomes focusing on cognitive responses, intentions and behavior. The results of the conducted review also suggest that retail consumers tend to develop a positive attitude and behavior towards the place where the product and service are being sold. Research implications/limitations-The paper would be particularly helpful for managers in designing the right strategy for creating loyalty for their retail outlets and thereby creating a niche for themselves. pact of olfactory marketing in increasing short-term and long-term retail sales and determines future research directions to enrich the existence of these theories to fathom the essence behind consumers' interpretations of olfaction in retail outlets.

Journal of Business and Psychology, 1995

ABSTRAC~ Despite frequent mention, we know relatively little about the effect of ambient environmental factors on consumer behavior. This paper discusses one important aspect of the environment, ambient scent. Based on research from several disciplines, a model describing the effect of ambient scent on consumers is proposed. Ambient scent is portrayed as an environmental cue that is compared with scent preferences to influence affective responses and ultimately approach-avoidance reactions. Moderators of these presumed relationships are also described. Suggestions for empirical research are provided and implications for marketing management are presented.

2012

2020

In this work we examine the interaction between brand and direct experience on product evaluation. Specifically, we selected two products (perfume and paper) whose intrinsic quality can be inferred directly through sensory experience (i.e., scent and writing experience, respectively). Results from one field and one laboratorial experiment showed that brand impacts the perception of a product, overriding the information offered by direct sensory experience with the product. Importantly, this was more likely to occur in processing conditions that induce low elaboration (e.g., low motivation). We further discuss how these results contribute to understand the effect as supported by having brand as a heuristic or promoting a belief that is able to bias our perceptions.

Innovation Management, Entrepreneurship and Sustainability (IMES 2017), 2017

The recently established field of sensory marketing attributes its existence to customer demand for sensational experiences, among other things. Consequently, scent is acknowledged as an effective form of communication of the brand. This study focuses on olfaction, comparing consumer behaviour between scented and odourless products, aiming to address the question of how scent impacts the consumers’ experience, offering recommendations to companies with regards to scented products. The study is relevant to all the enterprises that manufacture or develop their own product. The SME´s can benefit through understanding the importance of scent and empirical insights about how scent impacts consumer´s experience.Design/methodology/approach: A Qualitative study has been conducted through the collection of primary data using two types of questionnaires, a-priori and posteriori of a tested product distributed to 100 participants with 89 % response rate which provides a sufficient basis for a good overview of many possible effects of scent. A subsequent stage of the investigation involved ten in-depth interviews which expanded on the subject. The study has been conducted over two months (March to May) at the University of South Wales in 2015. The participants were randomly selected students and staff of the university. All age categories and ethnicities were represented.Findings: The results indicate enhanced (a) quality perception when the product is scented, (b) semantic associations with the scented product, (c) multi-modality of senses e.g. scent increases the desire to touch, (d) impact of scent on preference where the decision is not impaired by other factors such as availability or price and e) perceived favourability towards a hypothetical brand behind the scented product in some cases. However, where price was a parameter, the scent did not have an effect; presumably as aspects such as price and brand loyalty overshadow sensory aspects.Research/practical implications: It is preferable to increase the range of products that stimulate consumers’ senses. On the contrary, the cost is a determinant factor to consider before launching the product on the market as the price sensitivity can be quite high. The recommendation for companies is to diversify the portfolio and position scented products as more luxurious. Moreover, other sensory characteristics such as colour could be used in order to differentiate the purpose of the same product and facilitate multiple purchases. Other themes emerged such as the role of environmental aspects might be in some cases more important than the functional aspects.Originality/value: This paper offers comprehensive overview of possible effects of scent on consumer experience. The study further indicates how scented products should be positioned and incorporated in brand portfolio.

Proceedings of the Australian and New Zealand …

The concept of brand salience, or brand accessibility in memory, has been prevalent in the area of brand research for several decades. Brand salience has been driven by memory theory and psychological research, but debate has continued over the structure of memory systems, the way in which consumers undertake memory search, and what they do with brand information once it is retrieved. With the rise to prominence of brand equity, brand salience has been subsumed into the awareness category, as an operationalisation of recalling information. This paper looks at redefining brand salience and proposes new methods for measuring brand salience.

Journal of Retailing, 1999

The popular and business press is enamored with the idea that the sense of smell can have strong effects on consumer responses to retail environments. The claims that odors have strong persuasive powers tantalize retailers looking for the competitive edge. Herein, we review the current paradigm of retailing-relevant olfaction research and find that “conventional wisdom” does not allow researchers or retailers to reliably predict olfaction effects. We suggest accessibility and availability theories as a way of explaining the current empirical research and as a method by which we can increase the reliability of capturing olfactory effects. We conclude by identifying fruitful areas of research in this interesting stimuli–that which we smell.

Olfactory cues in advertisements can evoke positive consumer emotions and product attitudes, yet including real scent in advertising is not always feasible. This study aimed at investigating whether written scent references could produce effects similar to real scents. Participants in online experiment (N=197) evaluated advertisings for two products (a pen and a soap) with or without scent references. The results demonstrated that the written scent reference had positive effects on consumer emotions and attitudes towards both products. These results suggest that including scent reference in advertising may positively influence attitudes towards a product without attracting consumers' full attention.

International Journal of …, 2005

Consumer welfare depends upon how well people learn and remember quality differences among competing products. Although some researchers have argued that consumers are quite good at learning from actual consumption experience, such learning is complicated by delays between learning episodes and by delays between learning and use of the information. In the present research, we examine consumer experiential learning from a memory perspective. In a series of three taste-test studies we investigate whether and how distinctive brand names and packaging may facilitate the learning of intrinsic quality differences among products. We discuss the implications of our results for consumer decision theory, brand equity management, and trademark policy. D

2004