I read an article a few weeks ago about what entices consumers to buy. I was interested to find out how often scent marketing is being used by companies, and the success they were having with it.
The sense of smell is one of the most powerful senses as it is the only sense that cannot be turned off. According to the Sense of Smell Institute, yes there really is a place called the Sense of Smell Institute, the average human being is able to recognize approximately 10,000 different odours. People can recall smells with 65% accuracy after a year.
Smell is used in branding because it increases the customer’s remembrance of the brand.The human nose, besides being the most sensitive of the senses, has a tremendous evocative power of memories and experiences over the years. Smell is the sense most linked to emotional recollection. It can create instant connections between a brand and other memories.
Let’s think about this for a minute. Stores, hotels, restaurants, airlines and more are artificially circulating custom designed chemicals to drive sales. I buy in to this up to a point. What is real and what isn’t? Nike, Holiday Inn, Apple are all into scent marketing. Cadillac chemically enhances the new car smell to entice buyers. Ever wonder why the chocolate aisle smells so good even though the chocolate bars are all prepackaged at the factory?
Scent marketing is probably not for your business but it is big business in some companies. A study in a financial services company concluded that staff made 40% fewer errors when surrounded by the smell of cinnamon.
Who in the heck figured that out? Must have been the Sense of Smell Institute.