Scent Marketing Blog

Researchers in the United States and Singapore confirmed scent helps consumers remember product information.


Aradhna Krishna of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, May Lwin of Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and Maureen Morrin of Rutgers University in Camden, N.J., found scent enhances a product’s distinctiveness.


However, the study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, also found a distinctive scent in the marketplace was not all that helpful in remembering particular products.


The authors had 151 study participants evaluate pencils that were unscented, or scented with either common pine scent or more uncommon tea tree scent. They also had participants react to scented items vs. items in a scented environment.


“We found that the memory for the scented pencils was much greater than memory for the unscented pencils, and that this effect was especially pronounced after a time delay,” the authors said in a statement.


“Our studies show that product scent significantly enhances recall of product information, and that this enhanced memory for product information persists over time — for at least two weeks after the time of exposure.”

Smell is one of the most important senses, it’s proven to be linked to the memory and feelings part of the brain. Science has shown that humans are actually able to recall 35% of smells and associate them to particular memories or situations. Compare this to our capability of only being able to recall 5% of what we read. That’s why the olfactory marketing / scent marketing is gaining more ground within corporate marketing strategies.

The marketing of smell is relatively new, because until recently, ads with aromas used to be exclusive to the fragrance industry and cosmetics. Increasingly though many businesses in a wide range of sectors are investing their marketing budgets in to scent marketing, aiming to attract customers and also gain a competitive advantage in the market.

Big name U.S. brands such as Hard Rock Café, Ritz Carlton, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Marriott and Macy’s, among others, have achieved successful and most importantly measurable results with scent marketing.

Full story here.