How harnessing consumers' sense of smell can boost sales
What is most intriguing though is not the number or the ability to record all these distinct scents, but how retailers use that knowledge to influence the consumer's decision in buying a product. This clearly illustrated by the article by Humayun Khan, The Power that Scents have on Shoppers, and how clothing retailer Abercrombie and Fitch (A&F) "intentionally designs its retail stores from a multi-sensory point-of-view with one goal in mind: to get the consumers to buy their products."
What fascinates me the most is the concept of "Scent Marketing", using scents to create these multi-sensory point-of-views or spaces. By way of elaboration, I'll share a few secrets of scent marketing that might just turn your business around.
The art of scent marketing
What makes scent marketing so powerful concerns the response of consumers or shoppers. The scent must be subtle so that it can create, intrigue and trigger reactions from consumers without their knowledge. In other words, it is that moment when you enter a space and start asking yourself the question, "Where have I smelled this before?" You then start qualifying the scent based on your past experience and in most cases you end up with a positive feeling. The sense of smell is considered to be the most emotional of all the senses, as people tend to experience certain feelings when they smell something.
A study conducted by consumer psychologist and academic, Eric Spangenberg, actually confirmed that shopping patterns by males and females can be traced back to the scent used by stores. He found out in stores that had a vanilla scent were considered to be feminine and female shoppers were twice as likely to purchase products from such stores. Interestingly, men were less inclined to spend time shopping in stores they considered feminine.
How can you capitalise on this knowledge?
Scent is one part of the model employed by A&F, but it is the power of association that makes it so potent. When we encounter people, one distinct detail that we'll never forget to record is their scent; the more appealing their scent, the more we grow in affinity towards them.
Creating points of association is the cornerstone of scent marketing. It also ties in with the science behind marketing beautiful people. This tactic of marketing can be found in commercials of perfume and colognes and a whole variety of other products.
For more information on scents and air fresheners, visit Airwick's website.
Source: shopify.com
About Stephen Sandmann
Stephen Sandmann is a Senior Digital Strategist at Quirk. He has a keen interest in everything digital.
