Scent marketing: When customers’ noses lead                                       them to buy more

November 19, 2016 by Julie Cognard

The times when the sense of smell was not considered to be a strategic and effective marketing lever by companies are long gone. For a couple of years now, an increasing number of companies have been using scent marketing as a magic tool to enhance their sales.

       It is no secret that sellers aim to sell products, or, more accurately, to pressure customers into making a purchase they may neither want nor need! Indeed, around 40% of purchases are made on the spur of the moment or on an impulse, so just imagine the loss in revenue it would represent for companies if customers were to spend 40% less money each time they went shopping! It is obvious that customers do not start buying anything and everything without any reason.  Of course, everything has been thought through by companies so that customers are induced to dip into their wallets and spend more money.

"Up to 75 percent of human emotions related 

to memory are proved to be triggered by smells"

Several neuromarketing research studies have been conducted and have shown that smells could influence our social behaviour.  As it turns out, smell is the sense which stays in one’s mind the longest time and it generates a tremendous amount of diversified emotions. Up to 75 percent of human emotions related to memory are proved to be triggered by smells. For example, we can think of the smell of Proust’s Madeleine, which, dipped in a cup of tea, reminds the French author of all his childhood memories!

A pleasant scent can provide a sense of well-being, make people feel cosy or happy and can thus impact their purchasing behaviour.  An increasing number of companies have well understood the fact that scents are to be considered when selling products, if they want to boost sales. Scents can stir and trigger various emotions, memories or moods and have thus become a significant communication tool for marketers, who consider that their use can directly influence the whole decision-making process of customers.

 How does scent marketing work?

The concept is simple: diffusing pleasant fragrances through discreet misters or diffusers installed in stores or any other selling points to increase the well-being of both employees and customers and strengthen the connection they can have with a brand in general.

To be successful, companies have to be careful when choosing the scent they diffuse. They have to implement a coherent process of analysis of the trends and customers’ preferences. First of all, a survey has to be set up, to better understand and bring out targeted customers’ specific cultures and preferences. The following step consists in choosing a scent which will be positively perceived by the majority of the target customers – there is no universally loved or loathed scent – then, a test will be made by diffusing the fragrances over a short period of time, to see how sales and customer behaviour evolve and react. Companies will then only have to choose whether to keep diffusing the scents or not. 

Choosing the right scent

A multitude of different fragrances are available. For instance, if a company strives to make customers relax, it might use scents that are often associated with calmness, such as vanilla or lavender. Moreover, it’s important to know that there are also scents which appeal to specific customers based on age and gender: men are more likely to like spicy and woody scents, while women tend to prefer sweet and musky fragrances.

Finding the right scent is really not as simple as it may seem and failing at using scent marketing can have completely opposite effects on sales and even result in the complete failure of the whole shop’s marketing strategy.  Fortunately, many agencies such as Scent Air, or Air Aroma have been founded in order to help companies and prevent them from choosing the wrong scents. They also provide companies with the right diffusing equipment for their stores, so that the fragrance is neither too strong nor too light and is released at the right time.

Finally, they offer to help companies craft exclusive signature fragrances. These are particularly important for companies. Whenever people smell this fragrance, they immediately think of and associate it with the brand. A good signature fragrance can definitely strengthen the brand image of the companies using it and this is why more and more companies are using scent marketing to boost their sales and create a link between them and customers.