Every year during the festive season, retailers enjoy a much-needed bump in sales thanks to the tradition of gift-giving and a general atmosphere of joviality brought about by a combination of people enjoying their year-end bonuses, leave from work and time spent with family and friends.
It’s About Good Moods
This cheerful time has a powerful emotional component that hinges strongly on nostalgia and memory. Since the olfactory system is so closely linked to the memory centres of our brains, scent marketing can play an extremely potent role in helping to bolster this sense of nostalgia, creating a sense of warmth, comfort and goodwill. This all ultimately leads to people being more willing to part with their money since consumers who are in a good mood are much more likely to make impulsive purchasing decisions.
Therefore, if the smell of your store can encourage a good mood in your customers, whether through stirring up nostalgia or through simply making them feel more at home and comforted, then it stands to reason that this can help you to increase your year-end sales.
Warm Scents
The festive season is often most closely associated with the Christmas holiday, which in turn has certain scents that are associated with it. For many, aromas such as cinnamon or vanilla are directly linked with nostalgia surrounding Christmas, thus leading to positive feelings and emotions.
Research has shown that warm scents ‒ like cinnamon and vanilla in particular ‒ are more likely to produce purchasing behaviour from consumers.
These warm scents evoke a sense of homeliness and community, making shoppers feel less alone and more likely to feel positive about spending their money on family and friends. The comforting aromas tend to remind consumers of delicious meals and desserts, which elicits feelings of contentment and a yearning for good relationships, which plays out in increased spending as a way of perhaps achieving that.
Fresh And Summery Scents
Although not exclusively associated with the festive season, fresh scents can also encourage more year-end spending as they evoke better moods among shoppers. Aromas such as lemongrass or green tea, for example, are popular for evoking a sense of calm, cleanliness and clarity, all of which serve to improve one’s mood.
It all depends on what kinds of products you’re selling and what kind of brand messaging you’re putting forward through the rest of your in-store marketing efforts.
Thanks to the festive season falling during summer here in South Africa, summery scents can also go a long way, such as the subtle scent of sunscreen, pine needles or gentle floral aromas ‒ all of which evoke nostalgic associations will vacations and festivity, boosting moods and potentially increasing year-end sales.
Contact us at Scent.ology today to get more scent marketing advice and access to a wide range of fragrance oils and diffusers in South Africa just in time for the holidays.
