Although scent marketing has, in one way or another, been a part of human society for thousands of years, it’s only recently started to make waves in the modern advertising and marketing space.
It’s no secret that smells can be enticing. For countless centuries, humans have been spraying themselves with perfumes and smearing themselves with essential oils to make themselves more appealing to the opposite sex, while homes, markets and temples were filled with incense to make it more appealing, heighten one’s spiritual experience, and even ward off evil.
Since the marketing and advertising boom of the 1950s, modern industry has found ever more innovative ways to reach customers and sway their purchase choices. Whether through text, pictures, videos or audio adverts, the audiovisual senses have borne the brunt of most marketing attempts for the past half a century.
However, since the turn of the millennium, marketers have started turning back towards olfactory branding and scent marketing as a powerful and primal way to influence customers.
Let’s take a look at some of the research and statistics that support this growing trend.
Scents And The Human Mind
Studies have shown that about 75% of all emotions we experience are directly related to smell. This is because emotions are often triggered by memory, and the memory centre in our brains is directly linked with the olfactory centre.
Whereas visual recollection of images is only about 50% accurate after about three months, olfactory recollection accuracy is about 65% after 12 months. Put another way, we recall about 35% of what we smell compared with only 5% of what we see.
This means we are nearly 100 times more likely to remember something when it is associated with a smell than with one of our other five senses, such as touch, taste, sight or sound.
Moreover, research has shown that, when exposed to a pleasing smell, a person’s mood is likely to improve by an average of 40%.
The Business Case
According to Statista, the perfume and fragrance industry is estimated to be worth about $47.9-billion in 2022 and will grow to about $52.4-billion by 2025.
The reason for this growth is that scent marketing and olfactory branding is proving more and more to be a worthwhile investment with a predictable and quantifiable return on investment.
In 1993, Nike conducted a study whereby pleasant smells were diffused near customers in a Nike store in an effort to determine how it might affect their purchasing behaviours. They found that the desire for Nike shoes went up in about 84% of the shoppers. What’s more, those shoppers were willing to pay 10% to 20% more than they usually would be otherwise.
Other research has shown that shoppers tend to stay 15 minutes longer on average in pleasantly smelling spaces. A study by Samsung showed that shoppers dwell time increased by 26% and tripled the number of product categories explored by customers, while a casino proved that it could increase dwell time by up to 40% and revenues by 45% if it provided a pleasing aroma for patrons.
Moreover, research at a Japanese fragrance manufacturer showed that pleasing aromas could positively impact employee productivity. They claimed that productivity rose by 54% in the presence of smells such as lemon, jasmine and lavender.
The research clearly points towards olfactory branding and scent marketing as being powerful marketing tools. Don’t delay. Contact Scent.ology now to get access to a wide array of diffusers, essential oils and expert advice!
