Scent Marketing: Why Every Business Can Benefit from the Power of Fragrance?

Scent marketing is a special tool for influencing consumers, involving the scenting of indoor air or the application of scents to a product (or its packaging) in order to improve how the product or brand is perceived. It’s used very actively in advertising campaigns, both by well-known brands and by local businesses: cafes, restaurants, stores, shopping centers, and even car dealerships.

The scent of vanilla reminds you of a cozy home.

The smell of citrus evokes thoughts that it’s time to decorate the Christmas tree.

McDonald’s signature hamburger aroma practically lures you in for a bite.

The smell of freshly ground coffee reminds you that you haven’t yet perked up with a cup of a hot drink today, and that you need to do so right now.

What Is Scent Marketing and How Does It Work?

It’s hard to say exactly when scent marketing appeared: many consider it a relatively young field, since it only began to be widely used fairly recently. Yet it can be said that this technology is already many thousands of years old.

In fact, it’s as old as the phenomenon of entrepreneurship itself. The very first bakery attracted customers with the incredible smell of fresh buns, and history’s first perfumers sprayed their wares over store counters and clothing.

Would you like to find out exactly how neuromarketing can help your business? We are the first agency in Ukraine to specialise in neuromarketing research. Drop us a line or give us a call, and we’ll be happy to advise you in detail! Kateryna Ilchenko, founder Neuro-Knowledge

Smell is one of the basic senses, and when a person loses it, they lose the ability to experience pleasure. Many people were able to feel this in practice during the global coronavirus pandemic: when you can’t tell the difference between the smell of oatmeal and steak, you can’t fully enjoy your food. The absence of smell can be likened to the absence of the taste of life itself.

We won’t dive too deeply into the biological processes here; we’ll just note that smell is one of the most important senses: in infants, it’s the first one to develop (a baby can recognize its mother by scent even before sight and taste appear). And smell also has a very strong influence on imagination, emotions, and memory.

And most importantly: scents are capable of influencing decision-making.

The first studies in the field of scent marketing were conducted in the 1970s by psychiatrist Donald Laird. As a result of them, he concluded that approximately 90% of people inseparably link scents to their personal memories.

This means that scents can “awaken” the subconscious and emotions. Controlling emotions means controlling decision-making. And this opens up huge opportunities for marketers. That’s why entrepreneurs increasingly prefer to carefully study a consumer’s profile before a large-scale sales launch.

The Most Well-Known Examples of Scent Marketing Use in Business

1. Burger King.

The American fast food chain uses the smell of its most famous burger to whet visitors’ appetites.

2. The Madrid Metro.

Several well-known studies on how scents influence the human subconscious have been conducted here. One recent one: “Live a La Rioja” — a campaign in which metro passengers were invited to guess Spanish regions by the smell of wine.

3. Disney.

Uses the smell of popcorn in its theme parks to stimulate visitors’ appetites, and also adds realism to its shows through the smell of burnt rubber or gunpowder.

4. British Airways.

Uses the scent of flowers and herbs in its aircraft cabins to distract passengers’ attention from the confined space inside the plane.

5. Supermarkets.

Around the world, they position the bakery section so that visitors always catch the enticing smell of fresh buns and feel hungry — meaning they end up wanting to buy more products.

6. Cosmetics Brands.

Often use scented packaging to trigger “habituation” and the desire to make a repeat purchase. By the way, scents matter a great deal in developing and testing packaging design – this is one of the most important areas of neuromarketing application.

Where and When Is Scent Marketing Used?

Scent Marketing Is Used For:

1. Increasing company recognition and building brand loyalty. Going back to the studies described above, a specific scent becomes fixed in a customer’s memory as corresponding to a brand. So, upon smelling it again next time, they’ll subconsciously recall the company.
2. Increasing sales volume: the simplest example — the smell of coffee stimulates appetite, which is why relevant fragrances are often used in cafes and restaurants.
3. Boosting productivity: for example, the smell of lemon promotes concentration, while a floral scent helps maintain activity at an appropriate level.
4. Building individuality — this point somewhat echoes the first one, but here we’re talking about a brand’s unique signature scent. Many companies develop their own fragrance compositions and use them as a memory “hook”: spraying it onto branded merchandise, gifts, and so on.
5. Encouraging impulse purchases through appealing scents and an overall boost to customers’ mood thanks to those scents.

Scent Marketing Is Most Often Used in Fields Such As:

1. The restaurant and hospitality business.
2. Supermarkets.
3. Retail stores, especially footwear or clothing boutiques.
4. Beauty salons and fitness centers.
5. Shopping and entertainment centers.
6. Design studios, exhibition centers, and galleries.
7. Car dealerships.

How Can a Business Use Scent Marketing to Increase Sales

Scent marketing is an important part of a brand’s overall market positioning. If your company fits into one of the fields listed above, using scents can substantially boost sales.

A scent creates a unique atmosphere, and it’s important that it makes people want to come back or order the product again and again. Scent marketing technology is simple to apply, but choosing the right direction is complex.

That’s exactly why it’s better to turn to specialists to properly select the right palette of scents for each specific case. NEURO-KNOWLEDGE, Ukraine’s first neuromarketing agency, will help you study your customers’ emotions and motivations so you can make full use of the possibilities scent marketing offers.

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