Marketing Research
The authors looked at the effects of scents on recall of brands. They noted that, in spite of a lack of research, ambient scents are already being used in a variety of retail settings including grocery stores and restaurants. They are used for other purposes in both offices and subways. In two different studies, participants looked at photographs of brands. Some brands were familiar to the participants and some were not. Images were delivered via computer for specific lengths of times. During these episodes, a diffuser distributed scent into the room. 24 after this activity, the subjects' recall, for both name brand and recognition, were tested. In both studies, the presence of an ambient scent improved both recognition and recall. The authors provided supporting evidence for their research, including research demonstrating a tie between scent and memory, a possible scientific explanation for that tie, and an example of this link from fiction (Proust's novel Remembrance of Things Past, where the protagonist smells a cookie, and the smell releases waves of forgotten childhood events). The researchers looked at the interplay between ambient scent, participant attention, and later recall. They analyzed these factors related to products the participants were familiar with and unfamiliar with. Interestingly, follow up research demonstrated that the use of ambient scent improved memory of a new brand, but did not help in recall. This may have been because there was only a 24-hour span between the encoding phase and the retrieval phase.
DISCUSSION OF RESEARCH:
The author's purpose was to explore the use of ambient scents to improve brand recognition and recall. They sought to determine what, if any, association exists between scent and the strong recall of memories, including memories of people, products or events. They noted that ambient scents are currently being used in supermarkets, restaurants, office buildings, casinos and subway stations in order to influence behavior, while another company is exploring ways to tie scents to internet sites. The researchers looked at the conceptual background for the use...
However, other researchers point toward sent affecting state-dependent memory mechanisms. That is, if an event is accompanied by a scent, then smelling the scent can help recall the memory. The researchers speculated that enhancement of mood via the scent could also enhance the development of memory for the incident or item. Another possibility is that the presence of an ambient scent increases the individual's arousal, or how alert he or she is. This could in turn result in improved cognitive functioning, and specifically, better retrieval from memory. The authors found research suggesting that all of these possibilities might have some merit.
The researchers cited a variety of other studies to support their research, including scientific research tying scent to memory. They noted research spotting the tie between scent and memory (Goldman and Scamon, 1991; and Laird, 1935), and a possible explanation for why it occurs (Holloway, 1999). In addition, they provided an excellent example of how this research links to the real world was provided by the example of Proust's novel Remembrance of Things Past. In this novel, the author smelled a cookie and it brought back a flood of memories from his childhood. They also provided numerous examples of instances where scent is already being used to affect consumer-based or other behavior. The authors found evidence in research of associative memory, tied to scent, being stronger than memories not tied to scent. The totality of the literature, approached from a variety of approaches, all suggest the possibility that scent might be used to enhance recall of products.
The authors provided no illustrated model for their research. They conducted two different experiments. In the first one, they chose two scents that were markedly dissimilar for use in researching scent with toiletry and household cleaning products. In the second test, because the literature suggested that pleasant scents were most effective for evoking memory, they chose two scents that were equally preferred…
