Stinks, Say Researchers a Form of Subliminal Doing All It Can to Get Them to Buy
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NHoly Cross HarvestD · Douglas Road · Innovation Prize · BioEYES NVol. 10, No. 7 · January D10, 2013 News for Notre Dame faculty and staff and their families ‘Scent marketing’ stinks, say researchers A form of subliminal doing all it can to get them to buy. Scented air can do more than advertising? Bradford and co-author Debra M. trigger buying impulses, however. Desrochers of London’s Middlesex The authors cite studies showing BY ED COHEN, MENDOZA University disagree. In their article that certain scents seem to aid in COLLEGE OF BUSINESS published in the November 2009 memory and can even improve issue of the Journal of Business job performance. In one study Scent sells. Ethics, they compare potential scent referenced by The New York Used-car dealers know it when manipulation to the purported effect Times in 1989, keypunch they spray their vehicle interiors with of subliminal advertising. operators at a Japanese firm “new car smell” to make the cars The classic attempt at subliminal were found to make 50 seem newer. advertising involved a movie theater percent fewer errors when Real estate agents know it when that began splicing a few frames of exposed to a lemon scent and 80 they suggest homeowners bake an image of buttered popcorn into a percent fewer with lavender. cookies before a showing to make film. Moviegoers weren’t conscious But here again, the marketing their houses seem more homey. of seeing the image, but a study researchers raise concern over Now retailers are attempting to reported that it prompted some the possibility that, though the use scents in more subtle ways. It’s to head to the snack bar. As the intentions may be good, this is still all in an effort to influence shoppers authors note, such advertising has manipulation of a human being. “In to make purchases without the been banned since the 1970s. Also, the long run, initiatives that began consumer being conscious of it. the reported sales effect of inserting as efficiency improvements,” they A member of the Mendoza images into movies has since been warn, “may evolve into abuse of the marketing faculty thinks that stinks. disproved. employees.” In the article “The Use of Scents The researchers say there’s nothing to Influence Consumers: The Sense unethical about people finding Reprinted from Notre Dame of Using Scents to Make Cents,” themselves craving bread when Business Magazine Associate Professional Specialist they visit a bakery and smell the Kevin D. Bradford argues that such bread baking. That’s an authentic manipulation is unethical because, scent resulting from the bakery’s unlike other forms of advertising that operations. Where manipulation we can tune out, “smell is a sense we comes in, they say, is when retailers cannot suspend.” import foreign scents into an As Bradford explains, our sense of environment with the intention of smell is primal and deeply rooted. influencing buyers without their Emotional memories enhanced by REM sleep Sleeping brain preserves When we smell something, odor knowledge. scene—a wrecked car on a street, Notre Dame assistant professor of receptors in the brain produce an The authors mention a 2005 study memories of what’s most for example—had superior memory psychology who specializes in sleep’s immediate instinctive reaction. We published in the Journal of Business important for the emotional object compared impact on memory, creativity and the literally act without thinking. Research, in which the air in a store to subjects whose sleep was delayed ability to process new ideas. To some this may sound like a was enhanced with artificial scents BY SUSAN GUIBERT, PUBLIC for at least 16 hours. This increased We know that emotional events retailer’s dream. And, in fact, an known to appeal to one gender or the RELATIONS memory for the emotional object occupy a privileged position in entire scent-marketing industry has other (rose maroc for men, vanilla corresponded with a diminished our memories—they shape our developed that promises to boost for women). In its scented state, the Witnessing a car wreck or memory for the neutral background personalities, represent defeats and sales. In one scent-industry study store was evaluated more favorably encountering a poisonous snake of the scene, such as achievements, mark referenced in the book “Brand Sense: by shoppers. They spent about 50 are scenes that become etched in the street on which the milestones in our lives Build Powerful Brands through percent more time in the store, our memories. wrecked car was parked. and often drive anxiety Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and bought almost twice as many items But how do we process and These results suggest and mood disorders. Sound,” 84 percent of people were and spent more than twice as much store these emotional scenes that the sleeping brain CASHORE MATT This study shows found to be more likely to buy money. so that they’re preserved more preserves in long- that the sleeping brain shoes or liked them better when in a The authors argue that retailers efficiently than other, more term memory only doesn’t just consolidate pleasantly scented room. In another should not try to influence neutral memories? those scenes that are all recently encountered study, a sweet citrus odor added to consumers’ behavior without In a new study published emotionally salient and information. It the air nearly doubled average total shoppers having the opportunity to recently in Frontiers in aid in adaptation. appears to select for purchases in a retail setting. “acknowledge or defend against the Integrative Neuroscience, “Our results suggest consolidation only the Bradford acknowledges that many persuasion attempt.” They don’t have Notre Dame researchers that REM sleep, which Payne most emotional part people would say that there’s nothing that opportunity with scents because Jessica Payne and Alexis has long been thought to of the experience, and wrong with such atmospheric scents cause us to react without Chambers found that people play a role in emotional processing the evidence suggests that REM sleep engineering. No law prohibits scent thinking and because relatively few who experienced rapid eye and emotional memory, helps us critically modulates memory marketing, defenders point out, and consumers are even aware of scents movement (REM) sleep soon selectively preserve in memory only for highly arousing emotional consumers know when they step being used this way, the researchers after being presented with an what is most important and perhaps information. into a store that management will be say. emotionally charged negative beneficial to survival,” says Payne, a Inside » Crawford book Page 3 Innovation Prize Page 4 RecSports Page 6 McKenna mural Page 8 2 | NDWorks | January 10, 2013 Concerned aboutaddresses, and photos, data videos and privacyand linked to an individual.on the Internet?personal information. Youand should identity. be January 28 is Data social network profiles that are If you have a common name, What can you do to protect your To remove your profile Privacy Day publicly available. personal information from others name and personal information? information from Spokeo, visit Worried yet? with the same name may be included Type in your name in different spokeo.com, scroll to the bottom of BY LENETTE VOTAVA, OIT You CAN take steps to preserve under your name. For example, John search engines and find out what the front page and click “Privacy.” your privacy online. 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