CA Blog: Scratch & Sniff
Pay close attention to your next visit at a hotel, or the next time you are shopping. You are surrounded with flashy advertisements and all different sounds. For just a second, close your eyes, put some cotton in your ears, and take a strong sniff of the air around you. Out of our five senses, the nose is the only one that is directly connected to reach our memory and grasp our emotions. “…Clearly, smell is very closely tied to how we experience brands or products” (Lindstrom, 2008, p.151). Ever grab the aroma that forces you in the door, or makes you crave something? Well, that is your right priform cortex and the amygdala (which in codes emotional relevance) trigging as well as activating your desire. This happens when we are exposed to combinations that seem to go together. On the occasion a pleasurable fragrance complements an equally alluring visual image, “…we not only perceive it as more pleasant, we’re also more likely to remember it, but if the two are incongruous, forget about it. Literally” (Lindstrom, 2008, 145). “…To fully engage us emotionally, companies are discovering, they’d be better off not just inundating us with logos, but pumping fragrances into our nostrils” (Lindstrom, 2008, p.143). The purpose behind sensory branding is to intensify a relationship with a company’s brand, or product. One method company’s are using is the placement of dry vapor sprays into ventilation units. The author of buy-ology, Martin Lindstrom, uses a great example of sensory branding. When at a fast food restaurant, you may have intentions of ordering a healthy salad, but your mind is changed when you smell “…the triple-bacon cheeseburger with a side of large fries” (Lindstrom, 2008, p.148). Do not be fooled by this scent, it is not actually the food you smell, instead the restaurant is pumping a spray into the vents, called “…RTX9338PJS-code name for the “just-cooked-bacon-cheeseburger-like-fragrance” (Lindstrom, 2008, p.148). A study conducted by Doctor Calvert, explained when smelling and seeing something we like simultaneously, “…various regions of our brains light up in concert” (Lindstrom, 2008, p.144). When we grasp the aroma of something, our odor receptors take a journey to our limbic system. Our limbic systems power our emotions, memories and a sense of well-being. Surprisingly this “aroma” has been around for a while, starting with real estate brokers trying to sell homes. Real estate brokers would bake cookies in the oven for open houses or viewings of the properties. This was used to give the sense of comfort and the coziness of being at home. Companies will continue to use sensory branding for their consumers to tie a particular scent with a product. Question is next time will you be so easily lured by scents of candles, jasmine in hotels, rosewood in new cars, or fresh baked goods? So, be aware as you are wandering around because it may not be the magazine advertisement that drives you to buy a product, but the scent under the tab of the fragrance.
-Donna Lee Fricano
Section 80
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oLDGMMx7Q8
ReplyDeleteAn interesting take on sensory branding. I really liked them beginning of this post. The idea that we should eliminate our senses to focus on the nose and how the nose is connected to memory. Lindstrom also talked about the new car smell and how that is also sprayed in cars which is completely artificial.
ReplyDeleteThe idea that advertisers can just manipulate people so easily is scary. They have focused so much research on how to integrate ideas into our heads without it being known to our selves. How come we always pick the Jiffy Brand as another commenter posted before?
Thank you for reading my post Mario! I appreciate your take on the topic. Refering to your question, I think we always pick the Jiffy Brand because "choosy moms chose Jiff...Literally. It is often true that we are drawn to products and brands that our parents have in the house, or what our friends refer us to buy. Another blogger posted about choosing the "better" brand over a store brand. In my opinion it happens because we simply do not want to be judged on our choice. I have caught myself in the aisle buying something I needed, or wanted, but wanted to buy a cheaper brand, or check the sale items first. When someone was around me or a friend was with me, I would hesitate on my choice. I would ask for their opinion or what they use, maybe even think of what brand, product, or item my mom has at home.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very interesting post. I read an article about sensory branding a while back. A grocery store in NYC starting putting certain scents in their ventilation system to boost sales. For example, people would get a whiff of fresh strawberries in the produce section or the smell of cake in the bakery. It's funny how advertising has advanced so much but it still relies on such basic human nature. I also agree with Mario that it's frightening how marketers are now using neuroscience to influence and almost program what we want to buy. Companies are now able to use our emotions and memories (with the help of scents and other stimuli) to sell us products. I can't imagine what we'll progress to next. At least Martin Lindstrom is giving us a heads up on all advertising's dirty secrets.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely fall victim to the influence a smell could have on my purchase, as it is probably the last thinking of when considering a purchase. I think this really emphasizes the need for objective action, but that might be impossible on larger purchases.
ReplyDeleteLet's say that you are deciding between two houses, one of which had cookies baked in its oven before. You've now associated a slew of positive emotions with that house on first impression. Going forward, when you enter that house, those joyous emotions will be called upon.
What I'm getting at is that even though you were unaware that the baked cookies brought happiness, you loved the house even more. What's wrong with that really? Even if it is artificially created, you're still living happier. If you purchase the house, you'll be calling upon these happier emotions again, continuing to act at a higher level right?
This was a very interesting blog post, as most people don't realize that companies are appealing to consumers on more than an audio/visual level. I have had friends who have worked at stores such as Abercrombie, where it was required that they spray cologne every half hour so as to create a strong aroma that lingers even outside the store. Abercrombie uses this as a way to stand out amongst all the other stores in the mall, for as you walk past, you can't help but take notice of the strong, alluring smell.
ReplyDeleteI have also read that malls strategically place their stores in the food court, so as to put the ones with the strongest, most alluring scents near the entrance. Many food courts have a Starbucks, Cinnabon or Mrs. Fields near the entrance so as to draw in shoppers. While most people may have no intention of eating while they are at the mall, many fall victim to the alluring smells as they walk past the food court and soon find themselves ordering a full meal.
Drawing from the information you highlighted with regard to sensory branding I feel that this is another assault on the consumer. The persistent tactics of marketers know no bounds. Whether the marketing industry is using the information from neuroimaging, choreographing imagery that leaves somatic “scars” on our brains or creating advertising that targets two, three or four of our senses at once to sell the can, will and are working overtime at it! Casinos have been researching aromatic persuasion for decades. They end goal is buy. We as the general public would do our bank accounts, our communities and the environment a huge service by getting aware to the tricknowledgey and rejecting it. Check out http://www.adbusters.org/ if you want to get hip to the uncommercial
ReplyDeleteM.Ciccone Section01
This was awesome. It makes me think of when I would go to the mall and I could smell Hollister from a mile away. Its obnoxious but I suppose that it lures people into the darkly-lit store and if they don't buy the fragrance they can browse for some ironic and politically incorrect shirts. It is true that companies have decided they have to go far and beyond in order to attract consumers and I am not surprised that our senses are not safe.
ReplyDelete-Melissa Tampan Section 01
I think that brand loyalty is something that is downplayed in this class. I find it very hard to pin point what is marketed as necessity items vs. consumerist jargon. one could argue that computers were not a necessity a decade ago, but nowadays you need a computer in order to pay bills online, go to college, register for courses, read documents. So something that originally started as a luxury became a necessity in a very short period of time.
ReplyDeleteIts hard to say what little advertisement, even such as a smell could affect the future in ways one could not imagine.
ReplyDeleteA very informative post on sensory branding. I for one can easily sit down and just think up how many times sensory branding has affected how I bought stuff.
ReplyDeleteIn general, it reminds me of this habit I have where when asked by my parents what I might want to eat for dinner tonite, after I had just eaten dinner, I for the life of me, cannot come up with a response (because my current primal needs are satisfied).
The role our own senses and instincts dictate our desires and consumer patterns is simply staggering, and I doubt anyone can count or remember just how many times they've been affected buy this devious form of subconscious advertising.
I never realized this before, but after reading this, I feel that I would be more aware of the intriguing smells and yes, I would be curious as to what this smell is luring me into. However, I know I would not be so easy to convince to buy items anymore because I would think about how the smell might be tricking me.
ReplyDeleteI admit that certain smells definitely appeal to my tastes and probably did cause me to buy a bunch of products even if I did not really know why I needed them in the first place.
It is scary how controlled and manufacture certain environments and experiences are once you realize what is going on. For instance I found it interesting, and a little disheartening, that the smell of a new car was simply a bottled aroma that came in an aerosol can. I will and do notice these things now and it is quite eye opening, though I'm not sure that knowing about the trick will prevent people from falling for it.
ReplyDeleteThis just goes to show that marketers, advertisers, and companies, will do anything to get us to buy something, and it is why I believe there are real moral problems associated with neuromarketing. Advertisers are constantly trying new ways to engage us emotionally, and they don’t care what effects it has on us. The fact that marketers are trying to engage our senses is just more proof that we are being sold an experience rather than a product. In the end, it is all about the emotions and memories the product can conjure up, and how it can make us feel. I remember being told a couple of years ago that Hollister was intentionally trying to make their stores smell like summer nights by the beach. I thought it was preposterous, and that companies would not waste their time doing things like that. Now I believe it completely.
ReplyDeleteTom Reilly, Section 01.
I wonder if this idea of sensory coding what the original idea of Abercrombie and Fitch that has just gone completely wrong. I'm not sure if anyone has been to or has an Abercrombie and Fitch at their local mall or shopping center but this place has a very distinct and completely overwhelming smell. I believe it is one of their fragrances that they use and which is conveniently placed for purchase right next to the cash-register. However, this place smells so overwhelmingly like "Abercrombie" that after about ten minutes spent shopping in this store I can literally taste the perfume and if I am there for more than this ten-minutes it will guarantee a headache (see Yankee candle shops for similar issues). I've noticed parents are particularly turned off by the overwhelmingly fragrance and I've also noticed young men and women following suit with their cloud of body colognes following them everywhere. Why it was originally an interesting and unique branding technique their are examples of it backfiring.
ReplyDeleteKara Kiensicki (Section 01)
It is insane how far people will go to make an object seem more appealing, but it is also interesting how effective these techniques can be. For me, I know that when I walk into a fast food restaurant, or any restaurant for that matter, smell is an immediate influence in what I purchase. I find that this is also one of those types of techniques that you cannot ignore. The smell of baked cookies should be appealing to everyone and is not something you can block out. That said, I don't find smells to influence my purchases, other than that of foods.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting phenomenon in consumerism. Until reading this blog I had never realized that I take part in this everyday that I am at work. I work at Aeropostale and before we open everyday we take our signature cologne and throughly spray the entire store. Before now I had thought it was merely to make the store smell plesant and did not realize the connection. However, every time consumers smell the cologne from then on they will associate it with our store. Many retailers take the same actions within their companies such as Abercrombie and Hollister. Personally, I know this works for myself when I am in a mall and can smell the cologne coming from a certain store I know that I want to go in and shop around. This proves it works for me as a consumer, because of this I am sure that this definately works overall.
ReplyDeleteUmm a bacon cheeseburger would be good right about now! Just sitting here typing this comment I’m actually imagining the smell of a hot of the grill bacon cheeseburger or chocolate chip cookies. Our brains react by combining the senses, therefore making us want something even more. The sad part is that we fall for it. But I guess it is in our human nature. It is almost like an optical illusion. That is just something we are going to have to understand about our future and be able to differentiate these marketing tricks before we won’t have any choice at all!
ReplyDeleteWould this be named sensory advertising? When you said that companies will produce an scent or odor specific to their product that there selling but fist thing that came to my mind were the preppy stores in malls all across America like AE, Aeropostale, Hollister, and Abercrombie and Fitch. After reading this, it occurred to me that the company is trying to condition that smell with the attire of the store. I think that the fragrance that they spray can be at time addicting. Personally I think it smells good. Is it a successful tool in luring customers? I'm not really sure but its not harmful to try it out anyways.
ReplyDeleteMiles Kong
Section 01
The use of scent to help sell a product is very prominent in today's world of advertisement. To this day if I'm at the mall if I walk by Abercrombie and Fitch it is inevitable to relate the perfume pouring out of the store to the store itself. I believe more and more companies are beginning to use this source of advertising because it is easy to recognize. Our senses are very complicated and indeed have the power to overwhelm us into wanting something more or have the ability to try new things and explore new places. Advertisers are becoming more and more clever in being able to manipulate society and this is a perfect example of it.
ReplyDeleteHi Miles,
ReplyDeleteThis would not be named sensory advertising. I am referring to the reading from the book buy-olgy, specifically Sensory Branding. Although you can view it as a type of advertising.
-Donna Fricano
Section 80
This is a very interesting article, and to be honest is something I really never thought about but can work very well on the consumer. It’s hard to believe how far companies will go to attract consumers into their stores or restaurants. I always noticed when I was in the mall and smelt strong cologne that I was approaching the store Hollister. But to me it was so strong that I couldn’t even walk in there. Sometimes I think they over due it with that because it can turn people away. I had some friend who worked their years ago and she said that workers would spray the cologne all over the store before it opened and would get blowers to produce the smell. I guess since the sense of smell goes right to your memory, it is smart because I always knew what that smell reminded me of.
ReplyDeleteSection 80
I think the point of sensory branding is that it happens subconsciously, or at least that's what it is intended to do. If a scent appeals to me, I will go yonder to figure out the source. While I may be conscious of what I am physically doing, the instinct to discover the appealing odor I think is primarily animalistic- it is ingrained in me. I believe this is actually a pretty clever form of trying to lure consumers in. Scent alone is not going to force me to make a purchase, but it will gain my attention. Kudos to whatever it is that is trying to be sold to me if I indeed make a purchase.
ReplyDeleteDonna,
ReplyDeleteI thought your blog was really interesting! I find it to be so odd that Burger king and McDonalds has a scent for their food, but I`m sure that scent helps to sell plenty of burgers and fries. I feel that scents could either be a positive or a negative thing, if a consumer doesn`t like the scent from that store that draws them away from entering in and purchasing any goods.Also, if a consumer enjoys that scent than the jig has worked, it created a reason for the consumer to walk within the store and browse around. Congratulations to the one who thought this form of advertisment!
Very interesting blog! It’s really crazy how much thought goes into getting people to shop and buy. You would think that fast food joints already have an aroma of juicy double cheeseburgers and fries, to imagine them actually pumping that smell out is crazy! It all makes a lot of sense though and your example of going in to buy a salad, but coming out with a burger and fries I think has happened to all of us. I know that Hollister and Abercrombie actually wash their clothes in the perfume from the store and then sell them saturated with that really good smelling perfume. Smell is a powerful sense and when something smells to our liking I can see how sublimely we are coaxed into buying or changing our minds. I wonder if Yankee candle has the just cooked bacon cheeseburger like candle…Mmmm!
ReplyDeleteI thought your comment about eliminating our senses to focus on the nose and how the nose is connected to memory was extremely clever. I happen to feel as though a lot of the smells we associate with products are not the true scents of them. For example, do cherries really smell like a cherry Tootsie pop? When we cannot find the original of something, it is very American to turn toward the artificial version. Does this version actually replace the original satisfactorily? Personally, I'd have to say no. Many however, would be just as happy with the faux version. This supports how easily advertisers can manipulate consumers into settling for what is labeled "the best", even if it is not.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Your nose really does do a lot of your shopping. As people have mentioned Hollister and Abercrombie, many stores have specific smells that draw you in. There have been soo many times that I have went into a store because the aromna drew me there. I never put two and two together that that is what is happening. Advertisers are more tricky than I thought. Whenever you think you have the upper hand, they come back and trick you with shinanagans like this!
ReplyDeleteWhile I've known for awhile that stores pump fragrances through the air, I've never given it much thought, other than to admit that I buy bread from the bakery department in the grocery store because the smell of it in the air makes me want garlic bread for dinner. Sometimes I'll buy a rotisserie chicken because it sits in front of the check-out lines, and the smell of that already cooked chicken means, "Why bother with the effort of cooking one when you can easily buy one?"
ReplyDeleteIt's easy for marketers to advertise to your nose because people like me fall prey to it.
Smell is definitely a major focus of marketing. Every time you walk through the mall or a store your sense of smell is active. Fragrances are sprayed in order to pull consumers in to have a look at what they are smelling. Interestingly enough it could be that advertising that utilizes the sense of smell is a much stronger form and more effective way of advertising. For me personally when i smell something like a specific kind of food I am much more inclined to purchase it due to the smell rather than the sight of it. The same goes with any kind of fragrance, the smell of it will drive me to by it much more so then the sight of it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the interesting points you made in your blog. I never knew that the scent in fast food places were artificial. You bring up a good point of how companies will try to target your senses. Many of us (myself included) do not realize how our sense of smell can deceive us into buying something, so for the most part we in a way "let our guard down" and focus on what we can see and touch. We have to be equally prepared to "sniff" out any companies targeting us in unexpected ways.
ReplyDelete