Nate Davies
Jimmy Xu
Business 260 - Marketing
March 28th, 2018

I Love the Smell of Marketing Research in the Morning

     The topic I found research on is called olfaction. This is science behind sensory marketing and more specifically smells. I find this to be important because research suggests that smells is the sense most tied to memory. Eric Spangenberg is a professor and researcher at Washington of University. Him and his team found ties  between scents, gender, and sales. The first article attached below grabbed my attention due to its relationship with fitness. However, this type of marketing is everywhere. The independent variable in this study is the use of various smells. Men and women, for example, react to certain smells more than others. Vanilla has been found to be the most feminine where rose morca is the most masculine. The dependent variable in these studies is sales. 
     After finding the name of Mr. Spangenberg. I looked deeper into his work. One study he did found that simple smells as compared to complex smells will increase sales 20%. In another case, he found that when a smell is allocated to gender appropriate products will increase sales up to four times in some cases versus no scent. I believe this research is true. I looked up other individuals who have done the same work. I have attached a link from google scholar book below. This research and tactic has been around for decades. It is primarily used in retail outlets where Spangenberg does the majority of his studies. However, in recent years, other business are incorporating it as well. Anytime fitness has adopted this sensory marketing model. There are four different scents they use. Only one of which is seen as a neutralizer and is the least popular.
     The most interesting piece of this is store is the emergence of this sales technique in new realms. I can remember walking by Abecrombie & Fitch in the Bangor mall and hating it but knowing where I was. Many people loved it and associated the colon with the brand. I can also see the use of scents in stores around Christmas time which has been happening for decades because people associate smells like ginger, nutmeg, and cinnamon with the holidays. The idea that one could boost gym membership and identify gender specific sales is fascinating. 
      In conclusion, if I could do the study again assuming what about smells relating to men and women then what type of affect would time of day have on product sales I believe the same smell that is known to be effective on one time of the day may not be as effective all the time. Then one could try to find a solution to compensate for the deficiency. The solution could be an increase in the initial or an added layer for a given time. The possibilities are endless.

NPR ARTICLE

https://www.npr.org/2015/03/15/392761787/smell-something-different-at-the-gym-it-might-not-be-what-you-think

ERIC SPANGENBERG RESEARCH

http://klewtv.com/news/local/wsu-researchers-help-boost-business-sales-with-scents

https://www.scentair.com/Assets/EN/files/researchspangenberggendercongruent.pdf

https://news.wsu.edu/2012/11/26/wsu-researchers-tie-simple-scent-to-increased-retail-sales/

SUPPORTING RESEARCH

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=qfKOAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=marketing+research+smells+and+business&ots=6_FWKdts83&sig=pWXEJ0Xs7eE9yACDSFGz3_fwW_s#v=onepage&q=marketing%20research%20smells%20and%20business&f=false

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Eric_Spangenberg/publication/268395551_Improving_the_Store_Environment_Do_Olfactory_Cues_Affect_Evaluations_and_Behaviors_Authors/links/54b906210cf269d8cbf72a2a.pdf

file:///C:/Users/Nate/Downloads/5496-9375-1-PB.pdf



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