Christmas Scent Boosts Sales, Researchers Say

With the time just perfect for joyful souls and risen sales, a group of American and Swiss scientists led by Professor Eric Spangenberg of the Washington State University College of Business decided to see what's the smell that intensifies brings both.

The experiment consisted of observing the shopping behavior of hundreds of Swiss costumers alternatively exposed to simple and complex scents, EurekAlert reports.

The two scents consisted of a pure orange one and a more complex one made out of orange and green tea. Researchers observed the reaction of over 400 customers exposed to the scents in a decorations store.

It has been proven that due to the processing facility of the simple scent, it worked much better. Around 100 people have spent about 20% more money buying objects placed in the area of the simple scent.

“What we showed was that the simple scent was more effective. Most people are processing it at an unconscious level, but it is impacting them,” said Prof Spangenberg.

“The important thing from the retailer's perspective and the marketer's perspective is that a pleasant scent isn't necessarily an effective scent.”