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Researchers from the marketing department at the University of South Florida in Tampa are interested in odors.
In recent years, ambient odors have become one of the tools that businesses use to attract customers and influence their behavior.
Food companies and restaurants, unsurprisingly, use the smell of delicious food to tempt people into their establishments. However, the use of ambient aromas goes beyond selling food items. For instance, the Samsung flagship store in New York pumps in the aroma of honeydew melons.
Food companies and restaurants, unsurprisingly, use the smell of delicious food to tempt people into their establishments. However, the use of ambient aromas goes beyond selling food items. For instance, the Samsung flagship store in New York pumps in the aroma of honeydew melons.
The researchers examined dietary choices because of “growing worldwide concerns about unhealthy eating and rising obesity rates.” Their fascinating findings have been published in the Journal of Marketing Research.
To investigate, they ran a series of experiments in which people in various situations were exposed to the scent of either a healthful food, such as an apple or strawberries, or an unhealthful food, such as cookies or pizza. They identified a trend that ran throughout their experiments, and it seems quite contrary to expectations.
To investigate, they ran a series of experiments in which people in various situations were exposed to the scent of either a healthful food, such as an apple or strawberries, or an unhealthful food, such as cookies or pizza. They identified a trend that ran throughout their experiments, and it seems quite contrary to expectations.
First, people who were exposed to an aroma of unhealthful food for 30 seconds or less were more likely to choose unhealthful food options — this is no surprise. However, individuals exposed to the aroma of unhealthful food for 2 minutes or longer were more likely to make healthful food choices.
The first experiment took place at a middle school cafeteria used by around 900 children. They ran the study across 3 days, and each day, the children were exposed to one of three conditions: a control condition with no scent, an ambient aroma of pizza, and an ambient aroma of apples. The aroma was distributed using nebulizers placed near the children as they stood in line for food. The researchers purposefully slowed down the line so that everyone would be exposed to the smell for at least 2 minutes.
On the day that the apple aroma was present, 36.96 percent of the items sold were unhealthful. On the control day, 36.54 percent of the items sold were unhealthful; there was virtually no difference between the two.In contrast, on the pizza aroma day, only 21.43 percent of purchased snacks were unhealthful; this is a significant difference.
In another experiment, the researchers took the testing into the lab. This time, they tested two sweet aromas — cookie (unhealthful) and strawberry (healthful).
At the start of the trial, the participants sat in a room with one aroma for at least 2 minutes. Then, the researchers placed plates of strawberries and cookies in the lab and asked the participants which food they would choose.
At the start of the trial, the participants sat in a room with one aroma for at least 2 minutes. Then, the researchers placed plates of strawberries and cookies in the lab and asked the participants which food they would choose.
Once again, those who had been exposed to the ambient aroma of the unhealthful food were significantly more likely to choose the healthful option.In a third experiment, the researchers moved to a supermarket setting. With the permission of the managers, they pumped the smell of either chocolate chip cookies or strawberries into the store. They found that the total amount of money spent per person was the roughly the same across both aromas.
As expected, while the indulgent scent was present, the proportion of unhealthful items purchased by each customer was lower. In another experiment, they tested the importance of odor duration. The scientists exposed some participants to a cookie or strawberry aroma for less than 2 minutes and others for longer than 2 minutes.
Once again, those who had smelled cookies for more than 2 minutes were likelier to choose a more healthful food.
Once again, those who had smelled cookies for more than 2 minutes were likelier to choose a more healthful food.
On the other hand, those who had smelled cookies for under 2 minutes were more likely to choose an unhealthful snack; so timing is crucial.
Overall, these findings give a fascinating and potentially useful insight into food cravings and how to minimize them.
Overall, these findings give a fascinating and potentially useful insight into food cravings and how to minimize them.