Our five senses help us gather information from the world around us. Weirdly enough, however, it’s our sense of smell that has the best memory – while we can only remember only 5 % of what we see, we can remember 35 % of what we smell ( Ingelborn 2016 ). How can we use our sense of smell and the memory of it for better customer experience?
Our sense of smell, compared to the other senses, has the most direct route to the part of the brain that controls our emotions and memory ( Walsh 2020 ). That’s a reason why certain scents can evoke strong emotions and mental images. These associations, especially the positive ones, should be considered in the business world as well. For example, if your customers are mostly from a certain generation, you can consider what types of scents could be pleasant and familiar for them. On the other hand, it’s also very easy to have an unpleasant smell impact the way a person might feel about your business.
We also use our smell to avoid danger ( Ekholm 2023 ) – sometimes we might not even realise a certain smell has caused our brain to go into a flight mode. For example, we might start feeling nauseated just from the smell of a food that has made us sick before. In a restaurant, this aspect might be considered with not having an open kitchen, leaving enough space between tables and having a good ventilation to avoid negative feelings from rising.
Smell is one of the best senses for creating lasting brand impressions – in both good and bad. While we might not remember a brand’s visual appearance, we might have an easier time remembering the smell of a Chinese restaurant. By including a scent into your brand, you can add another dimension to remember you by and enhance your brand experience! This brand scent can help bring front positive associations into different dealings with your brand and business.
Let’s go for some practical examples:
- Does the environment have the right smells for your business? Luxury shop might not feel that luxurious with an exotic restaurant next to it while a shop selling spices could be a much better match! Ordering organic, healthy products online and then fetching them from a stuffy post office, however, is sending some mixed signals.
- Consider people who might be sensitive to certain smells. For example, locating the perfumes where people can’t avoid the strong smells ( like entrances ) might drive them away, cause headaches and create negative associations.
- Connect the scents from physical stores to online packages and products with your brand + consider whether employees could also wear a certain type of scent. This would be especially useful if you sell in both e-commerce and physical store + take part in events and such, thus bringing a dose of familiarity and positive feelings with the scent
………….
Ekholm, Virpi 2023. Hajuaisti suojelee ja tuoksut voivat ihastuttaa – mutta myös vihastuttaa. Online article. Published. 20.12.2023. https://www.hyvaterveys.fi/artikkeli/terveys/hajuaisti-suojelee-ja-tuoksut-voivat-ihastuttaa-mutta-myos-vihastuttaa . Referred to 26.2.2024
Ingelborn, Mats 2016. Kul e-handel. En bok om kundupplevelser i e-handel. E-kirja. Stockholm: Yabot AB 2019. Referred to 26.2.2024
Walsh, Colleen 2020. What the nose knows. Online article. Published 27.2.2020. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-scent-emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/. Referred to 26.2.2024
Our five senses help us gather information from the world around us. Weirdly enough, however, it’s our sense of smell that has the best memory – while we can only remember only 5 % of what we see, we can remember 35 % of what we smell ( Ingelborn 2016 ). How can we use our sense of smell and the memory of it for better customer experience?
Our sense of smell, compared to the other senses, has the most direct route to the part of the brain that controls our emotions and memory ( Walsh 2020 ). That’s a reason why certain scents can evoke strong emotions and mental images. These associations, especially the positive ones, should be considered in the business world as well. For example, if your customers are mostly from a certain generation, you can consider what types of scents could be pleasant and familiar for them. On the other hand, it’s also very easy to have an unpleasant smell impact the way a person might feel about your business.
We also use our smell to avoid danger ( Ekholm 2023 ) – sometimes we might not even realise a certain smell has caused our brain to go into a flight mode. For example, we might start feeling nauseated just from the smell of a food that has made us sick before. In a restaurant, this aspect might be considered with not having an open kitchen, leaving enough space between tables and having a good ventilation to avoid negative feelings from rising.
Smell is one of the best senses for creating lasting brand impressions – in both good and bad. While we might not remember a brand’s visual appearance, we might have an easier time remembering the smell of a Chinese restaurant. By including a scent into your brand, you can add another dimension to remember you by and enhance your brand experience! This brand scent can help bring front positive associations into different dealings with your brand and business.
Let’s go for some practical examples:
- Does the environment have the right smells for your business? Luxury shop might not feel that luxurious with an exotic restaurant next to it while a shop selling spices could be a much better match! Ordering organic, healthy products online and then fetching them from a stuffy post office, however, is sending some mixed signals.
- Consider people who might be sensitive to certain smells. For example, locating the perfumes where people can’t avoid the strong smells ( like entrances ) might drive them away, cause headaches and create negative associations.
- Connect the scents from physical stores to online packages and products with your brand + consider whether employees could also wear a certain type of scent. This would be especially useful if you sell in both e-commerce and physical store + take part in events and such, thus bringing a dose of familiarity and positive feelings with the scent
………….
Ekholm, Virpi 2023. Hajuaisti suojelee ja tuoksut voivat ihastuttaa – mutta myös vihastuttaa. Online article. Published. 20.12.2023. https://www.hyvaterveys.fi/artikkeli/terveys/hajuaisti-suojelee-ja-tuoksut-voivat-ihastuttaa-mutta-myos-vihastuttaa . Referred to 26.2.2024
Ingelborn, Mats 2016. Kul e-handel. En bok om kundupplevelser i e-handel. E-kirja. Stockholm: Yabot AB 2019. Referred to 26.2.2024
Walsh, Colleen 2020. What the nose knows. Online article. Published 27.2.2020. https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2020/02/how-scent-emotion-and-memory-are-intertwined-and-exploited/. Referred to 26.2.2024