When Your Senses Work Against You
You know that old adage that says if you want to sell your house, bake cookies. It seems when a house smells wonderful - be it fresh, warm bread or hot, chocolately cookies - people are more attracted to the home.
Well guess what. It doesn’t just hold true for house sales. It seems that what whets our appetites also influences us to be more impulsive when it comes to buying other stuff. Aromas affect us on a subliminal level - which is one reason we often underestimate their power. We can recognize close to 10,000 odors. And we breathe about 30,000 times a day, so there’s lots of opportunity for those scents to hit our limbic system — an old area of the brain relating to memory and emotion - where they can be turned into motivation.
According to the Journal of Consumer Research, in one experiment, the aroma of cookies influenced tightwad women to spend more on clothing. Go figure. Now we’re going to have to walk around with clothespins on our noses to get out of the store with our budgets intact.
Then there’s the case of the shampoo that went from last place on general performance to “easier to rinse out, foamed better and left the hair more glossy,” when only the fragrance had been changed.
In another experiment, the fragrance of sweet citrus was pumped into the mall’s air for a week in amounts so small that shoppers couldn’t tell the scent was there. But the shopkeepers could tell when they watched their sales jump by $55-90 per customer, even though the experiment was done in a traditionally slow sales period and stores were instructed not to offer special promotions.
But it’s not just smell that grabs us by our purse-strings. It seems that our exposure to visual influences on our appetite reduces our ability to defer our gratification. In one experiment participants played the role of magazine photo-editors, choosing among either appetite stimulating pictures of food or non-appetite stimulating pictures of nature. All the participants were then asked to participate in a lottery that would either pay them less money sooner or more money later.
Those exposed to the food photos were 20% more likely to choose the lottery with the chance of a smaller, more immediate payoff than those who were exposed to the photos of nature. It seems, with appetites at attention, we cannot wait to be satiated.
Even our ears can be used against us. Did you know that music in a major chord make people buy more than music in a minor chord? Uh-huh. Some obsessive marketer actually measured this, and now when you’re listening to all that music as you shop, you can be sure it’s been designed to engage your buying impulses.
Sigmund Freud suggested that we are motivated by conscious and unconscious forces. The next time you’re bopping down the aisle and you slow down to examine a new product or attractive item, keep in mind you’re marching to some marketer’s drummer. Yup. Certain beats of music will slow shoppers down, making them dawdle in front of goods on display. Combine that with the right visual stimulation and a scent that moves your to feel relaxed and open to new ideas and you don’t stand a chance of getting out the door without blowing your budget.
May 15th, 2008 at 9:51 am
This just shows you why, unless you’re buying something specific on a list, going to the store or mall is a danger to your wallet. Personally I hate shopping and find the whole experience unpleasant, so when I actually need something, it’s in the store and right back out. Some people go to malls for recreation–you should find something else to do like play frisbee or a board game with the kids, visit the library, or take up knitting.
May 15th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I was in Superstore one day, trying to decide between buying one of something for $2 dollars or two of the same thing for $3.50…and noticed the song “It Takes Two” playing. They really are diabolical. LOL.
May 15th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
If you ever get a chance to go to Disneyland, pay attention to the smells…. they can be used to calm as well as stimulate! I couldn’t help but notice that the areas of heavy lineups had very “fresh” air… and then I paid very close attention, a hint of something (maybe citrus) really was calming and invigorating at the same time. The lineup was not nearly so frustrating as it should be! Was it a fluke? And DURING the rides there were more scents wafting in the air, accenting the ride, making it more interactive with more senses. I was very impressed!
The flower beds were planted with Strawberry, Kiwi, Grapes, and citrus groves too! All healthy and alive. This was my first trip there: I expected clean, happy and fun– but I was most impressed with the extra behind the scenes details like the mood enhancing scents, fresh air and vitality of the place. (There were a couple of sort of stinky places too…. I think that was to prevent loitering in the major arteries of the place!)
I could go on more about the brilliant staging with music too…. but I won’t
May 15th, 2008 at 11:06 pm
I know about shopping around the outside of the supermarket, avoiding the stuff at the end of the aisles and looking at the lower shelves for supermarket-own brands (cheaper) items. I even take the smaller shopping cart, not the big one which can be tempting to fill. Now we have to contend with stimuli blasted our other senses prompting us to spend! Eek!
Talking of music, the theme to the tv series MASH is often played in one supermarket here. “Suicide is Painless” …. hmmm. Seems subliminal music hasn’t reached Hong Kong’s supermarkets yet.
May 15th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
This kind of stuff creeps me out.