In a recent article posted in the Journal of Consumer Research it was noted that people remembered products and product attributes better when they were scented.
In one study, the researchers had 151 participants evaluate pencils that were unscented, scented with pine scent (common), or scented with tea tree scent (uncommon). "We found that the memory for the scented pencils was much greater than memory for the unscented pencils, and that this effect was especially pronounced after a time delay," the authors write. They also found that participants' memory of the uncommonly (tea tree) scented pencils was more resistant to decay.
Excerpts from research: Product Scent and Memory
.....Product scent may be particularly effective at enhancing memory for product information as a function of its ability to enhance a product's distinctiveness within its surrounding context...
.....Our studies show that product scent significantly enhances recall of product information, and that this enhanced memory for product information persists over time—for at least two weeks after the time of exposure.
.....We also find that product scent is more effective than ambient scent at enhancing memory for product information.
We at Scented Pens are thrilled at this research and would like to personally thank the authors for their work:
Aradhna Krishna is the Dwight F. Benton Professor of Marketing at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan, 701 Tappan Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109‐1234 (aradhna@umich.edu). May O. Lwin is associate professor, Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information, Nanyang Technological University, 31 Nanyang Link, Singapore 637718 (tmaylwin@ntu.edu.sg). Maureen Morrin is professor of marketing, Rutgers University School of Business, 227, Penn St., Camden, NJ 08102 (mmorrin@rutgers.edu).
