What’s Scent Got to Do With It?

In my last post, I said that scent is “… probably the first thing I consciously examine when I am in a new place.”

Why take note of scent first?

First scent impressions are more accurate (before forming a visual impression). For instance, if the space is beautiful (or wretched), the answer to “how did it smell” changes without realizing it.

The nose gets used to a new smell very quickly, so there’s only one chance to notice it vividly.

Scent impressions on your customers are immediate, incredibly strong, mainly subconscious, and make-or-break for your business. Scent is strongly tied to memory; like other first impressions, it’s very hard to change the first impression of scent.

I can take my time to do the rest, but that’s got to be done right away.

You can try it, too, by walking in first thing in the morning and focusing only on your sense of smell, but I have to tell you: “fresh” nose or not, you are used to what your place of business smells like. You have your own associations (hopefully good ones) with the smell. You aren’t going to notice what an outsider does.

Have you ever been to an office, store, or restaurant that smelled like a flower you remember at your Grandma’s house? Like the basement you dreaded when you were six? Like a locker room? How did it affect your purchases?

Has smell ever caused you to linger at a business, or to race out?

Grow and be well,

Kelly Erickson