How scent enhances the memory of a given product

You might find it strange that someone would perfume products like sewing thread, car tires, or tennis balls. However, there's a method to this unusualness. A study by a group of scientists confirms that scent helps consumers remember product information. Smell can help reinforce product information, reports the Journal of Consumer Research . A product's scent is particularly effective at refreshing memories of a product over time. This continues for at least two weeks after exposure. This relates to the general ability of scents to highlight distinct characteristics among hundreds of other products.

The scent creates long-lasting memories of the product

Authors from universities in the United States and Singapore have found that the scent associated with a specific product accentuates its distinctiveness , which in turn helps consumers remember it longer. In contrast, ambient (ambient) scents seem to stimulate memory for all objects encountered in the perfumed environment (products, signs, lighting, salespeople), but do little to facilitate the memory of one particular item.

Memories of perfumed items are more intense

Researchers surveyed 151 participants. They were asked to rate the pencils:

• some were aromatized with the scent of pine (quite common),
• partly with the scent of tea tree (rare aroma),
• the other pencils had no smell.

What did the authors find? Memory for the scented pencils was significantly better than for the unscented ones. Even more interesting, this effect became particularly pronounced over time.

An unusual scent resists oblivion more effectively

Aradhna Krishna, May Lwin, and Maureen Morrin also observed that volunteers' memories of unusual scents (in this case, tea tree-scented pencils) were more resistant to fading.

Perfumed products enhance long-term memory

In the second test, the researchers compared the effectiveness of the product's scent to the ambient scent. The experiment demonstrated that the scented product intensified long-term memory for the product's characteristics. Moreover, it was more effective than the ambient scent in enhancing memory for information associated with a specific product.