Scent – ​​a remedy for anxious customers

An overabundance of goods in stores can overwhelm customers and trigger feelings of claustrophobia, anxiety, and tension. Canadian researchers suggest that dispersing certain scents in stores can reduce the level of anxiety experienced by consumers. Do cluttered spaces, overcrowded retail spaces, and constant crowds encourage spending? Marketing professor Bianca Grohmann, co-author of the study, explains that scents are best for combating anxiety because:

• create a feeling of openness and spaciousness in places that are too crowded or
• generate a feeling of coziness and warmth in small sales points.

Will the scent reduce anxiety?

The experiment showed that retailers should carefully select ambient scents for their retail spaces if they want to reduce customer anxiety and enhance their shopping experience. Furthermore, retailers who struggle with small, crowded spaces, whether due to limited space or the volume of merchandise stored, can counteract feelings of claustrophobia by using scents that simulate a larger space.

How did the experiment go?

To test how diffused odors in the environment affect anxiety levels caused by:

• too crowded or
• too open spaces, Researchers invited participants to a laboratory that was sometimes crowded, other times almost empty.

In each case, the laboratory – a symbol of the retail environment – ​​was filled with one of three ambient scents:

1. an odor reminiscent of closed areas, like the smell of firewood,
2. a scent evoking open spaces, like the seashore,
3. no smell whatsoever.

Consumers rated several products, as well as the space in which the experiment took place. They then indicated their level of anxiety.

How did the volunteers rate their well-being?

In crowded spaces, volunteers reported feeling less anxious when they inhaled something that evoked spaciousness. In an empty space , consumers felt calmer when exposed to a scent evoking closed spaces. Anxiety levels were highest among consumers in an open space that was filled with an odor associated with spaciousness.