Smells and the subconscious

Even small, imperceptible amounts of scent can have a powerful impact on the human subconscious and help form opinions about a person's character. The world is ruled by visual and auditory stimuli. Most messages are directed towards our eyes and ears. But what about our nose and sense of smell? Consider the vast perfume industry, and you'll discover that scents matter, too. And to a greater extent than we might think. The influence of scents on the subconscious Dr. Wen Li was one of the first to test the effects of scent on the subconscious. Her published research shows that scents have enormous potential. For example, business meetings will be more pleasant and more likely to end successfully when the right scent is diffused in imperceptible quantities. However, small amounts of unpleasant odors can lead to a brawl. Scented billboards, on the other hand, are an innovative approach to advertising, guaranteeing success. The entertainment industry? You're welcome. After all, special cinemas already offer scented screenings. As you can see, scent can contribute to any business. Smell and behavior towards people Dr. Li and her colleagues at Northwestern University in Chicago studied odors so subtle that the human nose couldn't detect them. They wanted to analyze how aromas change the way we relate to others. Experience with 3 different scents The researchers recruited 31 people for their experiment. They were exposed to three very low concentrations of odors: 1. citral smelling of fresh lemon , 2. essential perfumes scented with anisole, 3. unpleasant smell of valeric acid – in this case the concentration was so low that only bloodhounds could smell it. Odorless mineral oil was used for testing. Volunteers were instructed to smell a container containing one of three scents and an odorless oil. They then pressed a button when they thought the container smelled of something. Immediately afterward, they were shown a picture of a face on a screen for one second. Each volunteer saw the same image only once. Participants were asked to rate the face in terms of its "likeability." Shaping opinions through scents What were the results of the experiment? It turned out that odors helped volunteers form opinions about faces. But only when they claimed not to smell anything. If someone was exposed to the smell of valeric acid, they reacted negatively to the depicted face. The opposite was true for those who inhaled citral – for them, the face seemed more friendly. More intriguing was the finding that when the volunteers consciously smelled the odor, the facial perception effect disappeared. Why did this happen? Scientists are unclear. If odors truly convey useful information about human personality , the effect should be identical – regardless of whether the smell of a given substance is perceived unconsciously or consciously.