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The smell that made 84% more runners buy Nike | Nudge Newsletter

Published 5 days ago • 1 min read

The Psychology Of Smell

​Read online​

I've got a shameful secret.

My mouth salivates when I walk past Subway.

I know the food is dire, the lettuce is plastic, and the bread is like a sponge.

Yet I can't help but feel an urge to go in.

After reading Consumerology¹, I think I've learnt why.

The Psychology of Smell

You'll smell a Subway before you see it.

The yeasty, sweet, toasty smell is pumped out onto the street.

And I think it's on purpose.

In fact, studies suggest that smells too faint to consciously detect influence us.

Researchers at Northwestern University² asked students to sniff three scents at such low concentrations that the students were unaware of having smelled anything.

Next, the students were shown a picture of a face with a neutral expression and asked to judge its likability.

It turns out that the type of smell influences likability.

Two real-world examples

Nike shoe sales

Researchers purchased a brand new pair of Nike running shoes.

They were placed in one of two rooms:

  1. A room flooded with a light floral smell
  2. An identical room with no smell

Those in the flower-scented room said they were 84% more likely to buy.*

Casino slot machines

In another study cited in Consumerology, researchers pumped a similar scent into one part of a casino.

Those who gambled in that specific part of the casino gambled 45% more.

​

I no longer feel so ashamed about my Subway secret.

Smells affect all of us, even if we're not consciously aware.

​Phill​

¹Graves, P. (2010). Consumer.ology: The market research myth, the truth about consumers, and the psychology of shopping. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

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²Li, W., Moallem, I., Paller, K.A. & Gottfried, J.A. (2007) Subliminal smells can guide social preferences, Psychological Science, 18(12): 1044-9.”

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*I strongly doubt a smell could have that big of an effect. And I doubt you could replicate it at your own company.

​

As a behavioural science practitioner, I believe in the peak-end rule.

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Nudge Newsletter

Phill Agnew

I spend 18 hours each week turning marketing psychology into readable newsletters.

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