Have you ever found yourself walking down the street with a cinnamon bun in your hand and wondering why, when and even where you just bought it? Well, you might have just fancied a cinnamon bun, but it might have just happened that you were passing the bakery when that delicious aroma wafted out and hooked you in.
Freshly Baked
Let’s face it, there’s nothing like the warm, fresh and comforting scent of baked goods, and that alone does much of the selling for any baker. It’s true that most businesses that sell food and drink are lucky in that their products automatically draw their customers in.
At Starbucks, the first thing you’ll notice is the full and rich smell of the coffee beans. Some restaurants have made their kitchens visible to their customers, allowing them to see and smell the food being prepared, encouraging the choice of certain dishes.
Psychology of Scent
Using scent to market products in this way goes beyond the realms of bakeries, cafes and restaurants. Cinnamon isn’t just a popular scent to get customers in to buy buns, for example. It happens to be one of the top scents used to sell homes, too. Also used in aromatherapy to promote a sense of well-being, cinnamon is known to evoke a feeling of goodwill and the cosy feel of wintry evenings by the fire.
According to the charity Fifth Sense, which aims to change the lives of people affected by smell and taste disorders, the sense of smell is very closely tied with the memory and emotions. A particular smell can spontaneously evoke a childhood memory of a specific place, person or event. Scent can affect your mood and, indeed, can affect different people in different ways. Perfumers work to create a range of fragrances designed to tap into emotions.
Marketing professionals have recognised the way in which scent can be used to stimulate emotions and memories that help customers bond with a brand at a whole new level. You’ll find scent marketing is available at Mood Media and other scent marketing experts, whose job it is to create ambience that engages all of the senses.
For bakeries, it’s always going to be about that warm, freshly baked aroma. Whether it’s sweet or savoury, it’ll always be difficult to resist.