A friend of mine worked at a popular tween and tween clothing store when she was in high school. She told me that they purposefully cranked up the music and pumped their brand cologne to attract younger buyers and deter older buyers. Older individuals are more sensitive to sound and smell, typically.
Mall eateries like pretzel, cookie, and ice cream shops, as well as restaurants and movie theaters also use scent marketing to lure passersby. The smells trigger our saliva glands making us think we are hungry. They can, for some, also spark nostalgia. All of which creates longing.
Retail stores also use “atmospherics” to build their brand, attract customers, build loyalty, and increase likelihood of purchase and positive word of mouth. Atmospherics can include temperature, scents, music/sound, and visual cues and product placements.
For example a table cloth can affect taste perception, eating pleasure, and eating amount. Low volume music can increase the sale of healthy foods because it enhances relaxation. Whereas high volume music or noise stimulates, and increases sales of unhealthy foods. Dim lighting also promotes unhealthy food choices and where a product is placed in terms of your line of sight can affect your likelihood of purchase.
These cues are called nudges, and they are used to nudge customers into ideal behaviors.
WHAT TO DO?
You can’t really do much about the tactics they use. But you can be aware of them. Awareness will help you stay in control of how you respond. For example as soon as you smell the cinnamon roll and think, “ohhhhhh yess! Gooey, deliciousness!”, catch yourself. As yourself if you are truly hungry. Ask yourself if you were planning on having a cinnamon role before you smelled it.
The same awareness and self-check-in can help you when you’re shopping for clothes, buying groceries, or dining out. You can also take this awareness and apply it to your home. Or rather, apply the opposite to your home. If stores are using dim lighting and large plates to encourage you to order and eat more, and eat unhealthy but cheaper food (cheaper for them), you can keep your dining room bright and your serveware small.
Awareness of your surroundings and self-awareness are critical skills to improving your habits and achieving your goals. Whether those goals are related to fitness or finances.
PS It’s not all used for ill… Nudges can be used to help the public improve their lives!
References
Biswas, D., Lund, K. & Szocs, C. Sounds like a healthy retail atmospheric strategy: Effects of ambient music and background noise on food sales. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 47, 37–55 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-018-0583-8
Bschaden, A., Dörsam, A. F., Cvetko, K., Kalamala, T., & Stroebele-Benschop, N. (2020). The impact of lighting and table linen as ambient factors on meal intake and taste perception. Food Quality and Preference, 79. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103797
Grewal, D., Roggeveen, A. L., Puccinelli, N. M., & Spence, C. (2014). Retail atmospherics and in-store nonverbal cues: An introduction. Psychology & Marketing, 31(7), 469–471. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.20708
Lefebvre, S., & Biswas, D. (2019). The influence of ambient scent temperature on food consumption behavior. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 25(4), 753–764. https://doi.org/10.1037/xap0000226
Motoki, K., Saito, T., Nouchi, R., Kawashima, R., & Sugiura, M. (2018). The paradox of warmth: Ambient warm temperature decreases preference for savory foods. Food Quality and Preference, 69, 1–9. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2018.04.006
Vilnai-Yavetz, I., Gilboa, S., & Mitchell, V. (2021). Experiencing atmospherics: The moderating effect of mall experiences on the impact of individual store atmospherics on spending behavior and Mall Loyalty. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 63, 102704. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretconser.2021.102704
