Do Scents Evoke Emotion?: An Abstract

This paper encompasses two research areas, odor (the translation of a chemical stimulus into the smell sensation) (Wolfe et al. 2015), and emotion (a set of physiological changes, and evaluative, subject-related experiences as evoked by external events and the significance of such events) (Frijda 1986). In marketing, the terms odor, scent, and smell have been used interchangeably to represent both positive and negative scents.

The most immediate response we have to a scent is not analytical but hedonic (Herz 2010). Marketers often use scents that have distinctive chemical properties so consumers could recognize and differentiate each scent by its distinctive smell (e.g. lemon, vanilla). Distinctive smell thus is a critical factor in the experience of pleasure—a liking response to the hedonic impact of a stimulus (Berridge and Kringelbach 2008). Odor hedonic perception (an affective evaluation that centres on liking) is, therefore, central to sensory pleasure and subsequent behavior (Herz 2010).

Prior research demonstrates a link between odor and emotion (Lin et al. 2018). This is attributed to the close connection between olfaction and the limbic system of the brain, which governs the processing of emotions (Cahill et al. 1995; Eichenbaum 1996). Hence, scents often trigger powerful emotional responses (Herz 2010). Moreover, as emotion and olfaction are functionally analogous, they effectively convey the same binary responses (e.g. like/dislike, approach/avoid) (Bosmans 2006; Herz 2010).

Although humans can extract emotional information from scents, just as they can from facial expressions and music (Herz 2009), the critical question remains, however, which scent affects which type of emotion. The literature on consumer olfaction does not satisfactorily answer this important question. Assessing the differential role of odor-elicited emotional information can contribute to a better understanding of consumer behavior across a broad range of areas. The aim of this paper is to develop a scent-emotion wheel for 19 scents that have been used in prior consumer research and are familiar to most consumers. The wheel could serve as a practical guide and as a road map for both researchers and practitioners in identifying which scent affects which specific emotion. With the aid of the scent-emotion wheel, marketers could effectively evaluate and determine appropriate scents in the marketplace.