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Marketing managers are increasingly using olfactory marketing instruments in the retail environment. However, the question is whether scents in the store are desirable for all consumer types. Research on the moderating role of individual differences on the impact of scents in the marketplace is scarce. This article focuses on how ambient fragrances in the store can influence customers’ affective, evaluative, and approach reactions and considers the moderating role of shopping motivation and affect intensity. A field experiment reveals that a pleasant fragrance positively influences consumers’ affective reactions, evaluations, and intentions to revisit the store, especially when the consumers score high on affect intensity. Strategically manipulating the store environment via ambient scents is an inexpensive yet effective way to positively influence consumer behavior. Retailers can use ambient scents to heighten their differentiating ability; however, the decision to diffuse a scent should be based on the target audience.

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Sensory marketing can be an efficient way to involve consumers in the store environment. Diffusing a pleasant ambient scent that matches with the store setting is often used to create pleasant shopping experiences. The aim of this study is to extend scent marketing research: (i) by examining the effect of pleasant ambient scent on the different dimensions of customer value; and (ii) by exploring whether product-scent incongruity can have a positive effect on consumer evaluations. A field experiment with 182 participants showed that a pleasant genderincongruent ambient perfume positively influences different dimensions of customer value as compared to the absence of a perfume. Moreover, a gender-incongruent perfume also leads to a more positive evaluation of the play, product excellence, and social dimension of customer value as compared to a gender-congruent perfume. A pleasant gender-congruent ambient perfume, on the other hand, only has a positive effect on the aesthetic dimension of customer value as compared to the absence of a perfume. The observed ambient scent effects do not differ between men and women. These results are in contrast with existing literature. However, an explanation for this undocumented effect can be found in the mate attraction theory.

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