Effects of Appropriate and Inappropriate Odors on Product Evaluations

Abstract

In accounting for an odorant's effect on the evaluation of a product, both the odor's intrinsic pleasantness and its appropriateness for that particular product are relevant. When comparing the effects of pleasant smells, consumers are likely to prefer products with appropriate smells to those with an inappropriate smell. We investigated the effect of adding congruent and incongruent odorants on product evaluations for each of three product categories: food (tea, instant whip, cake mix), personal care (shampoo, deodorant, lip balm), and household products (cream cleaner, air freshener, furniture wax). In a between-subjects design, 96 respondents judged scented and unscented products presented in commercial packages of major national brands. The respondents assessed the overall evaluation, 14 to 19 beliefs about the product, buying intention, and the frequency of use for each product. Respondents were instructed to evaluate each product as they would in a store. Although congruency ratings between odor and product show that the manipulation of congruency was successful, no main effect was found for the congruency on overall evaluations of the products. To account for this unexpected finding, we speculate that congruency between odor and product may be more important during product consumption or product use than during its selection. In addition, the odor's effects may have been attenuated in our experiment because we asked our respondents to rate each product on the attribute 'has a nice smell'.

Influence of food odorant names on the verbal measurement of emotions

“…These results are in line with those observed in the literature, these different information influences having already been described for specific sensory perceptions (Schifferstein, 2002;Tuorila et al, 1994;Zellner, Bartoli, & Eckard, 1991), for traditional liking assessments (Cardello & Sawyer, 1992;Tuorila et al, 1994; see also the review from Deliza & MacFie, 1996), and for product experience (Schifferstein, 2009). More specifically in the olfaction field, various studies have also demonstrated the influence of name context on olfactory perception in terms of sensory perception and pleasantness (Distel & Hudson, 2001;Distel et al, 1999;Moskowitz, 1979).…”

Reflective and Impulsive Determinants of Consumer Behavior

“…Pleasant odors have also been demonstrated to affect buying (see Bone & Ellen, 1999;also Hirsch, 1995;Mitchell, Kahn, & Knasko, 1995;Spangenberg, Crowley, & Henderson, 1996). However, this is only the case if the smell fits the product (Schifferstein & Michaut, 2002).…”

Using color–odor correspondences for fragrance packaging design

“…Finding no effect of matching is not uncommon in studies involving smells. For instance, Schifferstein and Michaut (2002) investigated the effect of adding congruent or incongruent pleasant odors on product evaluations for food, personal care and household products. These authors also found no effect of the degree of odor-product congruency on overall product evaluations and buying intentions.…”