Making waiting fun? The power of scent in the waiting room

We wait in a waiting room for 23 minutes on average. That's quite a lot of time! How nice it would be if you could make this time a lot more pleasant for your visitors. Because they happy, is you happy! How do you do this? Exactly, through scent! We would like to tell you more about the positive effects on your visitors while waiting.

Waiting with a smile

Smell will put you in a better mood while waiting? Yes, really! Lehrner et al (2005) investigated this. The approach of this study was as follows: subjects were divided into three groups and had to fill in questionnaires while waiting. Group 1 waited in a room with no added odour. Group 2 and 3 sat in a room with added odour. The outcome? Scent had a positive effect on the participants' moods! The scents used? Lavender and orange.

Smell knows no time 

To our senses, waiting can sometimes take a very long time. Whether you are waiting in the shop, at the doctor's or at the railway station. Time creeps by! Imagine that this perception of time can be influenced by smell. This is where Darabi & Mirabi (2018) conducted research. During this study, participants were waiting in a queue. One group was not exposed to any added smell. The other group was. The result? The group exposed to the added scent felt that time went faster! The scent used was a natural green scent. This scent made people more aware of their surroundings and less concerned with the elapsed time.

Bye-bye tensions

Wobbly legs, sweaty hands: some of the symptoms that can arise in the dentist's waiting room. We all know that feeling of tension, or maybe even anxiety, when sitting in a medical waiting room. Very annoying. But did you know that you can reduce this by smell? Fencko and Loock (2014) and Kritsidima, Newton & Asimakopoulou (2010) proved this. During their studies, they tested the mood of people in a waiting room. As it turned out, people in the room with added scent experienced less anxiety before the scheduled appointment! Lavender scent was used for both tests. A pleasant and relaxing scent. 

What are you waiting for?

In short, scent has several positive effects while waiting. Lavender and orange scents are true mood boosters in this respect! Prefer a different scent to make your visitors' waiting time more pleasant? You can find them here. So, what are you waiting for?