What is scent experience?

Scent perception is the experience of the scent you smell somewhere. You're probably thinking right now, "Tell me something new." We love doing that! The creation of scent perception is a little less obvious. But essential to understanding the power of a good scent experience! This power starts with the fact that smell is the only sense that is closely connected to our limbic system. The part of our brain involves our emotion, motivation, pleasure and emotional memory. As a result, the smell can evoke emotions, create perceptions, activate people, calm them down and form memories. It may surprise you, but our feelings are determined 75% by smell! And we make most decisions unconsciously, based on these feelings.

For example, do you smell a pleasant scent? Then your brain focuses on the positive aspects of your environment. In addition, you have become blind to the negative aspects. This affects the decisions you make. In this case, decisions are favourable for the organisation where you smell this pleasant scent. And that's pure because of the smell that you experience. So it's not the environment that changes, but your perception. Your perception of smell, to be precise. In short, a good sense of smell is invaluable.

What can scent experience do for me?

So, scent perception is very important when it comes to the appreciation of a space. But scent perception also influences how we feel and the actions we take as a result. Actions that you can influence. When it smells good somewhere, we feel at ease, we judge the environment more positive and we want to return there (unconsciously) because of this positive experience. And this is something you can control!

You can use scent perception for both problem solving and value adding purposes. In case of a problem solving goal, we talk about scent neutralisation. In this case, think about counteracting unpleasant odours by neutralising them. Unpleasant scents in a room not only reduce the appreciation of the room but often also of the organisation itself. Masking them is, therefore, an important goal. If you go for a value adding objective, then we talk about scent marketing. Here you use scent experience as a marketing tool. For example, you can strengthen your brand identity by spreading a unique, appropriate scent. At some point, your brand will be associated with this scent. This gives your identity a boost every time this scent is smelled. Do you want to both counteract bad smells and add value to your brand? No problem! One does not exclude the other.

What is scent neutralisation?

When we talk about scent neutralisation, we talk about permanently eliminating unpleasant odours. Whether it's the stench in changing rooms or the smell of stale beer in a cafe. Neither you nor your visitors want this. Research shows that unwanted smells constitute a significant source of frustration. About 80% of the Dutch population is bothered by the smell of toilets. And such a (subconsciously) negative experience, in turn, affects the evaluation of space and whether someone wants to come back here. 

So it's essential to ensure a good hygiene experience. And, in addition to general cleaning work, you can achieve this most effectively by spreading the scent. Your cleaning team doesn’t have to come back that often. Because it doesn't do much good and it's not a smart choice in terms of costs. The fact that a space is technically clean does not mean that it is also experienced as such. Various environmental factors form this experience. The smell is one of the most important of these. So, if you spread a fresh, neutralising scent, you significantly increase the cleanliness experience within your organisation!

Is scent experience something for my type of organisation?

Scenting can be used within all types of organisations, whether it is scent in a store, in health care or a hotel. A good smell is wanted everywhere! The special effect of scent is not yet known to everyone. This makes it an element often forgotten in all kinds of expressions. Do the examples below sound familiar to you? Use this to your advantage to be a step ahead of your competitors!

Have you ever noticed this? Many stores forget to use the scent experience. They put a lot of time and energy into the look and feel of their brand. The design is well thought out. But, scent in the store? Absent. Unfortunate! Not applying scent is a missed opportunity, as scent perception, consciously and unconsciously, significantly influences your shopping visitors.

This also applies to the scent experience within a hotel. You want your guests to have an unforgettable stay. However, hotels often carefully coordinate appearance elements, such as music, decoration and lighting. Here, the scent is often overlooked. A missed opportunity! Diffusing a unique and complementary scent strengthens your hotel brand and increases the rating of your guests.

Which scent suits my space?

Every space has its purpose, and with that comes a scent with an appropriate effect. You want people to feel welcome at the entrance of your organisation and visitors to relax in a wellness area. It is therefore of great importance that the scent matches the space. If this is not the case, it could even disturb your visitors. And of course, you don't want that. So you want to boost visitors to a gym's cardio room. To achieve this, you choose an activating scent. Leave the relaxing aromas aside, no matter how good they smell. In short, an appropriate scent is essential!