{"id":16804,"date":"2014-06-03T14:21:24","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T18:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/?p=16804"},"modified":"2014-06-04T15:26:43","modified_gmt":"2014-06-04T19:26:43","slug":"why-retailers-need-to-pay-attention-to-the-smell-of-their-stores","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/2014\/06\/why-retailers-need-to-pay-attention-to-the-smell-of-their-stores\/","title":{"rendered":"Why retailers need to pay attention to the smell of their stores"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Concordia University media release:<\/p>\n

\"Shopping\"Retail stores overflowing with merchandise can make consumers feel claustrophobic rather than ready to spend<\/strong>. But the recent move towards open, minimally stocked spaces can leave them feeling just as anxious.<\/p>\n

The solution to this shopping conundrum may be smell<\/strong>, as new research from Concordia University shows.
\n“Our research shows that scents are best at fighting anxiety when they create feelings of openness in crowded retail environments or coziness in minimalist retail spaces<\/strong>,” says marketing professor Bianca Grohmann.In a study recently published in the American Journal of Business<\/em>, researchers from the university’s John Molson School of Business (JMSB) suggest that, when diffused in retail environments, certain scents can reduce the level of anxiety experienced by consumers<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Grohmann and her co-author Tina Poon, a graduate of Concordia’s Master of Science program in marketing, conducted the study at JMSB’s Laboratory for Sensory Research.<\/p>\n

To test how scents diffused in the environment affect anxiety levels caused by overly crowded or open spaces, the researchers invited consumers to a lab that was either jam-packed or nearly empty.<\/p>\n

In each case, the lab — a simulated retail environment — was infused with one of three ambient scents:<\/p>\n