It's beginning to smell (and sound) a lot like Christmas: the interactive effects of ambient scent and music in a retail setting

Abstract

While extant research suggests that olfactory and musical stimuli can influence individuals' perceptions and behaviors, the combined or interactive effects of these environmental cues is not well understood. Using stimuli associated with the Christmas holiday season, this research explores the joint effects of ambient scent and music on consumers' evaluations of a store, its environment and offered merchandise. A 2 (no scent vs. Christmas scent)×2 (non-Christmas music vs. Christmas music) experimental design was implemented in a mock retail store. Results indicate that the effects of adding an ambient Christmas scent are moderated by the nature of the background music. In particular, consumers' evaluations are more favorable when the Christmas scent is in the presence of Christmas music. The presence of the Christmas scent with non-Christmas music, however, lowers evaluations. Results and implications of the findings are discussed with regard to retail practice and environmental psychology.