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   XPost: sci.med   
   From: attree23x@gmail.com   
      
   Smell Manipulation   
   By Rachel Herz, Ph.D. on January 6, 2011 - 10:58am   
   A subliminal scent (an odor at a concentration below the level of   
   conscious detection) won't make you do something that you don't want   
   to do, but if you can smell an odor, it can influence you.   
      
   Scents used in the appropriate settings can sway your purchasing   
   interest and your perception of the quality of a product. For example,   
   an odor that is perceived as consistent with the a product concept,   
   like a floral scent with women's sleepwear, will increase the   
   perceived value of the sleepwear and the price that consumers are   
   willing to pay for it. Theme-based ambient aromas in resort   
   environments can also augment positive connotations of the resort   
   experience and subsequently act as reminders for guests to return to   
   the specific resort and increase their destination-brand loyalty.   
      
   It may not seem surprising that thematic aromas can enhance generally   
   perceived worth and ambience appreciation, but odors can also be used   
   to influence your generosity, trustworthiness and political leanings.   
      
   The aroma of citrus-scented Windex was recently shown to induce people   
   to be more generous of their time and money towards noble causes like   
   Habitat for Humanity. Cleaning aromas also encourage people to be more   
   honest and fair in their dealings with others. For example, people who   
   are in a "clean" scented room will share more winnings with an   
   anonymous collaborator than people who are in an unscented room.   
      
   On a Machiavellian level, if you're a politician with conservative   
   ideologies you can use a filthy odor to manipulate your voters. In   
   October 2010, when New York state Tea Party activist Carl Paladino was   
   a gubernatorial hopeful he mailed campaign flyers to 200,000   
   registered Republicans in New York state that were impregnated with   
   the aroma of rotting garbage. In the malodorous flyer Paladino riled   
   against Democrats who "betray the public trust" and pledged to "end   
   the stink of corruption in Albany." The result-Paladino trounced his   
   conservative rival Rick Lazio by a whopping 24 percent in the   
   primaries. The smelly flyer alone can't account for his whopping win,   
   but the putrid mailer would have primed the recipients with thoughts   
   of political filth and make them more eager to endorse someone who   
   would "ferret out corruption" and "get rid of the stink." Notably,   
   Paladino didn't beat his Democratic opponent, the now-governor of New   
   York, Andrew Cuomo, in November 2010. Perhaps voter booths had been   
   aromatically disinfected and the "clean" feeling voters were inclined   
   to be more generous towards social causes.   
      
   The next time you're shopping or considering social-cause or political   
   options, sniff the air. Is the aroma affecting your inclinations?   
      
   Citations:   
   Fiore, AM., Yah, X. & Yoh, E. (2000). Effects of product display and   
   environmental fragrancing on approach responses and pleasurable   
   experiences. Psychology & Marketing, 17, 27-54.   
   Lieberman, P. & Pizarro, D. (October, 23, 2010). All Politics is   
   Olfactory. The New York Times.   
   Liljenquist, K. Zhong, C-B. Galinsky, A.D. (2010). The smell of   
   virtue: clean scents promote reciprocity and charity. Psychological   
   Science, 21, 381-383.   
   Spangenberg, E.R., Sprott, D.E., Grohmann, B. & Tracy, D.L. (2006).   
   Gender-congruent ambient scent influences on approach and avoidance   
   behaviors in a retail store. Journal of Business Research, 59,   
   1281-1287.   
      
   Rachel Herz is the author of The Scent of Desire and on the faculty at   
   Brown University.   
   For more information, click: Rachel Herz   
      
      
   http://m.psychologytoday.com/blog/smell-life/201101/smell-manipulation   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)