Fragrance is crucial for most businesses. It has become small businesses’ selling point, enticing customers with the sense of scent. Different scents evoke a certain sense of memory, therefore, appealing to many individual’s emotions and feelings.
The Importance of Fragrance
The American Psychological Association states the sense of smell is an ancient sense. However, it is easy to ignore; unlike the sense of touch, sight, and hearing, the sense of smell cannot be seen, felt, or heard. The odor goes straight to the brain before a person recognizes the presence of a scent. This is also why a business should trigger the sense of smell to impact the consumer’s consciousness.
In addition, the National Center for Biotechnology information reviews how fragrance affects an individual’s mood. The center states that scent influences a person’s psychophysiological activities. Fragrance triggers over 300 olfactory receptors, and this affects how a person responds to stress.
Scent calms the nerves
Some of the calming fragrances are sea breeze, ylang-ylang, lavender, and lemon. The smell of the sea breeze, for instance, triggers a memory of a relaxing holiday; remembering this memory can eliminate stress.
There’s a specific school for the use of scents to influence human behavior. It is called aromachology. The concept was started in 1988 by a scientist, Shizuo Torii, and it is different from aromatherapy. Aromachology uses scents to evoke feelings and uplift a person’s mood, while aromatherapy uses fragrances to cure and treat illnesses.
Scent triggers memories
Let’s take the sea breeze scent again as an example. Stress is removed because that particular scent triggers a memory of the holidays and a relaxing getaway.
In addition, studies reveal that scent causes memory retention more than the sense of sight. People are said to remember 65% more accurately through scent, while visual memory only has 50% accuracy. People are especially attracted to scents that trigger memories of home. A smell of food that reminds a person of mom’s cooking will trigger nostalgia. Hence, when creating products, it is essential to develop those that trigger these memories. It can be done by using fragrances.
Scent is connected to taste
The smell of food affects its flavor. Taste is different than flavor. Taste refers to the saltiness, bitterness, or sourness of food. Flavor is more complex. It combines the taste and aroma of food to create a complex sensation that is not only tasted but warms the heart.
For sure, everybody has experienced losing appetite when having a cold or flu. This is because the olfactory receptors are blocked, hindering a person from thoroughly enjoying the food.
Scent affects productivity
Some scents can affect a person’s productivity, increasing an individual’s alertness, making one more productive. Lemon oil, for instance, is a scent that is proven by studies to increase productivity. The study on this particular scent tested the productivity of data entry operators in a Japanese office building; the result was a 54% increase in productivity among the company personnel.
Earning Profit from Scents
When people think of fragrance and business, the obvious choice is perfume. However, there are other kinds of companies that can benefit from selling fragrances; here are some:
Soap
Soap is essential for people’s hygiene. Due to the pandemic, soap has never been more critical in maintaining people’s health. However, people buy a bar of soap not only for its antibacterial properties but also for the scent it leaves on them.
Hence, selling fragrance soaps is increasingly becoming a trend. Using fragrance oils for soap making can be used to give you an edge over other competitors.
Candles
Just like soaps, scented candles are becoming a trend, too. For individuals who want to start a small business, this is a great choice. The cost of starting a scented candle business is small, and the chances of earning profit are high.
Scented candles sell fast because of the different moods they trigger. If a person wants a sensual mood, scents that can be used are ylang-ylang, rose, and vanilla. For relaxing fragrances, lavender and sandalwood can be used. These are a hit in spas and hotels and can even be used while soaking in the bathtub.
For romantic nights, lilac and violet are a perfect option; rose is a bestseller, too. Scented candles can also be festive, and fragrances such as ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom remind people of the holidays. For everyday use, fresh scents such as cotton and fig are popular.
Aside from soaps and candles, scent can be found in everyday products such as laundry detergents, room fresheners, and even pens. People may not always think about it, but odor attracts, inspires, and even trigger people to buy products.