Scents and Sensibility: When Do (In)Congruent Ambient Scents Influence Product Evaluations?
研究环境气味何时影响产品评价，发现气味与产品一致时影响持续存在，即使消费者意识到或有意纠正；不一致气味仅在消费者意识到或有意纠正时才被修正。
This research examines when and how ambient scents (i.e., scents that are present in the environment and do not emanate from a specific product) affect product evaluations. Consistent with theory in environmental psychology, the author predicts that such ambient scents can elicit emotional responses that can influence subsequent judgments, but only when specific conditions are met. Three factors are hypothesized to moderate the effects of pleasant ambient scents on evaluations: (1) the congruence of the scent with the product, (2) the salience of the scent, and (3) consumers’ motivation to correct for extraneous influences. The findings of three experiments suggest that as long as ambient scents are congruent with the product, they continue to affect consumers’ evaluations, even when their influence becomes salient or when consumers are sufficiently motivated to correct for extraneous influences. In addition, as long as the scent is not completely incongruent with the product, noncongruent scents are corrected for only when their influence becomes salient or when consumers are sufficiently motivated. These findings indicate that the impact of pleasant ambient scents on product evaluations may be stronger than that of other affective environmental cues.