International congress – Marketing trends

Paris 21-22 January 2005

In January 2005, an important International congress was held on marketing trends.
Researchers highlighted the effect of the new phenomenon of olfactory marketing, which extensive research has been carried out on.
For space problems, we just mention a few more interesting points, and if you want more information on the matter visit the website European School of management.

The role of the atmosphere for service enterprises

Service supplies can be divided in two parts, the visible and the invisible to the consumer. The invisible part (the kitchen in a restaurant, or the cleaning service in a hotel) has an effect on the visible part. The visible part of an organisation, can in turn be divided in two parts: the inanimate physical environment, where the service is supplied and the sales staff who offer the service.

The physical environment (inanimate environment) in particular, includes all those elements that define the atmosphere where the service is supplied, the way the space is organised, the architectural structure, the materials used, the equipment layout, the decorations and the sensorial stimuli, like the lights, colours, sounds, smells, which have an important impact on the perceptions and behaviour of the staff and clientele alike.

The sales staff spend long periods in the place where the service is supplied, and therefore enterprise must analyse the effects of the environment on employee behaviour.
In the various researches into the effects of the single elements of the atmosphere on customer reactions, the different dimensions of the location have been analysed, including the music, cleanliness, order, light, colour, crowd and the last study was into the sense of smell.

In their aim of “seducing” the consumers or increasing employee productivity, some enterprises have been inspired by aromatherapy principles, researching the stimulating or relaxing nature of olfactory stimuli.

In the Louis Vuitton boutiques in Paris “leather” perfumed candles burn among the luxury leather goods.
We have developed a model that presents the relationship between diffused olfactory stimuli and perceptions, customer and employee behaviour and evaluations (see the figure below). The basic presumption is that there is a positive relationship between diffused olfactory stimuli, employee perceptions and behaviour, customer perceptions and behaviour. The general assumption is that a pleasant smell has a positive effect on customer and employee response, improving service supply output.

Undesired effects on the relationship between sales staff and clientele

The aim of the research is to check the impact that the diffusion of a smell inside a location can have on the affective, cognitive and behavioural response of the employees in the sales outlet, and check the effect on the clientele’s behaviour and on the clientele – employee interaction.

Source comes from search
Stefania Del Gatto - Dottore di Ricerca e Marketing e Gestione delle Imprese - Univ. Molise