A Sociable Atmosphere

This exploratory study examines how introducing an ambient scent affects the interactions between people within a meeting room. The study demonstrates behavioral mapping, a procedure for testing people's responses to ambient factors. The study found that introducing an ambient scent into a meeting room significantly increased the number of social interactions between the study's participants. However, the significance of the effect of the scent was moderate. The role of scent in the hospitality industry seems promising, although the small number of observations, along with certain other factors, limits the possibility for generalizing the results of this study.

[1]  Albert Mehrabian,et al.  Effects of Furniture Arrangement, Props, and Personality on Social Interaction. , 1971 .

[2]  Albert Mehrabian,et al.  A theory of affiliation , 1974 .

[3]  Charles S. Gulas,et al.  Right under our noses: Ambient scent and consumer responses , 1995 .

[4]  K. LaTour,et al.  A Qualitative Analysis of Slot Clubs as Drivers of Casino Loyalty , 2008 .

[5]  P. Bone,et al.  Olfaction as a cue for product quality , 1992 .

[6]  B. Kahn,et al.  There's Something in the Air: Effects of Congruent or Incongruent Ambient Odor on Consumer Decision Making , 1995 .

[7]  Jochen Wirtz,et al.  Congruency of Scent and Music As a Driver of In-Store Evaluations and Behavior , 2001 .

[8]  B. Tabachnick,et al.  Using Multivariate Statistics , 1983 .

[9]  Michael J. Houston,et al.  A Psychometric Assessment of Measures of Scripts in Consumer Memory , 1985 .

[10]  Robert A. Baron,et al.  Environmentally Induced Positive Affect: Its Impact on Self‐Efficacy, Task Performance, Negotiation, and Conflict1 , 1990 .

[11]  Maureen Morrin,et al.  The Impact of Ambient Scent on Evaluation, Attention, and Memory for Familiar and Unfamiliar Brands , 2000 .

[12]  R. Birdwhistell Kinesics and Context: Essays on Body Motion Communication , 1971 .

[13]  B. Joseph Pine,et al.  The Experience Economy , 2020, Journal of Orthopaedic Experience & Innovation.

[14]  J. Russell,et al.  An approach to environmental psychology , 1974 .

[15]  Maureen Morrin,et al.  Does it Make Sense to Use Scents to Enhance Brand Memory? , 2003 .

[16]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Servicescapes: The Impact of Physical Surroundings on Customers and Employees: , 1992 .

[17]  Daniel Milotic The impact of fragrance on consumer choice , 2003 .

[18]  Pamela W. Henderson,et al.  Improving the Store Environment: Do Olfactory Cues Affect Evaluations and Behaviors? , 1996 .

[19]  Stephani K. A. Robson,et al.  6. Examining the Effects of Full-Spectrum Lighting in a Restaurant , 2019, The Next Frontier of Restaurant Management.

[20]  B. M. Brown,et al.  Practical Non-Parametric Statistics. , 1981 .

[21]  Stowe Shoemaker,et al.  The “Locals” Market: An Emerging Gaming Segment , 2005, Journal of Gambling Studies.

[22]  B. Cova,et al.  Servicescapes: From Modern Non-Places to Postmodern Common Places , 1999 .

[23]  A. Hirsch,et al.  Effects of ambient odors on slot‐machine usage in a las vegas casino , 1995 .