Premium
Odor Semantics and Visual Cues: What We Smell Impacts Where We Look, What We Remember, and What We Want to Buy
Author(s) -
Lwin May O.,
Morrin Maureen,
Chong Chiao Sing Trinetta,
Goh Su Xin
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of behavioral decision making
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0771
pISSN - 0894-3257
DOI - 10.1002/bdm.1905
Subject(s) - gaze , psychology , object (grammar) , context (archaeology) , recall , semantics (computer science) , eye tracking , cognitive psychology , sensory cue , odor , advertising , communication , computer science , neuroscience , artificial intelligence , paleontology , psychoanalysis , business , biology , programming language
The current research uses eye‐tracking technology in a consumer context to explore the interactive effects of olfactory and visual cues on consumers' eye gaze patterns. We manipulate the semantic correspondence between pictorial objects depicted in print advertisements and odors smelled (or not) while looking at the ads. The results indicate that smelling a scent that shares learned semantic associations with an object in the advertisement diverts consumers' eye gazes to the semantically related object in the ad, with positive downstream effects on advertising recall and purchase intent. This is the first study we are aware of demonstrating multisensory integration of odors and pictures on consumer eye gaze patterns with clear implications for consumer choice. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.