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While previous studies have examined the influence of store atmospherics and social factors independently, limited research has investigated their synergistic impacts across cultures. In particular, the interactions between ambient scents, companionship influences, and cross-cultural shopping customs remain underexplored. Therefore, this study investigates how ambient scents influence retail shopping behaviors with a companion across cultures. Data were collected via surveys administered to customers in Polish and Indian shopping malls (N= 579), examining the impact of detected fragrances on time spent, money spent, purchase decisions, cognitive responses, and attitudes. Shopping with a companion in a scented environment has a more positive influence on time spent, money spent and impulse purchases in India than in Poland. There is no difference between these two cultures regarding cognitive responses to a scented retail environment, but there are significant differences for attitudinal responses and repurchase intentions. We found a positive association between the consumer rating of the shopping environment in terms of the ambient scent and the amount of money spent in India, but not in Poland. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed for optimizing atmospheric design according to cultural customs around shopping companionships.

Olfactory marketing, an integral concept of experiential marketing, is gaining popularity in the service sector to attract consumers more emotionally and personally. However, no prior studies investigate how fragrance controllability, stability, and locus in tourism destination impact tourist attachment. The study surveyed 302 tourists and used the SPSS software program to test the regressions between different variables and build a new structure equation model. This study uses attribution theory to investigate fragrance stability, controllability, and locus on destination attachment. The results reveal that both fragrance controllability and locus significantly impact attachment and increase the time spent at the destination. In contrast, fragrance stability has no impact on destination attachment. Therefore, tourism managers could benefit from these results to adequately build an olfactory marketing strategy in tourism destinations.

Olfactory marketing is a phenomenon that is in the current trend of usage by marketing experts to ensure that consumers are more involved in the purchase decision-making process. Past studies have revealed that customers today look for more than the product and give a lot of importance to the atmosphere where the product or service is being consumed. The study surveyed 190 shoppers across a shopping mall in Kolkata, India. The study further uses the SPSS software program to test the regressions between different variables and build a new understanding of the impact of fragrance cues on consumer purchase decisions under the influence of control variables. This is the first study to demonstrate the effects of fragrance cues on retail shopping stores in Kolkata, India. The study would help managers to fathom the essence behind the importance of olfactory marketing in the retail marketing area.

The essence of marketing today for retail consumers is to produce a favorable sensory brand experience to gain competitive visibility. Experiential marketing is a phenomenon that is in the current trend of usage by marketing experts to ensure that consumers are more involved in the purchase decision-making process. Purchase decisions are the results of both conscious and semi-conscious consumer experiences. This paper explores the underlying consumer thoughts and emotions influenced by retail store attributes (fragrance, music, store layout, and temperature) which play a significant role in their purchase decision making affecting their mood and behavior. The study introduces Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) as a qualitative tool to elicitate hidden understanding of a consumer’s decision-making process by stimulating human senses and interpreting the attributes that ultimately contribute to consumer decision-making. The researcher selects a well-known retail brand to understand and identify the hidden metaphors contributing to consumer satisfaction through retail atmospherics. The study brought out prominent network retail clusters and their supporting elements which ultimately contribute to consumer satisfaction during the purchasing process inside a retail store. The study would enable store managers to identify the relevant core elements hidden in the subconscious consumer minds which would facilitate enhanced customer satisfaction during designing their retail stores.

Olfactory marketing is a phenomenon that is in the current trend of usage by marketing experts to ensure that consumers are more involved in the purchase decision-making process under its influence. Past studies have revealed that customer today look for more than the product itself during their purchasing process and thus gives a lot of importance to the atmosphere where the product or service is being consumed. Hence it became invariably important for the marketer to create an ambiance for the consumers where they could feel at ease at the same time relaxes and has a soothing shopping experience. Through this systematic literature review, the researcher extensively studies 34 articles more pertinent to olfactory marketing, which were published across various scientific journals. This review would aim to discuss the upcoming themes, the methodologies used, the analytical approaches and the variables identified along with the theoretical foundations.

Aim/purpose– Olfactory marketing is a phenomenon that is in the current trend of usage by marketing experts to ensure that consumers are more involved in the purchase decision-making process. This paper aims to review the studies involved in consumer purchase intentions influenced by fragrance and develop a framework for modeling consumer responses.

The paper focuses on understanding brand awareness of consumers from an embedded cognitive state. Consumer's decision making for a brand mainly results from both conscious and non-conscious experiences that a consumer is been exposed to. Consumers preserve these brand knowledge and awareness in a non-conscious level of their mind. Marketers depend upon use of multi-sensory metaphors to bring out that digged-in knowledge. The researcher introduces ZMET as a method to elicitate hidden understanding about a consumer's decision making process by stimulating various human senses and understanding about the attributes that ultimately contributes in consumer decision making. The research would throw light on a qualitative example considering a hospitality industry by identifying the hidden metaphors that contribute in understanding the consumer's satisfaction for experiencing a particular service. This paper concludes with implications mainly for marketers so that they could better identify the decision making factors for consumers in the hospitality industry.

Smell triggers immediate emotional response. Today's marketers are conscious about its usefulness in communicating with consumers, leading to the advent of Olfactory Branding, creating an experiential retail environment having fragrance to stimulate the overall experience of the consumer. Previously branding was guided more by audiovisual stimulus but because of tremendous advertising clutter it is becoming difficult for organisations to create a niche. It started with the implementation of sensory branding using all five sense organs, though observed initially that senses like sight and hearing were extensively used, whereas smell was potentially underused. This paper tries to understand and create awareness of the proper usage of olfactory branding trends in ITC Sonar Hotel in Kolkata to persuade and convert potential customers into buyers and also to create an insight into the psychological background of scent branding and gives the basis of relevance of Olfactory Communication to influence consumers.