What the Nose Knows

What are the familiar smells that launch you to another time and place? The warm scent of apple pie or homemade banana bread? A flowery perfume or a dusky cologne? The salty sea air or the acrid scent of hot asphalt? A pine-scented cleaner or the diesel of a school bus?

Researchers have proven that our sense of smell is remarkably powerful -- transporting us, healing us, comforting us, agitating us. And retailers are beginning to capitalize on this knowledge. In a study published in the Journal of Marketing, researchers found that the presence of a pleasant scent in a store can lead to a 3 percent increase in sales. A similar study published in the Journal of Retailing found that simple scents like orange or lemon can lead to a greater increase in sales than complex scents like lemon-basil or basil-orange with green tea.

The next time you visit Abercrombie & Fitch, take note of the white bergamot fragrance, which replaced a well-known musky scent titled "Fierce" several years ago. If you stop in a Victoria Secret store, you will likely smell a woody floral scent with notes of Australian sandalwood. And when you are in a Vitamin Shoppe, lavender essential oils are pumped throughout the store using specialized air diffusers; during the Christmas season, the store substitutes a peppermint essential oil.

Many food chains have joined the trend (Cinnabon, anyone?), and Singapore Airlines has been using its own signature fragrance since the 1990s: The scent flows through the cabin during flight, hot towels are infused with the signature scent before they are handed out to patrons, and flight attendants wear the fragrance as perfume.

While the subtle intentionality may seem surprisingly invasive to some, the concept is nothing new ... When Mary startles the disciples by washing Jesus' feet with her perfume, the beautiful scent fills the room -- washing over the skepticism and unbelief with her humble, loving gesture: Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (John 12:3)

Imagine the subliminal impact of an expensive perfume filling the room as those gathered watch Mary wash Jesus' feet and then dry them with her hair. What memories might have been invoked? What mindset shifts might have been spurred?

We often rely on the sights and sounds of a scene, but we rarely ponder the influence of our sense of smell. How aware are you of the impact of scent on your own moods, responses, and expectations? As you seek to serve others, have you thought about the power of scent?

For Paul, smell is an apt metaphor for our call to share the Gospel with others: Thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. (2 Corinthians 2:14-15)

Are you allowing the Lord to use you as a pleasing aroma of Christ? Retailers are intentional; are you?

Blessings on your week,

Jennie