Well, Belgian researchers
apparently think so. The report in PS
Mag says that the aroma of chocolates is so enticing that shoppers stick
around longer, and boost sales of certain genres. That will be
something Amazon won't be able to do: make computers smell like
chocolate. Or, will they?!And the book-stores won't even have to sell real chocolates, which is both good news and bad news. (Go figure.)
“Retailers can make use of pleasant ambient scents to improve the store environment, leading consumers to explore the store,” the report in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, a research team led by Lieve DoucĂ© of Hasselt University for the 10-day experiment in a general-interest bookstore in Belgium, says.
Researchers found that sales of books on food and drink, and romances, increased, but history and thrillers dropped. This is not too good for Silverfish Books then because we don't sell romances and carry few cookbooks.
Still, it is worth a try. But we'll go for real chocolate though; if nothing else, we'll get to eat the merchandise.
