OFFICE & WORK
Evidence shows that the use of scent can have a significant and direct impact on employee productivity. In fact, scent has the strongest impact in enhancing employee behavior - significantly greater than the other senses. Research supports ambient scent affecting performance in the workplace. When exposed to a pleasant scent people are more creative in problem solving versus when they are exposed to an unpleasant scent. Scent can create different moods. It can relax customers, invigorate guests, improve employee productivity.
Workplace Aromas: The Scent Of Productivity
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When exposed to a pleasant scent people are more creative in problem solving versus when they are exposed to an unpleasant scent.
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Scented environments stimulate employee productivity.
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Pleasant odors have been found to improve memory performance, and people’s moods.
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Scent evokes pleasurable memories and reduces stress.
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75% of our emotions are generated by what we smell.
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A scented space is inviting; it attracts customers, employees and encourages them to stay longer.
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Scent can create positive associations with an event or experience.
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Scent can create different moods. It can relax customers, invigorate guests, improve employee productivity.
Case Studies
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Objective Ambient Scents in the Workplace. Research also supports ambient scent affecting performance in the workplace. When exposed to a pleasant scent people are more creative in problem solving versus when they are exposed to an unpleasant scent (Herz 2002).
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It was reported that a large Japanese firm reduced the error rate of keypunch operators by almost 50 percent by exposing them to a lemon scent and almost 80 percent after exposure to lavender (Toth 1989).
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A growing body of literature shows that prosocial behavior and productivity are enhanced in the presence of pleasant ambient scents (Baron 1997; Herz 2002).
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People who work in the presence of a pleasant scent also reported higher self-efficacy, set higher goals, and were more likely to employ efficient work strategies than participants who worked in a no-scent condition (Herz 2002).
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Pleasant ambient scents enhance vigilance during tedious tasks and improve performance on anagram and word completion tests (Herz 2002). Raudenbush (2005) summarizes several studies on the influence of olfaction on human behaviors.
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One study, conducted by Barker, et al. (2003), assessed whether such increases in cognitive performance through peppermint scent administration impact actual office-work clerical tasks. Participants completed three clerical tests-typing, memorization, and alphabetization, in either a non-scented or a peppermint-scented condition. A significant difference was found in the gross speed, net speed, and accuracy on the typing task, with peppermint scent associated with increased performance.
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Alphabetization ability also improved significantly in the peppermint scent condition. In another study, Kliauga, Hubert, and Cenci (1996) asked participants to proofread pages of text containing misspelled words. The task was to identify the misspelled words while various scents were presented. Participants performed significantly better when a fragrance was added to the room, with lavender odor producing the greatest effects in females, and peppermint producing the greatest effects in males.
