Lots of businesses use scent marketing, which is wafting scents through their
stores to try to influence customers to buy. The Wall Street Journal
reported recently on a new study that found simple smells are what works
best, because complex scents can be a distraction, with people subconsciously
dedicating time and energy to identifying the aroma. Erin Spangenberg, dean of
Washington State University's college of business, and his co-authors studied
some 400 people in a home decor store over 18 days, and found that shoppers
spent 31.8 percent more on average when the store was scented with a simple
orange scent, as compared to a complex blend of orange, basil and green tea,
with sales even worse with the complex scent than when there was no aroma pumped
into the store at all. Spangenberg said the same principle would apply for a
real estate open house, saying among the best scents for them are: lemon; green
tea; cedar; pine; basil and vanilla; and the worst: potpourri; gourmet foods;
chocolate chip cookies and other baked goods.

Read the Smart Money article on scent marketing here.