Sensorial Marketing for Those Who Can Wait non

Longer

John Mc Donnell
Professeur, School of Advertisint, Marketing and Public Relations, Queensland University of Technology,
Brisbane, Australie
School of advertising, marketing and public relations
Queensland university of technology
GPO Box 2434 Brisbane QLD. 4001 Australia
TEL: 61 - 7 - 3300 - 4708 (H) OR 3864 - 1001
FAX: 61 - 7 – 3300 4708
j.mcdonnell@qut.edu.au

Abstract
Despite the best efforts of marketing communications to create a favourable image of a service
organisation (or the service arm of a manufacturer), the first impression by the consumer of the
organisation itself (as opposed to its advertising) may be a line of waiting, frustrated and possibly
angry consumers. In addition to operations management, a few interventions have been explored to
reduce the perceived waiting time and enhance the evaluation of the service. The paper discusses a
new approach to reduce the wait time as perceived by the consumer. An experiment was conducted to
determine the effect of a calming scent on customers waiting in a line.

Key Words: Waiting line – Queue - Customer service management – Marketing - Scent - Perceived
wait time - Consumer behaviour – Time

INTRODUCTION BACKGROUND AND PREVIOUS RESEARCH

The service sector dominates modern economies, Many studies have revealed the negative effect of
yet basic characteristics of services mean that queues on consumers (Katz, Larson and Larson
queues or waiting lines cannot be avoided. One of 1991; Taylor 1994; Hui and Tse 1996, inter alia).
the characteristics of services is that they cannot be It is common for consumers to overestimate the
stored or carried in inventory and that demand may time that they spend waiting (Hornik, 1984; Katz,
be unpredictable (Zeithaml, Parasuraman and Berry Larson & Larson 1991). As the perceived time of
1985). This is also a substantial problem for waiting increases, customer satisfaction typically
manufacturers, which have had to turn increasingly decreases (Katz et al 1991).
to the service side of their business (e.g. with offers
of after-sales service or toll-free help numbers) to Many firms have tried the obvious approach to the
differentiate themselves. The media have reported problem, which is managing the actual wait time
queue rage and telephone rage with increasing through operations management, for example,
frequency ( e.g. The Sunday Mail (Brisbane) May modifying service delivery systems (Shostack
10,1998, p16. 1987), conducting maintenance at night, or
differential pricing to shift demand, (see Maister
Despite the best efforts of marketing 1985; Taylor 1994,1995). However the frequency
communications to create a favourable image of a of queues attests to the limits of operations
service organisation (or the service arm of a management.
manufacturer), the first impression by the consumer
of the organisation itself (as opposed to its If the organisation cannot control the actual
advertising) may be a line of waiting, frustrated and duration of the wait, then it should consider how it
possibly angry consumers. might manipulate the perceived wait time. As
Customer evaluation of many services is critically Taylor (1994) and others have observed, the
influenced by waiting time. perceived wait time is often different from the
actual wait time. This means that understanding the

1
factors which influence perceptions of waiting, and well known that salmon can return to the precise
their subsequent influence on consumer behaviour, location where they began life after many years
provides valuable clues to strategies for marketing spent at sea. This is possible because the brains of
communications. the baby salmon are imprinted with the unique
Apart from operations management (making combination of odours generated by the animal,
changes to reduce the actual waiting time), previous vegetable and mineral components of their nursery.
studies on waiting and its effects on customer Another species of fish called mouthbreeders are
satisfaction have tended to focus on customer able to distinguish their own offspring from the
perceptions of the wait and how this might be offspring of other members of their species by
affected by: smell. Agitated fish and tadpoles produce a
• Filled wait time: providing distractions or warning odour or “fright substance” which, even at
activities (Taylor 1994 ) very low concentrations, causes members of the
• Service provider control: can the firm be species to flee the danger zone. Sheep recognise
blamed for the delay; (Tom and Lucey,1995; members of their own flock by smell and almost all
Taylor,1994; Baker and Cameron 1996) mammals use marking scents to define territories.
• Waiting duration or queuing information: While smell is taken for granted by humans, it can
providing feedback on how long the delay is still be quite sensitive. If a strawberry is crushed, a
expected to be; (Hui and Tse 1996) few of the 35 chemicals that define the aroma of a
• Lighting, colour, music, temperature ( Baker strawberry are changed and the human nose can
and Cameron 1996 ) detect the subtle change in odour (Gould 1993).
• Music (Baker and Cameron 1996, Chebat, Moreover, the part of the brain that handles signals
Gelinas-Chebat and Filiatrault 1993); from the smell or olfactory nerves has a powerful
• Attribution of the cause of wait (Baker and effect on the autonomic nervous system and on
Cameron (1996), and Taylor 1994). human emotions.

AMBIENT SCENT IN MARKETING ENVIRONMENT In the above literature review on waiting for service
it has already been noted that the senses of sound
One factor may be relevant but has not been tested, and sight have been utilised in research on reactions
or even discussed, in the literature on waiting for to waiting and perceived wait time. It is then ironic
service. A great deal has been published on the that the sense of smell has not been investigated in
effect of the sense of smell on evaluations and this context, because of all the human senses, the
behaviours, but little in the marketing environment, olfactory sense has by far the greatest impact on
especially regarding ambient or environmental people’s emotions. The limbic system is the most
scent, as opposed to the scent attached to a primitive part of our brain and the seat of
particular object. immediate emotions. Some odours provoke basic
emotional reactions because the olfactory lobe is
For many years, retailers have enhanced their sales actually part of the limbic system (Hirsch 1991 and
by the aroma of freshly ground coffee or freshly 1992). The nose is directly connected to the
baked bread and bakery goods. However this was a olfactory lobe and the limbic system. More than
fortuitous by-product of activities conducted in the any other sense, smell taps into the feelings
shop. Some supermarkets have taken this a step marketers want to tap (Wilke 1995). Studies by
further by blowing the bakery air (from an in-store Hirsch (1991 and 1992) found that certain scents,
bakery) down the aisles to attract the interest of even in fairly low concentrations can affect
shoppers. In recent years new technology has peoples’ moods. Concentrations so weak that they
facilitated a completely new approach which are below the threshold of consciousness, still
introduces scents into the retail environment (and affect peoples’ moods subconsciously. Moreover,
not only food stores) to promote consumer interest. in Japan, a clockmaker sells an alarm clock that
This might include the odour of coconut oil in a arouses the sleeper by scenting the room with an
travel agency or the fragrance of leather in a new aroma formulated to stimulate alertness.
car showroom. The approach was developed in
Japan and tested in Britain by a company called A report in the Journal of Marketing (Spangenberg,
Marketing Aromatics in over 100 stores. Crowley and Henderson, 1996) found that pleasant
scents or aromas in a retail environment:
Humans have come to depend on other senses with • Improve the perception of customers as to the
the result that smell has become rather neglected, evaluation of the store;
and consequently poorly developed. Dogs have a • Improve the perception of customers as to the
sense of smell 100 times greater than that of store environment;
humans and are very focused on this sense, while in • Improve the perception of customers as to
humans it only becomes well developed when a merchandise and specific products;
human loses their sense of sight for instance. It is

2
• Improve customer intentions to revisit the store it was impractical in this experiment but also
and to purchase. because the researcher was more interested in the
evaluation of service and mood.
Of particular relevance to the present study, the
report found that customers perceived that they The surveys were distributed in an Australian
were in the store for a lesser period than actual government service centre where drivers’ licences
when a store was scented. The difference between and car registrations are issued. This was chosen as
actual and perceived time was statistically a result of focus group research which identified
significant (p=.01). Although actual time spent did these service centres as locations where focus group
not vary, perceived time seemed to pass more participants experienced long waits and became
slowly in the unscented environment. Spangenberg irritated by those waits. The researcher distributed
et al investigated the effect of scent on customers surveys only when the wait experienced by
browsing in a store when they presumably are not customers exceeded 10 minutes. In the first sample
angry or stressed. Does scent still work if they are of 200 cases, the control group, no intervention was
waiting in a line in that store for 15 minutes, applied. These results were then compared to an
becoming angry and frustrated? experimental group of 200 cases where a
commercial sized device emitting a lavender scent
RESEARCH QUESTIONS was installed. Lavender was chosen due to its
reputed calming qualities. A model was developed
Basic research questions concern : and tested with LISREL (software for structural
• What is the effect of pleasant smells when equation modelling). Problems with a multi-sample
customers are waiting for service? analysis using LISREL led to the use of
• Does the intervention of a pleasant scent MANCOVA (multivariate analysis of covariance)
reduce the anger experienced by customers to compare the control and experimental groups.
waiting for service?
• Does the intervention of a scented RESULTS
environment improve customer perceptions of
the overall service level provided? In order to evaluate the effect of the scent
intervention, a multivariate analysis of covariance
HYPOTHESES (MANCOVA) was conducted. The fixed or
independent variable was context or intervention.
H1: That the use of a calming ambient scents In the tables below (table 1 & 2) the control case
(mostly lavender, blended with sagebrush and was context 1, scent was context 2. The dependent
nutmeg,in an environment where customers are variables are service evaluation and anger.
waiting for service, reduces the level of anger felt
by those customers;

H2: That the use of pleasant ambient scent in

an environment where customers are waiting for
service, enhances service evaluations;

METHODOLOGY

A survey was developed and tested to capture the

immediate mood of the subject using measures that
have been used in previous research and found to
be reliable. Based on previous research, it is
expected that certain individual emotions, described
here as “discomfort” will affect service evaluations.
The items used as measures for the construct of
discomfort were drawn from a number of different
scales (Batra and Ray 1986, Edell and Burke 1987,
Holbrook and Batra 1987) and measured on a 7
point scale, anchored by 1= "not at all "and 7=
"very" (Holbrook and Batra 1987). They are
similar to those used by Taylor and Claxton (1994).
The survey also included several questions on
service evaluation that were adapted from the
SERVQUAL measure (Zeithaml and Bitner 1996).
Perceived time was not measured, not only because

3
 Table 1 - MANCOVA Estimated marginal means: Context Estimates
Mean Std. Error
Dependent Variable CONTEXT
Service evaluation 1 Control 3.7 .076
2 Scent 3.4 .077
Anger 1 Control 3.79 .128
2 Scent 4.1 .130

Table 2: MANCOVA Pairwise Comparisons (Context estimates)

Mean Difference Std. Error Statistical
(I-J) Significance
Dependent Variable (I) (J)
CONTEXT CONTEXT
Service evaluation 1 2 .303* .109 .017
2 1 -.303* .109 .017
Anger 1 2 .232
Based on estimated marginal means
* The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.
a Adjustment for multiple comparisons: Bonferroni.

The results show that adding only scent to the music more likely to report lower levels of
environment increases the customer evaluation of discomfort while waiting in line for the service? Of
service. This result is statistically significant at the more immediate interest to service marketers, are
p=0.05 level (0.017). groups that experienced pleasant scent stimulus
In table 1 “Estimated Marginal Means: Context while waiting more likely to evaluate service levels
estimates”, the mean for service evaluation declines more favourably than a control group that did not
from context 1 (control) to context 2 (scent). The experience a scent?
mean falls from 3.7 to 3.4. A lower score on this
scale represents a higher rating of service. On the The results show that adding scent to the
scale for anger, a lower score represents a higher environment increases the customer evaluation of
reported level of anger. The mean scores for anger service. In the case of anger, scent does reduce
increased from 3.7 in the control case to 4.1 for the level of anger reported by the customer but
scent. This represents a fall in anger but it was not scent does not make a significant difference to the
statistically significant (0.232). reported level of anger. In any event, the
evaluation of service may be of more importance to
The first hypothesis was “That the use of ambient the marketer than the level of anger.
scents in an environment where customers are
waiting for service, reduces the level of anger felt The addition of a calming scent to the service
by those customers;” environment, while customers are waiting for
The second hypothesis was “That the use of service for an extended period of time, appears to
pleasant ambient scent in an environment where result in a higher evaluation of service. This was
customers are waiting for service, enhances service based on a composite of five different measures of
evaluations;” service evaluation.
We can only speculate on the reason that scent has
Although there was a decrease in anger, it was not this effect. Other research suggests that scent has
statistically significant. However, the second an effect on our emotions, and presumably this
hypothesis is clearly supported. includes the mitigation of anger. We also know
that some interventions (e.g. video and music)are
CONCLUSION effective because they distract the customer. This
may be a factor with scent, but the scent in this
The principal focus of the research was to experiment was almost imperceptible.
investigate whether simple changes to the
environment where a service is being delivered Just as the reactions of customers to waiting vary
affect customer emotions and evaluation of the by country and culture, so do our reactions to the
service. The marketing literature has not included same scent. A question for further research is
any study on the use of scent as a tool for the whether the same scent has a similar effect on
marketer whose customers must wait in line. Are waiting customers in different countries and the
groups who were exposed to a pleasant scent or

4
author invites interested researchers to pursue this Evaluation of a Common Consumer Product”,
issue. presentation at the thirteenth annual meeting of
the Association for Chemoreception Sciences.
BIBLIOGRAPHY • Hirsch, Alan R. and S.E. Gay (1992), “The
Effect of Ambient Odour on Slot Machine
• Aaker, D. Managing Brand Equity New York Usage in a Las Vegas casino”, unpublished
Free Press 1991 report, Smell and Taste Treatment and Research
• Baker-Julie; Cameron-Michaelle (1996) “The Foundation Ltd. Chicago, Illinois.
effects of the service environment on affect and • Hirsch, I.R., Bilger, R.C. and Heatherage, B.H.
consumer perception of waiting time: An (1950), "The effect of auditory and visual
integrative review and research propositions” background on apparent duration", American
Journal-of-the-Academy-of-Marketing-Science. Journal of Psychology, Vol. 69, p. 561
Fall 1996; v24n4, pp. 338 • Hornik, J. (1984), "Subjective vs objective
• Baldinger, A. & Rubinson, J. “Brand Loyalty: time measures: a note on the perception of time
The Link Between Attitude and Behaviour” in consumer behavior", Journal of Consumer
• Journal of Advertising Research Nov/Dec Research, Vol. 11, June, pp. 615-18.
1996 • Hui, Michael K. and Tse, David K., “What to
• Barrett-Colleen (1993) “Giving customers tell consumers in waits of different lengths: An
integrative model of service evaluation”
P.O.S.” Sales-and-Marketing-Management. Nov
v145n14, p. 52 Journal of Marketing April 1996 v60n2 81-90

• Bitner, M.J. ( 1990), "Evaluating service • Katz-Karen-L; Larson-Blaire-M; Larson-

encounters: the effects of physical surroundings Richard-C (1991) “Prescription for the Waiting-
and employee responses", Journal of Marketing, In-Line Blues: Entertain, Enlighten, and
Vol. 54, pp. 69-82 Engage” Sloan-Management-Review. Winter
1991; v32n2, pp. 44-53
• Bitner, M.J. ( 1992), "Servicescapes: The
• Klapp, Orrin E. (1986), Overload and
impact of physical surroundings and employee
responses", Journal of Marketing, 56 (2) 57-71 Boredom. New York: Greenwood Press

• Bitran-Gabriel; Lojo-Maureen (1993) “A • Larson, R. (1987), "Perspectives on queues:

framework for analyzing the quality of the social justice and the psychology of queuing",
customer interface” European-Management- Operations Research, Vol. 35 No: 6, pp. 895-
Journal. Dec 1993; v11n4, pp. 385-396 905.

• Bone, Paula and Pam Scholder Ellen (1994) • Kostecki-Michel (1996) “Waiting lines as a
“Olfaction and Marketing: Does it make sense marketing issue” European-Management-
to use scents? Unpublished Working Paper, Journal. Jun 1996; v14n3, pp. 295-303
West Virginia University. • Larson-Richard-C (1988) “There's More to a
• Chebat. J.C. and Filiatrault, P. (1993), "The Line than Its Wait”
impact of waiting in line on consumers", • Technology-Review. Jul 1988; v91n5, pp. 60-
International Journal of Bank Marketing, Vol. 67
11 No. 2, pp. 35-40 • Larson-Richard-C (1987) “Perspectives on
• Davis-Mark-M; Vollmann-Thomas-E (1990) Queues: Social Justice and the Psychology of
“A Framework for Relating Waiting Time and Queueing” Operations-Research. Nov/Dec
Customer Satisfaction in a Service Operation” 1987; v35n6, pp. 895-905
Journal-of-Services-Marketing. Winter 1990;
v4n1, pp. 61-69
• Levitt, Eugene (1980), The Psychology of
Anxiety. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
• Folkes, V., Koletsky, S. and Graham, J.L. Associates, Inc
(1987), "A field study of causal inferences and
consumer reactions: the view from the airport",
• McDonald, William J. (1994) “Time Use in
Shopping: The Role of Personal
Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 13, pp. Characteristics”, Journal of Retailing, Vol. 70,
534-9. No. 4 Winter
• Friedman-Hershey-H; Friedman-Linda-W • Maister, D.H. (1985), "The psychology of
(1997) “Reducing the "wait" in waiting-line waiting lines", in Czepiel, J., Solomon, M.R.
systems: Waiting line segmentation” Business- and Surprenant, C.F. (Eds), The Service
Horizons. Jul/Aug 1997; v40n4, pp. 54-58 Encounter; Lexington Books, Lexington, MA
• Hirsch, Alan R. and S.E. Gay (1991), “The
Effect of Ambient Olfactory Stimuli on the

5
• Oliver, R.L.(1980), "A cognitive model of the Consumer Research, 10, Richard Bagozzi and
Alice Tybout, eds. Ann Arbor, MI: Association
antecedents and consequences of satisfaction
decision", Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. for Consumer Research, 520–25
17, November, pp. 460-9 • Taylor, S. (1994), "Waiting for service: the
• Oliver, R.L. and DeSarabo, W.S. (1988), relationship between delays and evaluations of
service", Journal of Marketing, April, pp. 56-69
"Response determinants in satisfaction and
related postpurchase measures", in Day, R.L. • Taylor, S. (1995), "The effects of filled waiting
and Hunt, H.K. (Eds), New Findings in time and service provider control over the delay
Consumer Satisfaction and Complaining on evaluations of service", Journal of the
Behavior; School of Business, Bloomington, IN Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 23, pp.
• Osuna, Edgar Elias (1985), "The Psychological 38-48
Cost of Waiting," Journal of Mathematical • Tom-Gail; Burns-Michael; Zeng-Yvette
Psychology, 29, 82–105 (1997), “Your life on hold: The effect of
• Parasuraman, A., V. Zeithaml, and L. Berry telephone `waiting time on customer
perception”,
(1985), "A Conceptual Model of Service
Quality and its Implications for Future • Journal-of-Direct-Marketing. Vol. 11 no. 3
Research," Journal of Marketing, 49 (4), 41–50 Summer 1997;
• Robinson, John and Godbey, Geoffrey (1997) • Tom-Gail; Lucey-Scott (1995) “Waiting time
Time for Life: The Surprising Ways Americans delays and customer satisfaction in
Use Their Time, University Park, PA: The supermarkets” Journal-of-Services-Marketing.
Pennsylvania State University Press 1995; v9n5, pp. 20-29
• Settle, Robert B. and Pamela L. Alreck (1977), • Tse, D.K. and Wilton, P.C. (1988), "Models of
"Time Orientation and Consumer Attitudes," in consumer satisfaction formation: an extension",
Contemporary Marketing Thought, 1977 Journal of Marketing Research, May, pp. 204-
Marketing AMA Educators Proceedings, 12
Barnett A. Greenberg and Danny Belanger, eds.
Chicago: American Marketing Association,
• Weiner, B. (1985), "An attributional theory of
achievement motivation", Psychological
• Shostack, G.L. (1985), "Planning the service Review, Vol. 92, pp. 548-73
encounter", in Czepiel, J.A., Solomon, M.R. and
Surprenant, C.E (Eds), The Service Encounter;
• Wilke, Maxine (1995), “Scent of a Market”,
American Demographics, August 1995.
Lexington Books. New York, NY, pp. 243-54.
• Spangenberg, Crowley and Henderson, (1996)
• Zeithaml, V., Parasuraman, A. and Berry, L.L.
(1985), "Problems and strategies in services
“Improving the Store Environment: Do marketing", Journal of Marketing, Vol. 49,
Olfactory Cues Affect Evaluations and Spring, pp. 33-46
Behaviours”, The Journal of Marketing,
• April 1996.
• Srull, Thomas (1983), "Affect and Memory:
The Impact of Affective Reactions in
Advertising on the Representation of Product
Information in Memory," in Advances in