Final stretch!

by Paula Parungao

Since this is my last academic blog for our 135 class (assuming papasa ako eh noh?), I first decided to talk about the integration of our last topic: smell and taste. Note the past tense. I read the articles I got and found the

m boring. Sorry taste and smell. Therefore, I decided to make a blog integrating the other four senses: smell, vision, hearing and touch. Well, not so much on touch but it could be a part.

The study I'm gonna share is about how scent and music affect a shopper's disposition. So there were these bunch of researchers who decided to go to different retail

stores, play with the environment a bit and see how shoppers react. By "shoppers" I don't only mean those who buy stuff. These also include those people who just happened to pass by, see something interesting, go in, and notice that the interesting thing was, in fact, better seen from afar.

The researchers redecorated the stores by means of scent and music. They chose two scents and two music pieces, one being of low arousal (Lavender scent, slow tempo classical music), the other of high arousal (Grapefruit scent, fast tempo classical music). So after the shoppers went around and sniffed and saw and heard and maybe even touched (clothes), the researchers assaulted them with their questionnaires and asked them to rate their manipulated ambience.

Results show that scent and music played a role in shoppers' dispositions. More importantly, the researchers found out that congruency was definitely the key. When low arousal music was paired with high arousal scent, the environment proved to be less pleasant for the customer as opposed to low arousal music paired with low arousal scent. Same goes with the high arousal. We can all apply Gestalt here. The brain best perceives the

environment holistically instead of a bunch of incoherent signals that don't seem to make sense.

Besides shopping disposition, I think this study can also be used in other practical settings like studying or exercising. Let's say you wanna be more perky when you do your jog. It's best to pair your activity with let's say rock music and maybe a pine scent, which suggests an outdoors-y feel. Don't say that pines scent is a western thing. We have pines in Baguio...which was introduced by westerners (I think) buuuuut whatever. In instances of studying when you wanna be less stressed and more relaxed but still have an upbeat feeling, maybe...pop...? Or your favorite song paired with your favorite scent. This arouses you since... these are a few of your favorite things...

but still keep you less stressed since you're exposed to things you want. Let's admit it, most of our stress comes from experiencing things we don't want or rather not do. Well, at least in my case. Which isn't the point. The point is congruency in your environment provides a more pleasant disposition and this study has sorta kinda proved it in a way.

So where does that lead us? I suggest you go out, do your daily activities, and see the world for once. "See" meaning really see it. Notice the different tastes, smells, textures, sounds and sights our world has to offer. Also, notice how we take in everything. Notice that we more often don't take in every detail; only the heuristics. I suggest you move out of the Gestalt context and notice every little detail. Try and see the world as how your body sees it. After all, we cannot truly feel the world. Our reality depends on the efficiency of our perception. Which heavily lies in our cortical mechanisms.

Isn't that basically what 135 is all about?

References:

Matilla, A.S. & Wirtz, J. (2001). Congruency of scent and music as a driver of in-store evaluations and behavior. Journal of Retailing. Vol. 77 (2), p273.

Quinones, D. (2010). Psych 135: Perception. Journal of Awesome. :)