A scent experiment was conducted to find out what scents can trigger certain emotions. The aim of the experiment was to find out what emotions are evoked when participants smell 11 different scents. Another aim is to find out whether the different scent experiences are connected to the feeling of safety
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These are the scents that were used. Water is used as a control scent:
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Neroli (natural)
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Lemon grass (natural)
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Mandarine peel (natural)
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Pheromones
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Mixed one
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Water
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Mint (natural)
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Apple (natural)
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Cappucino (natural)
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Strawberry (synthetical)
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Vanilla (synthetical)
Participants
6 people participated of a mean age 41.
Procedure
Step 1
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Let the participants fill in the form in which they describe how much they smoke and whether they have respiratory problems. This is done, because it might influence the results. Also, participants will be told that their answers are not used for other purposes than the experiment. They were also asked about where they grew up, since their memories can easily influence their experience of scent.
Step 2
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The participant will smell the first bottle. Each bottle is labeled with different numbers like 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, so the participant doesn’t know what is in the bottle. All jars will have the same colour, so it will not have influence on what the participants smell.
Step 3
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After the first bottle is smelled, participants are asked to show how much they feel 12 emotions by using a specially designed tool. Then these questions are asked:
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What is the emotion connected to this?
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What do you associate the scent with?
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Do you think of a place or experience?
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Step 5
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This is repeated for all the smells
Variables
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Independent variable – smells.
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Dependent variable – how people experience smells.
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Control variable – smell in room.
After the experiment, some questions about how safe one feels are asked. This is done to find out if someone’s scent experience is connected to someone’s feeling of safety.