Everyone remembers it: the smell of the locker room before gym class back in school. The uninspiring mixture of intensely worn shoes, sweaty shirts and at least 25 different deodorant sprays of various brands and scent compositions. Hardly the olfactory ambience that a modern studio would like to offer. But scents and aromas can do so much more! Scent or olfactory marketing is the targeted room scenting to increase the well-being of customers. Studies show that certain scents increase customer confidence in the quality of fitness equipment and the competence of trainers. The right scent composition creates an additional feel-good atmosphere, the relaxation factor increases sustainably.
How scents influence us
Most people are not very aware of it, but our sense of smell has a relatively strong influence on our actions. Even unborn babies can smell from the 28th week of pregnancy, and the mother's scent preferences are stored positively in our emotional memory. While stimuli perceived through the eyes or ears are first "processed" in our cerebrum, scents have a direct effect on our emotional brain, the limbic system. Our sense of smell works much more finely than has long been assumed. Humans can distinguish at least one trillion olfactory stimuli. This was discovered by researchers led by Andreas Keller of Rockefeller University in New York.
Which scent affects an individual and how exactly is highly individual and depends on which experiences are associated with certain smells. Nevertheless, certain scents have a predominantly positive effect, and some scents even help against ailments and diseases. One ingredient of lavender, linalool, for example, has a sleep-promoting effect similar to Valium, while violet scent even hinders the growth of prostate cancer cells.
What to look for in the complete equipment of a fitness studio
Which fragrances can I use in the gym?
In scent marketing, a basic distinction is made between subliminal scents and consciously perceivable scents. People react to a conscious scent in a highly individual way, and strong differences occur between different people.
If one wants to avoid these differences, one uses subliminal scents. The scent is not perceived consciously. In this way, the effect of different fragrances can be used in a targeted manner, without having to cater to the individual.
Numerous studies show which scents have which effect. Lavender has a calming and stress-reducing effect - so its use in wellness or rest areas is quite conceivable.
Citrus scents, on the other hand, have a concentration-enhancing and invigorating effect, brightening the mood and increasing motivation. Ideal for course rooms and training areas.
Certain herbal or even "forest" scents even have an antiseptic effect. Citronella, cassia , eucalyptus or spruce scent, for example, have a strong disinfecting effect and significantly reduce germ counts in the air. The use in locker room areas is a natural choice.
Conclusion
Many gyms have the potential to improve the subjective feel-good factor for customers. Factors such as location and prices cannot be changed. Despite objectively identical training conditions in two comparable studios, customers rate the gym with the higher feel-good factor significantly better. Improving customer loyalty among regular customers in order to be recommended to others is extremely important, especially today. Pleasant-smelling rooms convey a feeling of well-being and security, and customers are happy to come back again and again.
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Editorial fitnessmarkt.de (DG)
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Published on: 3 May 2019