There are many theories about the factors that influence us when buying. Some say that when going to the supermarket, it is best to do it with a full stomach to avoid consuming too much. There are also those who argue that the way the products are placed on the shelves affects our decisions. But what really conditions us, as a study has found, is the body odor of other people who shop with us in the supermarket.
This is the conclusion reached by an investigation led by the Immersive Neurotechnologies Laboratory (LabLENI) of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV), which demonstrates how the smell given off by individuals around it directly impacts the purchase decision process .
The question of the smell has nothing to do with whether the person next to us has showered or not, but with the pheromones that it gives off. Pheromones are chemical substances secreted by humans that cause specific behaviors in other individuals. In the purchasing process, it has been detected that those that exert a direct influence on people are those of fear and those of happiness.
Recent research has shown that humans generate different pheromones depending on our emotional state. That is, when we are happy we do not give off the same smell as when we are stressed or afraid. The research is the first internationally that has analyzed the effect of these on consumer behavior, reflecting how they influence unconsciously when buying.
When we smell happy, the decision to buy food or drinks is made more quickly. In fact, this group of products had the shortest response time, followed by clothing and technology products. Thus, if the other consumers in the supermarket are happy, they will push us to make the purchase more quickly and without reflecting on the decision.
On the other hand, the smell of fear does not affect the speed of purchase, but rather the choice of price. In other words, when faced with this type of pheromones, the participants chose the price closest to the real value of the product more quickly. In addition, the study confirms that the price selection is more hasty when it comes to health products.
According to these results, it is confirmed that pheromones influence faster decision-making and the theories of social facilitation are confirmed. To carry out the study, on a group of people, their willingness to pay for a variety of products and the speed with which they reached the decision were measured in four different scenarios: in the presence of happiness pheromones, fear pheromones, that we release in a state of rest and, lastly, without the presence of pheromones.
In conclusion, when faced with "positive" pheromones (happiness) we buy food and drinks more quickly, as well as clothing and technology products. When we smell "negative" pheromones (fear and stress), we choose the fastest price, especially in the health category. In addition, according to the UPV, the results can be extrapolated to different sales contexts, as could occur in bars and restaurants, or other service or tourism sectors.
