Read the text and answer the questions that follow.
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SCENT MARKETING
The world is becoming a more fragrant place to live in. Scented stickers advertising a certain brand of coffee are being
affixed to morning newspapers. Pleasant smells are being pumped through stores to lure customers inside. This use of smell
to set a mood or promote a product is known as scent marketing.
Basic forms of scent marketing have been around for years. In the property business, home sellers have often placed a freshly-
baked cake in the kitchen to give potential buyers the feeling that the house would make a really nice home.
Yet new systems that use artificially produced smells now help builders to sell thousands of new homes without them having
to bake a single cake. These systems either emit the classic baked-cake smell or, alternatively, release a
custom-made scent.
Why is there such a focus on people’s sense of smell? It is because smell is the primary sense that most creatures use to
identify mates, food and predators. When you smell something, receptors in your nose send signals to the emotion-processing
part of your brain. As a result, your brain responds with an immediate instinctive reaction even before you are able to process
the information consciously.
Although all agree that scent marketing has got great potential to influence consumers, it is not without its difficulties.
Scent associations are not universal and it’s difficult to tailor the scent you are using to the particular consumer you wish
to attract. Thus, for example, while some people love vanilla, others prefer the smell of sandalwood.
Furthermore, scent marketing has got many detractors. Some claim that these odours can trigger adverse physical effects like
allergies and that they may contain ingredients that are harmful to our health. Others believe that it’s unethical for shops to
play with our senses and to influence our behaviour without our knowledge or consent. Yet despite the
criticism, it is expected that more than $500 million will be spent on custom-made scents in the next ten years. It would appear
that scent marketing is here to stay.
1Choose the correct answer.
1. Scent marketing … .
a. is a new form of marketing
b. has become more sophisticated
c. is an easy way to affect customers
2. Our sense of smell … .
a. is less important than our other senses
b. is not very effective
c. provokes a quick response
2Answer the questions according to the information
in the text.
1. Why is it difficult to influence consumers by using scent
marketing techniques?
2. The writer of the article believes that scent marketing is
here to stay. On what does the writer base this opinion?
3Complete the sentences using the information
given
in the text. Use your own words as far as possible.
1. Scented stickers are being affixed to morning
newspapers in order to
.
2. Detractors of scent marketing believe it’s unethical if
shoppers don’t
.
4Choose the best meaning for each word.
1. lure (line 2) 3. adverse (line 16)
a. force a. bad
b. attract b. unsympathetic
c. comfort c. strange
2. emit (line 7)
a. give out
b. identify
c. contain
5Write a composition of about 100-150 words. Choose
one option.
1. Describe the sights, sounds and smells of your favourite
place.
2. In your opinion, should scent marketing be encouraged?
Explain why or why not.
