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It’s in our nature – the power of scents

Our sense of smell is better than we thought: accor­ding to a recent study, it reco­g­nises scents much faster than previously assumed – in just 60 milli­se­conds. That’s almost as fast as the eye perceives colours. The results also show that our brain can process odours extre­mely effi­ci­ently. Scents directly control the limbic system in the brain, which is respon­sible for emotions.

The saying ‘follow your nose’ could ther­e­fore contain more truth than many people realise. Long before we consciously perceive them, we are already uncon­sciously reac­ting to certain scents. This explains why we feel comfor­table in certain envi­ron­ments or why some people seem plea­sant or unplea­sant to us. In sales psycho­logy, incre­asing sales through the targeted use of scents has long been a reality. For example, fashion stores often use fresh, light scents such as citrus or lavender, or in the men’s depart­ment of a clot­hing store, the sales envi­ron­ment is perceived as more coherent when ‘male’ smells such as coffee, wood or rose­mary are in the air.

The choice of partner is also strongly influenced by the body odour of the poten­tial partner. The nose can perceive the body’s own scents, the phero­mones, which give us infor­ma­tion about the immune system of the other person. Humans seem to prefer part­ners whose immune system differs from their own because this poten­ti­ally leads to better genetic diver­sity in the offspring.

Perfumes or arti­fi­cial fragrances can influence this process and enhance or reduce the natural attrac­tion between people. A study from 2012 suggests that people usually choose perfumes that match their indi­vi­dual body odour. So, keep your eyes open when choo­sing a perfume, as your perfume may reveal more about you than you think!