The right scent can create positive associations and even entice shoppers to spend more money

When Matthew Kravitz enters The Carson, his apartment building in Northern Liberties, he associates its distinctive smell with home. The scent is hard to define, but it’s pleasing, something he can’t say about his last apartment.

“It smells like a hotel,” said Kravitz, 25, who moved into The Carson when it opened in May 2023. “When friends visit, the first thing they notice is the pleasant smell.”

There’s a very strong connection between the sense of smell and brain areas involved in emotion, said Pamela Dalton, olfactory scientist at Monell Chemical Senses Center, a research nonprofit in University City.

“Before we identify what we’re smelling, it actually triggers an emotional response first,” she said.

While everyone has their own personal taste regarding what smells good or bad, certain categories of scent are generally agreed upon as evoking a pleasant reaction. For example, powdery and floral smells make people feel more relaxed.

A year before the Carson opened, part of the marketing plan included choosing a distinctive scent. Consultant Scent Synergy of Bensalem came with several options, which were narrowed down to four or five. Each finalist was infused into an individual apartment until one became the final winner.

“We chose a scent named champagne,” said Victor Rodin, cofounder of Center City-based real estate company RREI, developer of The Carson. “It was the first time it has been used in this market. We felt it was fresh, calming, and inviting.”

The scent is delivered through several dispensing machines throughout the building’s common areas, including the lobby, lounge, and public bathrooms, but not in individual apartments.

“You don’t want to force someone to have a certain smell in their apartment,” Rodin said.

Adding scent is a way to round out the sensory experience, said Chris Nissen, managing director of Scent Synergy in Bensalem. Clean, spa-like smells, such as lemon, verbena, white tea, and thyme, are subtle and neutral. While the company has a library of existing smells, including The Carson’s champagne, about 20% of their clients opt for a custom, signature scent.

Research shows that businesses that diffuse scents create more revenue. Fragrance increased the customer’s “linger time” in a store, causing consumers to shop more, said Evin Ellis, ScentAir director of global marketing and eCommerce. Consumers were 60% more inclined to purchase, spending an additional 9%.

While people have enjoyed scents through candles for many centuries, it is widely believed that commercial scenting began when a Disney Imagineer began researching a way to bring the scent of oranges to a theme park ride, said Ellis.

“Businesses began recognizing the popularity of scent and its ability to create unique memorable experiences, drive brand recognition, and help them stand apart from competition over the last 20+ years,” she said. “Scent has become a critical part of brand identification and recognition.”

Costs vary depending on the size of the facility, which determines the delivery system, and whether the scent is custom or stock. A diffuser in a smaller space, perhaps a building lobby, looks like a WiFi device on the wall. For a large space, the scent can come through the HVAC system.

We all make emotional associations to certain smells. Realtors often suggest baking chocolate chip cookies when showing a house, hoping to trigger a warm, comfortable feeling in a potential buyer. The smell of suntan lotion conjures a soothing time at the beach.

“A smell can bring a person back to a relaxed state or a nicer situation,” said Richard Doty, director of the smell and taste center at Penn Medicine.

About 5% of people are hypersensitive to smells, Monell estimated. For them, any scent could be a turnoff. Taking care to choose a subtle smell that won’t be offensive is important.

“There is a whole range of people’s responses to smells,” said Doty. “People have different tolerances to smells, so low concentrations can be tolerable while larger concentrations can be annoying.”

When Jamie Promislo opened her spin studio, Revel Ride, in 2018, she knew she wanted a signature scent. It wasn’t about masking the odors from the gym but about creating a connection between the scent and the experience.

“Music and scents make you reflect or remember something so I wanted a signature scent that was specific to the studio,” said Promislo, owner of Revel Ride in the Graduate Hospital area and Margate.

She ordered several samples from ScentAir and settled on a mild, fruity smell resembling grapefruit and red currant. She has two diffusers, one on each floor of the 1,300-square-foot Philadelphia studio, for which she pays a total of $70 per month.

Customers and passersby, who catch the smell as they pass the studio, have inquired so often that last year Promislo had the Old City Canning Co. make candles and spray mimicking the scent. She sells a handful each month.

“It’s taking the scent from their home away from home, back home,” she said.

When she opened her second studio in Margate in May, she bought the same scent.

Old City Canning Co. began creating personal scents about six years ago, in diffusers, sprays, and incense, but mostly in candles. Business boomed during the pandemic when people were stuck at home and looked for calming scents.

“They noticed that had a big impact on how they were feeling in their home or home office,” said Mariah Bankemper, owner and chandler at Old City Canning Co. “Post-pandemic, those customers began looking for custom scents for their businesses to create a similar atmosphere for their customers.”

The company has a scent library of about 50 existing scents. If customers prefer creating their own signature scents, their in-house Philadelphia Scent Studio charges a $250 initial fee for consulting and creating the scent. Candles retail for $34, with wholesale pricing between $8 and $15 depending on the particular candle’s vessel, label, scent, type of wax, and quantity.

Promislo’s Revel Ride customers refer to her studio’s smell as “Revel scent,” the connection she was hoping for.

“It’s a sensory experience they feel comfortable and familiar with,” she said.